4-5 night suggestion

Old Oct 19th, 2013, 07:18 AM
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4-5 night suggestion

I'm looking to have a vacation for 4-5 nights somewhere in Central America. We live in Florida and originally we were thinking about Costa Rica, but after reading a lot of posts it appears that Costa Rica has become a lot more expensive and there's a lot of tourists now. I'd prefer to stay away from tourists, so we were thinking about Nicaragua, since a lot of what I read appears to indicate Nicaragua seems to have less tourists and it is possibly safer.

I'm not sure if anybody else has any recommendations. It's for an anniversary and we'll probably be going in March, so it will only be the two of us.

Since we live in Florida and we've seen around the world so many beaches, I'm really not looking for just a beach location but more of a place that we can enjoy the culture, history and food and if there's a nice beach it's just an added bonus.
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Old Oct 19th, 2013, 08:15 AM
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The Ojochal/Uvita area is a real foodie place. A lot of Europeans and French Canadians have settled in the area, so there are interesting little restaurants to try out. If you can afford it, Kura Design Villas is an option. Costa Rica is plenty safe. You won't find a lot of historical/cultural attractions, though. A new Ojochal hotel for less money would be Alma de Ojochal. It is affiliated with the Restaurante Azul.
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Old Oct 19th, 2013, 09:48 AM
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Dear jbotraveler,
certains parts of Costa Rica are touristy. But a lot aren't.
Look for Southern Costa Rica. Ojochal is a great small village.
But with just 4-5 days, maybe you should pick something closer.

You can take a domestic flight from SJO airport or Liberia airport and fly to or near your destination.
In that case, Ojochal, you could fly to Quepos than have a shuttle.

One hotel I know that is off the beaten path with 100% people recommending it on Trip Advisor, is Cristal Azul. Nice place!
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Old Oct 19th, 2013, 11:27 AM
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I love Costa Rica, but if I were looking for history, culture, and good food, I might take a look at Belize. We've always felt very safe in Costa Rica though. I can't imagine why Nicaragua would be considered safer.

Belize has a lot of nice ruins that you can't find in CR, and for the most part food in CR is kind of simple - lots of grilled meats, plantains, rice, beans, etc. Belize also has fantastic snorkeling, and you can go over to Tikal from there. CR has awesome hiking, wildlife, rainforests, and waterfalls though.
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Old Oct 19th, 2013, 02:00 PM
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It appears more people recommend costa rica. I did see that the murder rate in costa rica and nicaragua are pretty close at least two years ago when this was posted. Kind of shocked how high the rate in Belieze is,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...P_graphic.html

I forgot to mention that we've been or lived in Brazil, Puerto Rico, Peru and Colombia and we speak Spanish.

To be completely honest I kind of expect similarities to a lot of other latin countries, but we go to Puerto Rico so often that I'd prefer something a little different. It's why beaches were aren't on the top of our list.

Really appreciate all the recommendations
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Old Oct 19th, 2013, 05:16 PM
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We were offered drugs in Belize and have never had that happen in Costa Rica. That being said, I think it would be better to take a look at crime statistics in a particular area vs. the country as a whole. Just like here, there are certain parts of town where you don't want to stay. I'd be more concerned with petty theft than murder though.
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