Tamarindo/Arenal in a week
Dec 18th, 2004, 12:29 PM
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Tamarindo/Arenal in a week
Flew into Liberia, great flight on Delta, don't hear that much, and were out of Daniel Octurber International Airport (converted hangar) in less than 10 minutes. Rented through Tri Color and had a little bit of a misunderstanding in their quote. They wanted to charge me an extra $75.00 for dropping it off in San Jose which was never quoted. They took several runs at me in Liberia and then again in San Jose but I had printed out the e-mail and when the Manager finally read it he agreed that it was not quoted and did not charge me.
The drive from the airport to Tamarindo was the worst we experienced. There were stretches of road so bad that you could not drive on the road but with one wheel in the dirt/ditch and the other navigating the man holes with the other. We saw about 1/2 dozen people that had broken down or had flat tires.
Our first drive into Tamarindo proper and we were a little underwhelmed. It appeared to be dusty and a little chaotic and after a few wrong turns up some dead end dirt roads we were thinking we had made a mistake. We finally arrived at Sueno Del Mar and were relieved to find this fine property in an excellent spot in Playa Langosta. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Sueno and Nancy, Paul and Chris and the staff were excellent hosts pointing us in the right direction for tours and restaurants (Gecko, Pachanga, Nogi's and the best restaurant of our week long stay was Maria Bonita's which is in Playa Langosta)
The B&B is not luxurious but charming and very comfortable and I took great advantage of the hammocks and the snorkeling in the tide pool.
My two cents on Tamarindo; We would not have been happy staying in Tamarindo proper. I told my wife I think we were the only two republicans within 50 miles. Jardin and Diria both looked like very nice properties but the town and the beach was not that impressive although the location/setting were if that makes any sense.
We rented a Suzuki Vitara and I can see why the posts are split about renting/driver. We like to be mobile and independent and were glad to have the car in Tamarindo just being able to drive to the restaurants. (The walk was not that bad but the roads were not paved and through up a tremendous amount of dust)
One highlight of our Tamarindo stay was our sunset Cat (Blue Dolphin)tour with Jeff and his crew. A great time, we saw turtles, snakes and humpback whales of which we chased for about an hour. Just to show you what a small world we live in we met another couple from the Atlanta area on the cruise and we saw them at the Grocery store not 48 hours after our return from CR.
Next up the drive from Tamarindo to Arenal and our stay at the Tabacon Resort.
The drive from the airport to Tamarindo was the worst we experienced. There were stretches of road so bad that you could not drive on the road but with one wheel in the dirt/ditch and the other navigating the man holes with the other. We saw about 1/2 dozen people that had broken down or had flat tires.
Our first drive into Tamarindo proper and we were a little underwhelmed. It appeared to be dusty and a little chaotic and after a few wrong turns up some dead end dirt roads we were thinking we had made a mistake. We finally arrived at Sueno Del Mar and were relieved to find this fine property in an excellent spot in Playa Langosta. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Sueno and Nancy, Paul and Chris and the staff were excellent hosts pointing us in the right direction for tours and restaurants (Gecko, Pachanga, Nogi's and the best restaurant of our week long stay was Maria Bonita's which is in Playa Langosta)
The B&B is not luxurious but charming and very comfortable and I took great advantage of the hammocks and the snorkeling in the tide pool.
My two cents on Tamarindo; We would not have been happy staying in Tamarindo proper. I told my wife I think we were the only two republicans within 50 miles. Jardin and Diria both looked like very nice properties but the town and the beach was not that impressive although the location/setting were if that makes any sense.
We rented a Suzuki Vitara and I can see why the posts are split about renting/driver. We like to be mobile and independent and were glad to have the car in Tamarindo just being able to drive to the restaurants. (The walk was not that bad but the roads were not paved and through up a tremendous amount of dust)
One highlight of our Tamarindo stay was our sunset Cat (Blue Dolphin)tour with Jeff and his crew. A great time, we saw turtles, snakes and humpback whales of which we chased for about an hour. Just to show you what a small world we live in we met another couple from the Atlanta area on the cruise and we saw them at the Grocery store not 48 hours after our return from CR.
Next up the drive from Tamarindo to Arenal and our stay at the Tabacon Resort.
Dec 19th, 2004, 04:17 AM
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LOL--died in the wool republicans would feel a little uncomfortable in Tamarindo I suppose! I know for a fact our Uncle Richard wouldn't care for it much! 
It does attract a younger generation, more liberal crowd. Actually, I think that's why we rather enjoy our time there!
You lucked out with Tricolor--and the original quote. It is standard (all rental companies) to charge a pick up fee if you drop the vehicle in another location. I'm sure that is the case world wide. Makes sense.
