Carolred

We have booked air for two weeks in CR in Jan 07 (in and out of San Jose). We want 4-5 days of that time at a beachy location, where we can just veg out, maybe play with stuff like those hokey little open plastic kayaks or small saiboats, and swim a bit. Can anyone recommend moderately priced beach front hotels with watersports equipment and beaches safe for swimming? Failing that, are there beaches for swimming that are publicly accessible?

Note that we also have definite plans to spend a couple of days each in Arenal/La Fortuna and San Jose, and perhaps also Tortuguera or Monteverde, including suspension bridge hikes, hotsprings, ziplines, public market, colonial towns. But we also want the wind-down beach vacation experience.

guanacaste

skip monteverde, nightmare to travel to, weather is awful, upper end hotels are overpriced and nothing to see apart from the forest! the most over rated part of CR, IMHO!
go to cano negro reserve from la fortuna,

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

about USD50p.p 8.00 to 3.00p.m
uŽll see way more wildlife than u will in monteverde.
cano negro is a better trip than tortuguero!
all beaches in costa rica are public!
from la fortuna look at playa hermosa in guanacaste or the caribbean, cocles is one of the nicest beaches in CR!

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

shillmac

We really enjoyed Tortuguero this past summer. We had been putting off going there for years. Also did Cano Negro for the first time BEFORE we went to Tortuguero. I couldn't say one was better than the other. Seeing the turtles nesting was an incredible experience for us, but you won't have that opportunity in January. I guess you could say that Tortuguero is a "prolonged" Cano Negro experience. Since we enjoyed CN so very much, we were happy to have more of the same for 2 whole days!

The Tortuguero region can be particularly rainy in January, so you might be better off to save it for a better time. September/October are very good months to enjoy Tortuguero--because of the drier conditions (or more likely to be) and the turtles.

We liked Monteverde also (it all holds a great deal of "wonder" for us!), but I wouldn't plan to go there again unless I had 2 full days to spend (3 nights).

Tamarindo is a good option as is Playa Hermosa and Manuel Antonio beaches. Also, you can take a short hike up the beach from Playa Brasilito and enjoy the water sports offered at Playa Conchal (behind the Paradisus).

guanacaste

oh and the best part of the beach at Tamarindo is in front of the Suzio hotel.
playa grande north of tamarindo is a better beach!

guanacaste

yeah i enjoyed Tortuguero but in january youll get bitten alive!!
conchal is one of the prettiest beaches in Guanacaste!

Carolred

Great ideas, thanks! But what about swimming in Tamarindo?

I will now look into Cano Negro. I had wondered about the warnings of getting wet at Monteverde, and that there won't be turtles in Tortuguero. I also want to see some wildlife that I can't see at home but don't want to wast my time on "prolonged"! I pretty much live in a rainforest and this trip is also about escaping wet trees!

We are not planning to drive so we need to be close to air or shuttle routes for the beach.

guanacaste

Tamarindo is a swimmable beach, but more of a surfers beach really!

http://costa.rica.typepad.com/tamarindo/home/index.html

dont swim near the estaurary rip tides and occasional crocs!!!
if u live in a rainforest then visiting monteverde is pointless!
youre pretty much guaranteed to see lots of wildlife at cano negro.
rincon de la vieja near Playa Hermosa is a good day trip, hot mud pots, waterfalls, lots of wildlife!
dont worry about shuttle buses, they operate between all the major tourist centers.
i live here and i use them often!

Carolred

After some research, I am now thinking of going to Playa Samara. So what did I learn so far?

Tamarindo is like Cancun. Great for partyers and surfers. A Mac-Beach. In Mexico terms, I am Puerto Vallarta old town.

Apparently there are two very different Playa Hermosas: one near Jaco (which I understand is also similar to Cancun), and one pretty basic but developing quickly, in Guanacaste! I think I would prefer the latter.

Samara seems to have a nice-sized town, easy to find a moderate priced place on or near the beach, and you can easily get there by Interbus from several major CR destinations (e.g., hotel to hotel from La Fortuna!).

Now to decide on the rest of the trip....!

guanacaste

yeah, tamarindo is still way better than jaco but its really a town to arrive, party move on. its a gringo town completely!
samara is a nicer beach and town,still plenty of locals, more europeans and playa carrillo 4km south is even nicer, catch sunset there and lunch dinner at el sueno tropical;

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

guanacaste

oh and playa hermosa in guanacasate is a nich beach, but a lot of development, if you stay on the beach- e.g: el velero hotel or hotel playa hermosa- u wont notice it and its a good base for trips to rincon etc:

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