after many hours reading these boards i have some questions for the costa rica experts. i'm planning a last minute trip to costa rica. we'll be going march 14th-22nd. we didn't realize we would be there during holy week, but this is making hotel choices a bit difficult. here is our itinerary thusfar.

march 14th-march 15th
red eye flight from us
land in liberia ~0615 am
we plan to rent a car. any reccomendations for a company? also, how long should the drive take? i've read anywhere from 2-3.5 hours. is there anything interesting to see along the way or should we just drive straight there?

march 15th-march18th
we'll be staying at hotel arenal nayara. it's pretty new so i haven't found too many reviews, but we're committed to it so hopefully it will be fine. i think we're planning to do the hanging bridges, volcano hike, canopy tour and definitely the cano negro rio frio tour.

march 18th-march 21st
here's where we need the most help. we'll be driving to one of the beaches on the pacific, but i'm not sure which one. first, how long should we expect the drive to take. around 4 hours seems to be the average time quoted. second, should we stop anywhere along the way or just drive straight through?

now for where to stay... it seems that playa flamingo and playa grande get the best reviews for beaches so we were looking there. flamingo beach resort has a minimum stay during that week. bahia del sol is open, but we'd have to spring for a suite and i don't know if it's worth it. hotel bula bula and las tortugas are both open, but the turtle nesting season is over and this would be our biggest draw to that area. jardin del eden is open in tamarindo, but the beach in tamarindo doesn't seem to get the best reviews. any thoughts?

also, where is the best place for snorkeling? i know costa rica isn't particularly known for snorkeling, but we'd like to try. should we go to playa conchal or take one of the afternoon snorkeling tours on a boat?

march 21st-march 22nd
drive from the beach to liberia for an early morning flight home. is there anything to see on this leg? has anyone been to africa mia? is it worth it? also any hotel recommendations?

my last question (for now)... i've read that alcohol can't be served in costa rica on holy thursday or good friday. we'll be on the beach and would really love at least one fruity cocktail. are the alcohol restrictions enforced?

thank you so much for any answers you can provide!

We don't have any experience with Holy Week in CR, but I'm pretty sure the bars/restaurants observe that restriction. You'd best purchase some beer or whatever floats your boat earlier in the week and get a place with a fridge! Maybe someone else will know more about this. . .

Liberia to Arenal will indeed take you around 3 hours. Stop where you'd like as you'll see a few places that look appealing. We like Toad Hall for refreshment along the way and a great view.

Your Arenal plan sounds good--be sure and enjoy the hot springs somewhere.

Back to the beach, same route, around 4 hours, I'd splurge and snatch up Bahia del Sol right now if I were you. It's a great area, centrally located so that you can travel to the north or the south short distances to enjoy other beaches and explore the country a bit. I think you'd enjoy the beach location. Bula Bula is a bit pricey as well and you have a 10 min. walk to the beach.

Snorkeling is something we don't do much of in CR, but you will be able to find snorkeling trips out of Plays del Coco or Flamingo or certainly Conchal.

Check out the Congo Trail through the country from Potrero (Bahia del Sol) to the paved road that comes out in Sardinia near Playa Hermosa and Playas del Coco. Be sure you have a 4 wheel drive, though.

Speaking of that, Dollar or Tricolor might be good choices for car rentals.

Not much to see en route back to the airport unless you'd like to take in Monkey Park between Huacas and Belen. It can be interesting.

Have fun!

Re: Holy Week....many years ago I happened to touch on Holy week by a few days and the bars on the Pacific coast were VERY strict w/enforcement. I think the only way to enjoy a drink is as Shillmac has suggested...buy your own libation in advance and chill!

If you choose to stay in Playa Grande, please note that Bula Bula, while a lovely spot is about a 10 minute walk to the beach while Las Tortugas is right on the beach.

Tamarindo has recently lost their
'Ecological Blue Flag' status for cleanliness of beach and water after high levels of fecal contamination were found. Skip Tamarindo this time.

Have a great time!

thanks for the replies. i'll snatch up the suite at bahia del sol while it's still available. it's a little pricy and seems a bit excessive since there's only two of us, but it sounds like the location is great and i'm sure we'll enjoy some extra room.

thanks for the alcohol tips. we're not very big drinkers, so we probably won't even buy any for the room. we just don't really want to feel "restricted", but will definitely respect the custom. does anyone know if the country observes the "no meat" requirement of good friday as well?

a couple of driving questions... it sounds like a 4x4 would be a good idea. do we need a gps as well? do all of the rental companies offer them? also, any recommendations for maps? the national geographic map comes pretty highly recommended, but it seems better from a country perspective rather than a local one.

thanks again for you help!

