Costa Rican Experts please review
 

My husband and I are planning a trip in June, we have been looking and liked the idea of this pkg. Can any one give us tips? It is through JD's WATERSPORTS in Costa Rica. Thanks for your help!
Day 1 San Jose- Hotel Bougainvillea
Day 2 Drive ourselves to Tabacon Resort, visit arenal volcano, tabacon hot springs
Day 3 Canopy tour (we are not sure at all about doing this) Visiting La Fortuna Waterfall, lake Arenal
Day 4 Drive to Central Pacific Coast to Hotel Club del Mar
Day 5 Jungle River Cruise
Day 6 Drive back to San Jose, Hotel Bougainvillea in the afternoon, stay there the remainder of the trip.
Day 7 Poas Volcano, La Paz Waterfall, butterfly gardins etc.
Day 8 Pacuare River rafting all day
Day 9 Depart in the am back to US

We have also seen good reviews for Peace Lodge in San Jose, should we request to stay there at least one night? The price for this pkg is approx. $1000 w/o airfare. Is this a good deal? It includes all breakfast, some lunches, all entrance fees & expenses, and car rental.

We appreciate your help!

I can reply to some of your itierary and hope it helps. I no nothing of the Peace lodge.

Bougainvillea is beautiful. Good Choice.

Tabacon Resort- best place in the area. Do not book dinner at the Hot Springs. Buffet and marginal plus lots of package tours for it. The hotel has much better dinner. Lunch is good at the Hot Spirngs.

The La Fortuna Waterfall is great. Especially if you do the horsebackriding to it. A highlight! Did not go to the lake. The 7 hanging bridge hike is amazing from what we were told.

Canopy Tours are great fun.

Where is Hotel Club del Mar?

Hello, see pictures of La Fortuna and the waterfall on www.costaricaweb.<font color=red>de</font>.
Saludos
costaklaus

The only part of your itin that isn't clear to me is day 4-5. Not sure where on the Central Pacific this is, nor the quality of the jungle river cruise. I'm sure it is fine. It is just more common to spend 2-3 days at Manuel Antonio, visiting the excellent park there.

Is that $1000 per person? It's not a bad price, comparable with some other packages I've seen. There isn't much beach time--I guess that is okay with you? The central valley time (last 2 days) is nice--this is a great area.

As for Peace Lodge, that is just up to you. It is very expensive (haven't stayed there--would like to sometime just to see what all the hoopla is about!), and you are booked at a very nice hotel already. Are you looking for a little more of a splurge? If so, then that would be your place to do it in the central valley!

Thanks for all your input. Central Pacific area is along the western side of Costa Rica in the middle. We are looking at staying at Hotel Club de Mar. We are wondering if there is any beach access at all?

Has anyone ever booked through JD Watersports online?

jakeaspen,
Most of us are familiar with the central Pacific side; however Hotel Club del Mar isn't a familiar name on this board, and we were just wondering where specifically on the central Pacific coast it was. Is it a new hotel in the Quepos/Manuel Antonio area, or a little further north near Jaco (still central Pacific) or south of Manuel Antonio near Dominical (also central Pacific)?

The most popular central Pacific locale is Manuel Antonio Parque Nacional. There is a lot to do there with the rainforest and the beaches together. I'll do a Google and see if I can get a better idea. Perhaps the hotel website will describe location and proximity to the beach. Have you e-mailed them?

I know Club del Mar. It's in Jaco and it's very nice. The rooms are beautiful and there are many different styles of rooms/furnishing. You can walk right out to the beach.

Although I think everyone should see the hot springs at Tabacon, I'm not a fan of staying there. I'd pay for a half day visit. I much prefer Arenal Lodge, Arenal Paraiso, or the new Kioro, but that's my personal opinion. I'd definitely do the canopy tour -- there's a nice one at Arenal Paraiso and you can do the horseback ride to the waterfall on the same day.

Your itinerary is pretty busy -- you'll be on the move a lot -- but the price is great. I think you'll have a lot of fun.

Sandy

Thanks, Sandy, for clearing that up. I intended to search for it last night, but decided on sleep instead! :)

We are not big fans of Jaco, but if the hotel is nice, I agree the price is a good one. And one can always venture south of Jaco on a daytrip.

Also, I agree that Tabacon would not be our choice of places to stay. We, too, would prefer to pay the entrance fee to the springs and stay somewhere else. However, since it is included in the package, we'd probably go with it.

jakeaspen, when you get back, do a review of your package on this board. Tell us how it turned out for you--pros and cons. June will be a good month for travel in Costa Rica, and I hope you have a great time!

