Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Trip Report Costa Rica 12/26/05- 1/3-06 Part One in Manuel Antonio

After years of talking about visiting Costa Rica, my husband and I (40's)and sons (20 and 16) finally went for 8 nights, Dec 26 through Jan 3, 2006. Our 23 yr old son was supposed to go also, but is in the Coast Guard and shipped out earlier than expected. (Boohoo) We planned this incredible trip with the help of this forum (special thanks to Shillmac, Faithie and Melissa5)plus frommers and tripadvisor. I also read numerous tour books, with Moon Handbook being my favorite. We absolutely loved Costa Rica and hope to go back again to visit the places we didn't get to see.

Places visited:
Manuel Antonio 3 nights (Villas El Parque)
Arenal 3 nights (Arenal Paraiso)
Alajuela 2 nights (Orquideas Inn)
Playa Hermosa for a full day (On the beach by Fuego del Sol)

Transportation:
Two drivers (Manuel through Gaialink Tours and Jonathan from Wady Tours)
Rented a Prado SUV (Gaialink Tours booked this Alamo rental)

Activites:
Tour of Manuel Antonio Park (Gaialinktours.com booked the tour)
ATV's using Adrenaline Tours out of Quepos (www.adrenalinetours.com)
Tour of Volcano Park, Tabacon Springs and dinner (Gaialinktours.com booked this also)
Skytrek ziplines in Arenal (skytrek.com)
Surfing at Playa Hermosa (south of Jaco)

Best:
The scenery AND the Ticos!

Worst:
Heading home, back to reality!!

Biggest surprise:
The condition of the roads we traveled on in CR were no worse than the small town roads we drive on everyday here in southern New England!! (My opinion!)

Day one
We left Boston 7 AM on Delta to Atlanta then on to San Jose arriving at the airport about 3 PM. We were supposed to arrive 1:40 PM, but hey, it was the day after Christmas and we're not the only people who travel on holidays! The airports were PACKED!! No worries, even though I kept muttering that our line going through immigration was the slowest. "Mom, you need to chill!"

Finally, through customs to meet Rosia who was waiting for us outside to bring us to our driver, Manuel, all set up by Gaialink Tours. I planned most of the trip myself, but used Ralph at Gaialink to set up drivers, the rental car and two tours, just to insure smoothness due to it being Christmas week.
What a relief to actually see people waiting for us!!! Definitely would recommend having a driver initially!!! First stop, grocery store for beers, wine and water. It is now 4 PM, and we're heading to Manuel Antonio. "Oh no, it's going to get dark and we're not supposed to drive at night!!" "Mom, chill!!!" Anyway, after a LONG, winding, hairpin turn drive up and down the sides of cliffs with the most incredible views, we arrived in Manuel Antonio at 7 PM. We did stop at Tarcoles for a moment to view the crocs, but the bugs at dusk were ready to carry us away so we only stayed long enough to shoot a picture!

Villas El Parque:
I was concerned about this hotel and had tried to book one with good reviews from this forum, but they either had 5 night minimum stays or we would have had to mortgage our house to pay for 2 rooms during Christmas week. Initially I thought the place looked old and worn, but over the next few days, we all grew to love it!! The views were incredible and out of the 3 places we stayed, the employees were the greatest!! Accommodating, warm and gracious! Gosh, that was so comforting!!!! Our sons stayed below us and we all had huge balconies with hammocks and very spacious rooms! I loved the location up on the hill, but I live for VIEWS! Plus we saw lots of monkeys here. If you choose this hotel, don't go with high expectations and you may just grow to love it too!! We all agreed it was our favorite hotel of the trip. SiComoNo looked great if you're looking for more of a resort and don't mind spending $$$. It would have cost us more than $700.00 per night during this week as opposed to under $300.00, just to put it all into perspective!!

Ok, back on track. We were pretty tired that first night so we headed up to the top of the hotel to a restaurant/bar called Agua Azul. Awesome place, great food and interesting people hanging about! Over the next few days we went there a couple of times to check out the panoramic views and chat with the locals (ex-pats I guess they're called)who lived in the condos at El Parque and down the little side road. Very interesting to listen to their stories. One ex-pat even gave us a tour of his house built into the cliff overlooking the ocean in MA. Spectacular!!!

