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Pit Travel Service: Costa Rica

leftcoastdeac

leftcoastdeac

Robert O'Kelley
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Starting to plan a trip to Costa Rica in early spring of 2014. Tell me where to go and what to do.
 
The cloud forest canopy tour in Monteverde is an absolute must if you are going to be up in that area. I think the main road in to Monteverde is still unpaved so it is not an easy trip, but jumping off the platform and ziplining through the clouds (you can't see the platform you are landing on until the last 30 or 40 yards) is a huge adrenaline rush. Going to Arenal and seeing the active volcano burping on a nightly basis (if the clouds aren't too thick) is pretty cool too. The hot springs at Tabacon are a great way to spend an evening sipping on a few cold Imperials. Renting a car/jeep is the way to go. Playing "suicide" with the oncoming drivers avoiding the potholes on their side of the mountain roads is part of the fun.

Lots of great beaches up and down the Pacific coast. Surfing, deep sea fishing (marlin, sailfish, tuna), snorkeling. Mal Pais is a funky little town somewhat off the beaten path. Tamarindo will have more people and nightlife options. Hotel Capitan Suizo is a great spot if you end up going there.

If you want to do some hiking, amazing national parks all over the country. Corcovado is probably the most revered due to the diversity of its plant and animal life.

I wouldn't waste much time in San Jose. If your flight gets in early enough, just grab your rental car and go. If you are planning on just hitting the beaches you probably want to fly in to/out of Liberia if you can find a good flight. Unfortunately the country seems more commercialized every time we go back. Paradise found, paradise lost.
 
I flew into Liberia and spent a week in Tamarindo. I'd do it again.
 
deac29 said:
I flew into Liberia and spent a week in Tamarindo. I'd do it again.
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Wife and I are doing exactly this in January. Rented a 4-wheel-drive vehicle and plan on doing some exploring, including the many national parks and whatnot. Should be a pretty awesome trip, but like the OP, I would welcome any advice on that area.
 
My wife and I went about 5 years ago. We were there for 9 days and hit Arenal, Monteverde and Samara.

Arenal is a must-do. We stayed here and liked it. Very simple rooms, not fancy. Great hikes. I think it is as close as you can stay to the volcano.

In the Arenal/La Fortuna are, we:
-Took a canyoning tour with Desafio. Holy shit it was awesome. Basically hiking through a jungle and rappelling down waterfalls. No experience necessary. My favorite part of the trip.
-Did a zip line tour. Cool, but kind of lackluster after the canyoning.
-Went to Eco Termales hot springs. Liked this a lot. Not as touristy as the other hot springs, supposedly.

We then drove around Arenal to get to Monteverde. Big mistake. Lots of unpaved roads with no road signs, and we had no GPS. Wife was carsick for two days after we arrived. Would do jeep-boat-jeep if we had it to do over. In Monteverde, we:
-Took a skywalk tour. Meh.
-Hiked in the cloud forest. Also meh.
-Hung out around town. Awesome.
-Hung out in our room watching the rain. Also awesome. The storms would last for only an hour or so, but it was the most intense rain I had ever seen. A little bit of thunder, no lightning. Crazy.

We then drove to Samara, a quiet beach town. Long drive, especially when mudslides cover the road. In Samara, we:
-Stayed here. Not much to the cabanas, but the owners/hosts were great. Spent most of our time just hanging out with them.
-Took surfing lessons.
-Relaxed.

I'd probably skip Monteverde if I went back, or at least plan a longer trip. Might skip Samara and hit Manuel Antonio.

The wildlife was great, especially the coatimundi (aka "snookum bears"). We also ran across a tame margay while hiking in Arenal. It followed us for an hour or so, and would let us pick it up.

CR food leaves something to be desired...
 
I passed through CR in 2007. Stayed in Puntarenas, Mal Pais, Santa Teresa, Arenal and Puerto Viejo de Talamanca.

Puntarenas is not worth staying at. It is where the ferry to the Nicoya Peninsula runs from, which was way faster than buses back then. Santa Teresa and Mal Pais had some awesome beaches and great surfing without too much tourism. Lots of monkeys.

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Mal Pais had these small little red/orange crabs which came out every night I was there. I mean thousands of them covering the entire hillside. I've never seen anything like it. You could hear them walking down walkways/roadways.

Arenal was beautiful, but I didn't have a chance to do much hiking.

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I think the weather was pretty poor when I was up there. Puerto Viejo is a cool little Caribbean coast town. There's some surfing and boat trips. I got held up at gunpoint one night on my walk home. The police didn't seem to care all that much the next day. Come to think of it, you can probably skip it. Bocas del Toro, just across the border in Panama, is worlds better when it comes to deserted island beaches and laid back locals.

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Honestly, I would recommend Nicaragua or Panama far ahead of Costa Rica. They're far cheaper and I found them more rewarding than what I experienced in Costa Rica. Costa Rica is certainly nicer, but the over reliance on tourism has stripped away a lot of the Central American culture you'd find elsewhere.

There's a decent chance I'm down in CA again come March.
 
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My brother in law is from Costa Rica and my sister lived there for two years. I'll ask them and respond here...
 
:werd: also probs going next spring with the gf and family. Think we're going to rent a 4wd vehicle and stay somewhere near Arenal.
 
"does he want off the beaten trail adventures? or touristy spots? is he adventurous? see the real culture? how long will he be there?"
 
I just want to see some SLOTHS.

Is the white water rafting there worth it?
 
timdunkandthefunk said:
"does he want off the beaten trail adventures? or touristy spots? is he adventurous? see the real culture? how long will he be there?"
Click to expand...

-Mix of off the beaten path and touristy spots
-We are adventurous
-YES to real culture
-Planning to be there about a week

The itinerary is wide open at this point...Our only assumption at this point is that we're flying into (and probably out of) San Jose.
 
Also I'm curious as to how much you can get by w/out knowing Spanish? The DR was a lot tougher than I expected in that regard, even being in a touristy area (though we figured out that it was more geared towards European/South American tourists).
 
And what's the best beer to drink down there?

Is the water mostly safe to drink (at the resorts at least)?
 
cookoutdeac said:
Also I'm curious as to how much you can get by w/out knowing Spanish? The DR was a lot tougher than I expected in that regard, even being in a touristy area (though we figured out that it was more geared towards European/South American tourists).
Click to expand...

As I said, tourism is a huge part of the economy. US and Canadian tourists account for nearly half of that, so English is widely spoken by those in the industry and you'd have no problem traveling most of the country with no Spanish. That said, if you want to engage people outside the tourist industry, it is certainly helpful to speak some Spanish.

The water is fine to drink pretty much everywhere in Costa Rica. You don't have to worry about eating fruits/vegetables washed in the water either.

Imperial is the beer of choice. If you see Flor de Cana for sale, try it. It is made in Nicaragua and is one of the best rums in the world. It also costs very little.
 
the best ceviche i ever had was in jaco
 
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