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Help with 12 day honeymoon planning starting April 30th

Help with 12 day honeymoon planning starting April 30th

Old Mar 1st, 2012, 04:55 PM
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Help with 12 day honeymoon planning starting April 30th

I have been combing through posts on here and other sites all day to try to get a better idea and figured I'd just post myself.

- My fiance and I will be flying into san jose at 1130am on the 30th of April. I was planning on driving (either driver or renting a car) straight to arenal area, I thought we could be there by dinner time, even with a stop on the way. I am stuck between which hotel to stay at, the ones I like that are also what we want to spend are AOL, El Silencio, Arenal Springs Resort, and Hotel Los Lagos. We will stay for 2 nights.

I've seen the volcano is not active so we are planning on doing the hot springs, a hike, and maybe a horseback ride. I am also concerned about my fiance doing the zip lines, he is tall and weighs about 260, Can anyone comment on the safetly of them for someone this size? Maybe they won't even allow it.

Next we'll move to Monteverde, planning on spending 2 nights here as well. Doing a night hike, maybe a coffe tour, and some more hiking. In Monteverde we are looking at the trapp family lodge and el sapo dorado. Open to other suggestions, must be clean is my main thing!

After this we're ready for some more animals and a little relaxing. And I'm looking for some suggestions for beach. I know there is Manuel Antonio and that area, I've seen some nice hotels around there too. I was thinking with another week left we could really do two more places, as long as they were within 4-5 hours of each other. Since MAY is the start of the rainy season is there anywhere in particular that we would be more likely to have at least some sunshine during the days?

Should we go west coast or east coast? We would love to have a nice beach for a couple of days and maybe a cool little town or two to walk around, nothing too overgrown. We are definitely not into the All Inclusive thing I love to try local restaurants, big fan if rice and beans. Love snorkeling very fearful of driving around cliffs and snakes! Just thought I'd add those two things in.

We're flying out of san jose on the 13th, hopefully back to some sunshine in Boston.

I have been to costa rica before, for a week with my family, many years ago. I loved it and can't remember where we stayed. Can't wait to share the experience.

Thanks for your help!
krfay8 is offline  
Old Mar 1st, 2012, 05:54 PM
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that is a very nice schedule you have on mind,now since you are taking the western side first, and considering that by then it may be raining cats and dogs on the caribean side, the western seems to me like a much nicer option.
Now about lodging in la fortuna, all I can say is stay close to town...it is kind of a pain in the @$$ to drive in and out every time you want to do something and the hotels you mentioned are not very close to town, calm is nice, but la fortuna is not a very loud party town to worry about...there are some very nice and even cheaper hotels in town, hotel la fortuna is a nice option,my aussie friend(who is very picky)stayed there and to my own surprise loved it...so I has to be good,and the rates are somewhere about 55 and 65 for a standart room.
Oh, by the way no worries about the weight...the equipment is certified to resist that and more...
About Monteverde,more than two nights is a waste of time, trust me.then for a romantic gettaway, manuelantonio national park is for sure a must, all the wild life you want to see is there.
then you can head north to the guanacaste area, very nice if you are looking for sunny beaches with white(or sometimes black) sand, and there are plenty of options there, and then once you are ready for the comeback, just drive to san jose on the same day if you have the chance.for further details please let me know
greenworks is offline  
Old Mar 2nd, 2012, 03:00 AM
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HM looks well crafted congrats!

costarica.bookit.com good deals on HM worthy hotels. servicecarrental.com mapache.com my 2 favs for car rental do it a lot.

tabacon.com my fav at arenal.net free best hot springs if you stay there. fondevela.com MV
hotelvillacaletas.com North of Jaco
issimosuites.com MA

desafiocostarica.com and skytrek.com for adventures.

All very romantic for my wife and myself when we go.

Congrats!
qwovadis is offline  
Old Mar 2nd, 2012, 04:01 AM
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I wouldn't worry too much about the rainy season, it doesn't automatically start on May 1st Especially in May it is often sunny days and rainy nights, very nice actually.

Have to disagree about staying close to or in La Fortuna. Most of the activities you want to do are farther away from town, not in town, so they hotels you are looking at are in good places. I've heard good things about El Silencio and AOL, though the latter is off of a rough road and may limit your choices when you want to go out to dinner. Arenal Paraiso is another nice place to look into, reasonable rates and I liked the rooms and big pool/springs.

