Costa Rica

Planning a trip to Costa Rica, perhaps some of you can help!  Would love an outdoorsy, adventure style trip with the normal focus on eco-tourism, sustainability and being outside and in amazing natural environments.

Did you go on an organized tour and if so, who? how did you research them?

Where is worth going for a 5-7 day trip?

Any fun hotel reccos?  Like cool, quirky, yet somewhat luxurious. 

Anything else I need to know?  Thanks in advance!

We planned our own and it was mostly focused on birding.  However, regarding the fun hotel recco, I have to put in a plug for the La Paz Waterfall Garden Lodge - http://www.waterfallgardens.com/la_paz_waterfall_gardens.php

We generally go for more rustic accommodations, and we weren't sure if we would like this or not, but it was great.  We stayed two nights there and went to a number of other (birding-oriented) locations during our two week trip last Spring.

My hubby and I LOVE Costa Rica 

First trip we did the Manuel Antonio area.  Stayed at Buena Vista Villas.  Did a lot of early excursions and then relaxed at the hotel beach or pool in the afternoon.  Or sat out on our balcony bird and monkey watching.  

Second trip we stayed in the mountains up in Guanacaste.  Remote resort called Borenquin.   Lots of nature hiking, horseback riding, zip lining, relaxing.   Since it was at the base of a volcano, the resort had the natural sauna/springs and mud baths.   Nice relaxing pool as well.  

We planned the trip ourselves (very easy to do) when we went 3 years ago to Arenal and Manuel Antonio.  We rented a car and getting around was very easy.

At Arenal/La Fortuna, we stayed at Silencio del Campo, which we loved - the grounds were very pretty, they were incredibly helpful and the location was very good.  At Mauel Antonio we stayed at Tulemar, which was more of a condo.  The place was nice, but we were assigned a "Concierge" that was a little too helpful and was all over us, which was actually annoying.  He was solely out for a tip and it was very obvious.

Arenal was great for rafting, horsebackriding, ziplining.  Manuel Antonio was great for the beach, surfing, hiking in the park and relaxing.  Arenal felt a little more "authentic", but Manuel Antonio felt a bit more touristy.

Overall a GREAT trip with awesome natural beauty, really nice people and interesting food.

We visited a few different areas on our own, though with local guides and drivers, and that worked well. I don't think you need a tour if you're willing to do a small amount of research, and plan to stay at accommodations where they can provide a little help. Best experiences --

From Turrialba, a town south of San Jose, you can visit volcanoes and coffee plantations, raft on the Pacuare, and see Costa Rica's one precolumbian site. (We liked Villa Florencia; it's charming but maybe not quite 'luxurious.')

We also really enjoyed the Manuel Antonio area -- several visits to the amazing wildlife in the park plus a birding excursion in the mangrove estuary. Stayed in a simple motel in Quepos, which we liked for its connection with the local community.

We had a trip all planned with Caravan Tours, which we'd set up nearly a year in advance. Made it as far as the airplane at Newark Airport, but volcanic eruption in Costa Rica closed their airport. There went the tour. Haven't rescheduled yet--and that stupid volcano is still belching... :-(

How did you find a driver or guide>?

We stayed here near Arenal for part of our trip and absolutely loved it.

http://chachaguarainforesthotel.com/

@jimmurphy Looks amazing! Questions -- where did you fly in? How did you get to the resort? What did you do for the rest of your trip? 

We flew into San Jose. Rented a small 4X4 and drove to Arenal/Chachagua - spent 2 or 3 nights there - (go to the Hot Springs). Our teenage boys had a small cabin as we did - wonderful place. Then drove to the rain forest at Monteverde and spent 2 or 3 nights there - do the zip lines - great birding there too. Then drove to Manuel Antonio for 2 or 3 nights to relax on the beach and see the monkeys, etc.  Flew back out of San Jose.  Best vacation ever! Search the archives for Costa Rica and you'll see many threads.  Rafting is also big if you want to stay on the eastern side.

If you are more into luxury and relaxation, and perhaps surfing, the north shore is best for that.  We did not go there though.

If we go back, we may try renting a house in Montezuma.

At Arenal, we really liked the Observatory Lodge.  http://www.arenalobservatorylodge.com/index.php The road in is a bit messy (not an uncommon state of affairs in CR), but the lodge is very nice.

Be aware that the volcano has gone inactive in recent years, but not all tourist materials "admit" that. It's still a great place to visit, though.

