We jsut returned from a month in CR. Loved it!! and can hardly wait to return. Love the people especially in the rural areas. We rented a car from Tricolor and were very pleased. Rate was good . Would definitely use them again. Drove to Tamarindo and stayed at the Diria Hotel which was nice, but road to Tamarindo from Liberia was awful and was not impressed with the beach or town. Stayed at the Ocatel Resort which was wonderful. Beach was Ok. Food good. Views were absolutely fantastic from our room. Would stay there again and easily accessible from Liberia. Wemt to Santa Rosa also and stayed at Eco Playa resort about 15 miles or so on poor road out of Santa Rosa. Went to a beautiful beach in the park. It Was San Juanquinal. Loved it. We were the only persons on the beach. We had rented a villa at Playa Azul for 2 weeks and this was very relaxing. Met so many local people. Low key. Saw ox carts. Bought groceries at local village stores. Ate at their Sodas and also found some good restaurants. The road from Santa Cruz to Playa Azul was terrible, but once there we really enjoyed it. Great weather, great views, nice black sand beach and waves. From there we drove to Nosara and Samara. Stayed at a luxury resort So. of Samara. It was called Punta Islita. Very nice, but expensive. Did the zip line thing and enjoyed it. We are in our 70's and were not afraid at all. Great experience!!! From there went to Nicoya and back to Liberia. Didnt get to Arenal or Monteverde this time as Lost Iquana had messed up our reservation. Will save that for next time. The weather was hot, but thoroughly enjoyed the Nicoya peninsula. I have never seen such beautiful deserted beaches. and we go to Hawaii every year. I much prefer CR.It is less expensive, less crowded, bautiful and the people are wonderful.

Great report! Sounds like a wonderful relaxing trip.

Ah! Another one on the side of Costa Rica in the ongoing "Costa Rica vs. Hawaii" debate!

I am especially interested in your time at Santa Rosa. We always spend at least a week or 10 days of our time in Guanacaste (it is one of our favorite areas), but have never been to Santa Rosa. Perhaps this July we'll make it there for a few days. . .your description sounded wonderful!

Glad you liked Tricolor--we think they are excellent as well.

Thanks so much for posting. You give me hope that (God willing--si Dios quiere, as the Ticos say) we will be enjoying this beautiful country throughout the rest of our 50's and into our 70's as well! Good for you!!!

Great to hear about Punta Islita. They have a great website. Tell me more about the beach. Calm or can we body surf? Rocks or sand in the water out in front? Is this the next cove South of Samara? How far to drive from Samara?
Sorry to hear you had to cancel Arenal. Give you something new to see in CR when you go back.

Punta Islita was a great resort. Great service, good food. Beach is very nice. they take you down to beach in a shuttle or you can walk down and take shuttle back up. (which we did). Beach is nice and sandy far out. Good for body surfing. Lots of Boogie boards. Road is not very good from Samara but certainly passable. Had been on worse. Its about 15 K's from Samara. The next beach south of Samara is Playa Carillo which is absolutely beautiful. Hope this helps.