That area, you really don't need GPS. 4X4, yes! Good for you on the BdS room--do post a report. I want to hear all about it. That hotel has been reviewed little or none. I've been on the property and it looked very nice---great little restaurant bakery across the street--El Castillo. Enjoy!

thanks for the car info. unfortunately, we weren't able to book the suite at bahia del sol. they required 4 nights since it's holy week and we'd only be staying three. we thought about taking the extra night and using it for a later check out, but the cost was a bit prohibitive. we'll be staying at flamingo beach resort instead. i'm a little disappointed since it seems that bahia del sol has a lot more character, but the price difference was substantial (>1K) making it sort of a no-brainer. i'm sure we'll enjoy the beach location and will probably wander over to bahia del sol for a meal one day and el castillo for a snack.

any other food recommendations in that area? marie's is on our list since it seems to be consistently well rated.

We choose Flamingo Beach Resort every time. It's a great place, with a newly renovated pool (fabulous pool/bar area). There's not a prettier beach (a few as AS pretty!) in CR. Much better than the one at Potrero, my opinion! Don't be disappointed! And have a wonderful time. . .airfare cost is keeping us from CR during Spring Break this year. Breaking my heart. . .!

uggg... lots of hotel troubles. i tried to book bahia del sol, but they required 4 nights. then (i thought) i successfully booked flamingo beach resort since we had a confirmation from the travel agent, but i was wrong. today i received an email that they gave the room to someone else. so, needless to say, i'm more than a little frustrated.

with less than a month to go i have to come up with new accomodations during holy week next month. here's some of the places i've tried that are booked: flamingo beach resort, flamingo marina resort, bahia del sol, capitan suizo, cala luna, hotel sugar beach, playa paradisius conchal. i'm sure i've emailed others, but don't have the list in front of me. does anyone have any other suggestions? jardin del eden has rooms, but it's in tamarindo and i'm concerned with the recent loss of the "blue flag". playa ocotal has rooms as well, but it's definitely pricey and i'm not sure about the beach. i'm also willing to try a whole new area, though our flight is out of liberia which would potentially limit us a bit.

HELP please?!

shillmac,

i just read your post from last year about your negative experience with centralamerica.com. i wish i'd read it earlier. they were the group i was trying to use for the hotel and hence i have no hotel. i definitely should have researched more.

I'm very sorry that you are having these struggles. It's about time there was a thread entitled "Don't Use CentralAmerican.com"!!!!! There is just no excuse for that kind of negligence, which is what I ran into when dealing with them. Everything they did required constant vigilance on my part, double checking on them, and keeping them in line. Their first mistake cued me to that, so I dogged them until we got a fair shake, although not a very convenient one in a couple of instances. No excuse; ridiculous!

Okay, let's see. . .
Playa Ocotal is a nice area. How much of a price hike are you looking at? Surely it can't possibly be more than the Paradisus which runs about $500-600 for a couple per night during peak season!

Playas del Coco. . .Flor de Itabo? Don't know a thing about it, except it is there. We've encountered no BAD hotels in CR---just some are better than others!

There are others in Playa Potrero. Bahia Esmerelda? Not sure if that is correct or not, but there is a hotel connected to Marco Polo Restaurant, and that may be the name of it.

The hotels in Playa Grande? Las Tortugas? Bula Bula?

Hope this helps a little bit. . .I'll think about it some more and perhaps others can chime in as well. . .

Oh, have you checked Playa Hermosa? Villas del Sueno? Hotel Finistera? Particularly Hotel El Velero. . .

Okay, sorry. . .that's Bahia Esmeralda (corrected the spelling). Also, the Marco Polo is apparently at the Villagio Flor de Pacifico--another hotel you might look into.

moti so sorry to hear of your troubles, they definitely are getting a bad rep, or already have one now!

