merit65

My wife and I and our 2 teenage kids are headed to CR over Easter. I'm learning all I can as fast as I can, but there are so many options for flights, hotels, regions of the country etc. We have the option of flying into San Jose or Liberia. We have some odd goals for the one week trip. We want to: try surfing, see monkeys, do a couple of day trips to see some nature and really just relax and enjoy time together. I have been focusing on Nosara and Samara both on the NP, but I am wondering if the roads are really as bad as I have been reading and that we should not waste our time trying to be "secluded." Would someplace like Playa Hermosa be "real" CR, or just another tourist place? And I am thinking that our two teenagers may get sick of Mom and Dad real quick. I am planning on renting a SUV so we could split the trip into two areas as well. What's best, time is short before we go, so if you can reply quickly I would appreciate it. Reading the many posts on this site have been great -- thanks for all the great advice! Scott

Suzie2

Samara is a nice small town where the kids can get out and do some independent sight seeing. Not far from Nosara so you can go up there for a day trip to do some surfing.

The roads are a bit slow going on the NP. If I were you I would divide the time between Hermosa (north) and Samara. Hermosa would give you access to some fun things to do like Rincon de la Vieja volcano. You can do a day pass at one of the hotels on the volcano where there are hot springs, water slides, mud baths, hiking, horseback riding.

Unfortunately, your choices could be more limited if you haven't made reservations already. Beach areas book up solid at that time of year.

Those aren't terribly odd goals for a vacation to Costa Rica. They are standard on most peoples lists. Well....maybe not everyone wants to go surfing but a lot do.

kskc

Teenagers would like the Arenal area. Lots of fun activities around there. From there it is about a 4 hour drive to Samara. Samara is a good place for beginner surfers, but if you don't have hotel reservations yet (don't know when you're going) you will need to get on that quickly, that may determine where you end up.

sandyc

Actually you will have better luck in Arenal and other non-beach places at Easter. Not only are beaches filled with tourists, but all the Ticos go to the beach at that time too. Try Arenal, Monteverde, and Trogon Lodge in San Gerardo.

Sandy

Juldie

Suzy2 Where specifically are you referring when you said in a previous post "You can do a day pass at one of the hotels on the volcano where there are hot springs, water slides, mud baths, hiking, horseback riding."

Suzie2

I was talking about Volcan Rincon de la Vieja.

Here is a link to one of the hotels.
http://www.guachipelin.com/

guanacaste

i wouldn't spend more than 2 nights in Playa Hermosa Guanacaste, it's a nice beach but there is a lot of construction going on there, stay at the El Velero on the beach:

http://costa.rica.typepad.com/playa_...ome/index.html

it's a good base for day trips to Rincon etc.

then i'd go to La Fortuna/ Arenal:

http://costa.rica.typepad.com/la_for...ome/index.html


and then samara(theres a small surf there):

http://costa.rica.typepad.com/samara...ome/index.html