Hi there, I've never been to Costa Rica but am headed there in 10 days and need some advice!! I am traveling with my boyfriend and we both enjoy unique and upscale accomodation. However, we are not fans of mega resorts, and or tourist infested places. We love character and value unique-ness! We also enjoy good food, wine, surf, hiking, vistas and spas.

So I narrowed our trip down to Osa and Nosara or Mal Pais. We are bring down a couple surf boards and don't want to travel around too much so two places maximum for 10 days is a good fit for us. The following points we need help with....

1) Nosara or Mal Pais? I've checked out Harmony Hotel in Nosara and it looks pretty great but the Casa Cameleon and/or the Moana Lodge look pretty great in Mal Pais as well. Mal Pais also looks like it's easier to transfer to Puerto Jimenez than Nosara. But Nosara seems to have a more upscale vibe. What are your thoughts?

2) Osa - we are choosing to stay at Bosque del Cabo. I've heard so many great things about the place and it looks phenomenal. I did want to stay at Lapa Rios at first but I think the vibe at Bosque suits us a bit better. BUT I was wondering if we should forget Nosara/Mal Pais and just spend the entire trip in Osa and switch it up between Bosque del Cabo and Lapa Rios or Iguana Lodge. Like I said, we really want to surf so it's important we get our surf on....but don't want to move around if it isn't necessary or really worth the additional travel.

3) If you do advise breaking it up....which part (Nosara/Mal Pais or Osa) would you spend the extra night in?

Thanks for any input you have.
Sezza

We loved Bosque del Cabo; a lot of people pair it with the Iguana Lodge to make beach access easier. The beach is a hike from BdC. I also love the looks of Casa Chameleon; we've researched staying there but haven't done it yet. With 10 days, I would personally do a split between two places.

www.hotelpuntaislita.com

might meet your needs on Nicoya

better than your current selections.

Per VG would split BDC Osa/Nicoya

nice mix...

Bosque del Cabo is a gem of a place. Lapa Rios is close by. We stayed there some years ago under the original owners, Karen and John Lewis. My sense is that it is now a tad more formal than BdelC, but I could be wrong.

From BdelC, you can hike on a descending trail to Golfo Dulce and have a choice of beaches. That hike takes close to an hour and is through a lovely forest. The lodge will pick you up at a designated point for a small charge, if you wish. The Pacific is a different hike, takes a little less time, but swimming is discouraged due to the surf.

Nosara is a little town that sprouted up with new shops and restaurants, as a consequence of tourism. It has its own charm, and the surfing attracts lots of people.

Carol

we have done the Mal Pais/Osa twice now. We also have done a Mal Pais/Manuel Antonio trip(MA was just ok, to touristy). What keeps us coming back to Mal Pais is Casa Chameleon. The place is amazing and every thing you could want in regards to upscale, but very private. The owners have done a amazing job and are just two of the nicest people. Surfing is great in the Mal Pais-Santa Teresa area. The Santa Teresa part of town is basically just a surf town very laid back vibe. on our second trip we did one starting at BDC and then to Casa Chameleon and it was easy to catch the flight back to San Jose to make the international. The last time we went we did it Casa Chameleon then to BDC and it was really hard to make the connecting flight from Peurto Jimenez to San Jose, we almost missed our international flight

If you do go to Mal Pais Casa Chamaeleon is the place. they have 3 villas. We were lucky enough our last trip to stay in the ultra luxury villa and it was paradise.

Thank you to all of you! Such well thought out and great replies! We will definitely break up the trip then...

Qwovadis, can you surf in front of punta islita and is the surf consistent in the area? I do love the hotel and I am a SLH member.

Hochieman,
We are planning on staying one night in San Jose on each end of the trip so I am hoping that delays won't affect our flights too much. We arrive at 5;30 pm on a Saturday and I don't think there are any modes of transport to get us to each Osa or Mal Pais/Nosara area at that time of night. Do you know of any? And then we fly out of San Jose at 10am, approximately 10 days later....so we were thinking that to be safe we should probably not try to fly domestically that morning. Any thoughts?

Thanks again!!!

Malpais is a very special place and if you go Mid May everything will be green and beautiful, do not miss the sunset or even better surfing at sunset time.

You mentioned that you like good food and wine so make sure you pay a visit to Azucar Restaurant. It is a hidden place inside Frank's Place hotel (at the crossroads in front of Playa Carmen Commercial Center), The place is very romantic at night and the food amazing, try the roasted chicken breast with red wine reduction, to die for.

If you are in San Jose, another great place to eat is La Esquina de Buenos Aires, tiny little place beautifully decorated. The wine list is huge and the pasta are fresh and probably the best I have eaten in Costa Rica.

Have a good trip...