Costa Rica

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ItsAllGood

Recycles dryer sheets
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We just completed out 3rd trip to Costa Rica. Traveled around over 2 weeks in a rental car, stayed in 6 locations. All hotels, stores, restaurants were open for business with very serious and consistent Covid-19 protections (even in the small family run "sodas"). We had as much fun as on our other pre-covid trips. Did a little research and scheduled our return to the US Covid test before we left home, with no issues. The test itself was very professional, in a lab attached to a hospital. We had our results in about 30 hrs. Costa Rica is a beautiful country with astounding scenery, abundant wildlife, and very friendly people. I'm happy to give more info to anyone interested. Pura Vida!
 
We spent a wonderful month there about 5 years ago. We stayed in an apartment complex that was popular with Canadians. Like you, I recommend it as a great holiday location.
 
I loved Costa Rica when I visited a few years ago. Beautiful beaches and mountains. Very nice people too.
 
ItsAllGood said:
We just completed out 3rd trip to Costa Rica. Traveled around over 2 weeks in a rental car, stayed in 6 locations. All hotels, stores, restaurants were open for business with very serious and consistent Covid-19 protections (even in the small family run "sodas"). We had as much fun as on our other pre-covid trips. Did a little research and scheduled our return to the US Covid test before we left home, with no issues. The test itself was very professional, in a lab attached to a hospital. We had our results in about 30 hrs. Costa Rica is a beautiful country with astounding scenery, abundant wildlife, and very friendly people. I'm happy to give more info to anyone interested. Pura Vida!
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I assume you stayed at the hotels at all 6 locations.

Wondering if AirB&B popular there? how is the security with the local rentals?

Pardon me for asking the questions, I never being there:mad: Would love to go someday
 
We love Costa Rica.


At one point we briefly considered buying a winter home. Costa Rica has a very severe debt problem. It is causing some unrest in San Jose.
 
Two years ago we spent December in Cost Rica. Had a great time exploring La Fortuna, Monte Verde, Jaco, Quepos, and went as far south on the coast as Uvita. We loved eating in sodas, staying in little family run motels, watching the kids play soccer in little towns along the way and simply exploring off the beaten track.

Contemplating a February or January 2022 trip to explore the Nicoya Peninsula. I would like to spend a week at the beach at Tamarindo and then exploring the peninsula for another week or so.

Any experience there to share?
 
We love Costa Rica and are very pleased with the way they have handled Covid there. My husband retired this past May and we were planning on spending part of our winter in Tamarindo. He is at high risk, so as soon as we get our vaccines, we are on our way there.:cool:

1242Vintage said:
Two years ago we spent December in Cost Rica. Had a great time exploring La Fortuna, Monte Verde, Jaco, Quepos, and went as far south on the coast as Uvita. We loved eating in sodas, staying in little family run motels, watching the kids play soccer in little towns along the way and simply exploring off the beaten track.

Contemplating a February or January 2022 trip to explore the Nicoya Peninsula. I would like to spend a week at the beach at Tamarindo and then exploring the peninsula for another week or so.

Any experience there to share?
Click to expand...


We own a condo in Tamarindo and highly recommend the area, for at least part of your stay. The beach and sunsets are amazing and the area is very safe. Feel free to PM me and I can give you lots of information on the area.
 
1242Vintage - yes we have hopped around the Nicoya peninsula a bit. Some really fun towns and beautiful beaches. We have stayed in Playa Tambor, Punta Islita, Tamarindo, Playa Flamingo, Playa Portrero and Playa Hermosa. All were fun an different. We have also visited nearby towns, including Montezuma and Samara - both quirky and fun. The most beautiful beach I've ever seen is Playa Carrillo, on the road between Samara and Punta Islita. We had hoped to visit Playa Guiones and Nosara this trip but had to alter our itinerary due to needing a covid test at the end.

If you're planning a trip and will be driving from Quepos area to the Nicoya peninsula, consider taking the ferry from Puntarenas. That was a fun and interesting experience!
 
Costa Rica is one place we'd like to go and have tried but can't seem to get there. We've made several trips to Europe and Mexico with a former colleague and his wife, have a lot of fun with them. He has made about 20 trips to CR to surf with friends and twice has arranged a trip for the four of us. But alas both times either he or his wife had health issues that forced cancellation. So now when we see something about CR we look at each other and just go...."Well, maybe some day!"
 
Our first time in Costa Rica we flew into Libereria. rented a condo in Cocoa Beach for a month. Traveled throughout the area by car. After that we spent another 2 weeks driving south. Second time we came up from David, Panama by bus to San Jose. Rented a car and toured for another 2 weeks.

