vic_jola

Tulemar is almost fully booked in February 2016 except for a standard room, garden view. This does not appeal as much as their other accommodation. Would appreciate suggestions for any alternatives. After two weeks of touring we are hoping to spend about 5 days chilling out somewhere nice.

volcanogirl

We love Tulemar, but Arenas del Mar, Gaia, and La Posada Jungle Lodge always get good reviews if you want to explore those. Si Como No and Parador are also mentioned quite a bit. Also Costa Verde, Villas Nicolas, and La Mariposa. We stayed at Mango Moon years ago - it's under new ownership so I can't say how it is currently. I would try to stay somewhere with easy beach access; that's what we love about Tulemar.

RAC

You could also broaden your search to the areas just south of Manuel Antonio like Dominical and Uvita, which offer a lot of really nice options. You're not on the beach in those areas, but you do have amazing views and high quality food/lodging.

mlgb

I was able to get a good rate at Arenas del Mar, and enjoyed it. But it may not be worth rack rate as the rooms aren't really that big.

Villa Nicolas was okay for a budget choice but I preferred being down at the beach.

Also keep checking for cancellations.

vic_jola

Thank you all for your suggestions.
RAC, As you suggested I am looking at options (Villas Alturas and Tiki) near Dominical. They are on the hilltops and we will probably need to rent a car for a few days.

RAC

Ah, yes, you would need/really want a car, but you could rent one in Dominical (Solid seems to be the best choice there). It's really easy driving there--pretty much only one road, the Costanera.

Tikivillas is fantastic.

Another couple of options, if you're looking to treat yourself at a less sweaty place, would be Rio Magnolio (30 minutes north of Dominical) or Monte Azul (slopes of Chirripo NE of San Isidro). You could easily hang out on the grounds of those places for a few days.

volcanogirl

That's crazy how fast Tulemar books up. We stayed in different rooms/villas when we were there to get to stay the full amount of time we wanted.

vic_jola

RAC and VG: I too was surprised that Tulemar is so heavly book into February so have now settled on TikiVillas for a few days.
However I am still having itinerary problems (we have set aside three weeks for this trip, mostly without a car rental). Getting to Monteverde and Arenal is straightforward but I am struggling with how to get to Osa and combine with some time in the central coast area south of Manuel Antonio.
One of my thoughts is to fly to Puerto Jimenez, spend a few days in Cabinas Jimenez, go to Bosque de Campo for three nights and then get a road transfer to TikiVillas avoiding having to fly back into San Jose. We have not been to CR before so need to get some input to see if this makes sense. We realize we will need a car at TikiVillas to explore the surrounding area but apparently can rent one once we get to TikiV. Thanks for advice.

RAC

That makes sense. Solid Car Rental has offices in Puerto Jimenez, Dominical, and at SJO airport, so you could:

1) Fly to Puerto Jimenez, head straight to Bosque del Cabo for rainforest hiking

2) then spend a few nights in Puerto Jimenez for dolphin tours, kayaking, etc;

3) Rent a car in Puerto Jimenez, and drive to Uvita/Dominical

After Uvita/Dominical, you could either drop the car off in Dominical (easiest) and get a private transfer to the airport, or you could drive yourselves to the airport (get a GPS!)

vic_jola

RAC: You sure have saved me a lot of work. Thanks a lot. I think we will opt for your option 3: rent car in PJ,(have already contacted Solid for a quote) and drive ourselves to TikiVillas, then probably drop off car in Dominical and get a transfer to SJO (some place where we can spend the night before our early afternoon international flight out the next day).

Due to availability of rooms at Bosque del Cabo (we wanted a classic cabina) we are staying in PJ first and then going to BdC,

We are staying in Osa area 6 nights. I really wanted to stay at Iguana Lodge but they confirmed that they have absolutely no aircon. I can take the three days at BdC (barely) but because of certain meds I am on the heat and humidity at night is a total killer. That is why I opted for the bungalow at Cabinas (it has aircon!).

Finally, should we book dolphin, kayaking through Cabinas Jimenez?

RAC

I don't see why you wouldn't book those tours through them. I say go for it.