Day two:
Up early, small tour bus picked us up at our hotel at 6:45 AM, made a couple of stops along the way picking up more people and on to Manuel Antonio Park for the day. I probably wouldn't choose to do that again, instead hire a guide right at the park, but it was a good way to force the boys up and out plus I didn't have to worry about planning the day. All figured out ahead of time. Our tour, which I thought was supposed to be private, hahaha, was pretty large and was just okay. The guide was so into explaining every little detail of everything we saw, I even thought "enough"! All good though, and we saw sloths, bats, Jesus Christ Lizards, deer and a Blue Morpho butterfly flying peacefully by us! Yes, the park was crowded, yes, trampled on by man, yes, noisy, BUT, beautiful with incredible scenery and beaches! I loved it for its beauty!! The kids and husband could have done without the tour but I'm glad we did it.

We stayed down by the beach after the tour, had lunch at the Marlin (good food, good service,just took awhile), then back to the park for the afternoon to body surf and relax. I do need to tell you though, we chose to stay at the first beach inside the park where the waves were good so we could bodysurf plus it wasn't crowded, but one wave picked me up and dropped me so hard on my butt that I still have a gigantic black bruise on my behind. Ouch, ouch, ouch!!! My sons said it happened because I didn't "go" with the wave, tried to stay put instead. So, remember to "go" with the waves!!!

We bought a few trinkets at the beach and found them to be the cheapest in CR and the same quality as the ones in the gift shops we visited. Wished I had purchased more there.

That night we went to El Avion, and the boys loved it. I admit, I did too. I had a delicious shrimp and pasta dish! It was pouring out and as we finished up dinner, all the lights went out!! No worries though, I had my trusty flashlight!!!

Day 3
Yesterday, while at the Marlin Restaurant, we booked an ATV tour. It was the boy's idea but we all ended up loving it. The owner is an American who has only been in Quepos for a year and a half but is very motivated to turn his newly purchased land into a full fledged adventure park! He believes Quepos is going to "explode" in the next couple of years since a huge marina large enough dock cruise ships is in the works. So quick, hurry to see Quepos before all this happens!

I rode tandem because I didn't want to pay for another ATV plus it was fun to sit back and let my husband do the driving. We were with a small group of young adults (20's) on the tour. It was awesome, zipping through the African Palm trees, the teak forests, splashing through huge mud puddles to a small village then over to a river with
a waterfall on ATV's being led by a Costa Rican named Marcus. What was so amazing to all of us was how the Ticos would come out of their houses or stop what they were doing to wave and smile as we were riding through their land!! They genuinely seemed thrilled to watch us on these large noisy machines!!! After riding, we drove to a restaurant called Leon (dinner included in the tour), on the main road outside of Quepos, and had a wonderful Costa Rican dinner. Fish, beans and rice, plus salad. Marcus sat next to me, and talked about his family, Costa Rica and his desire to visit the US. What an education for me!!! For the 4 of us, with me riding tandem this tour (ATV's and dinner) cost a little over $300.00 plus tip. It was great though, and we definitely recommend Adrenaline ATV tours!

Later that night, since it was our last night in Manuel Antonio, we decided to go to the casino across the road. I don't play much, but my husband and sons had a great time playing the slots! It's a very small casino, many people probably wouldn't like it, but my husband and sons won a total of $500.00! Plus, free drinks for all!!! And, my 16 yr old son had a great time since he's never even been able to stop in front of a slot machine in Vegas!!! Oh no, what have we created?????? Oh yes, one more thing. During the morning while waking up the boys at 10 AM we experienced an earthquake. I'm not sure, but the people around us said it was a 4 to 5! But, no worries, there aren't any skyscrapers in Manuel Antonio!!
"I feel the Earth move, under my feet, I feel the sky tumbling down!"

Next post (hopefully soon) Day 4 in Arenal