SkyTrek actually does have a limit on weight around 220 lbs, so I wouldn't say don't worry about it. I would assume other ziplines are about the same. I would ask around when in the area to see which ones can accommodate your fiance.

With extra days, you could look into Samara or Playa Potrero and maybe also squeeze some days in the Rincon area.
tully is offline  
Old Mar 2nd, 2012, 07:21 AM
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You could head over to the Carribean side but from MA it is about a 9 hour drive. Staying on the west coast, I would look into Samara or Nosara .
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Old Mar 2nd, 2012, 07:40 AM
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I see some propaganda on the latest responses...hahahaha, tipico...anyways...assuming is not good , it is easier if you contact the companies first, but you can do that once you are booking the tours, and ask all the questions about weight restrictions,I have personally seen really big people zipping down the hill on one of those systems...not sure if they were 220 or 280 but they were big...really big...one of the biggest concernings for the company is not the weight itself,but the size of the person in relation to the harness, sometimes the legs or waist are just to big to even put the gear on, so there is where the problem lays...on the other hand been further away from town like you mentioned will limit the diversity of choices for meals,and depends whre you go would jsut make the logistics of the comapny a bit more complicated, or even ad and extra pick up and drop off fee, that is the case of hotel Bella Vista del Norte, where most tour companies charge more for the shuttle service, and yes one could say oh, but we can drive, and that would be correct if the logistics of the tour allow it to, but some would just make you miss half the trip and make the tour guide work more complicated and potentially ruin the experience,for example, i have seen people driving behind the tour bus, and while the guide is explaining some of the rules to the guest on the back of the bus, the ones in the car did not hear what he said and then they make an innocent mistake that may either ruin the experience for themselves or for the others, so been part of the group is always better(safety wise)
also you can find cheaper options for the same products when you book with other people, so given the case, if you are booking baldi hotsprings(my favorite)and I made this mistake myself,and you go directly to the gates of the park and pay them for the entrance fee, they will charge you somewhere around 25 USD , and you can get those tickets for less than 20 if you get them on the little tour booths in town. because in order to share profit and increase the amount of clients, the give a special(12 USD) price to locals. Also almost every tour company offers free pickup and drop off with every tour, so no worries about that unless you are satying too far form town, the hotels you mentioned are o.k in what regards to those services, but what I have found is that some of them are a bit overpriced for what they offer.I mean before you had a great view of the lava flowing only from certain hotels, an they charged for that but now there is no lava, so staying anywhere where you can get a nice room for a fair price would be the wisest option. Saludos.
greenworks is offline  
Old Mar 2nd, 2012, 07:54 AM
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Definitely check with the ziplines on weight restrictions. I've read several reports of people not being allowed to go due to weight or body dimensions. Better to know up front. The waterfall and Hanging Bridges both make for nice hikes. In Monteverde, we stayed at Fonda Vela and enjoyed it. It's one of the closest hotels to the reserve, was clean, and has a good restaurant on site. We saw toucans there.
volcanogirl is offline  
Old Mar 2nd, 2012, 08:50 AM
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All your hotel choices for Arenal seem to get good reviews. I'm with Tully - the natural beauty of the place tends to be away from town, nice properties with expansive views and grounds. There's not much to the town itself, basically a main road with hotels and restaurants scattered along it, a church, a park, etc. We've traveled during rainy season and have had a mix of rain and sun. We just forge ahead with our plans. I like traveling that time of year.
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Old Mar 3rd, 2012, 07:21 AM
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We went to CR for our anniversary in May 2010 and had no problem with extensive rain...I don't even remember if we had any! I would not stay in town in Arenal - for a two night stay a taxi in to town won't break the bank.

Definitely check on weight limits for ziplines in advance. We didn't do any hot springs, but walked over to peek in Baldi since we staying across the street at Silencio del Campo. Baldi would not be my choice...loud music and didn't seem very relaxing. Based on my research I would go with Eco Thermales.
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Old Mar 14th, 2012, 10:23 AM
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i am from boston and now live in costa rica. go with SkyTtrek in Arenal, if there are any concerns they will let you know but you should have no worries. if you want to go off the beaten path check out the stretch of coast from Mal Pais to Nosara. Personal Favs: Mal Pais Surf Camp, Ylang Ylang, Cristal Azul, Luna Azul. Cristal Azul is most remote and private, Mal Pais Surf Camp most populated. Empty beaches, small towns where everyone knows each other. amazing food, no mini Americas. The weather will be gorgeous!
amagkid is offline  
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