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Costa Rica anyone?

Amymarie_MILLERAmymarie_MILLER
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in Honeymoon Discussions
We were going to go to Belize, but now are debating on Costa Rica instead...We are the most indecisive couple ever! Which leaves us booking our honeymoon last minute (Our wedding is April 24th) Would we be better off going to a travel agent or doing it ourselves? Have any of you ladies been to Costa Rica in April/May? What did you think, and where did you stay at? We want to go deep sea fishing, ziplining, horseback riding, all that good stuff. Im just curious if anyone has any travel info If you've been there. TIA!
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Re: Costa Rica anyone?

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    kasarinkasarin member
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    We went to Costa Rica in October and loved it. We used a travel agent because I was worried about potential hurricanes and wanted someone else to deal with it during the wedding if it happened. We went to Manuel Antonio (stayed at Arenas Del Mar- totally recommend it) and Arenal (Kioro Hotel- great hotel, but would have preferred El Tucano).

    It really depends on what you want to do, but in Manuel Antonio, we just relaxed and saw the rainforest. And at Arenal, we went zip lining, canyoneering, and hung out at the hot springs. Arenal seemed to have a lot of the adventures that you want to do.
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    Reilly626Reilly626 member
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    I highly recommend here in CR also- Trista and Ryan (bachelorette) honeymooned here- its so gorgeous!  http://www.waterfallgardens.com/
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    LaFemmeRousseLaFemmeRousse member
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    I've been to both Costa Rica and Belize.  I liked Costa Rica a bit more... I thought it had more "culture" and personality than Belize.  I was in Belize in May but Costa Rica later in the year.

    Our basic itinerary in Costa Rica was: we flew into San Jose and spent one afternoon and night there.  The next day, we left for La Fortuna/Arenal, where we stayed for two days and two nights.  Here, we hiked on the Arenal volcano and and went to the hot springs. 

    Then we left for Monteverde, up in the mountains, and we were there for two days and two nights.  We went to the Cloud Forest preserve there and did a great zip line/ hanging bridge tour.  Then we went to Queops/Manual Antonio for three days and two nights.  We spent a lot of time on the beach here, as well as visiting Manuel Antonio National Park to see some wildlife.  Then we headed back to San Jose, and we flew out the next morning.

    We did zip lines and horseback riding, but not any deep sea fishing (although I know others who have done it there).  We didn't use a travel agent, but we did travel with an adventure travel company in a small group, so I wouldn't recommend any of our tourist-class hotels for a honeymoon :)
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    Amymarie_MILLERAmymarie_MILLER
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    Gosh! Thank you so much for all the great info! I took notes, and Im on my way to see a travel agent this evening! I'll keep you all posted on how it goes! Thanks for all your wonderful input! (Karen I would love to hear how your trip goes! Let me know when you return and have a wonderful trip) Thanks again=)
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    Karen's MOHKaren's MOH
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    Just got back from my trip last night! Unfortunately, we got a lot of rain for the first part of our trip-- which is unusual for most of Costa Rica :( My thoughts: Torguero was nice and very cool, but I wouldn't bother going so far unless you are really into nature/wildlife/bird watching, and can spend 2 nights.
    Arenal was great, even though it rained the whole time and we never saw much of the volcano. We never got to do the horseback riding because of the rain, but we did get to do a great ziplining tour (Sky Trek) and enjoy the hot springs. Our hotel had some, but we went to some bigger ones for an evening and it was worth paying a little extra. Then we drove out to Tamarindo on the Pacific Coast, where it was hot and dry and beautiful. I wouldn't recommend any of my specific hotels for a honeymoon, but I really liked both Arenal and Tamarindo as a destination (although I think a lot of the Pacific beaches will have a similar feel). Defintiely try a surf lesson if you are interested! Hope things went well with the travel agent. Let me know if you have any specific questions.
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    Amymarie_MILLERAmymarie_MILLER
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    Did you have to stay in San Jose or Liberia before or after your flights? Do you reccomend this? Also my travel agent advised us NOT to do a rental car, instead have someone drive us to the places we need to go to. Do you advise this as well? Neither of us wants to worry about getting a flat tire in the jungle, lol!
    We are going for 12 days, and the first 5-6 days we want to do a lot of exploring and tours at Arenal and do all the activities we can. We were thinking about checking out Monteverde Cloud Forest for a couple nights, then Find a beach with the best fishing charters to go deep sea fishing, and stay there about two nights. After all the activities are over with, we want to end the trip with a AI spa/resort, for about 4-5 days relaxing by the beach, and then fly home. Im debating between Manuel Antonio or Guanacaste beaches? Its so hard to decide because I have heard great things about both.

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    Karen's MOHKaren's MOH
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    Your trip sounds great! I like the order you want to do things-- ending with the relaxing, everything is taken care of part! As far as the rental car, it really depends on you. Honestly, it probably wasn't really much cheaper to rent the car vs hiring a driver, so it's a personal preference. It offered us the freedom to go where we pleased which was really nice, but FI really likes driving. The roads were not great and people just walk in the narrow road, since there are no sidewalks. It would definitely be less stressful to hire a driver, but I will say it was really cool.

    We did have to stay the first night in San Jose. I would not spend more than a night there for sure. It was actually the only place I felt kind of unsafe. If you do spend a night there, the Hotel Grano de Oro was really nice-- it's an old mansion converted into a hotel and has lots of charm. Staff was super friendly and nice. The restaurant was top notch too. We flew out of Liberia and were able to drive there the morning of our flight-- it was less than an hour and a half from Tamarindo.

    As far as Guanacaste vs Manuel Antonio-- I can't help you! Tamarindo, in Guanacaste, was great-- it's mostly foriegners on vacation or who moved there, and some Costa Rican families on vacation. MA sounds really awesome too and I sort of wished I had looked into it. However, I think in Guanacaste you are pretty much guaranteed  sun the whole time which is something to consider.

    Sorry to have written a novel. Hope some of it was helpful.
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    Amymarie_MILLERAmymarie_MILLER
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    Thank you so much! We are going to book everything today. We are going for 12 days so FI thinks we can make a trip to Manuel Antonio for a couple days but were going to check with travel agent...If we dont go to MA it always gives us an excuse to come back! He really wants to do the deep sea fishing so were def staying in Guanacaste, by Tamarindo, for a while (good fishing in that area) And it looks awsome! I think we have it all narrowed down now. I am kinda nervous about San Jose, but hopefully we dont have to stay there. Well see, lol. If so I'll check out the hotel u mentioned. Thanks again for all the info! I really appreciate it=)
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