Hey,

Here is the trip report from my recent visit to Costa Rica.

First the basics:

We were in Costa Rica from 3/4/06 - 3/13/06.
Flew on American from Orlando, FL
Rented a 4x4 from Tricolor
Stayed in La Fortuna/Arenal (Arenal Paraiso)
Stayed in Manuel Antonio (Hotel Costa Verde)
Stayed in Playa Esterillos Este (Pelican Hotel)

We flew on American from Orlando on 3/4/06. Flights were both on time, had no problems clearing customs or immigration in San Jose (Took about 20 minutes for both). Luggage arrived all in one piece.

Representative from Tricolor was there to meet us outside of airport. Took us to their offsite location and in about 45 minutes (1:00pm) local time, we were off to Arenal. The only issue I had was that the car only had 1/8 of a tank of gas when we picked up, so we had to first go and get gas.

Trip to Arenal took about 2.5 hours on curvy, winding mountain roads. We took the route through La Tigra. Arrived at Arenal Paraiso and checked into bungalow #212 (newly built with king size bed). Room was great and we enjoyed the resort. We had a massage at their spa and went on their canopy tour (what a wild ride). The complimentary breakfast was very good. We stayed in this hotel/area for 3 nights.

While in the area we went the Arenal Hanging Bridges (cool, saw monkeys and many other animals.

Ate at a few local restaurants: Las Brasitas, El Chozo de Laurel, Luigi's and El Jardin (soda). All were good except for Luigi's. The food sucked and they triple charged my credit card (currently disputing the additional charges).

Did some souvenier shopping in La Fortuna and walked around the town.

Left on Tuesday, 3/7/06 for the drive to Manuel Antonio. Took about 5 hours to drive from Arenal, but we did get a little lost in Atenas (lost about 20 minutes). The drive was nice and didn't take up the whole day.

We arrived at our next stop, Hotel Costa Verde, at about 1:15pm. We stayed in this hotel for 4 nights. We stayed in Costa Verde 2 (adult only) in room 12. This was on the third floor and had a spectacular view of the Punta Catedral and the Pacific Ocean. These rooms are screened on 2 sides and have multiple ceiling fans. It was a little warm, especially in the evening, because we did not get much of a breeze off of the ocean. Hotel and restaurants were of good quality (we didn't go in with very high expectations for the restaurants).

During our stay we ate at La Cantina, Anaconda, El Avion and El Gran Escape (in Quepos). Didn't have a bad meal in this area.

On one day, we spent from 8am-4pm in Manuel Antonio National Park. Hiked all of the trails and laid by the beach. We paid $20 each for the use of a guide (Leo) who did a wonderful job showing us the sights of the park.

We went shopping in Quepos for about 2 hours and spent a lot of time laying around the pool.

We left here on Saturday, 3/11/06, and drove up the coast about 40km for a quiet 2 nights at the Pelican Hotel in Playa Esterillos Este. This hotel has 11 rooms and a restaurant (which is good because there is nothing else around). We were in room number 8 (queen bed w/ A/C). THis was just what we needed to end our trip, peace and quiet at the beach. Had a great time just laying on the beach and got some wonderful sunset photos. Food was good and prices were reasonable.

We left this hotel at about 6am yesterday morning for the drive back to San Jose to catch our 12:30pm flight back to the States.

The drive took a little over 2 hours and returning out car at Tricolor was a breeze. We took about 10 minutes to pay our departure tax and then we checked in, about 3.5 hours before our flight was scheduled to depart. We just wandered around the airport and bought some last minute souveniers.

Flight left on time and we were headed back to Miami. Clearing immigrations, customs and security in Miami was a nightmare (but that's for another post). We reached our conecting flight to Orlando just as they were closing the doors. Although we didn't want to leave CR, were were happy to arrive in Orlando because our 21-month old daughter greeted us as we got off the plane (she stayed with grandma and grandpa).

Now I'm just tired and dreading going back to work tomorrow. Can't wait to go back to CR so I can see more of the country and look for some property to buy.

Hope this helps some people out there. Let me know if you have any questions.

Mike (Clemson91)

clemson91

Did you stay in a Studio Plus room at Costa Verde II. We have reservations for late May. I am somewhat concerned, although not overly (live in FL), about the heat and humidity. I am aware that there is no air conditioning in the Costa Verde II rooms. The monkeys and view of the ocean are the draws for Costa Verde II. At least that is why we decided to book a room there. Did you see any wildlife, aka monkeys and/or sloths at the hotel?

Diane

clemson91

I'm sorry. There is one other thing I wanted to ask. Did you hire a guide for the hanging bridges at Arenal? Some Fodorites say hire a guide and some say they are not necessary. What are your thoughts?

Seawitch,

We did see some wildlife at Costa Verde II. We saw some iguanas, an adult/baby sloth, one monkey and some intersting birds.

We did stay in a Studio Plus room at Costa Verde II. We were in #12. When we were checking in, the guy said it was the best room in the place (we was spectacular). We are from Florida also, but we thought the room was a little warm in the evening, but we survived.

As for the Arenal Hanging Bridges, we did not use a guide. I don't even remember seeing any around when we entered (as opposed to Manuel Antonio National Park, when they were everywhere). Don't know that we would have seen anything additional with a guide, but the grounds were really beautiful.

I'm sure you'll have a great time in May.

Mike

Not trying to hijack a post here, but I would like to add that the guides for the Hanging Bridges are usually out back of the office area....the cost was $20.00 for the guide. Ours (Juan) did not speak the best English, but we managed to converse fairly well. One thing...he was dedicated to his job and it actually took us closer to three hours to finish the trek...jsut because he was so interested in showing us everything. I do recommend a guide...you see and learn so much more....