MK

Hi! I am looking into Costa Rica for my honeymoon this year (September) and am having trouble finding a travel agency/site that I can book reasonable hotels, transfers and activities withOUT going on a tour. We would like to go to Tabacon and then the Manuel Antonio area. We are hoping to not rent a car but rather set up transfers from the airport and hotels. We'd also like to see many of the sites available in CR, but at our leisure rather then on a tour. Does anyone have any reccomendations of a travel agency where we can do this? Thanks in advance! <BR><BR>

Iza

We used Costa Rica Connection (www.crconnect.com) for our first trip to Costa Rica (in 2000). They made all arrangements for us without us having to go on a tour. We basically told them where we wanted to stay and for how long and they arranged for hotels, transfers, flights, etc. <BR>The second time around we did all of our own arrangements and that worked out great as well plus it was less expensive and more fun.

William

You do not necessarily need to use a travel agent if you want to save some money. Many hotels in Costa Rica will happily arrange your transportation to and from the hotel (within the country) for you. Hotel California (and several other hotels) in Manuel Antonio arranges flights, shuttles, or taxis to and from the hotel at decent prices. I would imagine that Tabacon would do the same. Plus, the hotels can set up tours for you, but only if you want them to. All you need to do is find a flight down there. I use expedia.com, they seem to be the easiest.

Jay Weinstein

I took a 10-day trip to Costa Rica this past August and had a spectacular time.<BR><BR>I shopped around a great deal and found that Marbella Tours, based in Costa Rica itself, was the best. Oldemar Madrigal was my agent and he's very good. Marbella can be reached at 011 (506) 219-3637, [email protected].<BR><BR>We tried to book our vacation ourselves and we weren't able to save any money. But the best way to go about it is to try for yourself. Get a few quotes and then try to do it on your own and compare costs. In the end, I preferred to have someone to turn to in the event something went wrong. The hotels, tours, etc. will respond better if they know that they may be jeopardizing their relationship with a travel agency instead of a single individual who they may never deal with again. Just a thought. Good luck.<BR>Jay<BR><BR> <BR>

BD

I had a great experience with Costa Rica Connection. I had a pretty good idea of the areas I wanted to go, and which hotels I wanted to stay at. They kept working with me on ideas and itineraries until I was happy. They took care of all the reservations and logistics of the trip, and met us at various legs of the journey. It was comforting knowing we had a contact there. We even left a suitcase with them for the latter part of our trip. When we go back to CR, I'll probably make my own arrangements, but for our first trip it was definitely worth a little extra money.

judy

We also used Cost Rica Connection. I would reccommend them. We had to cut our trip short because of illness on the third day of our trip while we were at Tiskita Lodge.(we didn't get sick there, we had brought it with us and didn't know it)Luckily CR Connections was able to make the return arrangements for us. We are looking forward to returning next year. We loved Tiskita Lodge.

Sue

Getting around in CR is fairly easy. The two places you are talking about have lots of options. I don't know about Tabacon but there are several places in the La Fortuna area that will pick you up at the airport if you arrive at a reasonable hour and not 1am of course. It is a 3 1/2hr trip.<BR>There are several companies that have private shuttles between the major tourist places. <BR>You could look at Monteverdeinfo.com,<BR>Interbus Costa Rica,<BR>Greyline<BR>When in Arenal or Manuel Antonio you could hire a taxi for the day to go on your own tour (agree on a price before hand) or sign up for some at your hotel. Most of the bigger hotels and many of the smaller ones have people who can help you get out and see CR and have different options they can set up for you.

Leslie

We used Sunnyland Tours a little over a year ago. Check them out at www.sunnylandtours.com and they have a variety of packages and options. They were efficient and reliable and contract through a local company in Costa Rica...they were very punctual in pick up times, etc. which is always impressive. Expect a LOT of rain in September...the &quot;dry&quot; season in the winter months only means a little less rain!!! Good luck and have fun!!