Got 3 weeks holiday at start of May and for one reason and another we started thinking about costa rica. Anyone been recently (or a while ago)? Seems like it has lots to offer: beaches, rainforest, lots of interesting animals and also sporty stuff like surfing.

I spent a week in Costa Rica as my second to last stop on a round the world jaunt.

I stayed at Playa Brasalito which is nice and cheap. Next beach along is the outstandingly beautiful Playa Conchal.

That was the extent of my time there as . It was a rest after 3 months . in South America. But other travellers raved about Costa Rica and also Nicaragua too and what little I saw of CR was stunning.

Best weed in the Caribbean !

Yeah I get the impression it would be less hard work than Brazil, Bolivia etc which would make it a different trip to those we’ve taken in the past.

Rudebwoy, living up to your stw name 😉

South America is great, but maybe not for a holiday. Though a 3 week hop via Iguazu, Buenos Aires, Machu Picchu etc would be special 🙂

Consider crossing into neighbouring countries from CR too. You have time to play with.

used to work a lot in the caribbean , some while ago, and while there was always colombian and jamaican weed, the more prized stuff was from costa rica– we had a great supplier in puerto Limon, although it was more expensive, it was sublime weed– i’m sure its all changed nowadays !!

Maybe holiday is the wrong word, been to Brazil before, India a couple times so more in line with those trips. Costa rica seemed a good balance and I’d rather spend time in one place that skip about tbh. Might add Nicaragua though.

Spent a month or so there after I graduated, which was in the 90s. Loved the Pacific coast (we holed up in Manuel Antonio for a fortnight – rudebwoy is right about the weed). Then hired a tiny 2wd Toyota and drove through the highlands to see volcanos and cloud forests. It was an adventure but I suspect there would be better roads, bigger resorts and more fast food outlets these days. Nicaragua is perhaps closer to what CR was then.

It was very easygoing and there was plenty to do in a couple of weeks (jungle, surfing, volcanos) but it lacked a decent city or cultural appeal (we went to Tikal in Guatemala, the Mayan ruins in the Yucatan and Havana for that).

Cheers corroded, sounds like it may be similar to thailand and laos then. The comment about a city/cultural appeal is also helpful, cheers

I’m not sure how much it has changed. It was a popular holiday spot back then but you’d still be woken up by howler monkeys at dawn and have to dodge 2ft iguanas in Manuel Antonio. Maybe there are monkey sound recordings and animatronic lizards these days.

There are still lizards! Friends were there not that long ago, although not sure if there are lizards in manuel antonio

Did La Ruta a few years ago.

We were told only to leave the hotel in San Jose in groups and not to go out on our own, there were plenty of single american men around (not doing the race), one sat down next to us at the bar and extolled the virtues of being able to “get a young girl easily” in San Jose.

The start town of Jaco beach was equally sleazy, no shortage of prosititutes.

The rest of the country was amazing, the Costa Ricans we met were rhe most friendly, welcoming bunch. The scenery was breathtaking and the support from the locals was fantastic.

The last day was interesting riding through the slums allongside the rail tracks, we had armed guards at one point and a couple of the costa rican riders got mugged.

This was 2007.

😯

The way the flights work we could poss go to New York for 4/5 days and then onto Costa Rica (or vice versa) which might help satisfy culture without having to head to Guatemala. Nosara, Monteverde, Arenal and Puerto Limon all look interesting, anyone any experience of them?

Did a month in Costa Rica
Drove San jose to Tamarindo. The onto Montezuma (surfing along the way)then drove over to carribean coast to Cahuita and down to the panama border.

Best surf trip I’ve been on.

Pacific Coast far better (Playa negra-Mal Pais etc). Although Carribean was great craic at night.