My fiance and I are trying to decide between Costa Rica and Belize- but I think we're going with CR. Can anyone recommend some beautiful, romantic, somewhat secluded (but with activity available) spots? If we want to split time between 2-3 spots- which places shouldn't we miss? Any help would be greatly, greatly appreciated!

I haven't been to Belize but I feel that CR is a bit more "civilized" or some might say "gringoized" but at any rate I would endorse CR as your destination. Tamarindo and Jaco are nice beach towns, Quepos and Manuel Antonio Park are recommended and don't miss the Arenal Volcano area. Good luck, you'll have fun!

Hi Jen:<BR>2 locations come to mind. One, Villa Casa Blanca in Ocotal, a very quiet area yet only 10 minutes to other beaches restaurants and towns. They have honeymoon suites and private villas.<BR>http://www.costa-rica-hotels-travel.com/<BR>The other is just an hour south - Sueno del Mar - in Tamarindo http://www.tamarindo.com/sdmar/<BR>Arenal Volcano & hot springs, Rincon Volcano, mud baths, horseback riding, honeymoon sailing tours, snorkeling, diving, 2 canopy tours, Palo Verdi River Tour are all within driving distance from both locations.<BR>http://www.spanishdancercharters.com<BR>http://www.ots.ac.cr/en/paloverde/<BR>http://arenal.net/<BR>Good Luck<BR>Michael

Two other places in Costa Rica...Punta Islita,<BR>a lovely, romantic, secluded location with plenty of activities.<BR><BR>http://www.hotelpuntaislita.com/special.htm<BR><BR>Or Villa Caletas, a fabulous beautiful botique hotel near the fun town of Jaco, and only a couple hours max to Manuel Antonio.<BR><BR>http://www.distinctivehotels.com/hot...indexhtml.html.

Thanks everyone for the input. I'm going to check out those recommendations right now!

We’ve been to both Belize and Costa once. <BR><BR>Belize - Stayed at Mopan Report (nice resort) near Guatamalan border. Saw lots of Mayan ruins, including Tikal. Saw some monkeys at Tikal but no where else unless you go to the zoo near Belize City. Friendly people and most speak English since it still is a British colony, although a neglected one at best. We went on a river tubing tour and that was fun.<BR><BR>Ambergris Caye - If you just want to lay around on a pristine, white sand, green water beach, you may enjoy Belize more. Ambergris Caye is a very nice island but a little too small for me. Even though it’s a fairly small island, some people say it’s too touristy and go to the other smaller cayes. It wasn’t very crowded when we were there during January 2001. The coral reef is phenominal, second largest in the world after the Great Barrier Reef. This caye and the surrounding cayes have pristine white sand beaches and beautiful green water. It’s what you would imagine when you visit a Carribean destination. Snorkeling, diving, fishing, kayaking and other water sports are the most popular activities. You can snorkle around nurse sharks and stingrays. That’s pretty neat. You can take day tours to see other wildlife from Ambergris.<BR><BR>Costa Rica - We enjoyed Costa Rica much more because there was more things to do. Costa Rica is much more beautiful than Belize. Costa Rica offers more activities if you’re adventurous, like canopy tours, river rafting, etc. Manuel Antonio is nice but not as nice as the beaches you’ll find on Belize or Hawaii. I can’t speak for Tamarindo and other Pacific locations. Costa Rica may have beaches like the ones you find in Belize but we didn’t visit any. Arenal is a must see and with luck, you will see the dome mountain. Tabacon Hot Springs is a unique experience. If I went to Costa Rica, I would not stay in any one place for an extended period of time. I would travel and see as much of the country as possible. Now, my wife is still upset at me for making her travel through 4 countries in Europe for our honeymoon so it’ll depend on what you want to do and how much you want to see. <BR><BR>I have to disagree with David regarding the level of development. Ambergris Caye is very developed and very much “gringonized”. The interior of Belize is fairly developed as well, much similar to parts of Costa Rica. Belize is not a poor country, when compared to say Guatamala. I would say Guatamala is more of what most of us would think a Central American country would be like. You’ll enjoy both places but Costa Rica offers much more to do. I would not go back to Belize because I feel like I’ve seen all I wanted to see. I would definitely go back to Costa Rica because I don’t feel I saw enough. Now, if I had a choice between Costa Rica and Hawaii, that would be a tough choice. <BR><BR>