KerKo

Hi, We are celebrating our 5th anniversary with a trip to Costa Rica. We will be staying in the Marriott outside San Jose (not the courtyard by marriott IN san jose). We will be in country for about 1 week, and we would love suggestions of how to get around and any tours or activities in the area that you have enjoyed. We have an active 1+ year old daughter with us, so that is something to consider (ie. no zip-lines or rafting this trip). We all love nature and we speak spanish fluently.

Thanks in advance for you help.

KerKo

Also, how is San Jose proper? I have heard mixed reviews and some concerns for safety.

Thank you much.

volcanogirl

For me personally, if I had a young child, I would stay in Manuel Antonio; it has the national park full of wildlife, a beautiful beach inside the park, and loads of good restaurants. It's also very easy to get around and very popular with families. Most people do a split between MA and Arenal for their first trip. How far outside San Jose will you be staying? What city is the Marriott in?

hansboomer

There are far better experts than I, but having traveled CR 10-12 times over the past 5 years, I'd suggest NOT staying in the SJ area. I agree 100% with volcanogirl (I believe she is VERY knowledgeable on CR) about MA. As a side note, the private park at this site, www.turubari.com , is probably one of the best parks in the entire country altho is costs a bit more for the day. It is a wonderful full day trip. Enjoy!

KerKo

We are planning on staying in the marriott near the airport. It looks like a great resort-style hotel. Is it possible to do nice day trips from here?

volcanogirl

I think a lot of people stay there for their first or last nights to be near the airport, but most people probably wouldn't stay there for their entire vacation. If you plan on staying there the entire time, I would recommend doing the tour of the Doka Coffee Estate; we really enjoyed that. The La Paz Waterfall Gardens would be about an hour away - gorgeous waterfall hike, gardens, aviary, frog tour, butterfly house, etc., but it was damaged in the recent earthquake, so I'm not sure when it will be open again. Poas Volcano is also nearby. A lot of people raft the Pacuare out of San Jose, but since you have your one-year old with you, that wouldn't be an option. Zoo Ave is popular, but we haven't had a chance to try it yet. Parts of San Jose are very run down, bars on the windows, etc. A lot of people avoid it. We stayed there for one night and didn't have any problems, but I wouldn't wear any flashy jewelry, etc. Also if you drive, never leave anything in your car unattended.

tully

I would look into staying there first & last nights and spending your honeymoon elsewhere, like Manuel Antonio or Arenal. Day trips to those 2 places would be all day trips, much of it spent driving.

volcanogirl

I agree with tully; most people like to see MA and Arenal - those spots would each be about a 3-hour drive from where you are, not really realistic for day trips.

cmerrell

I definitely agree with VG, hans, and tully. Alajuela (where the airport is) is not where I'd want to spend my <i>whole</i> vacation. There are things close by that are worth seeing, so it's a decent choice for a few nights.

In addition to the good suggestions VG made, I'd add a day driving through Grecia, Sarchi and Zarcero where there's some interesting churches, town squares, and shopping. There are also tours that drive you through Braulio Carrillo nat'l park, which is supposed to be quite nice (haven't been there yet...).

My main concern is that if you don't venture farther afield to someplace like Manuel Antonio or Arenal, you'll really be missing out on the 'essence' of Costa Rica. The Central Valley area (around San Jose/Alajuela) is great, but there's a lot more to Costa Rica than that...

KerKo

If we were to go to MA and Arenal, would that be possible over a two day (one night) period? Would you recommend renting a car and driving out to those two places? Or is an over-night tour the way to go? (recommednations?)

Also, where would you recommned staying on that night?

volcanogirl

You could drive yourselves, hire a private driver which is what we do, or take Interbus. I think you'd like MA, but I wouldn't go there for just one night. You're going to spend so much time gettng there and coming back and not really be able to enjoy it. Can you go for a few days? Buena Vista Villas, Tulemar Bungalows, Si Como No, and Costa Verde are popular with families. Keep in mind it gets dark around 5:30. We love Arenal, but I think with a one-year old, MA is a better fit for you. A lot of things in Arenal would be hard to do with a baby.

KerKo

What driver / company do you use? Also, do you recommend a website or tour company or the like for MA? I think we may try to plan a two day trip there. (Also, where to stay at MA?)

I think we may do the coffee plantation one day (maybe a travel day), see the poas volcano and also explore san jose a bit. A day or two just relaxing (and de-stressing) at the hotel will not be looked at as a bad thing at all. So a couple of days exploring further away will be perfect for a 6 day 5 night trip. We don't feel the need to over-plan or try to see everything the first trip there. CR is not expensive to get to from Florida (where we live) and we definitely plan on returning (especially when the little one is less, well... LITTLE ).

