Quepos or Tambor for 1 wk?
 

All - my husband and I (mid-late twenties) will be travelling to CR in November and will have spent a few days in Arenal, and Jaco area at Villa Calletas (for a wedding). We are planning to stay an additional week at a resort located in either Quepos or Tambor. We chose these cities for 2 reasons 1)proximity to wedding and San Jose airport 2)limited number of cities for our time-share type package.

Of these, which would you say has the most to keep us busy for 7 days? We plan to have a car and would like to see rainforest, wildlife, nice beaches, try surfing, hiking/canopy tours - we want to do anything/everything we can't do in Arenal.

Any suggestions on helping us make the decision?

For someone who lives in Costa Rica after having visited here for many, many years, this is a no-brainer.

Quepos by a very wide mile. Tambor was once a beautiful place but a huge Spanish conglomerate (Bárcelo) came in, broke all the country's environmental laws by tearing down the rainforest and "improving" the beach in order to build a monstrous, over-size, obnoxious, could-be-anyplace "resort." They now take their profits out of the country that they raped. (For documentation, type "Barcelo Tambor" & "environment" into your search engine).

Please avoid Tambor. Quepos and Manuel Antonio are wonderful. The best beaches in the world, by the way, according to Condé Nast Traveler magazine.

Thanks - I have been leaning towards Quepos anyway b/c there does seem to be more of an indigenous quality to the area. I certainly don't want some stripped down version of Costa Rica due to wreckless construction. Can't wait!

I agree with going to Quepos. You probably won't be staying on the beach there, but you should still be able to get a place with a view and you'll find pleanty to do based on the activities you listed.

Another question, is the road from Quepos to Dominical a paved road or gravel? Would you suggest this as the easier path to travel back to the Int'l Airport - from Dominical, headed Northwest?

Where is the best place to stay in Quepos with 2 near adults 17 & 20. They want to learn to surf is there any lessons nearby? Would I be better to go to Tamarindo? Heard that Tamarindo is maybe not as desirable for teens if you know what I mean. Any info appreciated

Songerie,
From Dominical I'd still drive back to Manuel Antonio and come into the airport from the west since it is on the west side of San Jose. If you go from Dominical, you'll have to traverse San Jose--best avoid if possible! It wouldn't save you any time.

Suelou--surfing better at Tamarindo and its nearby beaches. There are several: Playas Grande, Avellena, Negra, etc. Quepos has the same problems as Tamarindo, regarding what's good and what's not! It's everywhere unfortunately. . .the beach towns of Costa Rica are all great places to buy drogas, sad to say.

songerie: The road between Quepos and Dominical is not paved at the present time. It is a very rough road and in November will be tougher negotiating due to the rainy season. (It will take you approx. 1 hour to drive from Quepos to Dominical.) However, this is a wonderfully scenic drive back to the airport via San Isidro. If your flight is the next day, this is a great option or you might considering staying an extra night along this route in San Gerado de Dota (for example). Consider also this route brings you into San Jose on the east side of the city, the airport is located in Alajuela (west).

Manuel Antonio is a better choice for accommodations vs. Quepos. Quepos is a small fishing village and business district at sea level. Manuel Antonio area offers the best coastal views from many accommodations. Feel free to repost or email if you'd like further information.

Lisa in M. Antonio

Hello, Lisa! Prospero Ano Nuevo in Manuel Antonio! You should be having guests there sometime soon. I think Poss and her husband are on the way. Perhaps you guys will run into one another!

Muchas gracias shillmac for your kind greetings! Igualmente! We spent several days stateside early in December, purchased a new digital camera :) and since then it's been quite a holiday here in M.A. Hopefully Poss will revisit this site upon their return with news of a great vacation!

Lisa

Lisa, are there a lot of places booked up throughout the high season already? I've already heard of some having trouble booking their favorite places in May and June. Is it just my imagination or are the tourist arriving in droves--more than ever?