HELP: Costa Rica Itinerary
 

My husband and I are planning a 12-day trip to Costa Rica for January or February of 2009. Our dates are fairly flexible and we're thinking average $250-350 or so per night for the hotel. We'd like to see a bit of the country, but the main purpose of the trip is to relax and revive. We like nature, but love air conditioning and good service more. I'm usually pretty good at planning itineraries, but this one has me stumped. Can you please give me feedback on the following draft?

Day 1: DC to San Jose; stay first night at Gran de Oro. Considered Peace Lodge instead for a couple of days, but am seeing mixed feedback. Thoughts?

Days 2-5: Should we do Inn at Coyote Mountain or El Silencio? Has anyone stayed at either or have a better idea?

Days 6-12: Beach! Considering the Capitan Suizo, Villas Caletas, Tulemar, or Tulemar. We are amazed the vast diversity of pricing--are the Four Seasons, Punta Islita, and Los Suenos really that much better? We've traveled pretty widely and these are stunning prices for anywhere but Paris or London.

Thanks so much for your help and advice!

Since it sounds like you like to be pampered and have things pretty, I think you'd really like the Peace Lodge. It's the most comfortable place we've been in CR, but you still get to see the 5 beautiful waterfalls when you hike the property. We liked Grano de Oro too, but Peace Lodge is more plush and indulgent with the balcony jacuzzi, waterfall showers, fireplace, etc. For beach time, you might check out Tulemar Bungalows/Buena Vista Villas; they get good reviews.

Peace Lodge and the entire property is beautiful. I can't imagine anyone being disappointed.

Four Seasons, you're paying for a product known all over the world. Certain standard of service, etc. Not where I'd choose to stay if I wanted to experience nature!

Punta Islita gets rave reviews. . these days it's hard to recommend Tamarindo for more than a day trip.

Manuel Antonio would be a better choice, and Tulemar a good choice.

Also, as you say, in the Arenal area, Kioro or Lost Iguana would be a good choice. El Silencio has gotten good reviews.

Arenal and MA are excellent locations for a first trip to Costa Rica.

I don't think I'd recommend first night at Grano de Oro simply because you have to backtrack into the city about 20 minutes and there isn't any need to do that.

What time of day are you arriving? You can make it to Arenal, Manuel Antonio both if you arrive by the early afternoon. Peace Lodge just an hour away from the airport. It's a good place to begin or end your trip, as it is very relaxing.

I'd suggest that, if you have to spend your first night near the airport, you choose someplace in the airport area (city of Alajuela) rather than making that drive into San Jose. Orquideas Inn is a good choice for a late night arrival. They can also arrange a rental car for you.

We enjoyed staying at the Peace Lodge in 2006. As VG says, it's a more plush, indulgent sort of experience. The grounds of the hotel (La Paz Waterfall Gardens) are nothing short of gorgeous, and worthy of a visit in their own right regardless of whether or not you stay at the Peace Lodge.

I've also heard that Xandari is a good choice for higher end pampering. It's located somewhere in the vicinity of Alajuela in CR's Central Valley.

Sounds like Kioro might be more in line for the type of accomodations you prefer in Arenal. El Silencio del Campo sounds like a terrific place to stay, but I suspect may be a little too 'no frills' for what you want.

I looked up Coyote Mountain because I had never heard of it. Looks very nice but is located near San Ramon. If Arenal is one of your desired destinations, you would still be a couple of hours out from that area. The Tabacon resort may be worth looking into as well for Arenal. It seems to get mixed reviews; some totally love it, some are less impressed. The hot springs they have on site are very nice and beautifully landscaped (good for some of that relaxation you crave...). They also have a spa on-site that's gotten some very good reviews.

Thank you SO much for this wonderful feedback. I was getting so frustrated trying to figure out where to go in a reasonable first trip that would give us a good flavor for the country, but also be relaxing.

I think we'll focus on Peace Lodge for a night or two at the beginning, then the Arenal, then a week in MA.

I just want to see some monkeys. For some reason, I am fascinated with them.

Thank you again!!!

One more question--can we do this trip without scary small planes?

If you want to stay in Arenal, I'd highly recommend the Lost Iguana - they have great rooms with balconies, jacuzzi tubs, wonderful volcano views; we loved it.

Yep, you can easily do it without small planes. The areas you're interested in are drivable, so you can either rent a car and drive yourselves, use Interbus, or you can hire private drivers.

