Possible Honeymoon in CR - What do you think?
 

Hey everyone! I am getting married June 11th this year and am looking at some possibilities for a honeymoon locations and I came across Costa Rica and from everything I have found about it, it looks amazing. My future wife to be and I are quite adventurous and absolutely love the outdoors. Some things we would like to enjoy on our honeymoon is snorkeling, scuba, hiking, jungles, 4 x 4 exploring, I have seen volcanoes on Hawaii and that was awesome so when I saw there were volcanoes in costa rico I was also thrilled about that. I also saw that costa rica has some amazing white water there to enjoy. I am a white water kayaker myself so the opportunity to be able to enjoy some of the costa rican rivers by boat just thrilled me even more. Don't worry I wouldn't leave my wife, she is adventurous like me. Her very first time in a kayak I took her over an 18 foot waterfall in a 2 man kayak and after that down a class III section of a river. I also saw there was zip-lining and tree top explorations available.

So my question is, what part of CR would you recommend staying to be able to enjoy those variety of activities? I have read the post about whether to or not to rent a car and I think we probably will rent a car(4 x 4). Any car rental company you recommend and are there any other activities you think we might enjoy while we are there?

Thank you in advance!

Dave

We were in CR last February and loved it - going back again this Feb. From your post I think you and your new wife will love it too. We flew into San Jose. Spent the night at the Margarita B&B - very nice, large, clean rooms, owners very helpful, close to the airport - www.margarita.cr. Since we arrived after dark, we took a taxi to the B&B. We rented a 4x4 from Vamos from a link on the B&B's website. They brought the car to us at the B&B that next morning at no extra charge. We drove to the LaFortuna/Arenal area the next day. A beautiful scenic drive, some winding mountain roads, but no problems getting there. We stayed at the Lost Iguana -- beautiful, beautiful! Sprung for the room with the hot tub and the "outdoor" shower. Couldn't have been happier -- except if the volcano had been active. No lava while we were there & cone of the volcano covered by mist. Most of the things you mention wanting to do are in the Arenal area. Don't miss Tabacon thermal waters. It was one of the highlights of our trip. If you can, schedule a massage at their spa -- best spa I've ever to, by far, and I've been to a few. We were in CR for 10 days and traveled from Arenal to MonteVerde (where is stormed & stormed and we didn't get to see or do much) then to Manuel Antonio - great area, too. BUT, since this IS your honeymoon, I'd say just stay in the La Fortuna/Arenal area and really soak up the fun & beauty there instead of spending a lot of time moving around.......although it just occurred to me that you are going in the "rainy" season and Arenal is in the rain forest. So you might want to spend a few days there and then head for a beach.....I'll let someone else comment on the beach areas.

Congrats. Costa Rica certainly has all that, but you're almost certainly going to be better off staying in a few places rather than one in order to cover all of those interests. Arenal and the other volcanoes are, of course, on the isthmus' spine; snorkeling and scuba are, of course, in the sea; and rafting/kayaking are, of course, in between. CR's compact but mountainous, so travel takes longer than you might be assuming. See yourtravelmap.com . You don't want to pack/unpack every day, but you don't want to keep taking very long day trips from a single base, either. Balance. For the same reason, to get specific advice on locations (other than Arenal and Pacuare which sound like must-dos for your interests), you should identify how long a visit you have in mind.

Given your interests, I'd also suggest buying (or putting on you wedding gift registry?) an inflatable kayak rather than having to rent one every trip. Costco had $200 Sea Eagles recently.

Definitely check out the Arenal area; it has a lot in the way of adventure activities like c mentioned. You can zipline at Sky Trek, white water raft with Rios Tropicales, hike the waterfall and swim at the base, enjoy the volcano, hike the Hanging Bridges, and do the Cano Negro tour to enjoy wildlife. Definitely enjoy the hot springs at either Eco Termales or Tabacon. I've also heard good things about canyoneering with Desafio and Pure Trek, but we haven't had a chance to try it yet.

If you want to do a lot of hiking and see amazing wildlife, the Osa area is wild and really beautiful. We haven't found great snorkeling in CR. You might consider doing a rafting trip on the Pacuare as well.

Thank you everyone for your replies so far. I knew I forgot to mention something. We are looking to spend 10-14 days there. We figure this is a once in a lifetime event and we want to make the most of it. Also, the cost of being there, is it average or is it on the higher end?

@ cmincks - We are looking to fly out the morning of the 12th so hopefully we will be able to get there while its still light out. So as far as whether we stay someplace near the airport the first night is still up in the air. If you don't mind me asking, do you remember about how much per day your 4 x 4 was and what size it was? I was looking at them online but just curious your thoughts on that. As far as being there in the rainy season, how often does it rain? And does it mostly rain in and around the forests or along the coastline too?

@ volcanogirl - I was reading about the canyoneering tonight and that sounds like a blast. If we go and do it I will def let you know how it goes.


