Suggestions for Anniversary Trip
 

Everyone here always has the best suggestions so I was wanting some help on our 6th trip but this one will be kid-free!!! We only have 7-8 nights since I’m leaving g the kids at home. Places we have been are Arenal, Puerto Viejo/Cocles/Punta Uva, Samara and Dominical. Have loved all of them. We like to rent a car and drive, that’s part of the fun! Our requirements are beginner/intermediate surf and would love to hear/see wildlife from our Airbnb or hotel. We like to get out and explore the area also.
I’m excited to hear everyone’s suggestions!!!

Forgot to say that we are planning trip for next January.

Tulemar Bungalows in the Manuel Antonio area is beautiful - they have a beach and lots of wildlife on site like sloths and monkeys, good open air restaurants nearby that you can walk to.

I have looked at Tulemar before because of your suggestions and it is gorgeous! I think it would also be a good choice and combine it with Arenal since we don’t have an over abundance of time on this trip.
But we had a bad experience in August 2017 when we drove down fromDominical for the day to go to the National Park. We get down there near the park and men with some type of uniforms on we’re asking us if we were going in the park to see beaches or wildlife, he got pushy and mad that we didn’t want a guide. I felt really uncomfortable and we just turned around and left. I’ve never felt this way on any other experience while visiting CR. So now my husband has a bad taste in his mouth about that area. Volcanogirl, have you ever experienced this or heard of this happening? He wouldn’t let us pass him when we could clearly see parking places beyond him.
I hate to avoid an entire town because of one incident.

Yes, there's a parking lot scam there where they try to get you to pay for parking or tour guides. We just booked our tour of the park with Manuel Antonio Expeditions so we avoided all of that. They'll pick you up at your hotel and drop you back off. We loved Tulemar, one of our favorite places. their service is just excellent and very friendly. They even assign you your own helpful concierge. We've also been to the Arenal area many times and really love it there too. We've stayed at the Lost Iguana, Nayara, the Arenal Observatory Lodge, and the Springs Resort and Spa. The Springs is expensive, but we were able to stay on a Groupon deal.

Well that makes sense now! That’s exactly what they were doing to us and we had our children with us and made me feel so uncomfortable. I was scared, my 17 year old was even scared.
Tulemars reviews are so awesome that I think we might give it a try. Have you stayed in any of the more affordable options at Tulemar? Standard or bungalow?

Lost Iguana or Arenal Observatory Lodge for best views of volcano?

Yes, we've stayed in three different spots at Tulemar. The bungalows are nice if you're okay with not having a balcony. They all have kitchens which is nice for keeping drinks cold, storing leftovers, and keeping breakfast stuff on hand.

Both of those have great volcano views as long as the weather is good. AOL is the most affordable and has a free guided hike each morning and free breakfast, not as posh as the others but still comfortable. Lots of nice wildlife around. It's off a long bumpy road; we thought it was worth the drive. Good if you have a car and want to explore.

We’ve stayed at the Hotel Costa Verde in Manual Antonio. It’s not right on the beach, but is close. We were with kids, but they have separate adults-only area and separate pool. We stayed in the cabins that are scattered up the hillside. Lots of wildlife from our balcony. We used Jade Tours to go to the national park. We just booked them again for an upcoming trip to MA and Rainmaker Park.

I will check that out! I believe I looked into that for our 2017 trip and it was all booked in August for our dates. I liked it because of all the wildlife people reported seeing on the grounds. Can you hear Howler monkeys in the mornings at this hotel?

Not having a balcony is the only bad thing about the bungalows! I think we really want an outside seating/hangout spot. What about the Standard rooms that have another room above or below you? I’m going to pull up the Tulemar website again and look at the other options.

We stayed in Lower Mot Mot Hideaway. I really liked it a lot. It has a big front balcony with an outdoor kitchen, nice sitting area, and a big hammock. The interior is really nice but small, just consists of a really nice big bed and a nice bathroom, but that's all we needed. Also liked Lower Casa Panorama, also good for couples. Both were very clean and modern. The bungalows without the balconies are less updated, but comfortable.

Thank you for all your help! I’m really looking forward to planning this one!

For the Arenal area, we stayed at Arenal Observatory Lodge and really liked it. We stayed in one of the Smithsonian rooms, which have patios looking right out to the volcano. We had cloudy weather most of our visit, so only had views of the top of the volcano a couple times, but is was still an amazing place to be. We slept with our curtains open to our patio so that as soon as it was light, we woke up to views of the volcano :) I haven't been to Lost Iguana, so I can't make a comparison, but I absolutely recommend AOL.

<<Can you hear Howler monkeys in the mornings at this hotel?>>

Yes you can! We stayed in the adult part one night, pent house. It was wonderful!