auprincess

I am planning a honeymoon April19th-28th. We are planning on staying at Arenal Paraiso for 3 nights (including our first night there since our plane arrives around noon). We then want to spend 4 nights in a bungalow type setting directly on the beach. From there we will head back to San Jose for 2 nights and do whitewater rafting before we leave. I'm looking for suggestions for a place to stay on the beach that is not too touristy. We've been looking at El Sano Banano and the Iguana Lodge (any comments?). We don't mind the more rustic side, however a pool, a bar, and a little bit of a town would b nice. Our budget is moderate. Any recommendations are welcomed, Thanks!

Ally

I'm curious about how you decided on the choices for the beach lodging. I'm sure you know that El Sano Banano beach bungalows are a 10 minute walk from the hotel in town through a forest path and that there is no pool? I don't think Iguana Lodge has a pool either and is so far from any town that you have to have all your meals there. Even if it was close to town, there is nothing of interest in Puerto Jimenez.
Take a look at Hotel Milarepa, in Mal Pais. Much nicer beaches in the area and a small town with very little tourist. Montezuma draws more of a 'hippy' backpackers crowd, Mal Pais draws a few surfers and Puerto Jimenez does not draw anyone except passing through to go to the jungle/beach lodges around the area.

auprincess

Thanks Ally! We had heard of the above mentioned places in other forum responses. We want kind of a fantasy island feel, but unless the soon to be in-laws give us a nice wedding gift we can't afford punta islita or lapa rios. I'll check into Milarepa (I glanced at it briefly and it looks nice). Any other suggestions would be appreciated as this will be our first trip to costa rica and we have no idea where we should stay.

lisabel

auprincess,
the sano banano definitely has that fantasy island feel- there is a beautiful pool that I think they recently put in. It's not a huge olympic sized one, but it's a beautiful setting, also the path between the bungalows is covered in flowers. The walk to town is on the beach which is great during the day, but i have to admit, sometimes at night even with the flashlight it was tough to see. very worth it though!

auprincess

Thanks lisabel!
We've been looking at Milarepa and that looks nice too. It's hard to make a decision. We'll be coming from Arenal, should we go back to San Jose and fly, does anyone know with flying how long the trip is from San Jose to Mal Pais or Montezuma?