sactomama

Our party of nine went to Manuel Antonio over Thanksgiving break. We had an excellent time!! We stayed at Hotel Costa Verde in the B building which is the lodging area most convenient to reaching the reception area, dining areas, and public transportation. We had rooms B12 (top floor with an incredible view of ocean & shoreline) and B1 & B2 (side by side on ground floor. nice rooms but no view and some foot traffic) The rooms are SO nice, especially for the price. It well exceeded our expectations. Very spacious, clean, kitchen in the rooms, balcony with rocking chairs, tv, a/c. (Bring your own beach towel though.) We won't hesitate to stay there again! We saw three kinds of monkeys on the property and swam in the pool every day. During our stay we did the Canopy Safari tour which was an awesome experience. Even our 7-yr. old daughter did the zip lines and rapelling by herself and loved it! We did the Manuel Antonio Park tour with a guide that we hired at the entrance. We were told that they do not charge for children (12&u) so we negotiated a rate of $80 for 6 of us.(Park entrance fees not included.) Well worth the price as we saw monkeys, sloths, bats, boas, birds,etc.
We took surfing lessons, went on a snorkeling tour, shopped in Quepos and in Manuel Antonio (not much in the way of souveniers except for coffee, sarongs, and wood jewelry.)
We hired a private driver from Costa Rica Transfers to bring us to and from the Manuel Antonio area from the San Jose airport area. It was great to keep our large group together, enjoying the sights of Costa Rica, without the stress and hassle of car rentals and directions. Public transportation was cheap and easy to get around once in Manuel Antonio.
Our trip was a blast and we look forward to returning someday to Costa Rica!!

shillmac

What a nice trip report! You chose a great way to spend a few days in Costa Rica and it sounds like you made the most out of it. I'm so glad you and yours had a great time!

tully

Glad to hear you had a great time! I stayed in B7 at Costa Verde so I know the great views you had. Canopy Safari is a great trip too, once I got over being scared I never wanted it to end. How long did your drive back to SJO take you?

sactomama

The trip from SJO to/from Manuel Antonio takes about 3 hrs, a perfect amount of time to take in the beautiful Costa Rican scenery!
Tully, your reviews of the Hotel Costa Verde and tours helped us make the decision to book there. We appreciate all your input. We had a fantastic time there too!!

Trippie

Hi Sactomama,
We stayed in MA last spring and I didn't see or hear of any snorleling tours. We will be going back there in Jan. and would love to do some snorkeling.
Could you tell me where you went, or what tour company? Also, was it nice, is there a reef, was the water rough, ect. Your comments will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, TRIP CARDER

flycatcher06

Two years in a row right on the beach we were swimming and a very tan nice looking older gentleman was going up and down the beach recruiting people for snorkeling on his boat and he took you right from the beach. No idea of his name or if he had a company but he seemed very nice!