Need advice on Montezuma or beaches nearby
 

My daughter is in Costa Rica and will be finishing up her volunteer work in early December. She and a few friends have decided to spend a few days at the beach on the Nicoya Peninsula. Montezuma seems to be the place where young people congregate. If you've been there, I'd appreciate your input on Montezuma itself and other places nearby.

Nina, <BR> I just returned from a 2 wk trip to Costa Rica. We were so excited to check out Montezuma because all the guide books make it sound like a hip place to be. What they don't tell you is that it is probably the seediest town in Costa Rica. We did not have a good feeling about the place as soon as we arrived. The funky stores the guide books tell you about consist of 4 overpriced stores selling cheap tye dyed shirts. The nicest place to stay was the Amor de Mar and we had a great dinner at Chicos but all in all it wasn't my idea of a great place to be. Everyone seemed strung out on drugs, wandering the streets, etc. The beach was the worst I saw in Costa RIca. SO many jetties and lava rocks we wouldn't even risk going in. Tell her to check out the Osa Peninsula. We stayed at the Iguana Lodge for a week and had a blast. Met fun, interesting ppl from all walks of life and learned alot about the rainforest, animals and leading a simple life. Tell her not to waste her time in MOntezuma. <BR>

I have to agree with the previous posting, I visited Montezuma 2 yers ago after reading about it in a couple travel guides. It was the most disgusting place I've ever been. There was a small trickle of a stream coming from the town down to the ocean, and it was RAW SEWAGE! There were many down and out drugged out low lifes, and a fellow traveller told me tht she had almost stepped on a used hypodermic needle on the beach! Nosara is a much better choice, actually I can't think of any place that wouldn't be preferable to Montezuma.

<BR>I've had a couple of the greatest times I've ever had in Montezuma. Some like it - Some don't. I like Puntarenas and I've never talked to anyone that did like it. Go to my webs site for some ideas. <BR>http://community.webtv.net/N0336/CostaRicaTravel. Good luck - Dennis

I just returned from Montezuma and while it's certainly not a tourism mecca, I didn't find it as bad as the first two responses pictured it. It's definitely a place where the younger crowd gathers so if you're past 40, you might feel a bit out of place. The beaches at the village aren't great but there is one really nice one about a 30 minute walk away. In some spots you will find some garbage on the beaches but it is stuff that has washed ashore, presumably from passing ships. The food was generally good, with is one really nice restaurant called Playa de los Artistas where we had several really good meals. We stayed at Hotel El Jardin which was comfortable (maybe the only one with air conditioning) but Amor de Mar looks like a really nice place. <BR> <BR>The biggest problem is that it is isolated so it's somewhat difficult to do anything else than hang out there. <BR>

Nina, <BR>I have to agree with most. it's patouli heaven... full of 90's version of hippies. I had fun because I visited there just for the afternoon and had lunch (stayed in quite Tambor w/my sweetie). Bill said over 40 is bad. I'm only 28 and i felt as though i was "older." I do think it would be a fun place for just-graduated collegates to meet people and whoop it up a bit (if you don't mind the pot-smoking hippie crowd - not all the visitors there are like that.).