Costa Rica vacation - need some recommendations

Quote from Savio : We're trekking down to Costa Rica during the summer. It looks like we're staying near the arenal area first then we're looking to a beach hotel/resort for 2-3 nights. We're wanting to stay in the guanacaste region/pacific side. What are some places we can stay in that region and what are some must sees? We're flying into LIR.

i don't know costa rica but i saw a groupon on it!!

http://www.groupon.com/deals/ga-f...c=all&p=18

want this thread moved to travel deals forum?

and hiiii

look up Coco beach.

Quote from serra : i don't know costa rica but i saw a groupon on it!! http://www.groupon.com/deals/ga-f...c=all&p=18 want this thread moved to travel deals forum? and hiiii

Funny you posted that groupon deal since I got on another one

We're looking for one that is 2-3 days, not 4 days. That's still a nice find though. Please move this to travel. Thanks!

Quote from Savio : Funny you posted that groupon deal since I got on another one We're looking for one that is 2-3 days, not 4 days. That's still a nice find though. Please move this to travel. Thanks!

done

Quote from Savio : We're trekking down to Costa Rica during the summer. It looks like we're staying near the arenal area first then we're looking to a beach hotel/resort for 2-3 nights. We're wanting to stay in the guanacaste region/pacific side. What are some places we can stay in that region and what are some must sees? We're flying into LIR.

If you've got some coin I highly suggest this place - http://www.tabacon.com/

I stayed there quite awhile back, before it went through a massive upgrade and along with it a massive increase in price. The hot springs (think pools, running rivers, and even small waterfalls) were amazing. There is one waterfall (like 8 feet tall) and you just sit below it and get pummeled by thousands of gallons a minute of 105 degree water. 5 minutes under that and every muscle in your body will be utter jelly.

You can still just pay to enter for the day, and not stay at the hotel for $60/pp or half days are less. They also have eat/spa packages. If you go I'd suggest getting one meal there. The food was pretty good and it isn't much more at all and after being in the hot springs all day you can really work up an appetite!

http://www.tabacon.com/info-day-p...-1-48.html

Here's that waterfall (which I use the term somewhat loosely) http://www.tabacon.com/fotos_item...5BC907.jpg

There are other places that have hot springs, and are probably cheaper than this place but we had a friend that lived in the area and they told us that this place was far the best out of all of them.

My only other experience was with Jaco and from what I understand it's no longer a sleepy beach town so can't be of much help there.

Have fun, CR is beautiful!

BTW - if you're thinking about going to the gold museum in San Jose I suggest skipping it. Not really worth it...

I stayed at http://www.waterfallgardens.com/ near the Poas Volcano. The hotel is called the Peace Lodge and it was just wonderful and then we stayed in Tamarindo at the Tamarindo Diria on the west coast. the hotel is right on the beach. The other beach area we stayed at was Manuel Antonio.

We're flying into SJO in a few weeks and staying in La Fortuna/Arenal area.

Looking for advice on getting a good rate on a rental car (and choosing a reliable company).

Quote from LivninSC : If you've got some coin I highly suggest this place - http://www.tabacon.com/ I stayed there quite awhile back, before it went through a massive upgrade and along with it a massive increase in price. The hot springs (think pools, running rivers, and even small waterfalls) were amazing. There is one waterfall (like 8 feet tall) and you just sit below it and get pummeled by thousands of gallons a minute of 105 degree water. 5 minutes under that and every muscle in your body will be utter jelly. You can still just pay to enter for the day, and not stay at the hotel for $60/pp or half days are less. They also have eat/spa packages. If you go I'd suggest getting one meal there. The food was pretty good and it isn't much more at all and after being in the hot springs all day you can really work up an appetite! http://www.tabacon.com/info-day-p...-1-48.html Here's that waterfall (which I use the term somewhat loosely) http://www.tabacon.com/fotos_item...5BC907.jpg There are other places that have hot springs, and are probably cheaper than this place but we had a friend that lived in the area and they told us that this place was far the best out of all of them. My only other experience was with Jaco and from what I understand it's no longer a sleepy beach town so can't be of much help there. Have fun, CR is beautiful! BTW - if you're thinking about going to the gold museum in San Jose I suggest skipping it. Not really worth it...

You think it's ok to skip San Jose altogether? I'm not sure if we want to drive all the way down there.

Quote from Savio : You think it's ok to skip San Jose altogether? I'm not sure if we want to drive all the way down there.

