re: Costa Rica Itinerary

Stayed just south of Quepos for the first week of December with a big crew. Lots to do there.

The marina is very nice and has lots of fishing options. We went offshore and caught several good size tuna, a mahi and had some sailfish trailing us but couldn't get them to bite.

Manuel Antonio park is nice, but it's relatively small. The beach there is beautiful and as someone said, just wear a bathing suit you can walk in. It's pretty easy and not that far of a walk. Take small carabeners or something to tie your zippers with on your packs. The monkeys will unzip your bags and go through them with ease. We saw it happen to several other groups on the beach.

A guide probably isn't necessary, but we did have one for our group and they were spotting sloths like 100 yards away in the trees. Even when they tried to point them out without their telescopes, we still couldn't find them. They also spotted a small fer de lance about 10 feet off the path that no one could see unless you got probably too close. You'll probably see other guides, but you'll just have to be lucky to be at the right place at the right time, and frankly, it's a bit of a dick move to ask to look through their telescopes when you're not paying for them.

Keep in mind, the drive from Quepos to San Jose is about 3 hours minimum, depending on traffic, etc. You'll want to take the road that goes back by Jaco and then north. I think the road that goes more directly north/south can be pretty dicy.