costa rica questions
 

We are leaving 2/5/2014 for San Hose. In regards to ATM - any issues using them? Is it difficult and can one make a mistake? Also concerning bug repellant - what type/brand have you found to be ok? For one afternoon in San Hose upon arrival, what shouldn't we miss - will be ready to go at noon or a little earlier. Any advice for us (4 seniors) during our stay in the country? (12 days) Which hanging bridges did you find the best? And last but not least - the gift shop (LaFortuna) with the hummingbird feeders outside - is it worth trying to get there if a little out of the way? Thank you so much.

Hi MargieHar ,

About the ATM you are not going to have any problems with them, almost all of them are programmed in Spanish and English and it’s easy to follow the instructions. You should know that most ATMs will only let you withdraw money before 10 p.m. and a few until 11 p.m.

There’re is a brand called OFF that is the most popular here in Costa Rica, and you can find it at supermarkets and drugstores.

If you’re spending time in San José some interesting places to check out include the National Theater, the National Museum or The Gold and Jade Museum that is next to National Theater. If you’re at your hotel before noon you can book an afternoon guided City Tour.

If you are planning to stay more that 2 days in San Jose, you could take other day tours, for example, you can go the Poas Volcano that is just one hour drive or go to the Irazu Volcano which is less than 1.5 hours from San Jose. Coffee tours are also interesting. You can learn about a very traditional activity at a productive Coffee ranch in Heredia (near San Jose).

Since you’re staying several days, you can try the Central Pacific (1 to 3 hours from SJ depending on where you’re going) or the North Pacific (a little over 3 hours away from SJ). You can find spectacular white sand beaches, clear and turquoise waters, with many different tours and activities; like Avellanas, Conchal, Santa Teresa and Montezuma (for these last two beaches you must take a ferry through the Nicoya Gulf, but really worth it!), for the Central Pacific you can’t go wrong with Manuel Antonio.

The Caribbean side of Costa Rica, is just paradise, crystal blue waters, amazing coral reefs, and nature all over. You can check-out Manzanillo, Puerto Viejo, Cocles, or Punta Uva.

I’m not familiar with the gift shop in La Fortuna but concerning the destination itself you will love it, it is a magical place, where you can do a lot of tours that put you in touch with nature, there are different levels of hiking tours in the area, some will get you very close to the volcano, try a safari floats. The hot springs are very relaxing and if you’re feeling a little adventurous you could try the zip-lining.

As you can see, Costa Rica has a many different experiences to offer such as culture, adventure, relaxation, nature and many more!

You might be thinking of the Hummingbird Gallery, but it's in Monteverde, not La Fortuna. :)

Yes - that's it the hummingbird gallery - since I am a bird fan - should I go there even if it takes extra effort?

To exchange money upon arrival: where would you suggest to do this. We also are only staying in San Hose 1 (one) afternoon, but didn't want to just stay at the hotel. So it would be from noon to evening, then next day we are leaving. So the museum sounds interesting, could one do that and visit a local market and do dinner and return to hotel in good time?
Thanks for the help - sure appreciate the forum.

The Hanging Bridges in the La Fortuna/Arenal area are very nice. You can walk them on your own, of if you want to increase your chances of seeing wildlife, hire a guide. Both Desafio and Sunset Tours have good guides; they have comprehensive websites if you want to check them out.

I'd only go to Monteverde if you can spend at least two nights there. It's a long, bumpy road, and doesn't make for a good day trip. Desafio offers a Jeep, Boat, Jeep transport that goes from Arenal to Monteverde and vice versa. We paid about %30 per person when we did it. We never exchange our money when we go; dollars have always been accepted everywhere that we've gone. If you're only going to tourist areas, dollars are widely accepted, although you'll get colones back in change.

We did as you suggested and asked the Desafio jeep,boat,jeep and we will be in Monteverede two nights. We have the one day completely open, Desafio also will take us for a sunset horse ride the first night there. Do you have any suggestions for that one day? I plan to check the hanging bridges next and then contact them about that. Thinking of a night tour, as we are frog fans, so much to think about, guess that only means the second trip will be better planned?
Any RESTAURANT in San Jose that you would recommend with a view? for our first and only night there? Is the central market interesting? The gold museum what about that - something else that would be better use of time? thanks again

The Jeep, Boat, Jeep is fun - you get some very pretty views, and it's an adventure to go across the lake. Much better than driving yourself, at least for me. In Monteverde, we did a guided tour in the Monteverde Reserve to see quetzals, went ziplining, and did a night hike at Hidden Valley. I haven't done it, but I believe there's a ranarium in Monteverde that has frogs, double check me on that though. We did a really fun nocturnal frog tour at the Peace Lodge near Poas. One jumped on my head! If you're ever in that area, you should visit the La Paz Waterfall Gardens. It's about an hour from San Jose. There's a beautiful waterfall hike with five falls, and also a butterfly house, the ranarium, an aviary, etc. For the most part, San Jose is not really an attractive city - lots of razor wire and things like that, fast food restaurants. We stayed a night at Xandari, and I was amazed at how pretty it was once you got just a little bit outside the city. The Doka Coffee Estate is a nice tour as well.

