I'm just surprised at all the bug reports. I spent a week in Santa Theresa in early Feb and did not see one mosquito or any bug the entire trip...although we did have an ant issue one day but that is because we left food out...I'm going back to Tamarindo and Monteverde in April, are the bugs really that bad? I'm from the South so I expect it, I just couldn't belive how much nicer it was in CR bugwise...should I expect much worse this trip based on where I'm going?

The bugs are not bad at all ..... A lot more of an issue here in cold Quebec . No worries .

Darbyvt, all of my "bug phobias" were renewed when I read a very recent review of the Lost Iguana on Trip Advisor. There is a new block of rooms at LI - the Celebrity Suites - that just opened in December. From what I am reading, they were shoddily built and hastily completed. The door to the reviewer's room had a 3/4 inch, unsealed gap at the bottom, through which all kinds of wildlife could easly enter the room.

It's not Costa Rica in particular that I'm concerned about. No matter where any of us live, imagine what could get in through a constant 3/4 inch opening.

I just saw this product advertised on HGTV. We have birds, a cat and dogs so we can't use those toxic chemicals like Raid. I am putting my order in today. Ants are a common problem when you have birds in the house so I am hoping they really will help with those tiny little Argentine ants.

http://www.orangeguard.com/order.html

Safer for the environment and yourself. You could think about bringing something like this down with you and spraying the perimiter of your room. I just hope it doesn't hurt those little geckos. I like having those in my room as they do eat the bugs.

Don't count on the hotel having something safe. I did a homestay and my homeowners sprayed my room with something out of an old fashioned metal pump sprayer. Made me think of those old toxic sprays that are now banned in the states which Costa Rica still has.

Bugs in the room have never been an issue for us, either, darbyvt. We've stayed in a few rooms with ants (Pasatiempo in Tamarindo and a few others), but that's about it. Once we had a large spider inside our mosquito netting, but that was on the Osa. I was surprised that was as bad as it got--we expected more. One of our favorite hotels routinely has little half inch spiders on its walls occasionally.

There have been lots of trips to Costa Rica and lots of hotels and a few homes. I'm not crazy about bugs, but I can tolerate them. However my 24 year old daughter has had a phobia since she was old enough to say a few words and she loves Costa Rica--she'll go anytime she gets a chance. Don't worry so much--you'll be surprised, I think.

Have a wonderful time!

Clarification: the last paragraph was directed to missypie. We live in Texas, too, (part of the time)--there are more bugs here!

I second the amount of bugs in Texas. I had only seen a cockroach once in NYC before moving to Texas. The one in NY paled in comparison to those monsters. The sky isn't the only thing big down there. I shudder every time I think of them. And those awful fire ants....
I learned to live with them but never learned to like them. I spent 1 hr watching a wolf spider cross my dining room floor while waiting for a neigbors husband to come kill what I thought was a tarantula. I still miss being there though.

Glad my son wasn't in the Scouts down there. I was the one who spent every summer at Scout camp with him and his troup up here with the skunks (yikes!). Yes, I did have one in my tent.

We were in Guanacaste in May, the beach town of Tamarindo and had a bungalow door that did not fit tight at the bottom, we had screens only for windows and we had no problems with bugs other than ants marching in a row on the wall. Every night I took a kleenex, wiped them off the wall (as it was by my bed) and there would be no others until the next night. Repeated this "ritual" 5 nights and didn't lose any sleep thinking about ants in my bed. Now, faithie had me worried about spiders in Yelapa as she posted a pic of her son near one. Never saw one of those nor the scorpions that are somewhat common in Yelapa, Mexico. Slept in a palapa, where the roof does not fit tight against the walls (and didn't even have my husband with me to protect me!!!) These places are too beautiful to miss, worry about the bug problem if they happen, be somewhat prepaired and you will enjoy your trip. I would be so happy to get to go back to Costa Rica.

I've been in lots of nice hotels in CR that have gaps under the doors and between the wall and ceilings. Most don't have air conditioning and this allows air flow.

Sandy

I am going to wade in here a moment.

First I have not stayed at the LI at Arenal, But have stayed at many many places in CR. We are what I consider moderate travelers with a splurge hotel/lodge each trip. In all of our trips I don't believe we have ever stayed anywhere that has been airtight, whether we spent $85 or $300 for the room. Since I prefer no air, no tv, no phone, etc, I therefore expect a certain open air feeling to a room, and with that comes certain creatures. It seems that all accomodations in CR come with ill fitting doors and a few lizards slipping in. You will need to accept this and prepare your child. It is natural, not something scarey.

