I have two teenage girls traveling with me (18 and 17) who want to have some alone time to explore the towns/city where we'll stop . We'll be in Tortuguero, Arenal/La Fortuna, Santa Elena/Monteverde and San Jose. They're probably intermediate Spanish speakers. How safe is it to let them go just the two of them? I'm not too concerned about daytime exploration, but am not sure about nighttime.

I would say -- very safe in Tortuguero, pretty safe in La Fortuna, Santa Elena/Monteverde and not at all in San Jose.

There is NO WAY I would let these young women out at night on their own unless it is an exceptional thing. For instance - you have made friends with a local family who will take them on a family outing. OR - Some communities have a community dance in the local community center and this would be OK if they have a strict curfew.

To just go out and wander around on their own.... uh uh, no way.

I would agree.

Agree with the first two responses. Don't let them out of your sight in San Jose, or any other city in the world, for that matter.

I think you need to get an updated view of safety in
Costa Rica in general. I wouldn't be letting them wander off anywhere, anytime, day or night.

I've been to Arenal and San Jose. I was nervous being in San Jose at night and I'm 30 years old. Arenal has some awesome hot springs. The hot springs at Tabacon were amazing! In general, Costa Rica isn't really known for their night life.

Me too; San Jose at night is a little scary, lots of bars on the windows and such. Agree with acamero that in the other areas there doesn't seem to be a lot of nightlife. We've seen a few discos, but I wouldn't let teenagers go there by themselves.

www.travel.state.gov CR many safety issues

for solo young females many areas very dodgy

outside selected resort areas.

Parental supervision and www.insuremytrip.com

always wise for me.

Thanks so much for your advice. It's been a while since I went to CR, but from what I remembered, that's what I thought too and what I told the girls. Now I have your comments to back me up.

Maybe they could have a little alone time at the hot springs with you keeping an eye on things.