We have 9nights and are planning our trip from Feb. How does this sound:
Day 1 fly into SJ at 2:20 , rent car and drive to Lost Iguana Lodge (Is this out of the way and a better choice is needed.
Day 2 and 3 do ctivities in the area; zip lines, hiking, hot springs, etc maybe jeep/boat/jeep tour to Monteverde and back. Is that a day trip
Day 4 head to Manual Antonio stay at costa Verde or Si Como no(any ohter suggestions)
day 5-7 activities in tht area
Day 8 drive to San Jose (how do you go..same way we came on on around)
Day 9 go to La Paos and maybe stay the last night at Peace Lodge
day 10 drive back and catch 3:30 flight home

What do you think?

Sounds like a nice itinerary to me, heyjude. I'd skip Monteverde--it isn't a daytrip and really needs a minimum of 2 nights--with 3 being much better. You'll have plenty of fascinating things to do in the Arenal area. Consider a daytrip to Cano Negro.

Returning to San Jose from Manuel Antonio, I'd come through Orotina, Atenas, Garita, then Alajuela. It's a beautiful drive and will give you a nice sightseeing loop in addition to being the most expedient route. Once in Alajuela, you'll make a left hand turn (at the cemetery, I believe), then head right out of town up toward Peace Lodge.

We loved Hotel Bougainvillea in June 2005 and if you want to book it directly with the hotel it's only about $80 per night. Terrific garden. Nice rooms. Great staff. Would definitely stay there again. Also nice pool and sauna.

Arenal: We loved the Lost Iguana hotel in Arenal. Every room has a volcano view (which isn't true for TAbacon hotel.) Hubby and I loved our luxury suite on the first floor with dual-shower heads in our bathroom with a garden growing in the shower room and a screen overhead, so you can turn out the lights and shower by moonlight literally! also private jacuzzi on your private patio. Bathrooms may vary a bit , ours had the dual-shower-head lava rock shower. This was the luxury suite, I'm rambling a bit here but the regular rooms (I think they are called deluxe) are still nice but smaller, and bathroom is not as large, though certainly still a well-decorated room.

Monteverde was one of my favorite places but I wouldn't even consider going back for fewer than 3 nights. In fact we are planning to go back, and will stay 3 nights again!

Have fun.

Oops, forgot to add to my reply above, I&quot;m not an expert, but I did want to share my info, as we were just in Costa Rica in June 2005 and we loved it!

Thanks so much. I will look in Cano Negro for a day trip and also the Bourgainvillea hotel in SJ. I know Peace Lodge is expensive.
Some posters have said to do Monteverde instead of Manual Antonio, but doing that would mean not being at the ocean. right?

Correct .....

Thanks for responding so quickly. I had posted a new message and it has had no response so I am pasting it here Maybe it will get a reply.
First time to CR. My itinerary that I have worked on was: Fly in 2:20 arrival 4 nights Arenal area, 3 nights Manual Antonio,. 2 nights Peace Lodge, fly home 3:30 10th day, but after reading posts about how much better Montevarde was than MA, I was thining this might work:
3 nights Arenal area, 3 nights Monteverde, 2 nights MA and 1 night Peace Lodge, and ten fly home. Is that too much? Also I had looked at Lost Iguana Lodge in Arenal but was wondering if something less expensive would be just as good since we don't plan to lay around and relax. thanks for any help. I just want to get it right

We were able to enjoy Manuel Antonio for 2 nights. Yes, I'd like to go again and stay a little longer, get to know the area better, do more activities, etc. BUT you can still enjoy it--IF you don't mind cutting your beach time back. Be sure your full day there won't be on a Monday--park is closed. Tour the park with a guide in the early a.m., then you'll have the rest of the day to enjoy the beaches and just relax. The main draw for MA is the park and the beaches.

If you leave Monteverde fairly early, you can be in Manuel Antonio by noon or 1:00--that would be nice.

Whatever you decide, have a great time!

Hi Faithie, Melissa. . . . ;)

heyjude, if you listen to shillmac and faithie, believe me, it would be pretty much impossible to &quot;get it wrong&quot;! They are great! Lots of good advice on this forum.

I agree that while Monteverde needs 3 nights, 2 nights is adequate for Manuel Antonio. We had actually 3 nights for Manuel Antonio but 2 nights would have been adequate.

It really depends on what you like. Manuel Antonio is more built up, but some people like that.

