I am trying to plan a 2 week honeymoon in Costa Rica the first 2 weeks of November. We are getting married November 1st! I want to have a nice balance of beach time and some adventure. We really like the beach, but I want to take advantage and see volcanos, rainforests & wildlife. Zipline and possibly learn to surf/scuba. I would love to hear thoughts on traveling in November as far as weather. And do you think there is enough beach time to relax. We will need to unwind from all the wedding excitement & planning! thank you!

There will be rain...

www.arenal.net

www.lostiguanaresort.com

www.desafiocostarica.com for tours

Best beach

www.playamontezuma.net

www.ylanngylangresort.com

Rent a car for freedom flexibility

Congrats have fun,

I would expect rain as well. Here's a good site for checking the rain during specific months - just pull up the map and mouse over the areas you're interested in: www.costa-rica-guide.com. For volcano time, you'll definitely want to go to Arenal/La Fortuna. We stay at the Lost Iguana and love it. For beach time, Manuel Antonio is the most popular spot for first timers. Check out Buena Vista Villas. There are lots of great places to stay in both places. The Peace Lodge is also nice for a couple of nights. It was damaged in the earthquake, but should be open again by November, at least that's what they're saying. It's a very honeymoonish hotel with great views, waterfall showers, fireplaces, jacuzzis, etc.

It is hard to make concrete recommendations without knowing your budget. So lets just consider some areas.

Arenal Volcano. Great spot for a few days of hot springs and spas, with the back drop of a live volcano. The Cano Negro reserve tour is well worth doing.

Monteverde. Great cloud forest, and the birthplace of the zip lines. The best ones are still there. Great hiking and mountain biking. Wonderful spot for birds. Less so for mammals. Fun little community, with some good restaurants. Bad road, but not horrible and worth braving. You certainly want 4WD here.

Manuel Antonio. The most well known, and most visited National Park. But with good reason. The best place in the country to watch monkeys. Wide variety of hotels. Some of our favorite honeymoon hotels are in this area.

Osa Peninsula. This covers a lot of area. Because of the remote location, this is the most expensive area to visit. You will note a lot of folks on this board love the Bosque del Cabo Lodge. This is a wonderful area, and the Lapa Rios Lodge is located here too. There is also the area around Drake Bay. The lodges here are a little more expensive, but include all of the tours and transportation. You have the added bonus of Isla del Cano too, and the boat ride to the lodges are a tour in themselves.

Tortuguero. If you can't afford the Osa, this is a good substitute. Great nature, you will see crocodiles, cayman, sloths, monkeys, and some really loud parrots. If you are extremely lucky, you may even see a manatee (I haven't in three visits, but I've been told they are there!). November is the tail end of turtle season too. You have a good chance to see the moms laying their eggs.

I don't know how active you want to be. But there are some really good overnight and two night rafting trips on the Rio Pacuare. That could be your adventure.

Peace Lodge hopes to open by August, so you can cap it all off with a couple of nights there. Over the top honeymoon suites, and fun grounds with five beautiful waterfalls. Not all that far from the airport.

I agree about having a car for most of the trip. Some of these areas are spread out, its nice to have your own wheels. This way you can check out the local restaurants and explore.

You could do all of these area for under $2000, or for $5000! It really depends on the level you want to do it at.

Hope this helps! Let me know if I can offer any more advice.

Warm Regards,
Pat Hewitt
Travel Professional

If I were going in November I'd consider Puerto Viejo, for less rain to ensure some good beach time, Tortugero and Arenal and end up for 2 nights at Peace Lodge.

Wow thank you all for all these great ideas. Our budget is probably in the $2-3K range. It is our honeymoon so I want to enjoy all the niceties like massage & spa, however we both travel a lot for work, so it is not a novelty to stay in a hotel for us. So the lodges, more intimate places to stay will be very welcome. I have also been reading on the forums that you can fly from place to place rather than drive. I'll keep reading the forums, they have a lot of great advice.

Yes, check out Sansa and Nature Air; they both have websites, so you can see where they go. Sansa is located right next to the SJO airport.