Honeymoon Itinerary Help ... Costa Rica
 

Hello all,

My fiance and I are getting married in January and have decided we would like to honeymoon in Costa Rica. We don't intend on honeymooning right away, perhaps waiting until spring so that we have time to plan. We would love some thoughts and suggestions as to what cities/areas we should go to for a first time visit to CR. Most likely it will be a 7-10 day trip.

A little about what we are looking for:
#1 priority (for me anyway!) ... zip line. We also love to hike and enjoy nature. Fiance loves to fish. We would both be into rafting. We are not big "lay on the beach" people, preferring to be more active instead. However, since it is also our honeymoon, we would enjoy having some downtime to just relax at our hotel, swim in a pool and read.

I have read many posts here and see that the popular destinations seem to be Arenal, MA and Monteverde. Given our above likes, would you suggest either of these over the others? Or any other suggestions would be welcome too!

Also, please feel free to chime in on hotel suggestions. Typically, I like smaller boutique hotels but am also open to larger resorts, especially if there are spa services available. Honeymoonish type hotels would be great, esp. if they have views, private balconies with double hammocks, in room massages ... a girl can dream right?!

Thanks in advance,
Shannon

We loved the Lost Iguana in Arenal. It's set on the edge of town so it's quiet and on a beautiful property. Acres that you can hike and pretty landscaping. The rooms have great volcano views, and ours had a jacuzzi out on the balcony, along with 2 great rocking chairs so we could enjoy the view. They do have spa services on the property and a nice, small pool and bar area. SkyTrek is the most popular zipline in Arenal if you want to check it out. Also Eco Termales hot springs is wonderful and a great spot for dinner. For hiking, the Hanging Bridges is right next door to the Lost Iguana. For rafting, I'd check out going on the Pacuare. You would probably have to stay in San Jose a night for that and get picked up at your hotel early in the a.m.

We also loved Bosque del Cabo on the Osa Peninsula. Great hiking and tons of wildlife there if you enjoy nature.

I forgot to mention the Peace Lodge in my earlier post. If you have time, it's probably the most honeymoonish hotel we've stayed in. Over the top, indulgent rooms with huge bathrooms, jacuzzi, waterfall shower, pretty views, hammock and jacuzzi on the balcony, a fireplace, etc. Also 5 beautiful waterfalls on the property that you can hike to, and they even have their own little trout pond where you can fish for you dinner.

Monteverde is great for birding, and if you're lucky you'll see the replendent quetzal. We did our zipline with the Original Canopy Tour - it was fun, but to be honest I thought it would be a lot more of a thrill, and it was just fun, not scary at all. We also did a night hike in Hidden Valley that was neat. It was very cold and rainy when we were there, so I'd bring a fleece jacket and rainwear. Fonda Vela junior suites were nice.

In MA, check out Buena Vista Villas.

thanks volcanogirl! the parador looks amazing. i am thinking that we fly into San Jose, and if it's early enough travelling immediately to Arenal for 3 nights then to MA for 3 nights (or vice versa?). Then a final night in San Jose prior to our flight home. Is it common to hire a driver to take you from one place to another so that we don't have to drive ourselves?

Yep, that's what we always do. A lot of people do drive themselve, but we've always just hired drivers through our hotels when we book them. It's nice to have the driver waiting for you at the airport when you arrive. On our last trip, we got in after dark, but our driver was there waiting for us, so we just hit the road - we couldn't have done that if we had been driving ourselves. It gets dark around 5:30 in CR. If you want a more budget option, Interbus is popular too.

Congrats,

For me www.xandari.com

around flight nights tour

Central Valley from there.

www.thespringscostarica.com

new great at Arenal

www.ocotalfishing.com

Nicoya best fishing/diving

Love the flexibility and fun

of rental car www.mapache.com

stop tour hike go anywhere anytime.

www.mapcr.com most important

Have Fun

thanks qwovadis!

i am noticing that a lot of the hotels advertise "hiking" on their properties. My fiance and I would be into a more strenuous hike so if anyone knows of great trails beyond those on a resort property, I would love to hear about them.