djkillar

My brothers and our spouses are planning on a week in CR in late November and need help picking out a destination. It sounds like the Pacific coast will be drier during that time of year. We tentatively picked out the Montezuma area base on a little research but we are totally open to suggestion. We will want to take a couple day trips but want to rent a house together for the week and hang out, so we're not interested in moving around. We're more interested in sightseeing and some beach time than night life and are looking for a less tourist dominated area with a laid back vibe and good food. Thanks so much for any help!
-Daniel

mitchsmith

If you're a nature lover don't miss out these places, Corcovado National Park, Palo Verde National Park, Barra Honda Caverns, Caño Negro wildlife refuge and Monteverde. You'll definitely love it in Costa Rica. See some beautiful pictures here http://travel.mongabay.com/costa_rica. Happy trip!

qwovadis

www.vrbo.com best options around www.tamarindo.com

go as late as you can in November to avoid rain...

hsmithcr

I would never recommend Tamarindo as a "less tourist dominated area." It is far from this.

Montezuma is a great but pretty isolated so you would have to be happy with just exploring around that area for the time you have. If you are counting your arrival day and departure day in your 7 days, then you really have five days in Costa Rica. You could plan to spend several days in Montezuma, return a couple of days before your flight out and stay in Alajuela which is where the airport is located. From here, you can do things like coffee tour, visit Poas Volcano, visit The Butterfly Farm and many other things as a contrast to your time at the beach. There are lodgings of all kinds available. Lots of people like Hotel Pura Vida, also Hotel Villa Dolce and Hotel Buena Vista.

djkillar

Thanks for the advice. What do you think about the Osa region?

volcanogirl

The Osa Peninsula is beautiful - amazing wildlife, nice views of the water, and a lot less developed than some other areas of CR. We saw all 4 species of monkeys pretty easily there, as well as toucans and scarlet macaws. Lots of big wow moments.

cmerrell

The Osa is definitely special. I've been down there twice and could easily go back again and again. I have not yet been to Montezuma, so I don't have a basis of comparison, but I can't believe you'd be disappointed if you chose the Osa Peninsula. As VG says, it's beautiful. It's laid back, tranquil, with easy access to rain forest and beach (and incredible wildlife). It's a hard place to beat!

volcanogirl

The Dominical/Uvita area seems to get a lot of good talk too.

cmazza

Haven't been to Montezuma like to go soon. Love Osa we rented yellow coco lodge great check it out.

yacare

The Dominical area is just fantastic! The beaches are surrounded by lush tropical vegetation and mountains! great pics at: http://www.hoteltraveltour.com/costa...untarenas.html

starfish1

We have just booked an all inclusive villa overlooking Playa Octotal which is ~45 minutes from the Liberia airport through http://www.costaricavillas.com/. Three meals a day and an open bar are included along with your own cook, housekeeper and bartender. They will also arrange for any activities/tours that you'd like to do which makes life really easy especially if you don't want to rent a car. The feedback I got from previous guests all loved the experience and spoke very highly of the staff, the accommodations and the great food and drink.

djkillar

Great ideas all, Thanks!