The highways are always "changing conditions" in CR, and it sounds like you caught Liberia to Tamarindo in a state of much needed repair! We've never seen it that bad--it's always been very decent to slightly potholed when we've been on it. The road from Tamarindo to Arenal is typically in worse condition, so I'm anxious to hear what you thought of that drive!
Thanks for the review of Sueno del Mar. It does sound like a lovely place, and one I've bookmarked to try sometime.
It does attract a younger generation, more liberal crowd. Actually, I think that's why we rather enjoy our time there! You lucked out with Tricolor--and the original quote. It is standard (all rental companies) to charge a pick up fee if you drop the vehicle in another location. I'm sure that is the case world wide. Makes sense.
The highways are always "changing conditions" in CR, and it sounds like you caught Liberia to Tamarindo in a state of much needed repair! We've never seen it that bad--it's always been very decent to slightly potholed when we've been on it. The road from Tamarindo to Arenal is typically in worse condition, so I'm anxious to hear what you thought of that drive!
Thanks for the review of Sueno del Mar. It does sound like a lovely place, and one I've bookmarked to try sometime.
Dec 19th, 2004, 07:26 AM
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Dec 20th, 2004, 07:39 AM
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LOL, explains why my ultra-liberal Democrat boyfriend LOVED Tamarindo. We stayed at Casa Rosa & he enjoyed talking politics with our host & other guests (all blue state folks)!
Anyway, I agree with stepmoore's comment that it's best not to stay in Tamarindo proper, but down the shore a bit. We loved Casa Rosa because it was all the way down toward the south end of Tamarindo beach (next door to Hotel Captian Suizo), but close enough to walk to town.
Anyway, I agree with stepmoore's comment that it's best not to stay in Tamarindo proper, but down the shore a bit. We loved Casa Rosa because it was all the way down toward the south end of Tamarindo beach (next door to Hotel Captian Suizo), but close enough to walk to town.
Dec 20th, 2004, 07:12 PM
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We left about 9:00am for out trip from Tamarindo to Arenal and was quoted by several folks of about a 4 hour drive, but it was actually around 5.5-6. A mixture of road conditions, lack of signage and just taking our time. Even though my wife speaks fluent spanish she refused to help me out if we were caught speeding in a foreign country. The roads were a real mixture, instead of going back to Liberia on the bad stretch we went south on the Nicoya peninsula and crossed the new Tiawanese Peace Bridge and caught up with Pan American. These roads were a mixture of dirt/gravel, asphalt in various states of repair but none to bad and a some very good roads. The road from the the North around the lake pretty bad and we would not have been comfortable navigating it at night. The closer we got to Tabacon the roads greatly improved.
Tabacon was exactly like these posts have implied. Very clean, comfortable rooms but nothing special and if not for the free hot springs admittance it would have been a down right rip off. We took great advantage of the Hot springs and they do have a world class operation going on. The first night we went it was crowded and it took us a while to find a quiet spot but the second day we went it was wide open. We also took advantage of their spa and it was one of the better "resort" massage experiences we have had.
We did not eat Dinner at the Hotel but rather at the steak place down the road which was very good. We did have our breakfasts at the hotel and also some appetizers and found the service and food to be very good.
We were a little disspointed not to have seen the Volcano in our brief stay their because it was raining...rain in the rain forest. We did howeverr get to see about 30 minutes of some lava on the mountain before the clouds closed in again.
Besides the hot springs we did Sky Trek and the hanging bridges and despite the weather we enjoyed both. The Sky Trek was awsome, since it was raining we had 2 guides to ourselves and had a lot of attention. Taking off on a Zip line into a cloud at 60 miles an hour was a thrill I will never forget.
Our drive back to San Jose was in the rain and the clouds so we did not see a lot of the northern central valley, our one bit of excitement was when we came across a rather large bridge with a sign that monica translated to say "Bridge in Disrepair" and believe me it was. To add insult to injury after about 15 minutes we realized we were heading back to Arenal and had to turn around and cross over it one more time. It was so bad they had a metal track over part of it that you had to get your tires on, kind of like a bridge on a bridge.
We would like to return to the Arenal area and maybe stay at the Villa De Carry, we stopped their briefly and it was very nice, and explore more of the activities and maybe get out on the lake.
San Jose airport was very pleasant and user friendly. Delta took care of us going back and had us back in Atlanta about 20 minutes early.
Our overall experience in CR was very positive. We always felt safe and enjoyed exploring the country. I can see why CR is the most popular destination in Latin America. We met many folks on their 2nd or 3rd visit but we will probably try a different part of the world next.
Thanks to all the posters that helped plan our short get away and to Shillmac who pointed us to Tamarindo, no regrets, we were not looking to hang out at the Four Season and enjoyed bringing some Red state representation to that corner of the world.