You are so helpful! Thank you. Are there restaurants nearby or do you dine at the hotels or what? We just got back from Puerto Vallarta where we stayed at one place that included breakfast and had room service and a restaurant, but was also near lots of other restaurants; and another place that was all inclusive. We like either, if the food is good.

We loved El Silencio but it's true that's not high up on the amenity scale if that's important for you. Very cute and spacious bungalows, wonderful staff, lovely grounds including ducks and bunny residents and other native birds that are attracted.

Haven't stayed there, but the Lost Iguana does sound like it would suit you. It consistently gets great reviews, is on the lava view side, and vgirl stayed there and loved it.

We're staying at Buena Vista Villas in Manuel Antonio later this month (a splurge for us) so if you're interested in BVV or Tulemar I will be posting back when we return.

That will be great! Have a wonderful trip!

Peace Lodge doesn't have many options nearby for food, other than Colberts which is fairly close. But there is the Trout bar and then the main restaurant at PL, so you should have no problem staying well fed. Note, the main dining room, for dinner, is about $30 and it's a lot of food. You can also order room service and get the same food or ala carte.

MA has many options to choose from. I liked La Cantina across from Costa Verde hotel, Marlin's down by the park for lunch, El Avion a nice place to go for drinks, Barba Roja was so-so when I was there but uusally gets good reviews.

El Novillo gets a lot of good marks in the Arenal area.

Most mid to high end hotels in CR do have a restaurant on site. Most also include a hearty breakfast buffet in the price of the room.

The Peace Lodge is a bit isolated, so eating on-site is most convenient although there is a French restaurant down the road a bit (maybe 20-30 minutes) called Colbert's. I have not dined there but have heard good things; shillmac always recommends it and she knows her stuff where Costa Rica is concerned!

There are lots of restaurant choices available in both Arenal and MA, and it's worth venturing out from your hotel to sample the local fare. Dining in CR is typically a fairly casual affair. Two of our favorite places in Arenal (El Novillo and La Chosa de Laurel) were basically covered cement slabs with picnic or plastic tables, but the meals were delicious! In fact, the least exciting meal we had in Arenal was the one dinner we had at our hotel.

Regarding your interest in seeing some monkeys (something that definitely appeals to me as well! :-) ). The Cano Negro tour out of Arenal is highly recommended. We saw both Spider monkeys and Howler monkeys on that excursion. You'll also see caimen, lizards, iguanas, bats, many bird species and possibly a sloth or 2.

In MA national park, you should have many more opportunities at monkey sightings, including the endangered Squirrel monkeys. We lucked out and saw the Squirrels and also Howlers and Capuchins. We also saw lots of sloths there, along with iguanas, bats, lizards and several cool birds. Costa Rica is definitely a wildlife lovers paradise!

Wonderful!

And are there any turtles? We went on the turtle tour in Mexico and had a wonderful time. They mentioned that Costa Rica has nearly every type of sea turtle.

Hi MM,

Costa Rica has several beaches where Sea Turtle species come to nest. The main areas I've heard mentioned for viewing them are Tortuguero and the beaches of Guanacaste and Nicoya. I've also heard mention of the Osa Peninsula. Hopefully someone here can chime in to let you know if there are good locations to see them around MA.

You also have to keep in mind that each species has a certain time of year that they come ashore to lay eggs, so you basically have to visit at the right time in order to see anything.

I live on the Atlantic coast of Florida and we get Loggerheads and Greens (and supposedly Leatherbacks too) on our beaches between May and October. It is a really cool thing to watch them dig their nests and lay their eggs!

Hi, mm - we like a lot of the same restaurants that others have posted here. In Arenal, El Novillo for steaks and La Choza de Laurel which is known for rotisserie chicken. The Trout Bar for casual food at the Peace Lodge, and in MA, we loved Ronnie's Place/Mi Lugar, and also liked Barba Roja, Salsipuedes, and Cafe Agua Azul. There's also a place in MA called Cafe Milagro, and they have really great espresso shakes if you need a Starbuck's fix. Other than breakfast, we usually like to go out to explore restaurants, rather than eating at the hotel. Seems like the food is usually better and more affordable off property.

Okay, just want to revise my original itinerary using the info you guys gave me and make sure I'm getting the timing right:

Day 1: DC to San Jose: go to Peace Lodge for two nights (or should we stay three?);

Days 3/4 through 6: Arenal, ideally stay at Lost Iguana (is two nights enough?)

Days 6-12: MA, ideally at the BVV/Tulemar

Return last night to stay at Peace Lodge before flight?