I can't vouch for any of these myself, but I constantly research & save hotels sites so hear is many from my "NW" folder, good luck!

http://www.cabinaslasolas.co.cr/index.html

http://www.cafedeparis.net/

http://www.flying-crocodile.com/

http://www.sugar-beach.com/

http://www.hotelplayahermosa.com/aboutthehotel.htm

http://www.samaratreehouse.com/Home_Page.html

http://www.tamarindovillage.com/index.php

http://www.villacacia.com/index.php

http://hotellunaazul.com/

Some may be a little too far but I just included all I have, hopefully something will turn up for you. Have you tried contacting the hotel (that you didn't get your reservation at) directly? Just maybe couldn't hurt?!

shillmac and tully, i can't thank you enough for your help!

i'll start working on the hotel lists right away. i did call the hotels i tried to book and neither bahia del sol nor flamingo beach resort have any rooms. hotel sugar beach is out as well.

ocotal beach resort has suites available for $260 (more than flamingo beach, but less than bahia del sol). it's definitely doable, but reviews seem mixed. the proximity to snorkeling and to rincon de la vieja is definitely appealing, but it seems the beaches may be a little nicer going a bit further south.

rip jack inn has availability in playa grande. it's definitely less pricy than ocotal, but seems to have less amenities as well. my husband wasn't thrilled with their website. he's definitely thinking beach resort. i guess i echo his thoughts, though would really like the resort to come with a "local" feel.

sueno del mar in playa langosta looks absolutely beautiful. i just emailed them and will call in the morning to see if they have any last minute rooms. i know the water in tamarindo has suffered a bit, but i'm hoping it's still nice in playa langosta.

off to call hotels...

Do try the Hotel Playa Hermosa that Tully mentioned. It also goes by Bosque del Mar. I haven't stayed there but was considering it after dining there last year. I've heard that the newer rooms are very nice and the location is right on the beach.

Cabinas Isolinas in a small and inexpensive place in Potrero. But has AC and is on the beach. . wouldn't be a bad choice at all, and a great money saver! My daughter stayed there while in school at Flamingo and thought it was okay. But it won't be any kind of luxury!

Sueno del Mar would be a nice break for you--but pricey, I think.

Rip Jack would be okay--their food is awesome. Short walk to the beach. You might get to see the giant leatherbacks nesting in March--would be worth it to stay there to see that. . .

thanks so much to shillmac, tully, and joeschmoe. especially to shillmac for putting everything into perspective... we'll be in a hotel on the beach in costa rica next month after spending some time in arenal. really, how bad can it be?! that having been said, we've narrowed it down to 3 options:

option 1:
4 nights in playa hermosa at http://www.hotelplayahermosa.com. we have a very early flight on saturday morning, but it seems close enough to not be an issue.

option 2:
3 nights in playa ocotal at http://www.ocotalresort.com
then 1 night close to the airport. we'd stay closer to the airport the last night essentially to save money since playa ocotal is a little more expensive than the other options.

option 3:
2 nights in playa ocotal at the same place: http://www.ocotalresort.com followed by a night at http://www.sueno-del-mar.com, a bed and breakfast in playa langosta, then the last night near the aiport. this is a lot of moving around, but would give us access to a few different beaches/areas.

any votes?

thanks again,
moti

sorry i hadn't seen your reply before i posted, shillmac.

the turtle nesting season is over according to the folks at las tortugas. they don't expect to see a lot of baby turtles in the mornings by the end of march either. i'm really sad to miss this. if we could still see the turtles then we would definitely stay on playa grande. we'll still plan for rip jack inn for lunch one day and maybe a surf lesson, but not to stay.

sueno del mar isn't terribly cheap, but at $195/night for one of their queen rooms it's definitely doable. our 3 options i listed above are essentially the same financially with less than $100 difference all together. makes a tough choice even tougher. what a rough position!

We've always wanted to stay at Sueno del Mar, so that one appeals to me--after having heard nothing but favorable comments.

I'd be interested in what you would have to report about ANY of these places! Maybe you could do a night at each and fill us in when you return!

Wish I could be more help--but good luck and have a fabulous trip! I'm trusting you really will give a trip report when you return. You don't have long to wait!

we chose ocotal beach resort for 2 nights then sueno del mar for 1 night. i'm really excited about sueno del mar. heck, i'm really excited about the entire trip! and i'm really appreciative of all the help i've received. i'll definitely post a trip report next month!

I'd go to Manual Antonio. The beaches there are incredible, and the National Park is so close. We had a wonderful 10 days there last Jan. We also went to Arenal, then took the Jeep/Boat/Jeep to Manual Antonio. Have a great trip.