first-timer's trip report
Jul 1st, 2004, 09:28 AM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 157
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
first-timer's trip report
Just got back from my honeymoon in Costa Rica, and we had an AMAZING time. I had heard others say that just when you think it can't get any better, it does, and they were right!
DAY 1
We spent the first night at Xandari--the villa was even prettier than the website, looking over a coffee plantation and rainforest. In the morning we hiked through their grounds to a natural waterfall, and it was gorgeous. It is worth spending a night there! Our plane got in 2 hours late, after the hotel's front desk had closed, but their driver was still at the airport to meet us, and the porter at the hotel had our key for us. The food was good too (the best pineapple we?ve ever had), and their restaurant has a great view overlooking San Jose.
DAY 2
Took Interbus to Arenal. They were on time and courteous both times we used them--definitely a good way to go. Stayed at Arenal Paraiso with an amazing view of the volcano, and we got to see the whole volcano unobscured by clouds during the day. At night clouds covered part of it, but we were still able to see lava coming down the side (while we were hanging out in the hot springs-fed pool)! We were happy with the hotel and its restaurant. Food was good but not exciting.
DAY 3
Did Arenal Paraiso's canopy tour (zip lines) and had so much fun! It was a little scarier (higher, faster) than I expected, but it was exciting--we even did zip lines over a river. And we saw our first sloth on the way back. Then we went to Tabacon hot springs. They were really cool, but I don?t think I?d want to go again.
DAY 4
Interbus to Manuel Antonio. We got to Si Como No and just the view from the lobby was breathtaking. We got to our room and couldn?t believe the view. We could only sort of see other rooms, and the only thing you could see between our balcony and the Pacific was rainforest. We sat looking at the view for a long time, and when it started raining, we stayed there watching the rain! It was the prettiest view I?ve ever seen. We stayed there until Day 7, and I?m so glad I found Si Como No. That was the only hotel I knew I definitely wanted to stay in as I was planning, because it?s rated well by the CST (Certification in Sustainable Tourism, I think), which means that it makes an effort to minimize its effect on the environment and meets certain criteria for treating its workers/interacting with the community.
We were awakened by howler monkeys three of the four nights, and it scared the crap out of us the first time! They sound like a combination of a jet engine and a dog howling. There are all kinds of monkey, frog, and bird calls around the rooms, which we thought was pretty cool.
We went to Manuel Antonio National Park and it was gorgeous. The first day we planned to walk around in the park a little ourselves and then go to the beach, thinking we?d take a guided tour the next day. But we stayed in the park so long and saw so much wildlife on our own the first day, we decided we didn?t need to take a guided tour. I guess we?re pretty observant, but we saw a lot, and it was nice to move around quietly by ourselves rather than being with a group of people chatting. The guides do have little telescopes to see things closer, and they can make calls that cause the sloths to turn around, though. So we were in the park two days (hiking around in the morning and then swimming at the beaches). We saw howler monkeys, squirrel monkeys, capuchin monkeys, sloths, coatis (coatamundis?), and lots of iguanas! Our plane left San Jose at about 2, so we drove ourselves from Manuel Antonio to San Jose to make sure we'd get there in time. The roads were not in bad shape, but the windy mountain ones were scary!
Food: At Si Como No, the Rico Tico grill was OK, but the Claro Que Si Seafood restaurant was awesome. We had yummy ceviche and mahi mahi, and the tastiest red snapper we?ve ever tried. We also ate at Napoli Pizza, thanks to knottie recommendations, and that was REALLY good. Also at Karola?s, which was good but relatively pricey.
Thanks to those of you who responded to some of my posts and helped me plan my trip!
DAY 1
We spent the first night at Xandari--the villa was even prettier than the website, looking over a coffee plantation and rainforest. In the morning we hiked through their grounds to a natural waterfall, and it was gorgeous. It is worth spending a night there! Our plane got in 2 hours late, after the hotel's front desk had closed, but their driver was still at the airport to meet us, and the porter at the hotel had our key for us. The food was good too (the best pineapple we?ve ever had), and their restaurant has a great view overlooking San Jose.
DAY 2
Took Interbus to Arenal. They were on time and courteous both times we used them--definitely a good way to go. Stayed at Arenal Paraiso with an amazing view of the volcano, and we got to see the whole volcano unobscured by clouds during the day. At night clouds covered part of it, but we were still able to see lava coming down the side (while we were hanging out in the hot springs-fed pool)! We were happy with the hotel and its restaurant. Food was good but not exciting.
DAY 3
Did Arenal Paraiso's canopy tour (zip lines) and had so much fun! It was a little scarier (higher, faster) than I expected, but it was exciting--we even did zip lines over a river. And we saw our first sloth on the way back. Then we went to Tabacon hot springs. They were really cool, but I don?t think I?d want to go again.
DAY 4
Interbus to Manuel Antonio. We got to Si Como No and just the view from the lobby was breathtaking. We got to our room and couldn?t believe the view. We could only sort of see other rooms, and the only thing you could see between our balcony and the Pacific was rainforest. We sat looking at the view for a long time, and when it started raining, we stayed there watching the rain! It was the prettiest view I?ve ever seen. We stayed there until Day 7, and I?m so glad I found Si Como No. That was the only hotel I knew I definitely wanted to stay in as I was planning, because it?s rated well by the CST (Certification in Sustainable Tourism, I think), which means that it makes an effort to minimize its effect on the environment and meets certain criteria for treating its workers/interacting with the community.
We were awakened by howler monkeys three of the four nights, and it scared the crap out of us the first time! They sound like a combination of a jet engine and a dog howling. There are all kinds of monkey, frog, and bird calls around the rooms, which we thought was pretty cool.