Two nights at Peace Lodge would be perfect, will give you plenty of time to explore the grounds and maybe a quick trip to Poas. I would add 1-2 to Arenal, there is a lot to do in the area. I wouldn't spend 6 nights in MA, personally. I would spend 4 max and use the 2 extra for Arenal. I also wouldn't spend your last night at PL since you are already spending 2 nights there. I would look into some other places like Grano de Oro, Vista del Valle, Xandari or Finca Blanca. Just my opinion, have fun planning.

Totally agree with everything Tully has said. We especially liked Vista del Valle for a last night. It's a very relaxing place and doesn't bust the budget quite so much!

Me too - I agree; I'd spend two nights Peace Lodge and then at least 3 or 4 in Arenal; I'd rather devote time to Arenal than MA. We stayed at Grano de Oro for our last night and liked it - great restaurant on the property, and it's built in an old mansion, lots of charm and good service.

Thanks so much for all the wonderful advice in helping us sort out where we want to go on our first trip to CR. We just booked our flights to SJO out of DC/National on CO through Houston for only $375 each and have reserved this itinerary based on your good suggestions: 2 nights Peace Lodge; 3 nights Arenal/Lost Iguana; 7 nights MA/Buena Vista Villas; 1 night Grano de Oro. We're also renting a car to drive ourselves. Thanks again for your help!

Fantastic - now the waiting begins! :)

mm: We did a two week trip in November and stayed at the Lost Iguana and Buena Vista Villas (along with BdC) at the end of our trip. If you have any specific questions about these properties as your trip draws nearer, I would be happy to help if I can. We loved both (especially BVV).

Wow, I'd love to hear all about your trip! Did you post a trip report? We'd love to hear about your favorite restaurants, what the rooms are like, what to see/do, how you get around, etc. Thanks so much!

I did post a report... We hired a driver from San Jose to Arenal and were going to originally have him be available to get us around Arenal for the 3 nights we were there, but decided we didn't need that... Instead we walked to the Hanging Bridges and had the hotel arrange a transfer to town when we went to Ecothermales. We did not venture to many restaurants for that leg of the trip. Breakfast was included and our youngest was not feeling great, so we did poolside lunches, dinner in the Lost Iguana restaurant and dinner at Ecothermales (simple but very good).
We also did the Sky Trek (husband and older daughter) and Sky Tram - (myself and younger daughter - tram up and back, no zip line down) and really enjoyed that experience. The transfer was included in the price. We have lots of experience with zip lines and were very impressed with SkyTrek.

At the Buena Vista Villas, the hotel shuttle took us to a nearby grocery store and came back 30 minutes later (per our request) so that we could shop for snacks, a few lunch items, drinks, etc. We loved the breakfasts at BVV and had Thanksgiving dinner in the restaurant as well (Lobster). We also ate al El Avion. Good story and the kids enjoyed the big airplane in the middle - food was OK. I am having a hard time remembering the other names of the restaurants, but got the recommendations all from this board.

We took taxis in MA... very easy. Mostly arranged by the concierge at the BVV. He is stationed at the Villas pool and was VERY helpful. We walked home from Manuel Antonio park... quite the experience - up hill but "good for us" according to my husband, but not my 7 year old! While at the BVV we loved to pack our daypack with sunscreen handwipes, books, dry shorts, sunhats, etc. and head down to the private beach. (It is an easy walk down hill.) We would spend hours on the loungers with an umbrella. The beach side service is great.... drinks and snacks.. small tables brought over, etc. It is a great cove for kayaking and easy boogie boarding. Snorkeling equipment is available but we did not do it as the water was not that clear.
We made great memories boogie boarding in the surf as we heard and watched troops of Howler monkeys in the trees along the beach.

If you think of other questions let me know. What type of unit are you staying in at BVV?

Thanks so much! I'll go look at your report. We have a one-bedroom villa at BVV.

Do you think we need a car after all or should we hire a driver to take us from Peace Lodge to Lost Iguana to BVV and back to San Jose to leave?

It is such a personal choice about whether to rent a car, or hire a driver. After having been there, I would not hesitate to rent and drive. That option gives you a lot of freedom. Traveling with our two young kids, we did not want to think about directions at all, so we opted for a driver and it was a great choice for us.

You will love the one bedrrom villa. It is not huge, but so comfortable. We had a mama and baby sloth that lived in the tree off our veranda. We enjoyed them so much!