petite43

It's strange because I live in NY but whenever I visit I always get the feeling like I'm going home. I think it's a combination of a lot of wonderful things that make me feel this way, the warmth of the people, beautiful surroundings, being so close to nature...it's the only place I'm able to completely relax.

I do love the coffee, food & watching the baby turtles make their way to the water at Playa Grande certainly is on the top of the list of my favorite things but...

My most favorite experience was volunteering with my church to help build a classroom for an elementary school in Siquirres. It was life changing & I hope to do something similar again next year. The children of Costa Rica are so special.

rka401

Manzanillo. It's the end of long road and there are beautiful beaches with hardly anybody around. Great snorkeling and relaxing.

volcanogirl

rk, what kinds of things did you see snorkeling? We haven't found good snorkeling in CR, so I'd love to hear about what it was like in Manzanillo.

hipvirgochick

Vgirl - Manzanillo has nice beaches good for relaxing. Fun to snorkel but not great snorkeling. Hiking through Manzanillo-Gandoca Refuge is beautiful.

My one favorite thing by far is the Osa Peninsula.

Melissa5

Green GREEN GREEN!!! I love the verdant rich lovely shades of GREEN! Sigh...and that's what I miss.

volcanogirl

Ah, thanks, hip - did you do Ylang Ylang this trip?

susierah

The Animal Sancuary in the Osa

rnman

That is a hard question.. I loved the scenery.. but I guess even better than just the scenery was riding a horse through it. I did a few days of horseback riding in Junquillal.. and I galloped on the beach (no people) through the surf.. I felt like a I was in some movie scene. You don't get to to do this sort of thing in the states. Blue water, sandy beach, and a great horse... what could be better? I went out with Paradise RIding and will do it again if I can get back to Costa Rica for a third time.. Love the place.. just love it.

msfranklin

One suggestion: see as much of the country as possible and interact with the people. We stayed most of our visit on the Pacific coast in Flamingo. Our daughter was going to language school there. We rented a car at the Liberia airport and spent the afternoons (when she was out of classes) going to different beaches, little towns, just exploring. Recommend eating in the neighbor resturants. Most are out doors. Have to go into the rain forest there. We did a tour and saw volcanio Poaz and a coffee plantation. If you zip line-gota do it here. My dream is to buy a house and retire there.

steviegene

"typical food"!