Any of you monkeys ever been? I’m thinking about heading down there in October with the gf. I’d like to stay on the Pacific Coast out of the metropolitan areas.
It’s fantastic. If you go to surf you’ll want to stay north. I stayed farther south, near Manual Antonio National Park: http://www.4tulemar.com/ some activities to consider: http://www.canopysafari.com/ http://queposcostarica.com/ecotourism/mountain-biking.html http://2costarica.com/adventure-tour-biking-manuel-antonio.shtml http://www.iguanatours.com/index.html this was a lot of fun: http://www.rainforestspices.com/
Thanks! I’ve heard the zip-line tours are a must. How did you get around in CR and to and from the airport?
Lots of tours leave from Quepos, probably the reason we chose to locate there. A tour includes transportation (usually inland) to the tour, the tour itself, transportation back. Generally they’ll include at least a lunch. Lots of tours will also pick you up at your villa – just book a day in advance and they’ll tell you when they’ll get you in the morning. So the only transport we occasionally needed was from our bungalow to Quepos – you can just call a taxi for that. Tulemar (and other high-end rentals) will also act as concierge and arrange everything for you. Zip lines are a lot of fun. We did an ATV tour that was nice. (If you do that, share one atv with your gf – you can take turns driving, and the big plus is that you can talk while during the tour.) The spice tour was something that I’ve never encountered anywhere else, so was quite memorable (and educational and tasty). Airport: if from San Jose, you hire a private service. It’s a slow, often bumpy ride. Better is to get a round trip to your destination city – if Quepos (http://www.natureair.com/quepos-flights.aspx) – it’s a small plane and flies practically nap of the earth – quite a lovely ride. Any decent guide book, or nationally sponsored tourist web sites, will probably cover this material too.
How are the hookers there?
I’m with Darien, I was down in the Manuel Antonio area, it was unbelievable. There’s a really really cool small hotel there that’s pretty affordable too: http://www.mangomoonhotel.com/aboutus.asp If you’re not into big commercial resorts, I can’t recommend Mango Moon enough, the trip advisor reviews back me up on this: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g309274-d455135-Reviews-Hotel_Mango_Moon-Manuel_Antonio_National_Park_Province_of_Puntarenas.html Also, if you have time, there’s an awesome 5 star experience at: http://www.tabacon.com/ Worth going to tabacon for a night or two on your trip. At the base of a volcano, they have hot springs sculpted into landscaped river pools surrounded by jungle that you swim in. They just flow into one another. Super awesome.
Thanks BS! I don’t speak a lick of Spanish, how easy is it to get around CR language wise? Any yes, in case my gf and me would like to engage in some three-way action, how are the hookers?
My experience there (travelled around CR for a month in college) was that it’s a very clean and healthy culture (San Jose is very 3rd world with trash everywhere, so expect it to look rough from when you land until you get out of the city an hour or so). So I don’t know about h00kers. There were a few floating around SJ if you’re into that kind of thing, and I’m sure they exist, but the Pacific coast is pretty zen. The atlantic coast is pretty rough though, definitely don’t want to go there if you’ve only got a week. You’re going to wish you had some spanish for sure, especially since while a resort town, Manuel Antonio isn’t heavily commercialized so it can be hit or miss. However, I’m pretty sure the owners of Mango moon are American, so you’ll be fine there. Tabacon as well, cause that’s pretty luxurious. Mainly, you’ll want to carry a business card of the hotel when you’re out to make sure the cab can get you back. Also, it’s customary for cabs to ride share, so don’t be surprised if you pick up other passengers. Negotiate cab fares before you get in as best you can. Manuel Antonio is a great place to surf if you want to take a surf lesson. Might want to learn a few phrases like “Necessito una cervesa” or something like that to get a beer (Spanish has gotten rusty). Replace beer (cervesa) w/food names once you learn those. Pura Vida means pure life, it’s basically the mantra everyone in CR lives by. They use it in every context. You can say it sympathetically, you can say it to mean awesome, you can say it to mean yes, it can mean, i understand, basically if you don’t know what to say, you can say pura vida and they’ll assume you’re with them and keep babbling. If you really want to step it up a notch, say Tuanis (too nice/too cool). If you say tuanis, they’ll think you’re more of a local and less of a tourist and they’ll increase the pace of babbling even faster as they assume you’re with them. You’ll make a friend in the process just repeating those words, but you’ll also have no idea what they’re saying, so it’s a sort of catch 22.
Also, a nice evening idea might be to find a tour on a SMALL catameran (less crowded) and go out in the evening to watch the sun drop. A few of us did that and it was unreal, the sun fell over the horizon exactly in sync with the full moon coming over the mountains. Oh, and expect crazy humidity. Everythings open air, so you just kind of learn to deal.
If you’re stuck in San Jose for a night, make sure you ask at the hotel to go to a Mirador (restaurant in the mountains overlooking the city). It’s a georgeous experience too.
Also, consider Darian’s activities that he listed too. I think Quepos is like 20 minutes from Manuel Antonio (probably where any catamaran tours would leave from) and is definitely a cool place to check out and grab a dinner at a night or two as well.
Btw, just to be clear, mango moon is at the beach at manuel antonio(though in the jungle w/ocean view, not beachfront). Tabacon is a decent drive (maybe hour plus) from there. Hot springs at tabacon, no beach.
Pura vida, dude; pura vida!