I am an avid reader and addicted to reading before sleep, while in CR I have had to realize and accept that my reading light is going to attract bugs and lizards.

So one word of advice is to never leave a light on after dark (in open air situtions). Otherwise you will return to your room with many little creatures.

And please do not carry chemicals to CR to help in the killing of the environment.

My wife and I just got back from a wonderful long weekend out on the Nicoya Peninsula. Everything was terrific, and yes, we came home one night to find a scorpion on our shower curtain -- a little unsettling, maybe, but nothing that warrants spraying toxic chemicals all over the pristine environment there. I'm more of a wimp than my wife, so we just asked the hotel staff to help, which they did happily. When eating at local restaurants, you have to be prepared for the swarms of flies. If you can't deal, then I wouldn't reccomend going to Costa Rica.

For us, none of that was a problem until the night before we flew back to the US and stayed at the Hampton Inn at the San Jose airport. My wife was bitten by bed bugs. At the time, I have to say that I didn't completely believe in bed bugs. But now that we've brought them home with us and are looking at hundreds of dollars in extermination costs, lost sleep, and embarrasing scratching all the time, I'm a believer.

My advise to anyone who an early am flight out of San Jose and has to stay there for a night: research a good hotel, pay the extra money, and check your bed before you get into it. You'll save yourself an itchy and gross future!

Geez -- that's not a good ad for Hampton Inn. How awful for you. Also, I've never eaten anywhere in Costa Rica where there were swarms of flies. Again -- bad luck or bad choices. I can recommend Corteza Amarilla for a San Jose hotel though. I did get a lot of mosquito bites this August -- it was the first time I had trouble w/ them in CR, probably because it was the middle of rainy season.

Sandy

I had a lot of bug trepidations (mainly concerning large spiders) before I went to the Osa Penn in CR for a month and found that my worries were largely unfounded. I took other travelers advice about turning off all lights before going to dinner (In fact, the hotel ran around and made sure guest's lights were turned off before they came to happy hour.) This eliminates 98% of your problems.
If there's a gap under your door (which is common) stuff a towel under there before nightfall.

In my room, I primarily encountered the occasional very cool looking small moth, and occasionally small spiders in the bathroom. Also, I occasionally sighted those large and speedy 'palmetto bugs' - which are essentially large solitary nocturnal roaches. They're harmless, but can be alarming because they move sooo fast and only come out at night. Just try to roll with it if you encounter one- they don't bite or anything.

And please don't randomly spray insecticides- they are way bad as other travelers have pointed out, and also responsible for deformed frogs and other abnormalities, and are particularly harmful to all things amphibian. (Like all those beautiful frog species native to CR.) And as pointed out, you can't fly with them anyhow.

It occurred to me that sticky 'fly paper' (marketed for mice and large spiders) or roach motels might be a more eco-friendly compromise if you feel like you need some additional security. Just don't place them anywhere where those very valuable bug-eating geckos might get stuck in them.

The insect life is pretty damm interesting in CR. As suggested, coach bug-phobic family members to cultivate their fascination which can help alliviate fear. That's been my approach to big wolf spiders- my personal phobia. Saw some absolutely intriguing big scary spiders but never anywhere near my room. They tend to prefer palapa roofs and high spaces where prey congregates. Those pretty colorful orb spiders that make beautiful webs are perfectly harmless.

In fact, around the full moon, there seemed to be alot more amazing insect activity. At dinner, guests were fascinated by the flurry of amazing cool, camoflaged moths and big preying mantises that would show up around the candlelight. Big wolf spiders would appear on the rafters high above our heads to hunt the moths. (High enough to not be too threatening..) But none of these guys showed up in our rooms because the lights were off. (Bear in mind that this was an open aired dining area in close proximity to the jungle.)

Talking somebody out of their fears is difficult, I know, I've certainly got mine. But reality, you probably won't see the kind of bug activity in your rooms that you might be worried about.

"When eating at local restaurants, you have to be prepared for the swarms of flies."

You do? Where the heck did you eat? We've eaten in everything from upscale lodge restaurants to tiny 'sodas' on several visits and have NEVER encountered that problem.

Jerry

Same here. . .flies never a problem--anywhere we've eaten.

We ate at delicious little sodas that Tico friends of ours recommended and just did what all the locals did --- covered our drinks with napkins and enjoyed the great food!