Got Rain Forest?

October 18, 2006 9:48 PM

Pacific Northwesterners headed to Costa Rica on a Honeymoon, any suggestions?

My fiance and I are planning to head to Costa Rica for our honeymoon towards the end of June/ first part of July. I've searched through the Ask MeFi archives and found some great resources, but many are over a year old. I was wondering if anyone had visited CR recently or at least knows of fabulous places to stay/ visit.

We both love the outdoors so we're hoping to find some outlets for hiking, swimming, snorkeling, kayaking, zip-lining, etc. but also would enjoy being pampered a bit in a nice hotel (after all, it is our honeymoon).

Any and all recommendations or personal stories would be great, especially concerning the pros and cons of Pacific vs. Atlantic sides of the country.

posted by Smarson to travel & transportation (12 comments total)

I loved Parque Miguel Antonio (Pacific coast) when I was there. The beaches are paradise unparalleled. There was one where you could swim out a couple of hundred yards in warm water in a perfectly still bay. I saw a sloth and more monkeys than I could handle there.

The cloud forest in Monteverde (northwest central) is gorgeous, but can be a slightly chillier climate. It's studded with zip line tours and great hiking. It's also where you are likeliest to see a quetzal, I believe. I stayed at the Hotel El Establo, which was perfectly nice, although I wasn't put up in the fancier part of it.

The Arenal volcano also offers some hiking. I visited the Tabacón hot springs resort, which lies some distance from the volcano (but with great views of it), and pretty much every girl I was traveling with agreed that she wanted to go there for her honeymoon. It's a bit of a drive from San José, but the views alone are worth the trip.

Avoid Jacó Beach. The scenery surrounding the beach is gorgeous, yes, but the scene is more like, say, Panama City Beach than ideal honeymoon setting.

I also stayed at the Punta Leona resort. There's hiking, gorgeous beaches, an open-air disco, and all the ocean you can handle. It's quite a pretty place.

Oh, and I have heard excellent things about Tamarindo as well, though I never visited.

This is all from when I spent seven weeks there in 2002, so YMMV. But thanks, writing this post brought back a few memories.
posted by anjamu at 10:48 PM on October 18, 2006

Anjamu - Wow, all of those places sounds perfect. I wish they were all at the same locale. =)
posted by Smarson at 10:53 PM on October 18, 2006

Don't lose hope - Costa Rica is a small country, and it's relatively easy to get around.

I think if you had a week, and you picked any two of those places, you'd be more than comfortable with the (lack of) travel time you had.
posted by anjamu at 11:28 PM on October 18, 2006

I second Tabacón - the hot springs are something you must experience. My fiancee and I visited Costa Rica early in our relationship, and had an absolutely wonderful time. We're considering going back for our honeymoon as well, and would stay at Tabacón or Florblanca, both of which we visited (but didn't stay at) while there last time.
posted by slhack3r at 6:32 AM on October 19, 2006

Anjamu - That's reassuring!

slhack3r - I've heard pretty great things about Tabacon. Is it true you can see the lava flowing at night?
posted by Smarson at 6:44 AM on October 19, 2006

Two words: hacienda baru
posted by Pollomacho at 7:02 AM on October 19, 2006

When I visited Costa Rica (which was a long time ago) we had planned to go to three locations, cloud forest, beach and someplace further north, and decided to stick to two instead because 1) we loved the places we were staying, especially the cloud forest and 2) at that time the roads to the more remote places were pretty rough meaning that travelling took some time and we wanted to spendmore time at the places and less time travelling.

I went from the PacNW when I went and it was weird to be in the same time zone (or almost the same time zone?) and be someplace tiotally different. The hotel we stayed at when we were in Monteverde was FULL of PacNW bird watchers, everyone was from Seattle and Oregon which was pretty amusing. We stayed in the Hotel Belmar while we were there when they only had the main chalet building. It was small, personable and had lovely balconies which were great for sitting out on at night. When we were on the Pacific coast we stayed at teh Hotel Iguanazul which was a pretty standard remoteish beachfront place, pretty far from everything. You get your own little cabin/rooms there. They sell it as a surfing location, but we went in early December which was before surf season really ramped up. Also, if you wind up being in San Jose for a night on your way in or on your way out, the Hotel Don Carlos was where we stayed and it was lovely and very comfortable.
posted by jessamyn at 7:16 AM on October 19, 2006

A third voice for Tabacon - it's simply amazing. If you don't stay at Tabacon, there are other nearby resorts with equally amazing views of the volcano at night (and yes, you can sometimes see a faint glow from the lava, especially in the early morning, and the occaisonal small burst of gas/smoke). We spent an afternoon/evening at Tabacon, then stayed at a nearby hotel that was much, much cheaper. Our room had a private deck with unobstructed views of the volcano. I believe we stayed at the Arenal Lodge, but I am not certain.

I'd also recommend visiting one of the ranches at Rincon De La Vieja and going for a horseback ride up to the volcanic mud hot springs. Once you reach the top, there is a small outdoor spa. They have some special mud that you smear all over yourself, then a natural hotspring to clean yourself off in and relax, as well as a steam room. I visited the Hacienda Lodge Guachipelin, which also had a nice open air restaurant, and has other local activities as well.
posted by skwm at 7:27 AM on October 19, 2006

If you are adventurous, I highly, highly recommend the Osa Peninsula and Corcovado National Park, the last surviving Pacific coast rain forest in the world. You will be one of a few hundred people staying on the entire Peninsula - the photo in that link is what the beach in front of your place will look like at its busiest moment. My wife and I saw countless monkeys, amazing birds, sloths, incredible insects -- I'll never forget seeing pairs of scarlet macaws flying along the beach, lit from below by the setting sun. Going for a hike with one of the many great guides and naturalists is like experiencing one of the "rain forest" episodes from David Attenborough's Life on Earth.