@ TiltedFlipCurves - What places would you recommend staying that would accommodate the activities we want to experience? I hear ya on not wanting to make so many long day trips to enjoy the activities. We also want to enjoy the area and relax also and not run ourselves raged driving all over the place. As far as the kayaking/rafting, I would love to rent a playboat kayak and paddle with my wife while she is in a raft. If we didn't go that route I would def consider renting a double duck and going down the river that way. I have paddled a duckie before and they are a blast. You can still surf and play in the waves like you can with a hardboat kayak. Obviously not as fun as a kayak but more fun than a raft on a class III / IV river. My only hesitation taking an inflatable with us would be weight.

What side do you think has better snorkeling, the Pacific or Caribbean?

Just research notes and pre-CR general experience. http://costa-rica-guide.com/Weather/WeatherMap.html
http://www.weather2travel.com/climat...es/costa-rica/
Give weather info. Study them; CR weather varies widely across microclimates. I have NOT thought through June-specific microclimes and snorkel, raft seasonal conditions here and leave that to you. But June in general is good for CR weather. In 10 days, I'd do no more than 3 locations, 14 maybe a 4th. Osa for the wildest part of CR, Drake Bay to Isla Cano if you want to snorkel there, but doing Arenal and Pacuare with that is a lot of surface travel time, unless you fly at least one way. Solid has one-way rentals to or from Puerto Jimenez or Dominical. Another possible is Arenal, then Pacuare (raft) with a deal where they bring you to the Carribean coast (snorkel) from Pacuare, then finish at Drake Bay, or at Villas Caletas or a nicer Manuel Antonio location for a higher-end posher romantic couple nights.

Also, someone (osaadventuras?) offers a multi-day kayak expedition on the golfo dulce. Arenal, then fly down for that, then finish up at Drake Bay would be neat.

Costa Rica sounds like the perfect place for your honeymooon, given your interests in an active holiday, though May-November is the rainy season, so you're going to have to expect rain. I was there the first two weeks of this month (January) and it rained frequently--fortunately, mostly at night.

Basing in 3 or 4 locations for your 10-14 days would be good. We loved the Osa Peninsula and Monteverde--lots to do in both areas. Great hikes and kayaking in Osa, plus a dolphin trip where we planeboarded with a huge pod of dolphins joined us, fun roads for 4x4 adventure; lots of animals and birds in both areas. Arenal advertises an active volcano but it was covered in clouds the whole time we were there, nothing was going on in terms of eruptions, and the weather was generally rainy. Still, the area has tons to do, as volcanogirl noted, and most people love it. Might be great as one of your bases for cool adventure activities.

Cost-wise, I found Costa Rica to be comparatively expensive--the costs driven mainly by all those guided hikes, ziplines, thermal pools, rafting trips, etc. that you'll want to do. We rented a small SUV (a Kia Sportage) and it was just fine for all the roads we were on--and there were some incredibly bad ones! But with the mandatory insurance (we waived the CDW but another kind of insurance is required), taxes, and the GPS (very helpful), the rental bill for our 2 weeks approached $1,000. It might be cheaper in June/July or with another agency (we went with Avis and were satisfied). Gas is about $5.00 a gallon but the distances are fairly short between locations--we spent $150 in gas. Costa Rican restaurants are generally inexpensive, but we spent about $60 for dinner (for 2) at five recommended restaurants with more of an international flavor, including drinks/wine. Decent Chilean wine in restaurants runs about $20 a bottle or higher. We staying in midscale lodging and spent $55-$170 a night, depending on the location, but the nicest ecolodges (the kind you'll probably want to stay at for at least part of your honeymoon) will cost quite a bit more.

We snorkeled in Golfo Dulce in the Osa but there was no comparison to, say, Hawaiian snorkeling. Still, the water's incredibly warm and fun to be in!

Congrats!

www.hotelvillacaletas.com around your flights

www.arenal.net

www.lostiguanaresort.com www.desafiocostarica.com

www.manuelantoniopark.com www.issimosuites.com

Have fun,

www.riostropicales.com best for rafting.

http://www.weather2travel.com/climat...try=costa-rica

"Green" season rain issues that time of year

make sure you are up for that...

YES!!!! We just got back on the 8th from our honeymoon in CR. Based on what you love I say GO! We were there for 11 days and I planned the following itin:

Days 1-3: flew into SJO and stayed at the Vista del Valle in the Tea Househttp://www.vistadelvalle.com/costaricaaccommodations.html. Did the Espiritu Santo coffee plantation, hiked up Volcan Poas and went to the La Paz waterfall (I would skip the caged animals....very touristy). Did some hiking and explored Sarchi.

Days 3-6: drove to La Fortuna and stayed at The Lost Iguana. From there you will have a plethora of activities to do. Tabacon Springs is fantastic but there are a few that are less pricey, apparently. We hiked at Arenal, toured the hanging bridges and had fantastic massages!

Days 7-11: drove to Puntarenas where we got on the ferry and made our way to Montezuma. Here we sat back and relaxed (for the most part) at Ylang Ylang. This place is phenomenal on all accounts: service, food, bungalow accommodations, etc. We did hike up the beaches but this is where we really decompressed.

Based on your comments I say GO TO CR! The Ticos are wonderful people, the culture laid back and the topography some of the best I've seen. You will not be disappointed.