decembertraveler11

If we fly into San Jose and then want to go to beaches and a cloud forest, can someone recommend some cities to go to and places to stay? We are a little stumped.

looking for nice accomodations around $100 a night

thanks!

shillmac

How long will you be in Costa Rica? Popular beach areas are:

Manuel Antonio National Park (near Quepos, Central Pacific) and its beaches--about 3 hours from San Jose.

Tamarindo (beach and town), about 5 hours from San Jose, Nicoya Peninsula, Northern Pacific--is close to several other beaches within driving/exploring distance.

Tambor, Montezuma, MalPais beaches (near Montezuma town) on the Southern Nicoya Peninsula--about 6 hours of drive time including a 1.5 hr. ferry crossing of the Gulf of Nicoya.

These are all very nice and interesting areas. You would enjoy any of them. You can also fly domestically to any of them, thus saving travel time if interested--Sansa or NatureAir.

The major cloud forest destination is Monteverde (between San Jose and the Nicoya beaches), although there are some smaller areas of cloud forest. Monteverde is the most popular, but if you are into birding at all, you would enjoy the cloud forests near San Gerardo where Savegre Lodge is located. This is about 1.5 hour south of San Jose, more off the beaten path, and very beautiful.

As for cities to visit, there aren't really any "cities" in the areas you have mentioned--small towns. Any cities you might be interested in are in the central valley area near San Jose--Alajuela is the 2nd largest city in CR, and also Heredia. There are interesting little towns all over the place, but a few stand outs in the central valley (north of Alajuela) would be Sarchi (lots of artisan shops), Grecia (one of the cleanest towns in Central America with a very pretty church), and Zarcero, also with a beautiful church in front of which is a really cool topiary garden with all kinds of animal shapes. It is in high country with pine trees and just delightful.

If you have any extra time at all, you would enjoy spending a couple or 3 days in the central part and exploring some of these little unique towns.

If you are interested in an experience a little different from the first time traveler's norm, you might check out the Caribbean side, south of Limon down around Cahuita and Puerto Viejo. Very pretty beaches here, and a more Jamaican feel. VERY laid back. Cahuita National Park is here.

shillmac

You mentioned where to stay, once you decide on areas, you can begin looking at hotels. There are many places ranging from $75-$100 in all of these areas, and several very nice hotels that will cost you less than that.

You can do a search on this forum and read about all kinds of places. They've all been discussed in detail!

decembertraveler11

Thanks, that is helpful. We will be there about a week and I bought Let's Go Costa Rica but am looking for additional suggestions and real traveler feedback. I will search the board for hotel info as well.

crawfishmonica

HI, take a look at my post for Heredia/Alajuela accomodations. I have gotten some really great suggestions. I am going in July of next year and am so excited about the trip. Get the book by Lonely Planet, well written, beautiful pics. Also get a map, pick a town and do a computer search for accomodations in that town. That is how I learned a lot about what I wanted and didn't want, then came here to get confirmation and additional suggestions. Have a great time and come back here and share your experience!!!

shillmac

Ecolibri: Decembertraveler11 asked for cloud forest and beach locations as well as names of hotels in the $100 range. That is the information he/she was given by the posters. It was mentioned that Manuel Antonio, Tamarindo, and Montezuma referred to AREAS of Costa Rica and included nearby beaches that are within driving distance. It was also stated that, although lodging in the $100 per night price range is available, so is less expensive (and nice) lodging available.

Please feel free to share the information you have, but at the same time, please try not to criticize others because of the ways in which they answer. People who use the forum understand ahead of time that they are going to be receiving lots of opinions based on the personal experiences, likes and dislikes of several people.

In my opinion, that is exactly what most people receive from participation in this forum. Wouldn't you agree?

shillmac

By the way, I was looking at your website and at my map. Enjoyed your information, but it looks as if Turrucares is in an area that probably gets less traffic (although there are some very nice little towns "down under" the Interamerican as well).

The next time we are in Costa Rica, we would be happy to come stay at your place!

