Costa Rica

[kicksumass]

I just bought a ticket to costa rica and am now looking for suggestions of things to do. I will be there from dec 22nd to 31st...basically 8 full days. I want to check out the wildlife, do some hiking, zip lining etc and relax in a beach. Which 1 or 2 place do ya'll suggest?

Volcan Arenal area and Tamarindo are the 2 places I was thinking of. Anyone been there? Any other recommendations?

Also, should I just bus it or rent a car. I'm traveling solo and can't speak spanish.

Thanks.

 

[kmac30]

i was there a couple years ago and went to the following

monteverde, jaco, manual antonio, san jose.

the only place i wish we were able to hit was Tamarindo. it's supposed to be amazing. monteverde has the zip lines, jaco has the beaches/surfing, manual antonio has beaches and a jungle, san jose is just dirty

 

[johnny chimpo]

Spent a week there a couple of years ago, half the time in the interior around Arenal, and the other half on the Pacific coast. For Arenal lodging, check out the old Smithsonian observatory. It is the closest hotel to the volcano, and your room window faces it. Pretty amazing to wake up to in the morning. And the restaurant at the hotel was very good. Pass on Tamarindo, thought it was too touristy/Cancun-like. We stayed in a town called Nosara further down the coast. Took some work to get to, but a true Margaritaville.

 

[kicksumass]

Whats the best way to get to Arenal from san jose airport?

 

[johnny chimpo]

We rented a little 4x4 Rav 4 at the airport and drove to Arenal. I would highly recommend the Nat'l Geographic map of Costa Rica. Road signs are few and far between, but we made the drive pretty comfortably by following the map.

 

[pulque]

Fish & f#^K

 

[soonerinatlanta]

Arenal was a disappointment for me. It gets lots of cloud cover and we were only able to see part of the side of it for a second. It does look absolutely huge though. I'm sure it would be very impressive if I got to see the whole thing. That being said, I would pass on Arenal if I went to CR again.

For ziplining, go to monteverde. Best in the world. One of the lines is a quarter mile above the valley. Insane. The longest one was like a half mile. Again, insane.

Jaco is a cool beach town. We stopped there on the way to manuel antonio. If you drive to manuel antonio, you'll get to drive over a one lane bridge that doesn't feel like safety was the primary concern when designing it. It's safe but I wouldn't dare drive it unless it was daylight out. Anyways.... the bridge is over the crocodile river. 2nd largest crocs on the planet. I didn't know this at the time. I was concentrating on getting over the bridge when my wife leans over and lets me know there's huge crocs in the river. If you get the to bridge, make sure you stop and have a look before driving over it. The bridge is in a small town and there's usually a line to get over the bridge since only one direction of traffic can cross at a time.

Manuel Antonio is really cool. Hang out on the beach inside the park. Get a guide. He'll spot monkeys and tree sloths for you.

 

[The Bloak]

Kick, I was in Costa Rica last August and did exactly what you are talking about doing.

Flew into Liberia (I wouldn't suggest San Jose) on Continental (I think American has direct flights as well) and stayed in Tamarindo for 5 days. Personally I loved it- stayed at Los Altos de Eros (fantastic spa up in the hills; owners are cool as hell) for a few days and then at Sueno del Mar on the beach (also very cool owners from Kentucky). Spent the days surfing and drinking beer on the beach/cantinas.

Rented a car a drove to Arenal. In hindsight, would have rather spent the time in Tamarindo or another beach town. While it was cool, after 5 minutes the appeal is gone. If you do go, hit up Tabicon (sp?) springs.....naturally spring fed pools at the base of the volcano. Pretty solid. Also several jungle zip lining tours in the area.

One paved road and the rest are **** (I'm talking massive holes), so make sure you give yourself adequate travel time if you are going to drive. People are VERY friendly and its a fun drive.

Have fun!

 

[rayfes]

I know there are many places to do zip-line canopy tours (including some near Austin) but the ones I did in Costa Rica were incredible.