The hummingbird gallery/gift shop is next door to the MV reserve, so not out of your way at all.

For dinner in San Jose, we like both Machu Picchu (Peruvian food) and Cafe Mundo.

The Gold Museum, National Museum of Costa Rica and the National Theater are all great places to visit in the city.

Margie, if you're a frog fan, you should consider spending a couple nights at Selva Verde lodge sometime. It's a simple place, but comfortable. We saw so many poison dart frogs there, more than we've ever seen anywhere. We had to work to avoid stepping on them on the trails - lots of green and black tiny ones, and the red and blue blue jeans/strawberry dart frogs too. Saw lots of red eye tree frogs by the little pond by the restaurant. They were just everywhere!

We usually stay at Grano de Oro when we stay a night in San Jose, so we eat at the restaurant there, which is really delicious; no view to speak of though. Most of the areas we've seen have been pretty flat, so not much in the way of nice views.

Thank you for the most welcome advice, first time to travel there, and it is so exciting just to think of some of the wild life there. I hope that we take the right clothing, make good choices while there and that all goes well, not smooth as that is unreal - but well - Could you advise on:
Best Hanging Bridges Best: Zip line Best: night tour We are in, LaFortuna, Monteverde, AM - perhaps not the right amount of time at any particular one, but we give it much thought. We have really tried to do our home work, but hard to keep every thing in mind. Thank you all so much - the information in the forum is "very valuable"

Sure, for us, the best zipline we've done is Sky Trek in the La Fortuna/Arenal area - they have some of the highest, longest lines in the country. What I enjoyed most about it was the great views of the lake and the volcano. We also zipped in Monteverde, but preferred Arenal. Monteverde was quite cold and rainy for us when we went. We had to wear sweatshirts and fleece jackets at night, and our hotel had their fireplace going. Best Hanging Bridges that we've done are the Hanging Bridges in the La Fortuna/Arenal area. We've done it on our own, and it's a very pretty hike. When we went with a guide, we saw howler monkeys and a toucan. You can get nice volcano views if the clouds cooperate. Sometimes it's so cloudy that you can't see the volcano. Best night hike for us was Hidden Valley in Monteverde; we saw some very neat things including a porcupine and a fox which were both new ones for us. Plus it was just fun to troop around in the dark with a flashlight!

When you say AM, are you referring to Manuel Antonio? I wasn't sure what you meant by that one.

Uh sorry, typing faster than the brain was spelling, yes Manuel Antonio, we do have a few days there. I hope that we are able to do the zip and bridge tour that you suggested. Good comment on Monteverde and the weather, I will adjust my packing a little on that one. I actually prefer the cold, and was worried that the humidity and high temperatures will be a factor when it comes to enjoying our time there. So Volcanogirl thank you so much for all the words of wisdom that you have given. Time is almost here, and we've been planning for over 12 months - all too soon it will be over, but guess one can start planning the next one. Thank you so much again for all your time and advice. Margie

Just ate twice at Maccu Picchu. Best sea bass ever. Got manire sauce.

My pleasure, Margie - I'm happy to help! Yes, Monteverde can get quite chilly because of its high elevation. Poas too if you ever make it to that area. In Manuel Antonio, we really enjoyed the Villa Vanilla spice tour, a guided tour of the national park (very pretty beach and lots of wildlife), and doing the Damas Mangrove Tour - saw lots of monkeys on that one. We used Manuel Antonio Expeditions and liked them. I got the recommendation on this board. Other than that, we spent just about every day at the beach since we stayed at Tulemar. Manuel Antonio has been hot and humid for us both times that we've gone, which is fine for beach weather. I hope you guys have a wonderful trip.

Another question for San Jose and the taxi at the airport:
Will they take US dollars? And is it a hassle for them to take you to the hotel that you have already reserved? If they don't take dollars, where would you exchange money, thanks again, Margie

We always have the hotel pick us up at the airport just because that's been easy for us, but every taxi we've ever taken has taken U.S. dollars. I would confirm with them before getting in the taxi though.