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Well, I finally talked my wife int a trip to CR. We leave the 27th so we don’t have alot of time to plan. We get into San Jose at 9:30pm, so would a hotel near the airport be the thing to do for the first night? We’d like to see Arenal, Nicoya Peninsula, and maybe a rain forest park. We’re not to picky about accommodations, small hotels, B & B’s anything with a clean bed & privacy. Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Your first night near the airport should not be a problem, there are plenty of accommodations nearby, a good idea since you should make copies of your passport (photo & stamped page) and make any necessary money exchanges, but considering this is CR’s peak season, you might want to have something set up before you leave for CR for Arenal and the Nicoya Peninsula (at least for the first days). There is a wide range of accomodations available in these areas and the more flexible you are, the more options you will have. Anywhere you go, it depends what your priorities are and exactly where you want to be. For example, in Arenal area there are smaller hotels, B&Bs right in front of the Lake with very reasonable prices, there is also Tabacon Hotel which has stunning hot springs and a great Spa, but is quite expensive and you can go to the hot springs without having to stay there or go to some of the other hot springs in the area (although their layout is my favorite, especially at night..) or you can choose to be at the Arenal Observatory Lodge which has always been my favorite, you have excellent views, walk to the waterfall and the old lava trails…There’s a slew of options, I was surprised last July to see so many more hotels and new homes available in the area. The Nicoya Peninsula has a lot to offer also and there are a few forested areas you should look into depending on how wild you want it to be (from the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve to Corcovado National Park and much in between). Anyway, lots of options and you need to get a good guide book which will give you some of the options–there’s just too many to mention here and you might want to just take a chance and check out the areas for yourselves. Have a wonderful trip!
If you are driving there is a great B&B at Tronadora (at the north end of the lake), fantastic views of the lake and volcano we have actually seen the lava flow from their house, extremely nice people, contact Willeke & Kees by email at casavoogd@hotmail.com or by phone at (506) 693-1203. By the way, it took David 10 years to convince me to take the trip, it took Costa Rica 2 days to convince me that we wanted to live there – we move on Friday!
Definitely try to find something around Arenal as soon as you can. I had a devil of a time finding suitable accommodations for my trip next month. I began looking in January and there was almost nothing available. Usually I just stay around San Ramon and always find something on the spur of the moment but this trip I am taking my two sister along to show them some of the tourist places. Make reservations as soon as you can because these places fill up fast. Costa Rica is starting to seem more and more like Disney World with lines for all the rides……
Hi! We just returned from three weeks and would like to offer some places that we really loved – also very reasonable….Very near the San Jose Airport is the Hotel Villa Dolce. This is owned by one of two identical twin Italian brothers (the other who owns an excellent little hotel in Monte Verde in the cloud forest which I’ll describe next). They provide free pickup to and from the airport, so are a great choice both in and out. reservations@villadolce.com. In Monteverde it is the Hotel El Viandante at info@hotelelviandante.com. An excellent hotel in La Fortuna (Arenal area), right across from the public park is the Hotel Arenal Carmela (manager is Jose Miguel Quiros) info@hotelaraenalcarmela.com. We LOVED Playa Montezuma at the southern tip of the Nicoya Pennisula. Excellent beaches, wonderful snorkeling at Isla Tortuga and a really charming place to stay at the Montezuma Gardens Lodge. Two young, terrific American brothers own it. Contact Ryan or Josh at info@montezumagardens.com The Montezuma Gardens is up the hill from town and has a really lovely on-site butterfly garden which is magical. For great tours in Montezuma contact Humberto at Zuma Tours which is right in the middle of the funky little Carribbean-style town. Restaurants to love in Monteverde are Flor Vida and Sophia and don’t miss Chunches Liberia for a little lunch above the library. Chunches is owned by a LONG time American expat woman named Debra Hamilton. In Montezuma Cocolores for dinner ON the beach and a great little soda is Naranjo.In La Fortuna, get off the main street and try a couple of the little sodas there. All of these places are under $70.00 per night and all but the Hotel Arenal include excellent breakfasts. We don’t rent a car, but rather take private or public transportation such as taxis and buses. Much easier in our view and definitely cheaper. Excellent transportation from Arenal to Monteverde is the Jeep-Boat-Jeep trip which takes hours off the trip and is beautiful. The hotel can arrange this for you. From Monteverde, take a minibus to ferry at Puntaranas to minibus to Montezuma. The speed boat from Montezuma to Jaco then the express bus or minivan back to San Jose cuts about three hours off of the trip. Otherwise, you can retrace your steps.
Hope this helps. The best advice about Costa Rica? Tranquilo – surrender to the place and the people and go with the flow…it is heaven! Pura vida Sue
If you go to Montezuma don’t miss Sano Banano Restaurant, the amazing gathering of Howler & Capuchin monkeys at La Luz del Mono Hotel and surrounding areas and the walk up to both rivers on either side of the town. They have beautiful waterfalls, wading ponds, lush surroundings and you can leave your very own stone monument for the next explorer to find and admire, not to mention that it’s always fun to swim with colorful fish around you… 🙂
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