Gotta go but by the way family loved the sky trek/sky tram zip-line at Arenal, and the waterfall canyoning rapelling at Arenal area was pretty wild and a unique experience, they said (I didn't do these 2 activities but planned it for them.)

Hello, I am leaving Friday 12/2, for a 10 day trip. All is pretty well planned except the travel from Arenal back to San Jose on the day before departure. Trying to decide if want to hire a guide/driver to drive us and stop along the way or just a direct drive to then have time to do things in San Jose on the last afternoon. Any suggestions on a travel route of ~4-6 hrs from Arenal ? Will post trip when I return.

Hey jude ..... Completely depends on what you are personally looking for . We are beach people , so we definitely want a beach location for the most part . After all... , we are escaping cold Quebec !!! Also with 2 young kids who also love the beach and dislike driving , well ...... You get the picture ! Our itinerary will change with the children , but I think yours sounds just fine .

OH !! and Hi Guys !! lol , Faith .

lamdur, to make the most of your time, I'd hire a driver (this from a person who much prefers to drive herself in Costa Rica!). Try to see as much as possible on the way. A driver can help you decide on what will work out best. Suggestions:

Zarcero, Sarchi, Grecia, (great little towns)

Or get down to Poas Volcano by 9:00, then head over to La Paz for an hour or so. The volcano is beautiful and the waterfalls, hummingbirds, and butterflies at La Paz gorgeous!

Thanks everybody. I think I have my itinerary all set. 1 night Bourgainvillea, do Paos and La Paz on the way to Lost Iguana for 3 nights, 3 nights Monteverde, and 2 nights at MA, and back to San Jose for the last night. If anytone know anything about the Belmar hotel in Monteverde please let me know. The web photos look great and it is very reasonably priced. And I think I'll try Costa verde in MA. Have to get this booked and off my mind. So let me know soon if they are bad choices. Thanks

Costa Verde is a fine choice !!

Get it booked and relax, HJ--you're going to have the time of your life! :) Enjoy!

Hi gang- just relaxing with a glass of wine checking the last minute postings for any more great advice. We are leaving this Thursday, finally! Ended up with 2 nights at Lost IGuana (but spending 3rd day doing waterfall rapelling there) then going to Peace Lodge for 3 nights. Doing the horseback/canopy tour one day and rafting another. Left one day unplanned- might do La Paz tour/hike.

Just wanted to thank you ALL for the great advice and helping us plan our own trip. Pura vida....Jill

Safe travels, Jill! And have a fabulous time--man, will I ever be with you in spirit! :)

Jill (the other one)

Thanks to all. My trip is set. Those still planning, book soon. We are staying at Arenal Paraiso (could only get a high priced room there), Monteverde Cloud Forest Lodge (Couldn't get Belmar) but did get Costa Verde in Manual Antonio. Can now relax with air, car, hotels and even a guide in Monteverde scheduled. Hope everyone else can do the same. I couldn't have done it without all of the posts here and others. Adios!

jakeaspen: Have fun! We loved the Hotel Bougainvillea in Heredia and at $80 a night it's a bargain. We stayed there at the end of our trip after we dropped off our rental car. We got a free ride to the hotel from the rental car place, and even the driver had a little trouble finding it, took one wrong turn but quickly got himself oriented.

My niece who just got back from her honeymoon stayed there too, and she liked it too, except for one problem...she and her new hubby drove there from the car rental place near the airport, and got very very lost for 2 hours! Just a warning it's difficult to find. ONly about a 20-minute drive from the airport if you're not lost, but if I were you, I would do it this way:

Arrive in SJO airport; have taxi driver take you to Hotel Bougainvillea (bring a map with you with the Hotel on it; ask HOtel bougainvillea for one. Show it to the taxi driver. If you think the driver is lost, hand him the phone number for Hotel bougainvillea and he can call them for directions!) Then the next day after breakfast, have it all arranged for your car rental place to pick you and your luggage up at Hotel bougainvillea and take you to the car rental place, they should do this for free. It is easier to find your way to Arenal starting from a car rental place in Alajuela, than it is starting from the Hotel bougainvillea.

We had no problem as I knew this in advance, and as I mentioned we didn't have a car at the Hotel bougainvillea. We drove up to Arenal from the Tricolor car rental place, which gave pretty good directions for how to get started going the right way. (We had maps too.)

Hope this is helpful.

We stayed there on our last night in Costa Rica. We dropped off our car at Tricolor, Alaluela, and they gave us a free ride to the HOtel Bougainvillea in Heredia. As I mentioned driver got slightly lost but only briefly.

