Hi - new to the site, some great info. Have a few questions for the experts.

My wife and I are heading for my 3rd, her first trip to CR. Leaving in one week..spur of the moment trip. 11 days.

1st trip in 1999 -- la fortana --> moteverde --> down to montezuma and around ---> 3 days in tortugaro park (16 day total). Went in july

2nd 2002 - la fortuna --> monteverde --> Osa (14 days). Across new years.

CR is getting more popular. During the previous visits, I never booked any accommodations, just drove around (based on lonely planet info) and found the best deal by bargaining (one amazing one in Osa).

Can I still do that? Seems from calling around things are fairly booked up at this time of year. Can you still negotiate, or is the price , the price and better to book something now.

Planning on going to la fortuna-->monteverde again (love it there, hope she will as well), then someplace I have not been. Any advice? I'm into exploring on my own, in the rainforest, waterfalls, away from crowds etc, wife likes to be near the beach, nice scenery, willing to do some hiking. Is driving around (north of montezuma) and around that area as difficult as it used to be (if I recall, at least 2 small river crosses)? Our budget is in the $100 range / per night.

Any advice on the best/cheapest 4x4 place to rent out of? Can't recall if car insurance is absolutely mandatory there.

Thanks for the help.

Will post after we get back.

Well, get ready for some changes! Lots of development since 2002.

I don't have experience traveling around during the busy season without reservations. Others might know more about that, but I'm sure you can find some hotel space, certainly. Just maybe not the places you'd prefer. We've always found that all are clean and tidy, though. I wouldn't count on being able to negotiate, though. BUT, sometimes you can negotiate a small discount by offering cash rather than credit card or travelers' cheques, guess it's worth a try.

Even Montezuma (southern Nicoya) area is more developed, but yes, travel in that area is still fairly rugged.

There is a huge amount of development taking place in the northern Pacific which you probably already know. You might not be so interested in those areas now (such as Playa Flamingo or Playa Hermosa or Tamarindo).

Have you ever been to Manuel Antonio? Both of you might enjoy that area, although it's fairly touristy these days as well. Still the park is nice and the beaches pretty inside the park. Lots to see and do there. Finca Valmy offers a horseback ride to a waterfall--that tour gets consistently good reviews as does the Damas Mangrove Tour.

For over a dozen times now, we have had excellent luck renting with Tricolor. Their price always includes tax and insurance and are the best rates we've found. We've never been disappointed. They have an office near the airport. Recently, there was a negative review regarding Tricolor, but the rental was out of Liberia and I believe that may have been the problem--different management.

www.tricolorcarrental.com

Hope this helps. Good luck--let us know how it went when you return!

agree with shillmac, alot has changed since 2002. our first trip was in 2003, then 2004, and again in 2006. what a difference between those 3 trips. we also drove around in 2004 with no reservations and no problems. in 2006, we booked our trip to the osa and manuel antonio ahead of time but had no reservations for our night before we flew out to osa nad for our last night before we left....EVERYTHING was booked in alajuela and around heredia....we thought we were going to have to sleep in our car at one point...we ended up spending more money than we wanted (marriott..which was very nice) and we got VERY turned around in heredia....after reading on the flat tire scam, i would not want to be driving around those areas now, without a clue to where i was going. you will most certainly need reservations during the high season. manuel antonio is pretty pricey....let me know if you find something around 100. a night there. i tried 5 places before i found one with a vacancy, and that's for a trip over a month away. best of luck and have a great trip!

I'd check out Hotel California in Manuel Antonio.

shillmac
i got a response from mango moon today. still waiting on casitas eclipse. costa verde, villas el parque, villas nicolas were all booked. saw hotel california but didn't email them....have you stayed there?? in spite of reading the tire scam posting (bummer)...i'm so excited to return to cr again!! i have to stop reading all the posts on here, the anticipation to feb. 19 is killing me!!

