kimde

i plan on traveling to costa rica for my first time and will be there for the last couple of weeks in august. is the rain really all that bad? should i go somewhere else? i am an asian female and will be traveling for a week with my best friend and then a few days by myself - is it safe for me to travel around alone? also, should we plan on traveling by bus or should we rent a car? thank you!

dncee11

Kim, there will be some rain but usually not enough to disrupt your plans. Don't worry about the weather, there is really no bad time to go to CR. You will be safe with friends or by yourself if you just make yourself aware of your surroundings at all times. Like anywhere, 99% of the people are friendly and nice. For 2 weeks, having a car is worth it, although busses go everywhere, they just take longer. A few words of Spanish will help you a lot. Good luck and have fun!

kimde

thanks dncee11! do you think it is too ambitious to try to go to monteverde, arenal, manuel antonio and one other beach town in 12 days? is there another beach town you would recommend? i have heard tamarindo is very touristy.... thoughts?

tully

With 12 days, I'd keep it to 3 places max. Arenal, Monteverde & MA are 3 good choices. Interbus goes to all of these places and is cheap and reliable.

dfarmer

We normally do 3 to 4 nights at most places. And sometimes a night in or near SJ on the front and end of our trip.

If you want to squeeze in one more beach location.
Montezuma is a fun place and offers a totally different beach experience than MA.

kimde

thanks tully and dfarmer- those 12 days are full days in CR, i wasn't including the 1 day i arrive there and the 1 day i leave, so it's actually a total of 14 days- the first 7 will be with my friend, the latter 7 by myself- i was thinking the first few days in monteverde, a few days in tamarindo or one of the beach towns, then by myself to arenal for a few days to finish it off with 4 days in MA? (only b/c my friend has been to arenal before) is montezuma better than tamarindo? thanks!

TripleSecDelay

The rain is never really that bad. It's a warm rain. You'll like it. You don't need to change your plans.

How I gauge transportation : I don't take the bus at home, so I don't when traveling. In a dense city, a cab is best.
Certainly, you are comfortable driving in your own homeland and will be fine in CR. If you are not comfortable driving "at home" then please consider public transportation OR a private driver.

Safety is what you make it. If you can exist in a large city in the UK or US, then you can do the same in CR. Don't display your wealth and make eye contact with everyone.

If Tamarindo wasn't touristy, people wouldn't go there. If it wasn't attractive, it wouldn't become touristy.