Things to do or places to stay in Costa Rica?

[Shapp]

Heading to Costa Rica for a couple weeks for the 20th anniversary.

Any recommends on accommodations that are top notch you have used or specific excursion/things to do (hiking, snorkeling, places to visit) that should not be missed. Probably not going to be doing much fishing on the anniversary trip as my wife grew up in Alaska substance fishing and has had enough of fishing for the rest of her life.

We have one week dialed in for accommodation on the OSA peninsula, so any activity recommendations around that area would be appreciated. We have not decided even where to go for the other week, so suggestions would be helpful. We are flying into San Jose and will have a care for the as yet unidentified week.
Thanks!
Shap

 

[bk paige]

I havent been to the southern end yet so not sure about non fishing actives. But there is Ziplines all over Costa Rica, Snorkeling, there is a wild life refuge down there too. A gal I work with was just down there over the holidays and had a blast, I can get you some more info from the area for you.

Make sure you get a 4 wheel drive and get it insured the roads are bad in the southern end.
I'm actually looking into a trip this spring myself, the Samara area looks good with a bunch of towns north and south of there.

 

[JayB]

The Arenal Observatory is worth a day or two if you are into chilling out and taking in active volcanos and birds. Think there may also be some decent hiking in the area.

 

[PezVela]

A few years back, my wife and I flew into San Jose, rented a car, and drove to Jaco on the coast for lunch. From there, we drove all the way down to Golfito for the night at the marina. (about a 10 hour drive) The next morning it was around to Puerto Jimenez and then the next day went off shore for sailfish (pez Vela) with a fly rod... a beautiful old fishing village, great people, and excellent fishing! I like the southern end of CR, (you can see Panama from there) we felt safe, good food, and birds, and monkeys and jungles everywhere. Not sure what it's like now with the political unrest, but sure was a fun trip then.

 

[bk paige]

Hey PezVela, was there any panga's to hire in Puerto Jimenez, or was it all big exspencive boats? I would like to check out the southern end with fishing the main itinerary, but looks like only a few towns compared to the northen end.

 

[Driftless Dan]

Keep in mind, up in the southern mountains near Panama there are trout!!

 

[Nick Clayton]

I so hope I don't read about someone going all the way to Costa Rica and fishing for friggen trout!

 

[PezVela]

Hey PezVela, was there any panga's to hire in Puerto Jimenez, or was it all big exspencive boats? I would like to check out the southern end with fishing the main itinerary, but looks like only a few towns compared to the northen end.

No... we couldn't find any pangas, so had to charter a bigger boat. The cheapest we got was $750 USD for the day.. but a nice boat, and the crew was great. They knew how to tease up a sailfish and bring them right to the transom. I was a little surprised at how spendy fishing was down there compared to the Baja... but still an excellent trip.

 

[jasmillo]

I have been to Costa Rica a few times. My wife’s big hobby is wildlife photography so most of the places we have gone are related to that. We generally fly into Liberia and rent a car and explore from there.

Some suggestions based on our favrorites:

Nicoya Pennisula is one of our favorite places. It’s quiet, good parks and reserves for wildlife and some decent beaches. We stay near Tambor or in Mal Pais. There are decent hotels in both areas. Not really “resorty” though if that is what you are looking for at least down in those areas of the Nicoya. Don’t get me wrong, there are some nice hotels but not like say the ones you’ll find in some areas of Guanacaste, etc. if you do go there, I highly recommend Curu Reserve and Cabo Blanco for good hikes and great wildlife viewing (if your into that type of stuff).

One of our other favorite areas is Monte Verde. This is the famous “cloud forest” area. Again, good hiking, very good wildlife viewing, etc. Also things like Ziplining. The hotels in that area tend to have “lodge” like feel. If you go, definitely check out Monteverde cloud forest but there are a ton of smaller reserves in the area that are worth exploring if you enjoy hiking or wildlife watching.

The place I’ll recommend is the Arenal area. You have access to the volcano, etc. but can also do trips over to Cano Negro as well (book someone that can take you on the river in a boat).

It’s an awesome place. Friendly people, great wildlife, etc. I’m sure there is decent fly fishing around as well but surprising it is one of the few places I travel and never take a rod. Maybe in the future.

 

[Scott Salzer]

Jasmillo:
We enjoyed the cloud forest a few years back - Monte Verde/ Santa Elema. So e very nice parks up there. On a more recent trip, we found La Carolina out of Liberia. Nice place place , great food. Close to some very nice places.
MB

 

[MDK]

Just spent three weeks in Dec in Costa Rica, two weeks on Pacific side and one on Caribbean. Very touristy but good. Lots of wildlife. National parks are great, especially Corcovado if like wildlife and hiking. Bahia Drake was great and plenty of good excursions from there: Corcovado, Cano Island(snorkeling, diving), hiking,etc. Liked the beaches on Caribbean side. Food was great, lots of fish. People friendly, only problem was getting from one place to another. We used buses, shuttles and taxis which were fine but roads and traffic horrible. Took 1.5 hrs to go from airport to San Jose and 7 hrs from San Jose to Pacific coast.

 

[Troutlife]

Check out Captain Ron's charter on Lake Arenal. Amazing dry fly fishing with a fun dude. Volcano and jungle scenery are an extra plus

 

[alpinetrout]

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[chief]

This looks like fun

 

[gt]

stayed at crocodile bay lodge on the osa peninsula, about 14 miles N of the Panama border. really great people and the food will blow your mind. 7 pacific sails in 2 short days of fly fishing. also rooster fish and using conventional tackle, i hooked but lost a wahoo of about 100#s, plug was rigged with a center hook which gives the fish incredible leverage. oh well, the take was worth the effort as at least 200 yds of line peeled off in a couple of eye blinks, totally amazing.

also got an off beat tour of the preserve coming in a back door the lodge guide knew about. his mom was the village healer so we also got a short course on the plants he was collecting for her. beware of the howlers as they are noted for flinging dung when the get upset. and never put your foot down on the leaf cutter highways, they will attack!