JES

Does anyone have any recommendations on a coastal town on the border of Nica and CR--but on the CR side?
Does anyone know how long to expect to wait in lines to get over the border? How about on a holiday weekend?
Thanks!

guanacaste

playa hermosa:

http://costa.rica.typepad.com/playa_...ome/index.html

the 'lines' question belongs in the 'how long is a piece of string' category

u'd better get used to waiting if youre visiting latin america

trixiew

Playa Hermosa isn't really near the boarder. I really liked Playa Del Coco, and Playa Flamingo. You can go a bit farther south to Playa Grande which is much less resorty.

guanacaste

playa hermosa is the nearest beach resort to nicaragua!!
i lived for a year and dtove up to nicaragua 6 times!!
playa del coco is <b>south</b> of Coco, the beach at hermosa is lovely to swim and sunbathe, coco is a base for fishing boats and the sand is dirty and the town has a big problem with crack!!
as evidenced by last weeks seizure of the biggest ever haul of crack cocaine on board a coco registered boat!
flamingo is generally speaking a sportfishing resort/ retirement place, and the beach has lost it's blue flag award because of effluent and sewage in the water on the beach! there are 3 resorts in flamingo some dating back mnore than 20 years, old fashioned cancun style!
playa hermosa has a blue flag and only 1 resort- villas del sol- that is on top of one of the hills, so if u stay on the beach u wouldn't even know it's here!

guanacaste

correction: playa del coco is <b>south</b> of Playa Hermosa.
i presume trixiew is getting hermosa in guanacaste with Hermosa beach near Jaco, miles south.
playa hermosa-guanacaste- is a small beach resort- but you wouldn't call it 'resorty'

trixiew

Yes! You are absolutely right. I got them totally confused. Thanks for the correction.

JES

Thanks for the suggestions. I definitely don't want a resort feel. I'm more looking for a cute/charming place right on the beach. It would be an added bonus to have a little town nearby.
We would be going for New Years and would like to have a little to do too.
Thanks!
fyi--good pt guanacaste about waiting and lines, but if we will be sitting in a car in a line of traffic for 3 hours or something crazy like that I'll head elsewhere. As it is I'm coming from NY! It will already be a bit of an adjustment .

guanacaste

trixew- at least u were´nt like the 6 surfer tourists i´d met on xmas eve in a bar in Playa Hermosa, who &lt;b&lt;insisted that `first light tomorrow morning we´re going surfing´
when i told them there was no surf here and they were thinking of Hermosa Beach near Jaco.
they said &quot;s**t we wondered why the taxi from san jose airport cost so much&quot;
you couldn´t make it up!!!!!!!


JES- you can try bribing the border guards, i got there once felling very hungver with a line half a mile long.
I gave them USD10 and they let me straight thru, but not a reliable way of doing things.
i like nicaragua a lot, but unless you really have a great desire to visit, perhaps leave it til next time!
if ur only here 4 a weekend you´ll spend almost all ur time in a car, or do u mean nicaragua 4 a weekend?
looking for something different to the `hoilda&yacute; guanacaste beaches´experience?
go to the caribbean, cahuita is beautiful:

http://costa.rica.typepad.com/cahuita/home/index.html

trixiew

Hahaha. I'm a surfer. No wonder I didn't know about it! I'll bet they were VERY unhappy.

JES

Thank you--that is a great site link. And a good hint for the border