Palmtree
Full time employment: Posting here.
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2014
- Messages
- 516
We just got back from a 10-day trip to Costa Rica. Since so many people have posted here I thought I would give back also. We spent 3 days in Manuel Antonio, 3 days in Monteverde, and 4 days in La Fortuna.
Here are some general observations.
Money: Cash from the United States and credit cards were accepted everywhere. I never had to exchange dollars to colones although sometimes I got change back in Costa Rican Currency.
Mosquitoes & bugs: Nada. During the entire time we were there I never got a single bite and I am a mosquito magnet. They absolutely love me. We did use Picaridin Insect spray so I'm sure that had something to do with it but I never saw or heard a single mosquito the entire time we were there.
Esim: I purchased an esim from Airalo a week before the trip. It worked flawlessly even allowing me to use my phone as a hotspot for our laptop computers. I had never purchased one before but found the installation of the esim very easy. Once on the ground I activated it and it immediately gave me cell service. (3 GB data - 30 SMS - 30 Mins - 30 Days for $23.) There are more options that give more service for slightly higher rates.
Soda/Casados: People often mention sodas and casados on CR travel forums. I don't think everyone might be familiar with the terms, so allow me to elaborate a bit. A soda is a family-run restaurant that offers really good food at lower prices. They are called sodas because many of the signs for the restaurant used to be paid for by soft drink manufacturers. Many offer a plate of food for a fixed price called a casado. A casado is a combination plate where you can choose your protein, such as fish, pork, chicken, beef and it will come with up to 5 other things on the plate such as a salad, fried plantains, mixed vegetables, beans, rice, etc., all for one low price. They are a fantastic bargain and I encourage you to try them out.
Highs and lows from the trip.
In Manuel Antonio we stayed at hotel Costa Verde. Absolutely loved it. They have several airplane fuselages that can be rented out as rooms. The views of the ocean were spectacular. We saw lots of wildlife just on the grounds. Flocks of green parrots, iguanas, and even a sloth with her baby in the trees near the pool. Also breakfast is served on a covered deck with white faced monkeys all around.
We had a sunset happy hour and dinner at La Terraza and saw squirrel monkeys and Toucans. I would highly recommend it for dinner. It overlooks the ocean and the food was very good.
Now the lows. I will probably step on some toes here but the biggest disappointment of the entire trip was Manuel Antonio Park. We had a guide and arrived well before they opened in the morning. There was already an extremely long line and it took almost an hour standing in the heat, to get in. They will go through your backpack to make sure you have absolutely no food or plastic disposable water bottles before you're allowed in. Also you must have your passport, a copy of your passport or a photo of it on your phone with everything legible. All in all we were so disappointed. We saw very little wildlife and it was extremely crowded. What little we did see was through the guide's spotting scope while we were surrounded by 30 to 40 other people trying to see the same thing with their guide. We would look through the spotting scope and the guide would say something like “See that ball of fur up there? That's the backside of a sloth. See that ball of fur over there? That's a sleeping sloth but you can't see its face.” We actually saw more wildlife at our hotel than we did in this nature park. I will admit that the beach is beautiful but like everything else it was also very crowded.
Monteverde: You are in the clouds. It was extremely gusty and there was always a fine mist in the air. We were so glad that we had brought long pants, long sleeve t-shirts, and rain jackets. We wore them everyday. The highlight of our trip there was the ziplines at Selvatura Adventure park. The longest run is 0.4 miles and around 385 ft above ground. Wow, what a rush! (I wish I had sprung the extra $15 for the “superman” option on one of the runs)
Also did the Don Juan coffee and chocolate tour. I thought it was going to be a bit blah, but it was actually really good. For eating out I would recommend Taco Taco for lunch and The Green or Tiki’s seafood for dinner. Both The Green and Tiki’s are very small restaurants. You can make reservations at The Green but not Tiki’s. Tiki’s looks more like an ice cream place but trust me, it’s really good and the prices were very fair. Our hotel was Poco a Poco. It was very nice, had great gardens and a heated pool. Also it was walking distance to town and local restaurants.
La Fortuna: We stayed at a resort a few miles out of town. Called Paradise Hot Springs. What's great about La Fortuna is that Uber is available and fairly inexpensive. It cost us about $4 dollars to Uber into town from our hotel. We never had to wait more than 5 to 10 minutes for a ride anywhere to town or back. All the vehicles ranged from nice to very nice. The absolutely best excursion we did during the entire trip was waterfall rappelling and canyoning with pure Trek Outfitters. If you are adventurous at all I would highly, highly recommend it! Yes you are repelling down waterfalls. Yes you get very wet, yes they are high. And yes, we had a blast. There’s also a Tarzan swing and a Monkey drop that will add to the thrills. The guides are exceedingly friendly and professional. I never felt unsafe. So much fun.
Final notes. We did not rent a car or make all of these arrangements ourselves. All the hotels, excursions, shuttles and transportation to/from the airport and to/from all the outings were prearranged, reserved and paid for in advance by a travel agency called anywhere.com. We prepaid one total sum up front and did not have to pay for any of these rides or excursions or hotels once we were there. Everything worked flawlessly. All the drivers were professional, on time and the vehicles that we rode in were new, clean and comfortable. The hotels exceptional. And we did not have a single difficulty with any of the planned events.