Also, if you take HOtel Bougainvillea's free shuttle into downtown San Jose, you need to know where to go from the point where they drop you off. We didn't take the shuttle into downtown San JOSE. My niece did and she and her hubby didn't realize it drops you off on the outskirts of town, and they had no idea where to go from there! You need to plan ahead on this. Have a map of San Jose and have the excellent front desk at Hotel bougainvillea show you where you would need to walk from drop-off point to find the area which has good shopping/dancing/restaurants. I believe it's known as the El Pueblo mall.

Has anyone out there done the Tortuguero Canals? My family &amp; I will tour the Canels in 2 weeks for 3day/ 2 night tour package. Any words of advice?

Summit - there is quite alot of info here from those of us that have been to Tortuguero. You may want to try doing a search to see what has previously been said. Just type in Tortuguero in the search area. I just love this site!

We went to Tortuguero in Feb 2004, loved it.

We did the boat in/fly out package. Stayed at Mawamba Lodge.

As for advice - none really - except to take advantage of all the tours, they are included! And you do realize - no swimming in the ocean here.

You may want to post an new topic with your questions, in order to get more replies.

But ask away - I always enjoy sharing!

Well, our itinerary is set and I want to thank all posters.
Day1-fly in and stay at Bourgainville
Day 2-4 3nights arenal Praiso seeing Paos on the way. Plan to do canapy tour and hanging bridges and hot springs.
Day 5-7 3 nights Monteverde Cloud Forest Lodge. couldn't get Hotel Belmar. Have a guide booked.
Day 8-9 2 nights Costa Verde at Manuel Antonio
Day 10 leave car in Quepos and fly back to San jose on Sansa where the international airport is just across the field to catch afternoon flight to usa.

I'll post on our return which is Feb. 9th. Any last minute thoughts please post. We take off Jan 31st. I think were covering quite a bit of CR in 10 days..really 8 with flights. We are renting a car and driving ourselves. Wish us luck!!!!

Author: heyjude21919
Date: 02/12/2006, 08:59 pm
We also just got back from 10 days in Costa Rica. All I can say is Wow! We loved it all. Out itinerary was as follows: Day 1 flew to San Jose, took a shuttle to Hotel Bourganvillea (Beautiful hotel and gardens). Car arrived next morning from Mapache. It was 4 wheel drive. Drove to La Fortuna and stayed the next three nights at Arenal Paraiso. Really liked that too. They had their own hot springs although not as elaborate as Tabacon. We did the Sy Tram/ Sky Trek. The ziplines were great. The guides talked about the rainforest while riding up the tram stopping to look at monkeys and different tree features. Then we zipped down. It was wonderful..The guides will go with you if necessary. I am 58 and normally afraid of heights but just loved this!!!Having a car was great if you like checking out in-town stuff. We did go to Arenal National Park and hiked to a lava field. You could see the rocks tumbling down with each blast. The sounds are awesome. Also hikde to La Fortuna Waterfall. (500 steps down and up)but worth it. Also did the hanging bridges. Also cool. Then on to Monteverde for three nights at the Cloud Forest Lodge. A wild drive. The roads were horrible, a real adventure. We had a guide, Rafeal, who was great at the MV Reserve. Also took a coffee tour which was the only place we saw a toucan. It rained most of the time and when not raining you were in a mist. It didn't stop us at all. Next we drove to Manual Antonio and stayed 2 nights but wished we had more time there. The public beach was great, but swimming in the lagoons in the National park was wonderful. No waves. You could just float and swim all over. Also the trails had monkeys sloths both two and three toes, and iguanas. Amazing. Stayed at Costa Verde hotel. Loved it. Food was great and we found local music at La Cantina across the street. Took a 12 seater plane (Sansa Airline) back to San Jose the last day. Our car was picked up at the hotel the day before keeping our rental to a week even though we were there 10 days. 25 minute flight which as great for seeing the coast line and mountain ranges. We were so glad we did that. Only 58 dollars per person. Peggy at Vacationcity.com helped us with reservations after getting great ideas from this board. I will try to help anyone with specific questions, but am not on the computer everyday. You may have to wait for my reply. But we definitely want to return to Costa Rica. Just loved the country and the people. I only speak a little spanish, but being on our own what I could speak did make a difference. I would recommend having a driver or a tour if you speak no spanish. My husband was amazed at how my spanish helped and believe me it isn't very good.