We went to Manuel Antonio National Park and it was gorgeous. The first day we planned to walk around in the park a little ourselves and then go to the beach, thinking we?d take a guided tour the next day. But we stayed in the park so long and saw so much wildlife on our own the first day, we decided we didn?t need to take a guided tour. I guess we?re pretty observant, but we saw a lot, and it was nice to move around quietly by ourselves rather than being with a group of people chatting. The guides do have little telescopes to see things closer, and they can make calls that cause the sloths to turn around, though. So we were in the park two days (hiking around in the morning and then swimming at the beaches). We saw howler monkeys, squirrel monkeys, capuchin monkeys, sloths, coatis (coatamundis?), and lots of iguanas! Our plane left San Jose at about 2, so we drove ourselves from Manuel Antonio to San Jose to make sure we'd get there in time. The roads were not in bad shape, but the windy mountain ones were scary!
Food: At Si Como No, the Rico Tico grill was OK, but the Claro Que Si Seafood restaurant was awesome. We had yummy ceviche and mahi mahi, and the tastiest red snapper we?ve ever tried. We also ate at Napoli Pizza, thanks to knottie recommendations, and that was REALLY good. Also at Karola?s, which was good but relatively pricey.
Thanks to those of you who responded to some of my posts and helped me plan my trip!
Jul 1st, 2004, 09:43 AM
#2
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 1,194
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Great report, thanks for sharing. I do have a question about your transportation....since you took interbus from Arenal to MA I assume you rented the car in MA and returned it to San Jose, as a 'one way rental'. How did that work out for you? Who did you rent from and what was the cost, if you don't mind my asking. I've always wondered what a 'one way' rental would cost.
Jul 1st, 2004, 10:03 AM
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 157
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hey, Ally. Yes, that's what we did. We rented from Adobe (some of the car rental companies don't do one-way rentals), and I think it was 70 per day, plus a $35 fee for dropping it off in a different place. The only bad thing was that we had to pay for an extra day (2 days, not 1) because of their minimum. But it was still cheaper than hiring a private driver! And it was fun. Basically, we trusted ourselves to drive one leg of the trip, but not all of them!
Jul 1st, 2004, 04:28 PM
#7
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 123
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi Allison,
Can you say a little bit about why you wouldn't go back to the Tabacon hot springs? We're going to CR next week (staying at Arenal Paraiso also), and I haven't figured out if we'll go to Tabacon or not.
Thanks!
Can you say a little bit about why you wouldn't go back to the Tabacon hot springs? We're going to CR next week (staying at Arenal Paraiso also), and I haven't figured out if we'll go to Tabacon or not.
Thanks!
Jul 2nd, 2004, 03:23 AM
#8
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 295
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Also, with interbus, do they stop along the way?? Do the drivers tell you anything about the sites? We are trying to decide if we will do a private driver for some and interbus for some and not rent a car. One more question, did you have dinner at Tabacon? Maybe the springs across the street are good enough? Thanks...
Jul 2nd, 2004, 05:30 AM
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 157
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Joyce, when we took Interbus from Alajuela to Arenal we stopped once halfway for a food/bathroom break, but everyone was staying in or near Arenal, so the only other stops were a couple hotels once we got there. From there to Manuel Antonio, we stopped once for a break and switched buses--something I didn't know was planned, but the drivers had it very well organized. A bunch of Interbuses stopped at the same stop and swapped people going to different destinations. The drivers didn't tell us much about sites, but no one really asked, either. On our trips, Interbus didn't really take any longer than it would have taken to drive ourselves. (From what I had heard beforehand, I thought there would be a lot of stops and it would take much longer.)
About Tabacon, it was really nice, it's just personal preference. It's a beautiful hot springs complex with plants everywhere, and it's expansive enough for you to wander around from pool to pool, but I guess we weren't thrilled because it is so landscaped and manmade. On the one hand, of course it is--otherwise it would be just a river. But on the other hand, with so much natural beauty around, we were more impressed by what we saw on our Arenal Paraiso canopy tour. And Tabacon was more touristy than some of the other places we were.
We're glad we went to Tabacon once, but if/when we go back to the area, we'd rather spend our time doing something else. It was worth going once, because we had never been in hot springs before. I wouldn't tell anyone NOT to go, but I didn't think it was as magnificent as others have. Also, the water was really hot, and we could only stay in for a few minutes at a time without getting uncomfortable.
We ate lunch in the restaurant, and although we had pretty simple dishes (salad and casado), they were actually really good.
Have a great trip, jeg!
About Tabacon, it was really nice, it's just personal preference. It's a beautiful hot springs complex with plants everywhere, and it's expansive enough for you to wander around from pool to pool, but I guess we weren't thrilled because it is so landscaped and manmade. On the one hand, of course it is--otherwise it would be just a river. But on the other hand, with so much natural beauty around, we were more impressed by what we saw on our Arenal Paraiso canopy tour. And Tabacon was more touristy than some of the other places we were.
We're glad we went to Tabacon once, but if/when we go back to the area, we'd rather spend our time doing something else. It was worth going once, because we had never been in hot springs before. I wouldn't tell anyone NOT to go, but I didn't think it was as magnificent as others have. Also, the water was really hot, and we could only stay in for a few minutes at a time without getting uncomfortable.
We ate lunch in the restaurant, and although we had pretty simple dishes (salad and casado), they were actually really good.
Have a great trip, jeg!
Jan 8th, 2005, 11:49 AM
#11
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 3,254
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Allison04, thanks for sharing your trip report. I was happy to see you gave a report on Hotel Si Como No. I've decided to book rooms there for our first family trip to Costa Rica. I'm excited! Do you have any tips on which rooms are best? Also, can you walk around the hotel grounds and spot any wildlife? My husband is a biologist and he'd be thrilled to spot a lizard or frog or whatever he can find...
