This June my wife and I were thinking about going on a trip to Costa Rica this summer. We were looking at all-inclusive resort packages but are having a hard time finding a place reasonably priced. Has anyone gone, where did you stay? Airfare is an issue too. We thought about Puerto Rico as an alternative, but we couldnt find all inclusive resorts there. We were planning a long vacation, approx 9 days in June. Any ideas?
What sort of vacation do you like? We’ve been to Costa Rica twice, both times at Safari Surf School in Nosara, which is on the pacific coast. They have a meal plan which involves breakfast and dinner (with dinner going out as a group to local restaurants). You can stay at their small modest hotel (Casa Tucan) or at nearby, somewhat fancier ones (the Harmony, across the street, is very nice). Most packages include daily yoga and a massage. It’s kind of like summer camp with beer. If your attraction to all-inclusives is just for the “don’t have to think about it” aspect, but you still like an active vacation, then you might really enjoy it. If you just want to kick back on the beach, then probably not (by law, all hotels, restaurants, etc, in Nosara are set back from the beach).
As far as airfare, make sure when you search, you search the airline TACA/LACSA. (LACSA is the Costa Rican national airline, and its a subsidiary of TACA, a south American airline company). In my experience, they have the most flights at the best prices to Costa Rica. Delta is the best of the American carriers.
I think Costa Rica is a great place to vacation. But one question - do you just want to go to one place, or do you want to move around a bit. We rented a car and stayed at 4 different places over 2 weeks. For us - it was great, because we got to try several completely different areas. Here’s what we did:
- Arenal: We flew in to San Jose and then drove a few hours to Arenal. This is an active volcano that is straight out of a movie. Shaped exactly like a volcano should look - with red hot lava flowing down the sides. We stayed in an all-inclusive there for 2 nights. One of the coolest features is the river flowing down from the volcano - what is heated by the lava and the water feels like a hottub. It’s a very cool experience, sitting in a rainforest river, at 102 degrees, sipping drinks.
- Puntarenas: Classic tropical beach resort. We stayed at another all-inclusive with pool, monkeys from the rainforest, private beach, etc. Loved it - very relaxing and only a couple hour drive from arenal.
- Nicoya Penninsula: We took a ferry over to the penninsula which is on the west coast. This area is huge for surfing and just stunning beaches. We stayed in another all-inclusive which ended up being in one of those reality TV shows - Temptation Island maybe? Anyway - we loved that too - but a very different feel.
- San Jose: This is the capital and for us - not much of a place to stay. We only stayed 2 nights and one day - and the day we spent doing ziplines in the rainforest which was fantastic. But I wouldn’t spend any more time then that in the city. My overwhelming memory of the city itself is diesel fumes.
In short - I’d recommend moving around a bit. Its a fairly easy place to travel on your own, and renting a car makes getting around very easy. We went before GPS was very common, so we spent a lot of time lost. But in the end - I wouldn’t have done it any other way.
I know little about all-inclusive resort packages but if you have even a small desire for adventure, go white water rafting on the Pacuare river. It is beautiful, breathtaking, and a memorable experience.