Anyone ever been to Costa Rica?

DH and I are going at the end of May. We're staying the entire week in Manuel Antonio on the Pacific Coast.

Any must see/do's? Any tips about traveling in CR?

TIA!

Re: Anyone ever been to Costa Rica?

I went to Costa Rica in August 2005 and loved it! We stayed at the Fiesta Premier Resort which is in the Guanacaste Region by the Gulf of Papagayo. It's on the Pacific Coast, but I am not sure if that is near where you are staying.

Things we did:
1. Zip line tour through the rain forest - so much fun!! You basically ride on the zip line between trees - not good if you are afraid of heights. There are also more extensive day trips to the rain forest which people we talked to really liked.
2. We also took a day trip to Nicaragua, which was very interesting to see. I don't think I ever would have had the opportunity to go there. It was a long day, but well worth it. I would recommend going if you have the chance. Also, if you think this is something you may wind up doing, please FM me so I can give you some more specific details for things you should know!
3. Shopping/Dinner trip to Coco Beach. This was ok - there were a lot of touristy shops here.
Other than that, we relaxed by the beach!

Costa Rica is not an overdeveloped country such as certain areas in Mexico. As such, there was not much immediately around the resort. All of the trips/excursions we went on were organized by companies at the hotel.

Have a great time and if you have any questions please FM me!

Re: Anyone ever been to Costa Rica?

DH and I went on our honeymoon there and we LOVED it! You can send me back any time. We spent about 4 days in Manuel Antonio and another 4 in Arenal.

We loved both places but Manuel Antonio was a bit better, IMO. There, we stayed at Si Como No, which was superb. We hiked in the rainforest, did a boat tour, and rode ATVs. The beach is nice and there is a great coffee shop in the area, Cafe Milagro! The food was good but there wasn't much shopping. I don't know if DH and I would have spent more than 4-5 days in that area. I think we would have run out of things to do and places to eat. You could do some day excursions to different towns.

Arenal was very nice too. We stayed at Tabacon and our room had a view of the volcano. It was so cool to watch it erupt and the sounds of it going off would wake us up at night. I'm so glad I got to see an active volcano! We swam in the hot springs there, did some horseback riding, did the zip lines (FUN!), but didn't get to see the waterfalls. The restaurants were better in Manuel Antonio.

When you go, will it be the rainy season yet? Do you plan to rent a car? Where are you staying?

Re: Anyone ever been to Costa Rica?

Thanks Ladies!

This is our first vacation that we are taking that we are actually planning on RELAXING! Every year we do a big trip but it's always Europe, or someplace else that involves being constantly on the go. So we are VERY excited to not do a whole lot of anything!

Originally we were going to spend two days at Arenal at the Tabacon, but we decided to just do the entire week in Manuel Antonio.

Sasha - We were going to stay at Si Como No, but decided on a resort called Buena Vista Villas and Casas. We are very into the wildlife factor... did you see much wildlife at your resort and outside of it? We will be going at the very beginning of rainy season and were told (and read) that it's not that bad in late May/early June which is when we'll be there. We will not be renting a car, DH is nervous about driving there. Our Hotel will provide us transportation between San Jose and Manuel Antonio. We may take one of those charter flights back to San Jose the day before we fly home.

Re: Anyone ever been to Costa Rica?

We saw some much wildlife all over the Manuel Antonio area...we played with monkies on the boat trip but saw the in the park/rainforest too. We saw sloths everywhere and iguana are like squirrels there! We saw some other animals in the rainforest and even got a very rare, up close glimpse of a boa constrictor constricting around an iguana. In Arenal we saw toucans and vipers too. There were such beautiful tropical flowers everywhere! Geckos climbed Si Como No and were so colorful!

We were intimidated about driving there too but you can get a taxi easily. The roads are not always paved, the bridges are tiny (we went over one that was called in Spanish, "Thank God we made it across the bridge") so only one vehicle can pass at a time. The roads that are paved are all chewed up from the rainy season and are very hilly! We liked the ride through the country though! As you drive past other cars on the road the people always wave at each other!

Those little Sansa Air planes are an experience! We have a pilot and room for 5 passangers...one sat next to the pilot. The plane didn't go above or below the clouds most the time...it went through them and rocked in every direction. DH gets motion sickness and no medicine helped him on this trip. He sweat through his clothes. Then, the plane lands in what looks like the middle of nowhere and they take my bag out of the nose of the plane with a bag of melons! Ha!

Re: Anyone ever been to Costa Rica?

I have fun!!! Costa Rica is gorgeous

Re: Anyone ever been to Costa Rica?

Re: Anyone ever been to Costa Rica?

I don't quite remember the name...it was the estuary tour that Si Como No recommended. I'm sure you could check with them. I'll send you some pictures if you would like if you FM me your email addy! DH will be really psyched then!