Here are some general observations.
Money: Cash from the United States and credit cards were accepted everywhere. I never had to exchange dollars to colones although sometimes I got change back in Costa Rican Currency.
Mosquitoes & bugs: Nada. During the entire time we were there I never got a single bite and I am a mosquito magnet. They absolutely love me. We did use Picaridin Insect spray so I'm sure that had something to do with it but I never saw or heard a single mosquito the entire time we were there.
Esim: I purchased an esim from Airalo a week before the trip. It worked flawlessly even allowing me to use my phone as a hotspot for our laptop computers. I had never purchased one before but found the installation of the esim very easy. Once on the ground I activated it and it immediately gave me cell service. (3 GB data - 30 SMS - 30 Mins - 30 Days for $23.) There are more options that give more service for slightly higher rates.
Soda/Casados: People often mention sodas and casados on CR travel forums. I don't think everyone might be familiar with the terms, so allow me to elaborate a bit. A soda is a family-run restaurant that offers really good food at lower prices. They are called sodas because many of the signs for the restaurant used to be paid for by soft drink manufacturers. Many offer a plate of food for a fixed price called a casado. A casado is a combination plate where you can choose your protein, such as fish, pork, chicken, beef and it will come with up to 5 other things on the plate such as a salad, fried plantains, mixed vegetables, beans, rice, etc., all for one low price. They are a fantastic bargain and I encourage you to try them out.
Highs and lows from the trip.
In Manuel Antonio we stayed at hotel Costa Verde. Absolutely loved it. They have several airplane fuselages that can be rented out as rooms. The views of the ocean were spectacular. We saw lots of wildlife just on the grounds. Flocks of green parrots, iguanas, and even a sloth with her baby in the trees near the pool. Also breakfast is served on a covered deck with white faced monkeys all around.
We had a sunset happy hour and dinner at La Terraza and saw squirrel monkeys and Toucans. I would highly recommend it for dinner. It overlooks the ocean and the food was very good.
Now the lows. I will probably step on some toes here but the biggest disappointment of the entire trip was Manuel Antonio Park. We had a guide and arrived well before they opened in the morning. There was already an extremely long line and it took almost an hour standing in the heat, to get in. They will go through your backpack to make sure you have absolutely no food or plastic disposable water bottles before you're allowed in. Also you must have your passport, a copy of your passport or a photo of it on your phone with everything legible. All in all we were so disappointed. We saw very little wildlife and it was extremely crowded. What little we did see was through the guide's spotting scope while we were surrounded by 30 to 40 other people trying to see the same thing with their guide. We would look through the spotting scope and the guide would say something like “See that ball of fur up there? That's the backside of a sloth. See that ball of fur over there? That's a sleeping sloth but you can't see its face.” We actually saw more wildlife at our hotel than we did in this nature park. I will admit that the beach is beautiful but like everything else it was also very crowded.
Monteverde: You are in the clouds. It was extremely gusty and there was always a fine mist in the air. We were so glad that we had brought long pants, long sleeve t-shirts, and rain jackets. We wore them everyday. The highlight of our trip there was the ziplines at Selvatura Adventure park. The longest run is 0.4 miles and around 385 ft above ground. Wow, what a rush! (I wish I had sprung the extra $15 for the “superman” option on one of the runs)
Also did the Don Juan coffee and chocolate tour. I thought it was going to be a bit blah, but it was actually really good. For eating out I would recommend Taco Taco for lunch and The Green or Tiki’s seafood for dinner. Both The Green and Tiki’s are very small restaurants. You can make reservations at The Green but not Tiki’s. Tiki’s looks more like an ice cream place but trust me, it’s really good and the prices were very fair. Our hotel was Poco a Poco. It was very nice, had great gardens and a heated pool. Also it was walking distance to town and local restaurants.
La Fortuna: We stayed at a resort a few miles out of town. Called Paradise Hot Springs. What's great about La Fortuna is that Uber is available and fairly inexpensive. It cost us about $4 dollars to Uber into town from our hotel. We never had to wait more than 5 to 10 minutes for a ride anywhere to town or back. All the vehicles ranged from nice to very nice. The absolutely best excursion we did during the entire trip was waterfall rappelling and canyoning with pure Trek Outfitters. If you are adventurous at all I would highly, highly recommend it! Yes you are repelling down waterfalls. Yes you get very wet, yes they are high. And yes, we had a blast. There’s also a Tarzan swing and a Monkey drop that will add to the thrills. The guides are exceedingly friendly and professional. I never felt unsafe. So much fun.
Final notes. We did not rent a car or make all of these arrangements ourselves. All the hotels, excursions, shuttles and transportation to/from the airport and to/from all the outings were prearranged, reserved and paid for in advance by a travel agency called anywhere.com. We prepaid one total sum up front and did not have to pay for any of these rides or excursions or hotels once we were there. Everything worked flawlessly. All the drivers were professional, on time and the vehicles that we rode in were new, clean and comfortable. The hotels exceptional. And we did not have a single difficulty with any of the planned events.
