After a long, cold stretch of winter last year, my wife and I decided to go someplace warm this February, so we’re thinking about spending a week in Costa Rica.
Any advice? We’re probably out of shape for major hiking and such, but we would like to see some nature. We’d like to spend a couple of days at the beach, and some rafting would be nice. We very much prefer “fun and quirky” to “nice”.
Here’s the big question–should we plan out the whole week in advance, or plan out the first couple of days and figure out the rest as we go? On the one hand, I hate to lock ourselves in, the idea of going where we like is appealing, and we want a little adventure. On the other hand, it’s kind of high season when we’ll be there, and we’re a little long in the tooth to spend the night in a bus station. The third option is to go with a full-bore tour company, but that just seems like wimping out.
Costa Rica is great. It is generally safe, neat, and friendly. I wouldn’t go with a tour company because it isn’t really necessary. The whole country is set up for tourism and you can just travel at will even if you don’t speak Spanish. It is hard to be out of sight of other Americans whether that is good or bad. You can take a cab or shuttle bus from coast to coast in about 3 hours for not that much money.
A firm recommendation is to go to the resort at the base of the active Arenal Volcano. The volcano causes earthquakes every couple of hours and these awesome hot streams flow down from the volcano and you can float down them. They have hiking trails up the volcano and it is right next to a rainforest with monkeys. It was one of the coolest places I have ever been to.
We did the Manuel Antonio area. Beautiful beaches and the park is great, but it is a bit touristy. Check out virtualtourist . com for some advice on CR.
Shagnasty–that looks interesting. How expensive was all the stuff to do at the resort? When I looked, the rooms were like $200/night, but a 2-night package was something like $1700!
Perhaps one way to think of it is to divide little Costa Rica into five areas, and decide how much time you want to spend in each area. With only a week, you’re best off picking just two of the areas (or maybe even one).
San Jose and immediate surroundings (Central Valley) – Nice little city, but no point in spending much time there. Coffee is grown around the fringes.
The northern Pacific coast (Guanacaste) – Some nice beaches (known for their surfing), especially around the Santa Elena peninsula – and the aforementioned Arenal volcano is nearby. Drier, hilly country, lots of cattle ranches. A good combination of nice yet a bit funky.
The southern Pacific coast, from the aforementioned Manuel Antonio park down to the remote Osa Peninsula. Hilly, also some nice beaches, a bit wetter than #3. A bit more developed for tourism, but still plenty of pockets of funkiness.
The mountainous interior – includes at least two other volcanoes you can visit (Poas and Irazu), and the biological research station at Monteverde, in the forests not far from Arenal. Might involve more hiking than you want to do, but not necessarily.
The Caribbean coast. Wet, hot, rather flat, and with a different culture – dominated in many areas by English-speaking blacks who enjoy reggae. Funky and fun, and also with some nice beaches – not as dramatic, more for relaxing. Has been developing for tourists lately. Puerto Viejo is a great little town, but you’re probably better off not spending much time in the port city of Limon. The drive from San Jose to the Caribbean goes by some interesting cloud forest.
I’d say a couple of days in and around Manuel Antonio would be great, followed by a venture either a bit north (to Monteverde or Arenal) or a bit south (to perhaps Dominical – I don’t know that area).
Whatever you do, don’t make the mistake someone I know made, of searching for a place called “Pura Vida”. It’s a state of mind, not a place!