IF you ever want a great hotel experience prior to flying home from San Jose try the Marriott Hacienda Belen. Wonderful.
 
FWIW Costa Rica has national health insurance. I wonder if that played a role in their managing the virus.
 
I have read lots of good things about Costa Rica. I definitely have it on my bucket list, but want to wait to go until the covid hysteria dissapates.
 
Visited a few years ago. Loved it. Went to Arenal, the hot springs at Tabacon and around the Guanacaste region. Fantastic! Great food, wonderful people and incredible scenery...
 
We stayed in a B&B just outside San Jose. What surprised us was the B&B catered mostly to Americans who were there for medical tourism.

We spoke to one lady who just had her blood work done and was going into the hospital for some sort of operation/procedure. Apparently she could not afford it at home:confused: Don't really know the details of why other than what she mentioned in passing.

On our first trip to Costa Rica we flew into Liberaria on a one way ticket. We had a condo booked for a month but were not certain if we would stay in the country or indeed where we would go after. On arrival we were asked how long we would be in the country. We said a month and they stamped our papers.

A few weeks later, at the condo, some of the regulars asked us about our plans. They were very surprised that we were not asked to show a departure ticket of some sort. They said more than one of their friends had been caught by that and had to make an air reservation their and then before being allowed to pass through. Seems strange to us..... several people said that we were very lucky not to have been checked for this. When we entered by land I recall that we were asked for a departure ticket. Fortunately we had an air ticket back to Panama City in our possession.
 
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Thanks for the trip report. How busy was it? We are going to Mexico next month for a small (thankfully!) wedding and are hearing that most hotels/etc are at 20% or less capacity (we are renting a house). We are probably going to Alaska as well in May to visit some family, so might try and squeeze CR in there too before the travel gets going again and things get CRAZY!
 
We found the hotels to be at 25-60% capacity. Even at the busier ones, no worries about social distancing. Also in Costa Rica, unless you are in one of the bigger cities, almost all of the restaurants are open air.
 
Reading this thread has really piqued my interest to visit Costa Rica. (I guess cabin fever has really set in! :D)

I would love to hear others experiences as I am taking notes. :)
 
What surprised us in Arenal:confused: There seemed to a proportionally high number of Russian immigrants in the hospitality business. For some reason we did not expect this.

You do need to understand rental car insurance. Some places can be a ripoff. We rented from Budget in Liberaria. Big rip off. Then we rented from another agency Liberaria and in San Jose. The latter two were much better to deal with. Might have been Alamo.

On one trip we stayed for a week of so along the coast south of Jaco. The sand on the beach became so hot that it burned our feet (feb). Lots of small family run places along that coast. We really liked Samara area, less crowded than the beaches in the Tamarindo area.

Bottom line.....it was all wonderful. We prefer it to going to places like Florida or Hawaii. Especially since pre covid there was a direct flight to Liberaria from where we live.
 
I rented a car and drove from San Jose to the Nicoya peninsula. The car was $5/day on Kayak. I had a letter with my name and CC# that said they'd cover damage. I got the letter approved with Enterprise before leaving, but they simply would not let me rent without buying their insurance. I kept walking out, and the price of insurance kept getting down, hehehe! Finally the total for the few weeks seemed reasonable, and I signed. I should have rented a truck (the roads out where I went were almost impassable in a small car).

Once I arrived, I surfed twice a day ate wonderful fresh foods, and hung out with some very interesting characters from all over the globe. I'd do it again.
 
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sengsational said:
.... I should have rented a truck (the roads out where I went were almost impassable in a small car)...........
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When I was driving around there in the 1990s, I rented a truck. I was glad I did, as the roads were pretty bad in places.
 
We had compact cars all three times. We made a point of not driving very far at night. Because of some of the potholes but more because there were often people walking on or beside the road at night who were hard to see. The roads are not great but we found them very passable. We were warned off a few of the gravel roads in the Arenal district though.

Road signs, off the main drag, we not great. We got a good map gratis from the rental car agency.
 
We had compact cars all three times. We made a point of not driving very far at night. Because of some of the potholes but more because there were often people walking on or beside the road at night who were hard to see. The roads are not great but we found them very passable. We were warned off a few of the gravel roads in the Arenal district though.

Road signs, off the main drag, we not great. We got a good map gratis from th rental car agency.

I believe that the roads will only get worse given the financial position of the Government.
 
If visiting the west coast near Quepos if you love critters Manuel Antonio NP is a must see. The beaches are also first class there.
 
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