We asked our hotels for help with planning things. I'm sure we probably paid a premium to book this way, but I felt more confident in the services they recommended.

http://www.ticotimes.net/2015/11/02/costa-rica-expands-no-go-zone-around-turrialba-volcano

BubbaTerp said:
How did you find a driver or guide>?

We used http://www.costaricadriver.net/index.php for drivers.

We arranged guides through our lodging hosts.

unicorn33 said:
We had a trip all planned with Caravan Tours, which we'd set up nearly a year in advance. Made it as far as the airplane at Newark Airport, but volcanic eruption in Costa Rica closed their airport. There went the tour. Haven't rescheduled yet--and that stupid volcano is still belching...

We were in Costa Rica at that time and I still don't know how we missed seeing the eruption as we were driving past it (albeit at a safe distance.) We had been quite close to it about a week earlier.  (We were there for two weeks.)  The airport was closed on Friday of that week and we flew home on Sunday so it didn't end up impacting our plans, but quite a few people on our flight had originally been scheduled earlier and had their plans changed. 

We tried to get another flight out, but were told only available flight would be five days later. Because of tour, we couldn't do it. Still hoping to go...after the volcano stops strutting its stuff. Don't want to take another chance. Sigh.

sac said:

unicorn33 said:
We had a trip all planned with Caravan Tours, which we'd set up nearly a year in advance. Made it as far as the airplane at Newark Airport, but volcanic eruption in Costa Rica closed their airport. There went the tour. Haven't rescheduled yet--and that stupid volcano is still belching...

We were in Costa Rica at that time and I still don't know how we missed seeing the eruption as we were driving past it (albeit at a safe distance.) We had been quite close to it about a week earlier.  (We were there for two weeks.)  The airport was closed on Friday of that week and we flew home on Sunday so it didn't end up impacting our plans, but quite a few people on our flight had originally been scheduled earlier and had their plans changed. 

Going in January for my fifth time. We stay at the resorts on the Pacific coast in Guanacaste however the first time I went in 2005 I traveled to a funky little beach town at the southern end of the Nicoya peninsula called Montezuma, known for it's laid back feel. I stayed at a little hotel on the town's only street called El Jardin, owned by Italians.

The beaches were awesome and you could walk for miles.  I would walk 15 miles a day and found incredible spots and  many waterfalls, one that came over cliff and landing in the ocean. Just beautiful.

At the end of everyday I had dinner at the Italian restaurant next to the hotel and in the evening dinner guests were invited to watch a movie on a pull down screen.

There was an excursion place at the other end of the street and I took a snorkeling cruise which was alot of fun.

plungy said:
Going in January for my fifth time. We stay at the resorts on the Pacific coast in Guanacaste however the first time I went in 2005 I traveled to a funky little beach town at the southern end of the Nicoya peninsula called Montezuma, known for it's laid back feel. I stayed at a little hotel on the town's only street called El Jardin, owned by Italians.
The beaches were awesome and you could walk for miles.  I would walk 15 miles a day and found incredible spots and  many waterfalls, one that came over cliff and landing in the ocean. Just beautiful.
At the end of everyday I had dinner at the Italian restaurant next to the hotel and in the evening dinner guests were invited to watch a movie on a pull down screen.
There was an excursion place at the other end of the street and I took a snorkeling cruise which was alot of fun.

As mentioned above, Montezuma is our next destination. Now you've really convinced me!

Sounds amazing. Why Guanacaste? Where do you stay?

Usually at the Westin Paradisio all inclusive. We like to do ocean stuff as opposed to volcano stuff.

deborahg said:
Sounds amazing. Why Guanacaste? 

We've been to Costa Rica twice, but haven't managed to get to Guanacaste yet, but we keep hearing how wonderful it is, so it's on our list for a future trip.  

We went last April with the kids (ages 7 and 11) and loved it so much we want to go back next year.  Peace Lodge (a/k/a La Paz Waterfall Garden Lodge) was amazing - high up in the cloud forest.  Favorite place the kids ever stayed.   From there we visited Poas Volcano and a coffee plantation, but the animals at Peace Lodge were the stars.  We also spent time in La Fortuna - Arenal Volcano area and went ziplining, rafting, hiking across the hanging bridges.  We also volunteered for an afternoon at Proyecto Asis, an animal rescue center (think a real world Go Diego Go).  We really enjoyed the Tabacon Hot Springs Resort but also heard great things about The Springs resort (same owner as Peace Lodge).  We booked the trip through Costa Rican Vacations (Annie Bestwick was our travel agent) - and would definitely use them again.  They arranged all of the travel between the airport - hotel - hotel - airport and the drivers were fantastic.