I love that you are all so helpful. I think it is the people who make this site so great. Thanks for your help, and please continue to make suggestions.

Many thanks, again.

(BTW, VG- have you heard of this private park hansboomer mentioned, and what about the towns cmerrell listed? are they worth a day of driving around and exploring?)

dfr4848

We went to MA with 2 teenagers and it really is a great place for families.

As for where to stay, VG mentioned some of the more popular places in her previous post. The staff at most/all of those hotels can help with arranging tours/excursions [we had very good luck with the staff at Si Como No].

MA is about 3-3.5 hr drive from San Jose, so it really is worth it to stay several days.

volcanogirl

Hi, K - For our private drivers, we've always booked them through our hotels when we book the trip. You can also ask for recommendations on this board; there are drivers that people use over and over again. It's nice to have a driver so you can sit back and relax, but adventurous folks like to make the drive themselves and do it without any problems. If you look back at my post, I mentioned a few places to stay in MA; check out their websites and see what you think and if they would fit your budget.

We booked our MA tours through our hotel when we got there. We had a guided tour of the park which was great. The beach there is beautiful. I haven't done the activities the other posters mentioned, but I would completely trust their opinions. Some of those little towns offer great crafts if that interests you. My husband ordered me two CR rocking chairs for my birthday, and they came from Sarchi.

volcanogirl

Keep in mind that the park is closed on Mondays, so don't make that your park day. I'd hate for you to go so far and have it be closed.

cmerrell

Hi Kerko,

If you're trying to use Marriott points for this trip, there is the Marriott Los Suenos resort over on the Pacific coast that's probably about an hour to hour and a half-ish north of Manuel Antonio (between San Jose and MA...). Haven't stayed there myself but hear it's quite posh!

If you're going to do a day trip to Poas (you'll need to get there early in order to have a shot at seeing the crater before the clouds move in), the La Paz Waterfall gardens that VG mentioned are only about a half hour or so away, and are well worth a visit. I bet your daughter would enjoy it too!

Both Poas Nat'l Park and the Waterfall gardens were impacted by the recent earthquake, so you'll want to make sure everything is open for when you're planning to travel.

The little towns I mentioned in my previous post (Grecia, Sarchi and Zarcero) are listed in most guide books, and are fairly popular on the tourist circuit. Grecia has a well known red metal church and cute little main square. We stopped there to stroll for a few minutes and have some ice cream. Sarchi is a popular shopping destination. CR isn't particularly known as a shopping mecca, but many of the more unique handcrafted items produced there come from Sarchi. It's also known for it's colorful hand painted ox carts.

Zarcero is mostly known for the topiary gardens that surround it's pretty church. The drive up through the towns is quite picturesque in it's own right, weaving through coffee fields and hilly terrain. It makes for a pleasant day out but does involve quite a bit of driving which you'd need to consider with your young daughter. I'd have to say that I enjoyed the towns and am definitely glad we went to check them out, but I'm more of a nature and wildlife junkie, so there were other things we did on out trip that made a bigger impression. Just depends on what kind of experiences appeal most to you!

motmot

Hi--happy Valentine's Day!

The park hansboomer mentioned, Turi-Bari, has gotten good reviews since it opened about 5 years ago. It is actually on the way to Manuel Antonio. We haven't been there, but it has that LONG superman zipline.

qwovadis

might consider splitting my time

between the 2 Mariotts

tour out from there...

They have shuttles between the two.

Tour Poas www.dokaestate.com

in the central valley.

www.manuelantoniopark.com

from Los Suenos.

For driver usually go with

tripadvisor.com/members/roadadvisor

Downtown SJ can be dodgy but

your hotel close to the airport

in a safe secure area so no worries

Have fun,

KerKo

OK. Change of plans...

We are flying into San Jose, renting a car and driving to Marriott Los Suenos (at Herradura Beach). This seems to be about 60km from Arenal and 60km from MA. We are using points, so the Hotel is something we prefer not to change. Are these 2 destinations do-able for day trips from the hotel?

What are your thoughts on this new itinerary? (VG, your expert advice?)



Thanks again as always.

KerKo

Also we are planning (the current plan) to drive the rental car to Arenal and MA as day trips on our own and see the sights as we can/ as we feel. How much do the activities cost at each location? The websites show prices for tours but not if, say, we wanted to hike on our own.

Thanks