First trip
 

We are two seventy year olds going to Costa Rica the last week of February for two weeks.
Our base will be Tamarindo in the North Pacific area. We arrive in San Jose on an evening flight. Do you have any suggestions as to hotels? Should we plan on staying in SJ area for a couple of days?
We don't want a zip-line tour. What would you suggest as the best way for us to enjoy the rain forest?
Any help you can give would really be appreciated.

I would just stay the one night in SJ near the airport (there is a Hampton Inn very close by but I have seen other convenient places mentioned on this forum) then head out to Tamarindo the next morning.

If you do have a couple of days at the beginning of your trip I do suggest you stay in the San Jose area for a while.

You might consider staying in Alajuela, where the airport is located, at somewhere like the Orquideas Inn. From there it is a one hour or so drive to La Paz Waterfall Gardens. This will give you a look at some wonderful , wild, tropical birds, beautiful gardens, spectacular waterfalls and, on the drive to La Paz, a mosaic of farms and coffee plantations overlooking the central valley.

Tamarindo will likely be dry and windy in late February and is not close to any rainforest. However it is a nice area.

A couple of suggestions from Tamarindo.

One is to arrange a walking tour in Rincon de la Vieja National Park. Hire a local guide who will explain some of the wonders of Rincon -where tropical dry forest melds into a moister forest.
The park is scenic, and you might see monkeys and other wildlife. It is also a great location for many butterflies, including the beautiful blue morpho.

Another good area to see tropical wildlife from Tam is to take a boat tour to the environs of Palo Verde National Park. Lots of wildlife and loads of colorful birds. Late Feb is the perfect time to visit.

From Tamarindo another fun activity is to take a sunset cruise with Mandingo Sailing. They take small groups out on their schooner, to sail Tamarindo Bay enjoying drinks, snacks, a bit of music, good company and a wonderful Pacific sunset.

Just a few ideas.

Jerry

Yes - staying near SJ will give you access to visiting and exploring the rainforest areas. And the Central Valley areas are certainly worth a few days.

There are many hotel/lodges nearby that offer all sorts of day tours. I too want no zip lines - you can find river float trips, driving trips, hiking/walking tours, birding tours, city tours, and the list goes on.

Jerry has mentioned the La Paz Waterfall Gardens, which are beautiful. Easily added to this day is hiking around the Poas Volcano and possibly a tour of the Doka Coffee Plantation.

Another day you may be interested in traveling south to Cartago, visiting the beautiful church and ruins, a stop at the Lankester Gardens an orchid garden, then onto the Orosi Valley with it's stunning views, with lunch overlooking Lake Cachi.

You also may be interested in visiting the small towns of Sarchi and Grecia and others.

You may want to visit the Los Angeles Cloud Forest area.

Or you may want to consider spliting your vacation time - since you have 2 weeks!! - and spend part of it in a rainforest environment and part on the beach?

Costa Rica is so diverse and offers so much in a very small place. The list of things to do and see are endless.

But what interests you?

Orchideas Inn (already mentioned) is a reasonably priced hotel, about 15 mins from SJO. Comfortable, good food, fun bar, delicious breakfast. They also have a very good tour company onsite - Wady Tours.

The Hampton Inn, just across the highway from SJO is a convenient place to stay, although it is just another Hampton Inn.

Vista del Valle Plantation Inn - a bit more expensive, but very comfortable and I thought very good food.

Xandari gets good reviews.

Several B&B's nearby.

And then there are the in town hotels, with quite a nice selection.

And many, many more choices - what type of per night budget are you looking for?

If you choose to stay a few days in the area - you have a choice of booking predesigned tours. Or - Hiring a driver for a day or two will offer you the flexibility of designing your own personal tour with the Costa Rican expertise on these areas. If you choose Orchideas for instance, then email or call and reserve a driver with Wady Tours. Actually the website offers several selections to give you some ideas. Once you arrive you can actually sit down and discuss the types of things you want to see.

I am certain I have gone on way too long! Have fun!

Oh and here is the website for Orquideas

http://www.orquideasinn.com/index.html

Thanks for all the suggestions, especially tips on Alajuela accomodations. Tamarindo will be taken care of as we have family there. What do you suggest as far as clothing in cities? My niece said shorts, etc. in beach areas. We would like to find hotels in the $$ range. Is that realistic?

"What to wear" - Yes your beach area is going to be hot. However you should get a really good breeze in Feb. I typically wear shorts and possbily a few lightweight sundresses if I feel like a change for dinner.

In the city - Typicaly conservative shorts and/or capri pants. It does get a slight chill in the evenings, so a lightweight long sleeve hoodie, sweater or sorts is nice to have.

All of Costa Rica is pretty casual. You will see some of the younger females trying to dress like the North American girls. But overall CR is conservative in dressing.

Yes your price range is very realistic. I believe total our nightly rate at Orchideas ran about $85 (is this what you are looking for?), including tax and a truly delicious breakfast comes with this. We chose the Garden Rooms which were next to the least expensive. Which was fine, not fancy, but clean, comfortable, convenient and brightly painted.

If you want to stay actually in San Jose, the Don Carlos constantly gets very nice reviews here. If my memory serves me correctly the price is comparable to Orch.

Where the heck is Shillmac? She always recommends and B&B, can't remember the name. Will do a short search and repost. However, several others have recently visited and it too gets good reviews in this price range.

Here you go -

Shillmac recently said: "More recently we have started staying at Hotel Villa Bonita with Humberto and Carmen Brenes. They have redone an old Costa Rican home and made a lovely B&B for about $50 per night, delicious breakfast included. It is on the side of town closest to the airport and takes about 5 minutes to get to. They are a very nice young Tico couple who are excellent hosts and guides to help you plan your day/days should you need advice or suggestions. Free internet. A couple of the rooms are quite roomy and have bathtubs (a rarity!) and TV's (new addition).

The proximity to the airport is very nice (although we still will drive through town to visit the Marilyn Monroe Bar at Las Orquideas at night)."