Thanks to everyone for answering all my questions before we left. Also a special thanks to Michael Mills who we did not get to use but comes highly recomended in the Papagayo area - he even called to check up on us! We flew on Taca Airlines this time from Boston and all flights were great and on time. We arrived in San Jose at about 2:30 and our private transfer was waiting for us to drive us to Arenal. Even though this was our 3rd trip I figured with us being tired that it is really not that much more expensive and the peace of mind was worth it! We arrived at Arenal Paraiso at about 6 PM. We were exhausted so we chose to eat dinner at the hotel - Big mistake it was absolutely the worse steak i have ever had!!! We loved the Arenal Paraiso but skip the restaurant!!! Our cabin was furthest away but it was worth it for all the birds and monkeys outside our porch. My children and my husband loved it here. The next day our rental car arrived - it was supposed to be here at 10 but did not arrive till noon because of an accident. We were very happy with Tricolor but make sure you have them note everything even on the roof as they are very picky!!! Also at 5:30 am i had arranged for Jacamar Tours to take me birdwatching. They arrived on time - were extremely knowledgeable and we had a great time walking on the road near the lake. I would highly recomend them. In the afternoon we drove around shopped downtown, had milkshakes at the Monteverde Ice Cream store and got our bearings. In the evening we ate at El Novillo. When we pulled up no one was there after the night before i was very leary but i know everyone on here raved about it so in we went. They could not have been nicer. The food was absolutely DELICIOUS and the steak was so tender and the rice with vegetables was out of this world. We ate there the next night too!!!
My husband gambled each evening downtown at Luigi's Casino which was very small but he won every night so he was happy! The next day we decided to walk down to the waterfall that is on the property - big mistake it is a treachorous walk and not even really a waterfall. This was by far the single most stupid thing we have ever done as there were no railings, stairs or anything. Glad to be back - we took the car out and drove up to the observatory lodge just in time for the volcano to clear for the first time in 3 days. We saw it spew out rocks and spent a few hours up there. Then we went to the Tabacon mineral Springs. They are absolutely gorgeous - prettier than all the pictures. I am glad that we spent the money.

Day 4 - we left Fortuna and headed over to Tamarindo. Well what can i say i thought this was a 4 hour ride but we must have done something wrong and almost were divorced trying to get back on track but finally arrived after 6 grueling hours in Tamarindo. We stayed 3 nights at Capitan Suizo in a bungalow and it was heaven on earth! My kids loved the pool. The monkeys were right outside our room. Everyone was pleasant, the restaurant was very good. 2 nights we went downtown to eat. We ate one night at Lazy Wave which has a very limited menu and we thought was expensive and the first night we ate at Zullymar. We love the grilled shrimp - however the price for dinner jumped about $20.00 from last year. Tamarindo is booming we could not believe all the changes in 1 year. Huge buildings and even a Burger King - yuck downtown which they said was temporary!

After Tamarindo we drove up to the Fiesta Premier in Pappagayo where we stayed for 1 week. Absolutely gorgeous weather each and every day. Birds and monkeys just a walk down the beach. My kids loved it here - they loved the entertainment and made alot of friends. My husband went to Coco Beach each night gambling as the casino in the resort took their sweet time to change your chips back to cash! 99% of the people staying at the resort were from Canada. Up till this point i really never realized how much Canadians do not care for Americans. at the beach Bar-b-que my daughter was actually booed by an older man when she raised her hand saying she was from the USA. It was a good learning lesson for them.
Anyways this resort was a 6 on a scale of 1 - 10. The terrain is quite hilly. We were in the 100's and still had 50 steps from the street to our door. Rooms were adequate. The animation staff was wonderful! Would we go back - I am not sure. We went into Liberia one day and went to the waterfall which was beautiful and we found Souvenir World on the way to Liberia which had great prices and helpful staff. We bought one of the rocking chairs.

From here we went to the Fiesta in Puntarenas
to stay for the last 2 days. We had stayed here 3 years ago and loved it. It is mostly Costa Rican people and very pretty. My daughters got to see some of their friends from 3 years ago and everyone was happy. We had a 2:30 flight so we left Puntarenas at 8 AM and had plenty of time to return the rental car and get to the airport.

All in all a wonderful trip - absolutely gorgeous country with friendly helpful people so much nature and birds at your fingertips - we just cannot wait to return. My 16 year old daughter cried the whole way home - she would like to move. If I can answer any questions I would be happy to. Y

Flycatcher, sounds like your family had a great time! Glad to hear your husband won a little bit at gambling--I always heard that was rare in Costa Rica!

Sorry to hear about a Burger King in Tamarindo--how depressing. And the increase in prices--guess that is to be expected. I'm sure that will be going on all over the country--from real estate trickling on down to meals!

We, too, stayed at Fiesta in Puntarenas a couple of years ago. One of the animacion staffers who worked at Puntarenas then is now at Fiesta Papagayo--Roberto. Seems like someone told me he had changed jobs again, though. Not sure. . did you meet him? You wouldn't have missed him!

Cool that you got to see Arenal in action--I laughed at your description of getting from Arenal to Tamarindo--sounds like you had one of those conversations my husband and I have occasionally when driving in Costa Rica! Welcome home!

BTW, I don't think most Canadians dislike us--what a sorry fellow who booed your daughter. Shame on him! Faithie likes us. . .

Indeed ..... Please do not lump all of us together , BIG generalization , and not a good thing to put into a childs mind ! It was a terrible thing the gentleman did , shameful in fact ( sorry for that ) ... But not the whole countrys sentiments !!! Rest assured no booing would be heard from me or anyone I know . Our countrys are basically the same in many , many , ways . I am glad you enjoyed your trip , great report ! Faith , P.S. Amazing what changes 1 year can bring about .... ( Hi shillmac !! ) Sis decided to spend the whole trip in M.A. , they have moved onto the Vela Bar close to the beach .

So they're still getting along?

Teasing. . .I'm sure they are having a fabulous time! What a way to cement a relationship! HI FAITHIE!

Hi there, I am sorry if I gave the impression that I gave my daughter that all Canadians dislike us because this was never my thought in the past and still is not- what we did tell her is it was a good lesson because not everyone in the world likes us as Americans right now! Anyways we did have an amazing trip and that was part of it. I did want to add that the snorkeling at Fiesta Premier was excellent! We cannot wait to return!!!

Hi there, Here is a link to our pictures - it should get you there without a problem! http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeAt27dk1ctWGr

Wish we were still there~!

Flycatcher, thanks for the link. My daughter and I loved looking at your photos--brought back lots of memories. Your family looked to be having so much fun--and I know the girls must have really gotten a kick out of the attention of the Latin fellows---they really do make you feel as if you're the only "mi amor" they've ever known! Reminded me of traveling there for the first time a few years ago with our daughters and son--who were all in their late teens and early twenties at the time. Our daughters fell madly in love. They soon got over it. . .!

Some of the pictures you took had photos of people we have known and seen, so it was fun especially to view them. Henry--and the guy at Fiesta Puntarenas (can't remember what you said his name was--started with a Y, cute little guy). He was so talented. Can't remember where we saw Henry, but think he used to work down at Barcelo Tambor. Very nice fellow.

We, too, spent a weekend at Puntarenas and thought it was a fun place--very Tico, as you mentioned in an earlier post.

Premier looks like a nice resort--Papagayo Bay so beautiful and did you ever get some great sunset shots--my favorites! The cataratas grandes we haven't seen--where were those exactly? In the area, I assume? Again, thanks for sharing!