Tabacon was exactly like these posts have implied. Very clean, comfortable rooms but nothing special and if not for the free hot springs admittance it would have been a down right rip off. We took great advantage of the Hot springs and they do have a world class operation going on. The first night we went it was crowded and it took us a while to find a quiet spot but the second day we went it was wide open. We also took advantage of their spa and it was one of the better "resort" massage experiences we have had.
We did not eat Dinner at the Hotel but rather at the steak place down the road which was very good. We did have our breakfasts at the hotel and also some appetizers and found the service and food to be very good.
We were a little disspointed not to have seen the Volcano in our brief stay their because it was raining...rain in the rain forest. We did howeverr get to see about 30 minutes of some lava on the mountain before the clouds closed in again.
Besides the hot springs we did Sky Trek and the hanging bridges and despite the weather we enjoyed both. The Sky Trek was awsome, since it was raining we had 2 guides to ourselves and had a lot of attention. Taking off on a Zip line into a cloud at 60 miles an hour was a thrill I will never forget.
Our drive back to San Jose was in the rain and the clouds so we did not see a lot of the northern central valley, our one bit of excitement was when we came across a rather large bridge with a sign that monica translated to say "Bridge in Disrepair" and believe me it was. To add insult to injury after about 15 minutes we realized we were heading back to Arenal and had to turn around and cross over it one more time. It was so bad they had a metal track over part of it that you had to get your tires on, kind of like a bridge on a bridge.
We would like to return to the Arenal area and maybe stay at the Villa De Carry, we stopped their briefly and it was very nice, and explore more of the activities and maybe get out on the lake.
San Jose airport was very pleasant and user friendly. Delta took care of us going back and had us back in Atlanta about 20 minutes early.
Our overall experience in CR was very positive. We always felt safe and enjoyed exploring the country. I can see why CR is the most popular destination in Latin America. We met many folks on their 2nd or 3rd visit but we will probably try a different part of the world next.
Thanks to all the posters that helped plan our short get away and to Shillmac who pointed us to Tamarindo, no regrets, we were not looking to hang out at the Four Season and enjoyed bringing some Red state representation to that corner of the world.
Dec 27th, 2004, 09:28 PM
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Stepmoore- you've provided one answer to one of many questions I have about CR. Did the drive from Tamarindo to Tabacon really take 5.5-6 hrs? I'll be with a group of 7 flying into Liberia next week. Our flight doesn't arrive until 7p and then we have reservations at Tabacon for the next 2 nights. After that, we'll be making the same trip you did, but in opposite directions. We'll head to Tamarindo for the next 3 nights.
How long was the drive between the airport and Tamarindo? Does TriColor have a website?
The other people in our group are starting to worry about the driving and may want to look into hiring a shuttle service. Did you ever look into that?
I've also heard mixed reviews about Tamarindo. We're a group of medical and PhD students who will be celebrating my 30th b-day. While we still like excitement and nightlife, many of us really want a relaxing vacation on the beach with drink in hand. We'll be staying at El Jardin del Eden and I'm not sure if that is considered Tamarindo proper.
If you or anyone else knows about this recently remodeled hotel and the location, I'd appreciate the advice. Also, how is the snorkeling there?
Thanks so much!
How long was the drive between the airport and Tamarindo? Does TriColor have a website?
The other people in our group are starting to worry about the driving and may want to look into hiring a shuttle service. Did you ever look into that?
I've also heard mixed reviews about Tamarindo. We're a group of medical and PhD students who will be celebrating my 30th b-day. While we still like excitement and nightlife, many of us really want a relaxing vacation on the beach with drink in hand. We'll be staying at El Jardin del Eden and I'm not sure if that is considered Tamarindo proper.
If you or anyone else knows about this recently remodeled hotel and the location, I'd appreciate the advice. Also, how is the snorkeling there?
Thanks so much!
Dec 28th, 2004, 07:24 AM
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gigibecker - Flying in at 7 PM - I would highly recommend you hire a private transfer.
Obviously it is a long drive in the dark. But, also you will be tired after the day of travel and will totally appreciate the opportunity to live the driving to someone else. Not to mention 7 people in a vehicle can get pretty crowded!
We have never hired a transfer from Liberia, but from SJO we have used Vantrans. We were pleased with the service, but I have no idea if they operate out of Liberia.
I cannot remember if you have posted this question on the board, but may want to. Someone will have a good recommendation and solution to your problem.
Obviously it is a long drive in the dark. But, also you will be tired after the day of travel and will totally appreciate the opportunity to live the driving to someone else. Not to mention 7 people in a vehicle can get pretty crowded!
We have never hired a transfer from Liberia, but from SJO we have used Vantrans. We were pleased with the service, but I have no idea if they operate out of Liberia.
I cannot remember if you have posted this question on the board, but may want to. Someone will have a good recommendation and solution to your problem.
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