San Jose was my base when I visited CR awhile back. Had a friend living there so it made it easy. I've traveled a lot for work and vacation and while some cities are definitely worth seeing, San Jose IMO isn't worth it. It's a relatively dirty, congested city with not a lot of touristy things to do. It's not Buenos Aires, Rio, hell not even Mexico City. Sure there are things you could do if you wanted to but I'm sure there are things you could do in your home town that you've never done because they're just not that interesting.

If given the choice of another couple days in the country side or on a beach I'd gladly take those over a couple days in San Jose.

When I was there I for the most part got around the country on the bus system. Not sure how you are planning on doing it but the buses I took were nice luxury coaches and very reasonably priced. There were other private bus/tour vans to take you from one place to another but they were a lot more expensive and the only one I took wasn't anywhere near as nice. Not sure how you're planning on getting around but something to consider. They only really go between bus stations in the cities so if you're going somewhere not near one you're gonna have to figure out how to get the rest of the way. I'm not sure I'd suggest renting a car there. A lot of their roads are quite windy and have beautiful vistas. I'm pretty sure if I rented a car I would have ended up driving off one of the cliffs Although that said, when I was on the Big Island of Hawaii last year the locals said to not drive the windy road down to the south point because it was really windy and dangerous. Pfft, that road wasn't anywhere near as windy or as dangerous as the road I take daily to and from work so take the advice with a grain of salt. It's really how comfortable you are driving out of country. Driving in Latin America, while atleast on the same side of the road, to me is harder than driving in parts of Europe or Oz/Nz (on the other side of the road) simply because they don't really seem to follow the rules as much.

Have fun!

We flew into San Jose, but went to Jaco Beach on the Pacific side, which was gorgeous. The Pacific side is more mountainous so the beaches are much more like beaches in California. Quepos was really nice as well. These are close to the Manuel Antonio National Park which is a short drive away. It's a rain forest where you can see lots of monkeys, sloths, etc. I highly recommend the Pacific side.

Quote from Savio : You think it's ok to skip San Jose altogether? I'm not sure if we want to drive all the way down there.

I stayed in San Jose for 3 weeks in 2009. If there is something worth your time in San Jose, I didn't find it in 3 weeks. I met some great people there, but the city overall sucked. It's dirty and it's shady at night. When everyone in the city has a razor-wire fence, you know sh*t is goin' down. I'm sure that Costa Rica in general is amazing -- but I always laugh to myself when I hear how Costa Rica is one of the safest countries to visit and my image is just San Jose really. Colombia gets such a bad rap -- but I'd wander around Medellin, Cali, or Manizales any night of the week..........yet I'd never wander San Jose at night.

That's my two cents on San Jose.

I was in CR in Feb for a week and flew into LIR and stayed in the Liberia for 2 days. Not much to do in Liberia, but there are nearby(talking about an hour bus ride on pub trans) beaches (coco and hermosa) and reserves/parks. We went to Rincón de la Vieja National Park and there are nice hikes, wildlife, waterfalls, pools, but park closes at sundown.Further north, the parks such as Santa Rosa are supposed to be better.

After that we went to San Jose, which as someone else noted isn't of much important as far as tourist(of my type atleast) other than the fact that many people fly into it and use it as a base. If you're interested in the city, culture, and food and such then you might enjoy it, I did. But for the average young male with friends there are people of a specific gender that you see at night and in bars/casinos(talking 100s) that might interests you guys.lol. San Jose is relatively safe to walk around in at night, I did it on multiple nights for long distances, but then again my neighborhood is more in the US is more dangerous than San Jose even the hostel we stayed in was like an CIA-safe house, 24/7 security, surveillance, steel front wall.

After which we ventured down to Manuel antonio national park, which is like a 4 hour bus ride from SJ(cost like 5-8 dollars). It's a beautiful place with prestine beaches, a decent night-life, good food, and people. For night life and Casinos you'll have to catch the bus down to Jaco which is about 20-25 minutes.

We planned to go to Arenal and the Caribbean side but never got around to it. But Arenal from what I hear is the place to go atleast for outdoors activities.

Quote from nomikal : After which we ventured down to Manuel antonio national park, which is like a 4 hour bus ride from SJ(cost like 5-8 dollars).

Good to hear it's still so cheap. I couldn't believe how cheap it was when I went there and how nice of a bus you got. It's not, atleast in my experience, like those movies where you're sitting next to a family with 4 chickens on their lap

Getting around on the bus system there is actually quite nice!