We're going to Costa Rica, any suggestions?

[Burma Jones]

Wife and I are leaving the kids with my folks and flying down to Costa Rica for a week in early August. We've already booked at Peace Gardens and the Waterfall Park as well as the Arenal Volcano. Any other suggestions?

[rfranklin]

1. Don't drink the water, don't touch those cute little spiders, and

don't mountainbike down that jungle trail.

[Burma Jones]

3. Besides ecological reasons, why no mountainbiking?

Although the ecological reasons are enough.....

[MercutioATC]

7. It's Costa Rica, not Honduras...the water is fine.

I would agree with the advice about the spiders, though.

[Shell Beau]

2. Just to have a great time. Enjoy yourselves!

[blitzburgh55]

4. We were there last year

and loved it. We also did a jungle tour and saw a lot wildlife including monkeys, white faced and howlers. We did an ATV tour and a snorkeling trip to Tortuga Island. We flew on a single engine plane from San Jose to Tambor and landed on a strip. It was a great experience.

We had a great time. What a beautiful country. We're hopefully going back next year.

Have a great trip.

[RedCloud]

5. Drink plenty of water there! Don't be fooled.

First off, Costa Rica has no army. They invest in the people. They have some of the best potable water in the world. Way above Florida.
It is a little chilly at night there. So take a sweater.

Poas is a huge volcano but almost always at least a good part of it is cloud covered. Arenal provides that lava flow you may be looking for but it is replete with some persistent mosquitoes. Take repellent.

If you are from the lowlands, you may get mountain sickness the first few days.

Many of the streets have no names, so you may need the metric system to understand where things go. In San Pedro you will find the University Of Costa Rica and many student price friendly restaurants surrounding it, many are for vegetarians. Unless you want gringo food expect to pay little for meals. Most people are quite friendly and willing to help. Do watch out for mopeds as there are some bandits who try to snatch purses that way.

The country is so small but protected by large mountains such that if the weather is miserable on the Caribbean side, in two hours you are on the Pacific.

There are many tour guides and buses to take you to cultural sites, museums, volcanoes, rain forest, cloud forests etc.

Expect free samples of coffee.

I hope this helps as I have helped organize tours there.

[seemunkee]

6. I'm leaving on the 31st for 10 days.

Going to Arenal, Fortuna, and Puerto Jimenez in Osa without the kids, just me and my wife.
We are going to try and meet up with a DU member who lives in San Jose.

Opps, I meant Monteverde not Fortuna

[MercutioATC]

8. Where are you staying in Puerto Jimenez?

There's a great ecolodge about 15 minutes away...

www.iguanalodge.com

I stayed there for 8 days a couple of years ago...it's definitely worth the price.

oh, and some of the pics on their website are mine :)

[faithnotgreed]

9. yeah one suggestion - take me with you

i havent been but i do want to very much
there is a quaker community there and i would consider moving
but thats another day

have an incredible time and let us know all about it~

[bikebloke]

10. To avoid in Tamarindo

Hotel Zully Mar

When I was there, they'd bought all the property except this one restaurant that eventually was surrounded by Zully Mar. So one night Zully Mat torched the restaurant. In the middle of the night, I was woken by a woman shouting FIRE! and banging on doors. It was an inferno. No one was hurt. But everyone's clothes reeked of smoke. Two years later, I can still sniff the odor on my backpack.

Needless to say, I checked out. Went down the street to Hotel Tropicano. Same price, but nicer (speaking from a rough traveller's poit of view, who has slept on rope beds in India).

[leftofthedial]

11. stay

[One_Life_To_Give]

12. Experience some of the local foods.

IIRC the "locals" ate corn and milk based creations.

And while I didn't get to see it personnaly. They (the Costa Ricans)were very proud that you could actually see their President working. Without the huge security issues we have here.

[LynneSin]

13. Tamorindo

YOu could do some snorkeling & fishing there. If you catch a fish they'll cook it for you too. But we ended up going to a party that night so the we gave the Tuna I caught to the boatdriver.

[kitkatrose]

14. Don't touch the spiders or the snakes,

and some of the plants as well. Are you staying in San Jose and coordinating everything from there?

[Burma Jones]

15. We're staying at the Peace Lodge and Arenal.

We aren't spending much time in San Jose, but are getting out to the volcano and the rain forest.