You are right that there are many very interesting places in Costa Rica that don't get mentioned very often on this forum. I think it is because so many people are looking to visit for a short while (perhaps 1st time to Costa Rica) and are interested in seeing some of the more well known areas (Arenal, Monteverde, Manuel Antonio).

I really believe that it is when people RETURN to Costa Rica (perhaps again and again) that they begin to become more interested in getting away from the "main events" and checking out some of the lesser known (and advertised) areas.

If you read more carefully, you will see that frequently folks will mention some of the smaller, less well-known places and activities. For example, I've talked about Hotel Brasilito a few times (though unfortunately it isn't Tico-owned) and have mentioned LaDeHesa in San Joaquin (Tico owned). Tica Traveler has written an excellent review of Las Carolinas up near Bijagua. Neta and others have mentioned hotsprings (Tico owned places) other than Tabacon--such as the Hildago Family place.

So, really, these places DO get mentioned occasionally--it's just that MOST 1st time visitors aren't ready to get away from the major tourist attractions and venture out into the lesser known areas.

I truly believe that almost everyone who has ever been to Costa Rica and fallen in love with both the country and the people would want Costa Rican tourism and hotel businesses to be successful--and would be eager to support negocios de costaricense when traveling about the country.

elcolibri

We agree with you Shillmac that decembertraveler ask for $ 100,- range, but our experience is that a lot of travellers don't know what they can expect for this price. They think in usa prices, but this is Costa Rica. We know several good hotels for prices less than $ 100,-. (For example: Hotel MardeLuz in Jaco has the best value for your money). For this reason we try to explain this in forums like this one and in other forums too. For us it's something strange that people think in prices and not in what do you get for your money. I read a lot of times at the Lonely Planet forum that a lot of tours/hotels are overpriced in Costa Rica and we do agree with this opinions. For beaches we almost never read somebody recommend the Caribean side of Costa Rica, though they have some of the most beautiful beaches of Costa Rica and very nice Parks too (Cahuita, Manzanillo). We know the weatherconditions are a little bit unpredictable there, but watching the weatherforecast if you are in Costa Rica can help a lot. We always advise our guests don't make all your reservations here, go and feel the real Costa Rica. If you like it stay some more days and return for the other parts a next vacation and we know this is what a lot of tourists do when they like Costa Rica.
We don't want to criticize someone, we only try to explain a little bit more about Costa Rica. Unfortunately we cann't answer every question, because we don't have time enough to do this.

rbrazill

I couldn't agree with you more, elcolibri. Most Fodor's Forums tend to be self-referential (incestuous?) If you read this forum regularly, you'd think that there were only three places in CR: Manuel Antonio, Tamarindo and Arenal. You'd also believe that the only hotels in Costa Rica are Si Como No, Capitan Suizo and Tabaccon. When I told my friends who live in Guanacaste that Tamarindo was the most frequently recommended beach town on the Nicoya Peninsula, they just scratched their heads and asked why. It's basically an American town with overpriced hotels and beaches covered with horse stuff.
There is so much more to CR, including the Caribbean coast, but people want to stick with the known and tourist-friendly.

elcolibri

May be my english is very bad, but I think I tried to explain what you are saying in your last lines rbrazill.

louiss

my friend i have travel to costa rica five times sience the early 80 s most of the time staying in or around san jose but last year i took my wife and my ant during thanks giving we and we had a blast we bought a flexi boucher which gives you access to 60 hotels in five different areas of costa rica the packege also included a 4x4 vehicle to realy enjoy costa rica you have to drive is alot of fun i would recommend it bye and good luck on your trip lou

TripleSecDelay

I'm truly only trying to help English-speaking people who don't realize the differences in Spanish dialects as they are prounounced in English.

Sometimes a "v" is replaced by a "b".
Sometimes a "d" is replaced by a "th".
Sometimes an "r" is replaced by a "l".

There are more that may not apply to the above posts.

Flexi Voucher. It's often a good deal to purchase one and use it for travel.