We stayed at two locations -- the Cocovado Tent Camp and Lapa Rios. Staying at the Tent Camp isn't exactly being pampered -- the showers are cold water, the bathrooms shared, the housing somewhat primitive and you get there by donkey cart. And it still was named one of the 20 most spectacular hotels in the world by Fodors. I have never been to a more amazing location in my life, and I've done a lot of travelling. Lapa Rios is much more pampered -- they bring in fine french wines and serve them along side gourmet meals in this amazing open air thatch roof lodge. Your room is a fantasy land vision of the topical lodge and the showers and pool are heated by solar power. The drawbacks include staying farther away from the actual National Park and the fact that you the top of a hill some distance from the ocean.

Both had lots of hiking, but activity-wise, Lapa Rios had more variety. Personally, I would stay at both -- stay at Lapa Rios when you first arrive. Once you're bored with being totally pampered, move to the Cocovado Tent Camp. You won't regret it.

You get to the Osa Peninsula via a small plane from the San Juan airport. Takes about an hour, and is a beautiful flight. I recommend letting your hotel make the arrangements -- they'll get you dropped off at the airstrip closest to the hotel, and will pick you up.

In terms of other locations, I was also in the Monte Verde rain forest -- beautiful, but really *cold* when I was there (January). Nice to see, but given the opportunity to go back, I'd skip it and stay at the Osa Penisula longer.
posted by centerweight at 7:52 AM on October 19, 2006

lots of good advice so far. my suggestion is avoid the cities. San Jose, Puentarena, Limón are absolute shitholes. (of course, the airport is in San Jose, so you might have to spend a night there.)

i assume you'll rent a 4x4? if so, you can get everywhere. it's a small country.

as for the east west coast distinction, you've probably heard that the west is more spanish while the east is more carribean. it was at least 7 years since my last trip - but i found the east (from Limón down to Puerto Vieho (sp?) to be more dangerous. more drugs and drunkeness. think wasted farm hands with machetes!

the northern part (e.g. cloud forest) has a mellow vibe. The locals up there are fun to hang with.
posted by kamelhoecker at 9:09 AM on October 19, 2006

My wife and I went to CR in Feb 2005 and had a really memorable vacation. We stayed at Hotel Arenal Paraiso which is near Tabacon (which has been mentioned a few times). The research I did pointed us to Arenal Paraiso over Tabacon because Tabacon was too popular. We did not stay there but went past there a couple times and it looked very busy with tourists and traffic. Arenal Paraiso was just right for us. It was quiet and offered everything we could want...hot springs, mineral pools, hiking in a rain forest just meters from our private cabina, we also did a zip-line tour over the same rain forest, spectacular views of the volcano, decent restaurant in the Hotel and a really nice one just a few minutes drive down the road (I think it was at Arenal Lodge).

We also stayed at Playa Samara at a really fabulous place called Villas Kalimbas. I heartily recommend that place if you want to avoid anything too touristy. Samara is a Tico weekend destination.

Anyway, I could ramble on. If you want more info, my email is in my profile and I would be glad to answer any questions here or via email.

Oh, and there is another airport in Liberia.
posted by jaronson at 4:48 PM on December 9, 2006

Just wanted to follow-up on what we decided.

We went with this travel agency and were astounded at the service. Every single detail was covered, right down to turn by turn driving directions to each of our locations.

Flew into San Jose and rented a car (which I highly recommend, roads were no where half as bad as I expected) and then drove up to Monte Verde for our first night (stayed at the Villa Blanca Hotel). Since it was the "Green" (read: rainy) season, the place was pretty empty, so it was like we'd rented out the whole location! So very peaceful and the staff was very kind, knowledgeable, and helpful. Great for the first night of a honeymoon.

Next day we drove to the Arenal region and checked into Tabacon. This place was huge and had that giant resort feeling, but we were looking for pampered so it was perfect. Hot Springs are beyond compare. If I were to go back I'd stay in one of the hotels in the area and just pay a day fee to use the springs if I felt so inclined since Tabacon was pretty steep in price.

Went zip lining (Skytrek company) and then waterfall canyoning (read: rappelling). Zip lining is a must, but the canyoning was pretty intense as well (only for the fit though since there is a lot of hiking). However, we saw kids as young as 9 on both excursions, so it really is something a whole family can do.

After three days in the Arenal region, we drove over to Tamarindo (Pacific side) and stayed at the Capitan Suizo Hotel. This was by far my favorite hotel since they had monkey's living in the trees, free internet, and you could walk 50 ft. from their jungle shaded pool onto the beach. Staff was extremely kind and helped us to set up a snorkeling tour. The tour itself was so-so. Staff was great, but I'd been warned that snorkeling in Tamarindo left something to be desired and it does. Although I did get to pet a puffer fish...

Flew out of Liberia. Note about car rental agency: We used "Dollar Renta-Car" and there was a paperwork mix-up when we dropped off the car in Liberia causing us to overpay by $30. The rental car agent drove 20 minutes and tracked us down in the airport before our flight left in order to rectify the situation. I had never seen such service. I highly recommend them if you considering renting a car in Costa Rica.

If anyone is planning a similar trip, please don't hesitate to contact me for advice.
posted by Smarson at 10:05 AM on July 25, 2007