Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
This is the trip we are most looking forward to this summer. I'm not looking forward to the flight, since I just got back from NYC very late Tuesday night, but can't wait to get there! We had free tickets from Delta, using our miles, so that's a huge plus. We'll be in Arenal and Manuel Antonio. If you've ever been, I'd love to hear about your experience! I didn't book things in advance, since the locals recommend waiting to see what you want to do.
At Arenal (La Fortune), be especially careful to keep your wallet/valuables secure. That advice is also especially critical in San Jose proper. It's a serious problem for the unwary tourist. Manuel Antonio is worth the trip. We've snow-birded in CR for a month or two for the past six years and are great fans of the country and love the Tico people. My wife is house sitting in Gracia for a month for the ex-pats we rent from starting yesterday.
Depending on your age/physical condition/time and $s, some suggestions:
- a zip line tour is awesome as well as a rain forest tram ride.
- a visit to Tortuguero is worth the cost
- the butterfly farms are delightful
- a visit to the hummingbird restaurant/falls is unique. You will literally be engulfed by hundreds of zooming hummingbirds, it's incredible.
Costa Rica is a unique and delightful country populated with some of the friendliest folks you will ever find. Enjoy!
Thanks for all those recs! We're still debating the zipline tour, as we're pretty much ziplined out. We went in Puerto Vallarta in June and have been on a few others in the past as well. Once you've done one, you've done them all we have found! I'm in my 20s, so no physical constraints here!
Thanks so much for the butterfly/hummingbird recs, we are definitely doing those! We rented a macro lens for our camera just for this trip and that will be perfect for it! Can't wait to get there!
Arenal is one of my favorite places, would love to go back. We took a tour bus from the Guanacaste region to Tabacon Resort at Arenal. Played in the hot springs and had a great meal that evening while watching the volcano spew lava chunks. What a wonderful day! We also: (8 years ago, might get a few names wrong)
1. Hiked the short trail at Rincon de la Viaje with a local tour guide. Lots of wildlife
2. snorkeled in the Pacific
3. took a bus to Guayatil (LOVED the pottery there)
4. shopped in Liberia
5. took a boat ride down the Tempisque River to see the crocodiles
One of my all-time favorite vacations. We are wildlife seekers and we had huge iguanas, coatis, howler monkeys, crabs, and many kinds of birds right at our resort. At Rincon we saw more types of monkeys and toucans, while Arenal had wild parrots and we shared a pool with a basilisk lizard. Just amazing! I would return in a heartbeat-many places still to see.
I was always amazed at how the old and new blend there- brand-new tractors full of sugar cane, followed by a cart pulled by a Brahma steer. Hope the charm is still there. Have a great trip!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
