Costa Rica

[FFC1964]

We love Costa Rica and have been 4 times in 5 years. I love Mexico too but in Costa Rica the people seem a bit more mellow and we can drive wherever we want so easily. We have found the drivers to patient and not in a hurry. We have been all over. This last time we went to Puerto Viejo and then drove to Monteverde and then to Tamarindo. One of our favorite stays ever was a airbnb in Quepos where the monkeys came to our balcony every single day.
I love the food, the beaches, the wildlife, the people and the climate. The first time we went it was our 25th wedding anniversary and we went all out with a luxurious trip. It was amazing but a bit pricey. After that we decided we could do it ourselves for much less and a bit less luxury. I love it both ways.

Really making me want to go back right now.....

 

[brett]

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.

Those were our favourite beaches. Tamarindo is also great. We would go out in the morning, pool before noon and into the afternoon (sand became incredibly hot), and back in the ocean in the later afternoon. Lovely way to spend the winter.

 

[HenryD]

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?

Our family visited for a couple of weeks in 2018. Stayed at a very posh AirBnB (whole house) up in the mountains between Domincal and San Isidro. Beautiful steel & glass house on property with million dollar views and an infinity pool. Owned by a Canadian with a wonderful local caretaker/guide. Price was about what they were getting for average house rentals down on the coast.

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.

I'm glad someone liked it! The Quepos MA NP trip for us was the only bad day we had there - way too crowded and too much hustle. Highlights were ziplining near Ciudad Cortes and watching macaws behind the beach at Uvita. Trying to move there permanently is top of our list when we get done sailing around.

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.

We rented off the SJO airport (Alamo?) and got upgraded to a Land Cruiser Pajaro diesel. It was cheap enough that I think they lost money, and while they took some persuasion to take my CC insurance, it wasn't as much of a slog as you had. There was at least one other party while we were checking in that was deeply unhappy about some aspect of their rental though, so that speaks to the variants in what folks might have to go through.

 

[Exchme]

This all sounds wonderful, how easy would it be for folks with no Spanish? Beyond "Please", "Thank You" and "Where's the bathroom?", neither DW nor I speak a word of it.

 

[FFC1964]

Exchme...it is very very easy to travel around Costa Rica with little Spanish. Literacy rate is extremely high in CR and most speak English. At least this is what we found to be the case during our multiple visits.

 

[RE2Boys]

Just before Covid, DW and I visited Costa Rica and loved it. We were part of a small tour group (dozen) and stayed at non-luxury cabins. At least all locations had flush toilets and limited wi-fi. The non-profit group runs adventure and nature tours which we enjoy. Keep in mind we come from a camping and backpacking background.

https://www.wildernessinquiry.org/

 

[sengsational]

This all sounds wonderful, how easy would it be for folks with no Spanish? Beyond "Please", "Thank You" and "Where's the bathroom?", neither DW nor I speak a word of it.

There wasn't really any problem when I was there, and I'm on the level where "uno mas cervasa" covers 50% of my Spanish.

I was prepared with Google Translate, and never used it. But I'd recommend having it. If you're on cell, and even if it's stand-alone it's very helpful. You speak English into it, and it puts-up the Spanish translation, in big print if you want, so you can hold up your phone. And you can put it in conversation mode, and you'll see your utterances in Spanish, and your Spanish speaker's utterances in English. Very cool. And also, you can aim your phone at the menu or some other printed media, and it will overlay English. Again, very cool.

 

[Finance Dave]

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!

Would love to go there! I took Spanish classes in junior high school for 3 years. Definitely not fluent but I would say "conversational" and can read it fairly well...listening is harder because most locals talk too fast lol.

Love the regional foods. Maybe if we decide to go I'll ask you for more details, but let me ask a couple things here...

1) What are the major airport(s) to use?

2) We prefer to "mix in" with smaller local communities, and avoid large cities and tourist areas. What are some areas/towns you would recommend?

3) Any special paperwork required outside of a passport? Vaccinations?

Thanks

 

[ItsAllGood]

The major airports are in San Jose and Liberia. San Jose is a major city in Costa Rica, we have only flown into Liberia. Transportation is easy from Liberia, whether you rent a car or arrange for transport. If you don't want to rent a car, I highly recommend ILT for private transportation, very reliable, nice drivers, and clean cars/vans.

I'd avoid Jaco as a destination. The most touristy places we have stayed are Tamarindo and Quepos/Manuel Antonio and "touristy" is a stretch. We have had a fabulous time at both and both are very different and interesting. There are many smaller beach, mountain, and rainforest locations. I recommend getting a good guide book and planning out a route. Try and do 2-3 nights at least per place as drive times can be quite lengthy.

No special immunizations needed, no covid test required for entry (at this time). But you need a covid test to return to the US. Bring bug spray and sunscreen. That is all we have ever needed. Local water is fine to drink and all foods, including fruit and vegetables.

 

[ItsAllGood]

Also passport only, no other docs needed

 

[Finance Dave]

Thank you!

 

[Lucie]

We just booked our tickets to visit our condo in Tamarindo next month! We will be both be vaccinated and have heard that the Covid rates are well managed in Costa Rica. It will be a wonderful break from the snow.

 

[WhenIsItTime]

I set up a financial shared service center in San Jose area a few years ago for a US multinational. CR is very receptive to English and for sure it’s their 2nd language and very common amongst the younger folks and service industry. Generally. The population is very welcoming. They have no national army. However, be careful as you should in a foreign country. Cost of living and wages are very low, so petty crime is appealing to some locals. One of my employees got held up in a taxi and taken to an ATM for withdrawal. The taxi driver proceeded to take him to his hotel. Driver pretended not to know English.