I spent most of my time in Quepos staying at Si Como No and it was great.

I hope you aren't afraid of bridges that look like they were built by children.

My pics are at:The Link


Rayfes

 

[WhoseHouse]

You absolutely must, above all else, do the ziplines in Monteverde.

 

[orangebones]

we honeymooned in CR. it's a great place. we started here for two nights, spent 5 nights here, and wrapped it up with a night here.

the waterfall gardens and finca rosa blanca (both in the central plateau and about 30 min from the airport) were amazing. la mariposa (quepos) has a nice restaurant and a cool bar, but the rooms were just ok. the views at mariposa, however, are second to none. si como no (mentioned above) is very nice, and if you want to live it up (without kids), check out makanda.

don't go on the mangrove tour...its a boring ripoff. we went on the ziplines, which were pretty cool, but i found myself wishing that i had more time to look around. there's a cool catwalk canopy tour at the rainmaker preserve, and a similar tour at monteverde. take some time to find eateries off the beaten path...eat lots of fruit and gallo pinto. also, at most places, the gratuity is built in. i didn't realize this until the end of the honeymoon, when i figured out why the waiters at mariposa were fighting over who got to serve us.

 

[kicksumass]

Just got back from CR. Ended up going to Arenal for couple of days, monteverde for 3 days, tamarindo for 3 days and 1 day in san jose.

Hiked a bit in Arenal, saw lava..albeit very little, and relaxed at the Baldi hot springs. The ziplining in monteverde was cool but my favorite thing was the waterfall canyoning. It rained all day my last day there so I didn't get to see much wildlife. Tamarindo was HOT! Tried a bit of surfing, played pick up soccer and vball and partied couple of nights. Not the greatest since the places are filled with hookers and chicas that look 16.

Wanted to check out the turtle nesting but the tours were all booked up for the 3 days i was there. Went to the Zapote festival to see random guys get gored by bulls. That was fun. It is a 2 week festival in Zapote - 5 min bus ride from san jose. Speaking of..buses are soo cheap there. the 7hr bus ride from tamarindo to san jose cost me about $5.

I didn't think the food was too good. The typical local food is Casado (rice, beans, salad, fried plantan and your choice of meat) which I had plenty of. Fruit juices were good though.

As always, best part for me is meeting new people from all over the world which I did plenty of staying in hostels. I love hostels. 10 nights cost me $115.

oh, i met a couple from New mexico who were robbed at gunpoint at Tortuguero. it was straight out of a movie. Their small tour boat got jumped my 4 masked gunmen, taken to shore on other side of mountain, robbed and left there. Scary ****. But I felt completely safe wherever I went. People are extremely friendly and many people can speak english.

Thanks for all the info. If I go back, I'm renting a car and heading south to manuel antonio and corcovado.

 

[bevosayshi]

kicksumass...google the following:

David Maddox tour guide, San Jose, Costa Rica

the first site you hit is someone that took us around Costa Rica....you don't have to do all the hooker stuff (unless you are into that sort of thing....we weren't) and this guy knows a lot of the local attractions to hit that aren't normal touristy stuff.

For the next time you decide to head there.

 

[Tonesky]

If you go to Arenal, I second the Smithsonian Observatory Lodge. There are much nicer hotels in the area, but no others can compare with their view. You can practically reach out and touch the volcano! And, if you are there when it is active, it is pretty cool to watch the activity on their seismograph. If you also do Monteverde, check into hiring a driver to shuttle your car. We took all day to drive around Lake Arenal and up the hill to Monteverde by car. Later, we learned that we could have done it in a few hours by horseback on jungle trails, while someone else drove the car for us.

Quepos/Manual Antonio is awesome. We also stayed at La Mariposa, which is expensive, but worth it. Within the park, get off the beach and onto the hiking trails for spectacular views and likely encounters with capuchin monkeys.