Who has been to Costa Rica?? Recommendations needed please...

Re: Who has been to Costa Rica?? Recommendations needed please...

• WhereIsK

  

  May 2010

  I was in CR for a month back a few years ago.  I cannot help you with all-inclusives although I hear the Papagayo properties are nice.  I loved Manuel Antonio, which is the national park along the beach.  I would also suggest Arenal Volcano.  There is a very nice resort called Tabacon there.  You will most likely fly into San Jose, and there are 2 volcanos near by and some nice museums to check out as well.

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• krisha35 member

  

  May 2010

  i JUST BOOKED HONEYMOONERS TO COSTA RICA. THERE ARE ALL INCLUS. THERE. I WOULD LOVE TO FURTHER DISCUSS WITH YOU. PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME

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• leslied214

  May 2010

  It's awesome! Good choice! You should definitely go to the peace lodge if you have a chance. www.peacelodge.com I've stayed there before and it's gogeous! Plus you can do a lot of activities that are organzied through the hotel (which were the best). Out of the 2 weeks I stayed there and three different areas of Costa Rica with three different hotels, peace lodge was the best! The area was the most beautiful and lush and the activities such as zip lines and horse back riding were the best. I do have to say if you want to do white water rafting you should go through someone other than the peace lodge. The rivers in that area are not very adventurous in that area. Pacuare River is the best, we used www.riostropicales.com. They were great!
  
  Let me know if you have any more questions. OH FYI!! Whatever you do don't rent a car there! There are no streets signs anywhere and you can drive for an hour without knowing if you're going the right way! Hiring a driver is the best way to go. I've been twice and driving makes it VERY stressful.
  

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• CKen11 member

  

  May 2010

  I'm planning a trip to CR later this year - maybe staying in Guanacaste for beaches (Riu Guanacaste AI) for 2 - 3 nts then am thinking about checking out Arenal area for activities. You can white water raft, try zip lining etc
  It's quite tough planning it so I've been looking at a trip planner with Vacation Express. you can book different hotels and transfers at once.

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• Reilly626 member

  

  May 2010

  I spent a month there one summer.  If you want all inclusive head to Guanacaste.  Nice beaches... hiking, rainforest activities..
  
  Also go to Arenal, and stay at the hotel with the hot springs from the volcano- awesome!
  
  Finally, my fav was  http://www.waterfallgardens.com/ It was amazing- Trista/Ryan (the bachelorette) honeymooned there... Just gorgeous!
  
  The food, fresh fruits, hiking, nature, and people are amazing... Stay out of San Jose- dumpy and full of thieves... in general be careful with your bags, lots of thieves... one almost went to rip earrings out of my ears (fake diamonds) in San Jose...

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• phillychica85 member

  

  May 2010

  I lived in San Jose for a semester and traveled extensively throughout the country. Ditto people's recommendations on Arenal, Monteverde. Personally, I wouldn't recommend doing an AI when in Costa Rica. It's not like Jamaica or the DR in that regard. You def. want to be venturing off-site. Some of my favorite beaches were Tamarindo and Manuel Antonio, although avoid Quepos and Jaco (they're more in the Puntarenas area. Quepos was originally a city where they exported the banana crop back in the day so it still retains that kind of dirty, port type city). Guanacaste is more in the northern portion of the country, the landscape during the dry season is very arrid, looks almost desert like. Manuel Antonio is the central pacific, has a national park which is nice, but when we were there I didn't see a ton of wildlife. It really gets crowded with tourists and I think the animals and birds are catching on. The Osa Peninsula is the southern pacific, less developed, more secluded (a bit harder to get to too). I'm not sure if you would be interested but the beaches on the Caribbean side are fantastic. It's VERY different from the Pacific side (it has a large West Indies population, food, customs are different, a west indies patois is spoken there, as opposed to just hearing Spanish). Arenal is fantastic, I prefered it more than Monteverde. But if you choose one over the other, they're close enough that you still could do a day trip to the other place. Arenal does have fantastic hot springs options, volcano viewing/hiking, and a neat waterfall, canopy tours, etc.
  
  San Jose is just like any other modernish city in Central America. It's certainly not a colonial city full of beauty and charm but it's still a neat city in its own way. As for safety, I was inundated with safety concerns/worries, over exagerated tales from people, but I lived there for four months and never had a problem. I was a young female who certainly didn't blend it at all and often traveled around alone but used common sense and was perfectly fine. Unless you fly in and out of Liberia's airport (Guanacaste airport), San Jose is still worth a day or so. They have a really good open air market and some neat museums. The suburbs of San Jose are also a nice place to stay too and a good base for exploring the central valley (coffee plantation, la paz waterfall and gardens, poas volcano).
  
  I also wouldn't recommend driving but there's numerous reputable places you can do private transfers with.
  
  Feel free to message me if you have any questions.
  

  My travel and cooking blog
  
  
  Maui, November 2011

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