Hey Steph,
Where are you flying in from? I am heading down on Feb 19 as well for about 5 weeks (instead of 8 sadly). I will be meeting my husband who is already down there. Had to cut 3 weeks off my trip to get back earlier to visit with my grandkids while they are on spring break so it is worth it and I will be returning for another couple of months shortly after that. I will be going down through Atlanta.

At that time of year, particularly, I really wouldn't chance it without a reservation. With this being your wife's first time you might not want to have to worry about where you will be staying.

I'm with you on liking Monteverde. I have been there numerous times since the early 90's. It really has become crowded imo. I was there for a tree identification course last summer and was just shocked by all the new stuff. Thinking I might not be back more than once or twice more because it is getting so built up. There are better places to see quetzals and much less crowded places to hike. I loved the small community feel that it used to have.

You might want to think about the Dominical/Uvita/Ojochal area. Lots of nice quiet beaches and some pretty nice hotels/lodges. Ojochal doesn't look like much but there are some wonderful little restaurants there. Finding them is half the fun! We stayed at a little place called Finca Bavaria along the Coastal road last summer and had no trouble driving at night on the main road. They don't have meals there (FB) except for a small breakfast. The lodge is small but the hiking on the HUGE grounds around it is beautiful.

suzie2,

we're leaving the 19th from atlantic city on spirit air...so convenient for us...10 min. from our house vs. 45 min to philadelphia! we are doing two nights @ villa caletas just to chill out and pamper ourselves, then ??? for the next 3 nights , then 4 nights bdc , and flying back to alajuela for last night. i've been trying to find something in manual antonio for the 3 nights in question b/c i thought the other couple would like it there, but since we've been there twice, and after reading your suggestion about dominical area...i'm leaning toward that....i was worried about restaurants but it sounds like you'd have quite a few recommendations!! maybe we could stop at the park on the way down...i'm so afraid it will be mobbed in ma...
5 weeks...i'm so jealous! where will you be?

I will be floating around the San Isidro, Dominical, Chirripo area. I may even try to get some early morning birding done in San Gerardo de Dota. We are building a house just outside of San Isidro in the mountains. Today is the start day!!!!! We are only an hour from the coast so I will still be able to get in some fun time while keeping an eye on the construction. My husband is already down there and we will meet up for a couple of weeks before he heads home and I stay on my own for a few weeks.

I don't even want to see our car rental bill. We were going to ship our car down in the fall but decided to wait on the final Cafta ruling so we don't have to pay all the taxes hopefully.

I am feeling the Pura Vida just thinking about those sunsets at Villa Caletas It is quite an experience. You should have wonderful weather to see them at that time.

The following has a great picture of the Whale Tail sandbar in Uvita. If you should go there keep in mind that it is only walkable during low tide and the fluke part is rocky and rough so you do need shoes.
http://www.visitcostaballena.info/index.php

Thanks for all the great advice. I think I will book a room in arenal and monteverde before we leave. Still thinking about where to go after that, perhaps will leave it to chance (in a less touristy area) and see where we the road takes us.
Very good deal at tricolor for the car - better than all the others in terms of price. They do reservations on email only - is that right? Will book out of the San jose office.

We usually book Tricolor out of the airport office. They have 3 offices: airport, San Jose, and Liberia.

Always good luck at the airport. Yes, you do it all on line. They'll pick you up, take you a couple of km to their office, get you settled with your vehicle, and you are on your way. Quoted price has always been all-inclusive of all charges. I take my confirmation e-mail with me every time, and I make sure they confirm by e-mail ahead of time that the charges quoted include absolutely everything. The contact person is Cynthia Segura and she is very good
to set up the reservation for you. We've never beaten their prices anywhere. And the service, has, in our extensive experience, been nothing short of excellent.

If you are wanting a car from the moment you arrive in the airport and don't intend to go on into San Jose, then you'll want to use the airport office. . .

Good luck--have fun!