COSTA RICA HM anyone?

Hi all,

My FH & I are most likely going to Costa Rica for 8 days & 9 nights. Has anyone been there? Any recommendations? We are most likely going to use the tour company Sunny Land Tours to establish the itinerary, anyone hear of them?

Re: COSTA RICA HM anyone?

My mom's family is from Costa Rica.... but I can't help with Resorts... we usually just go to cousins houses and farms and so forth...

It's an amazing country!!

Re: COSTA RICA HM anyone?

I just hear it's amazing! The only tip is to convert your money at the airport rather on hoping to find banks once you are out of the airport.

Re: COSTA RICA HM anyone?

My FH and i went there a couple years ago and its absolutely amazing. tip- if you like beachy type beaches, go for the pacific side- in doing my research i found the caribbean side is black sanded beaches. Tamarindo- is a little 'town' with all bars and clubs- its the surfers area- fun to go out at night. Definitly do canopy tours, horseback riding. go to Arenal Volcano- to the hot springs. do the mud bath. atv tours of the beaches. there is another hot springs that we went to but the name is escaping me right now. we did alot of our tours in the guanacaste area and booked through the hotel tour desk. we stayed on playa flamingo, i think it was even called the flamingo hotel. very quiet there as far as guests- the birds are EXTREMELY LOUD though. and wear sunscreen!!!! we also didnt do all inclusive, we did a breakfast only meal plan. the restaurants where we stayed were really good and it was nice to eat like locals. any more info, FM me.

Re: COSTA RICA HM anyone?

I am not going there but a girl I work with went a few months ago and she loves it..she said to check out Tabacon resort and in Guanacaste, Costa rica she said their are a bunch of resorts..She can not say enough about it!

Re: COSTA RICA HM anyone?

We are going there for our HM and had it all planned out till we hit a glitch with the time share we were planning on using for the first week in Manuel Antonio. But the place there was called the Parador and i didnt do much research on any other places in that area because that was our only option (till it fell through). After that we were planning on staying at The Springs in the Arenal Volcano area. Its right near the Tabacon, but surprisingly when i read all the reviews on Trip Advisor, it seems the Tabacon is not all its cracked up to be so we decided against it. The Arenal Nayara is also nice. Next we were going up to the Pacific side and staying at the Paradisus in Playa Conchal.

I would first do some research on the areas you want to visit (it seems like Manuel Antonio and the Arenal Volcano were places you should def hit) and then look up resorts on Trip Advisor - they break up the hotels into all the diff regions.

Re: COSTA RICA HM anyone?

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Posted by RnJ516

I am not going there but a girl I work with went a few months ago and she loves it..she said to check out Tabacon resort and in Guanacaste, Costa rica she said their are a bunch of resorts..She can not say enough about it!

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Tabacon Hot Springs are amazing, thats the other place i couldnt recall the name.... just gorgeous jaw dropping amazingness.

Re: COSTA RICA HM anyone?

FH and I got engaged there is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!! Rent a car and check the sites out....its easy enough to get around. If you check out trip advisor there is alot of resources out there. FM me if you want more details.

Re: COSTA RICA HM anyone?

I went to CR with FH a few years ago! It's our favorite trip ever! We spent most of our time in the rain forest part of it in Lake Arenal. My father used to own a small, local hotel there like $40 a night, so we stayed there. The Tabacon is a MUST! I would recommend checking out the interior of CR, not just the beaches if you can! It's a beautiful, beautiful country. I loved the people! We had some of the most fun just sitting in the restuarant at the hotel that all the locals frequented and having a few drinks with some Ticos. You will find tons to do... canopy tours, ATV riding, boating, butterfly gardens...etc. No worries.

Here are some tips:
1. Exchange some of your money at the airport. You will need this to get to your hotel. We waited to exchange the rest until we got to the bank, but we knew there was one across the street from our hotel.
2. Bring bug spray! Bugs love me and my legs were covered in bug bites. (My FH told me to wear pants on the plane ride back so they won't think I had measles)
3. Relax! Ticos aren't known for getting in a hurry... Pura Vida as they say 'Pure Life.' Every night's a good night for drinking a beer and hanging out.
4. Have fun!! You'll love it!

Re: COSTA RICA HM anyone?

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Posted by Soon2bMrsH

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Posted by RnJ516

I am not going there but a girl I work with went a few months ago and she loves it..she said to check out Tabacon resort and in Guanacaste, Costa rica she said their are a bunch of resorts..She can not say enough about it!

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Tabacon Hot Springs are amazing, thats the other place i couldnt recall the name.... just gorgeous jaw dropping amazingness.

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They are AMAZING... I cannot wait to go back!

Re: COSTA RICA HM anyone?

I would definitely second going to the hot springs at Tabacon if you are going to the Arenal area. A good town to stay in is La Fortuna. For rain forest activities like zip gliding, check out Monetverde. For a super chill beach vibe check out Monetzuma. If it a bit off the beaten path, but well worth the trip. I never went to Tamarindo because I wanted to avoid chain hotels and high rises, but I know of people who have been there and loved it. Also, CR is a very tourist friendly country and easy to get around. I would suggest planning your own itinerary rather than going through a tour group. If will give you so much more flexibility and spontaneity. Good luck!

Re: COSTA RICA HM anyone?

send an FM to Jesaroo2 - she & her dh just got back from costa rica & said it was one of the most amazing vacations of her life!!! DH & i looked into it briefly and from jess's review i am so bummed we didn't do it! it will definetly be our next vacay

Re: COSTA RICA HM anyone?

Thank you for all the info, incredibly helpful! We did check out trip advisor there were many favorable reviews for the hotels we plan on staying at.

Re: COSTA RICA HM anyone?

CR is AMAZING. FH and I went last year. We stayed at Ylang Ylang resort in Montezuma, which was a dream. It was perfect- a killer resort on the beach, walking distance to the chll downtown area. http://www.elbanano.com/

Most people do a combination of a few areas. We did Monteverde, Arenal and Montezuma. Manuael Antonio is supposed to be great too. Monteverde and Arenal are interchangable, we stayed at Los Lagos in Monteverde/ Santa Elena- the place is unreal. Waterslides, swim up bars, lots of romantic hot springs.

You'll have a fabulous time, fm me if you have any q's.

Re: COSTA RICA HM anyone?

I was there about 3 years ago and stayed at the Paradisus Playa Conchal, its a Sol Melia resort in Guanacaste. It was awesome!