It’s really an amazing country worth exploring. Learn the history before you go and soak it in while you are there.

 

[Lucie]

Hola from Costa Rica!

We arrived on Monday in Tamarindo following our waiting period for the vaccine to be in full effect. I was very impressed with the airline as well as how the Ticos respect the Covid precautions. Even the guys selling pipas (coconuts) on the beach are wearing masks. Masks are required in the stores and while entering restaurants. Most of the restaurants are open air, so little concern for us. The complex is at about 20% occupancy, which is peaceful, especially in high season. We are trying to be more generous with our spending and tips because their economy was hit hard. Much of their economy is based on tourism.

Prior to arrival, visitors are required to complete a simple health form on line and upload proof of travel insurance which is now required in case of Covid.

 

[WestUniversity]

Stayed at a resort near Brasalito in the Guanacaste region. Loved the country and the people! Such a great trip…

 

[Eucerin]

Its time of the year again, we are starting to planning on next winter get away.

Besides Florida, we are also looking at Costa Rica. This thread is helpful on narrowing down where the recommended area to rent (Airb&b) for a month. Tamarindo and Quepos are favored so far.

For those of you have been there, can you tell me how you get to rental from the airport? is taxi popular and secure there?

Also I assume most of you fly to liberia airport from the states, not San Juan - it seems far from the two destination.

We will rent a car at some point when we go side seeings, but not immediately. We heard that car rental for a month isn't cheap.

 

[Aerides]

It was a long time ago, but we flew from MIA to San Juan, and we had arranged for a 5 hour shuttle bus ride to Guanacaste/Tamarindo. It's a long hot ride but neat way to see more of the country, especially if you have a lot of luggage.

Or there are puddle jumper flights out to liberia if you don't. Yeah you don't really want a car the whole time, maybe for the odd weekend, or arrange tours and things up into the rain forest, hot springs, etc. But maybe see if you can arrange for bicycles at your Airbnb, or a scooter.

 

[brett]

You should be flying into San Jose for Quepos. Liberia for Tamarindo.

We rent a car. Seems to me there was a bus or van service from the SJO to the Quepos area. You might want to google that. Cannot remember seeing a van service from Liberia but we were not looking for one. Again, google, tripadvisor forum, or rome2rio might provide the answer

 

[ItsAllGood]

I like to use the ILT transportation company for transportation to & from Liberia Airport. They are very professional and fairly priced. Driving is easy and interesting though in Costa Rica if you want to rent a car.

 

[savory]

We rented a car and drove to Quepos and did some site seeing for a couple of days on our way to Quepos then turned the car in.

Upon leaving we bused to Panama City and if memory serves we spent one night on the road. We wanted to see the canal and just spend some time there. I do remember seeing the most amazing bicycle store I have witnessed. And, I bumped into a statue of Roberto Duran on the street. I got to take my picture there. Food was great too.

 

[rt-texas]

Currently in CR and have been for about 20 months.Couple of recommendations:

Adobe Rental Car
https://www.adobecar.com/en/

Have used them several times and was always happy. FWIW, rental cars and gas are expensive here.

One thing you can do. If you have rental car coverage thru your CC, have them send you a letter that states your covered. Can save you a lot of money not paying for coverage.

https://mytanfeet.com/special-deals/get-real-discount-rent-car-costa-rica/

These guys have a lot of good CR info and you can get a discount from Adobe thru their site.

Have nothing to do with either of these, just things I've learned from being here and several scouting trips before coming down to hang out a while.

 

[HenryD]

We rented a car from San Jose airport in 2018. The flights to Liberia were significantly more expensive at the time. Stayed the first and last night in a hotel about a mile from the airport, and stayed at an AirBnB between Dominical and San Isidro de El General. Since we were up in the mountains and off doing something different every day we really needed the car. We rented from an outfit branded as Alamo, on site, although I got the impression the connection to the US Alamo was tenuous at best. A couple other renters at the time seemed very unhappy about some problem, but we got an upgrade to a diesel Landcruiser and the rate stayed insanely cheap. I think we just lucked out.

We were originally going to stay in Quepos, but I am very glad we didn't. We went there one day and it was the busiest rip-off tourist trap we encountered. Just nuts. Getting into the park was a chore. I honestly hated that day of what was otherwise the best vacation on my life. Maybe some folks would like the 'excitment', but not any of my family. The whale tail beach at Uvita and ziplining at Osa were highlights for us.

 

[Markola]

I think once we used the service the hotel arranged and another time we use the service suggested online when we bought our airline tickets to Liberia. You can probably double check satisfaction with every service on Yelp. There is a bunch of them, making it a challenge to find your driver among the hundred waving signs at the curb, so getting a phone number to call would help a lot.

 

[brett]

There are a number of very small, oceanfront, family run places south of Quepos. Also very quiet.

We enjoyed it very much. We found it much warmer there. The sand beyond between our lodge and the ocean became very hot after 11AM. We did not experience this at Tamarindo, Flamingo, Samara, or Cocao Beaches.

We prefer Costa Rica to Florida.

 

[Lucie]

I would recommend splitting the month between Tamarindo and Quepos. They are both wonderful areas, but very different in their own way. We own a condo in Tamarindo, and have never rented a car. We fly into Liberia and use the local shuttle companies for the hour drive to town. If it is a private shuttle, they will stop at the grocery store so you can pick up your groceries. Tamarindo is only about a mile and a quarter long, so a car is not necessary. There are car rental agencies in town that you can pick up or drop off. If you are staying for a month you definitely want a car for a portion of the vacation because there are so many beautiful areas to visit!

Much better option than Florida IMO!