re: Thinking of taking a quick trip down to Costa Rica later this summer

Went to Costa Rica a couple of years ago with the wife and kids. Stayed at Parador in Manuel Antonio. Not sure your budget but the place was nice. There is a sort of secluded beach right around the corner. They will take you from the hotel in a golf cart and drop you off at the trail leading to the beach. When you are ready to leave the beach, someone at the beach will call up to the hotel and have someone waiting there in the golf cart to pick you up and bring you back to the hotel. On the hotel grounds we saw sloths, tons of howler and capuchin monkeys.