Costa Rica help

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Pacific or Atlantic?

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Pacific. The Atlantic is a mostly a hot, humid, buggy swamp. The Pacific side is very nice. Manuel Antonio is touristy but very pretty and good for the nature stuff and near beaches.

Honestly, I prefer cooler, higher locations that are less crowded (like San Gerardo de Dota for one) but I'm not a beach person and you've got to keep your wife happy.

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Manuel Antonio/Quepos

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Yeah, looking like this may be the best compromise between beach and outdoor activity. Just need to decide between resort and Airbnb. Any resort recs would be appreciated.

Los Suenos Resort in playa Herradura is awesome. Right outside of Jaco

Make sure you know the area is staying in a BnB. I wouldn’t feel comfortable in some spots w a wife or kid in tow. Have a friend of a friends who walked out the shower to find his wife tied up and two armed assailants pointing guns at him

Playa Potrero area (Playa Flamingo is a nice "resort" beach there and ) is pretty awesome and chill. Just make sure your wife knows that these aren't Caribbean beaches. Surf is generally rough, water isn't crystal clear, and sand can be rocky. That being said, being on a beach with monkeys hanging out in the trees behind you is pretty awesome. Las Catalinas is also a really nice resort area that is being developed with lots of cool active things to do there (mountain biking, trail running, paddle boarding, etc..).

Much appreciated, fellas. I think as long as we are close enough to a beach to make a day trip then I should be good. The focus will be on exploring/hiking/non-beach activities for sure.

Last thing, is there a particular time of year that’s better? When I was focusing on the Monteverde area there were a couple of blurbs about a wet and dry season. Does that same weather pattern apply to the Pacific coast area? We were thinking late summer early fall...

Don't Drive from San Jose (SJO) international Airport.

Either get little flights via Sansa Air from SJO to your ultimate destiantion(s) or fly directly into Liberia (LIR).

As to a volcano sightseeing trip, I'd recommend Arenal.

Echoing the previous posts, the East Coast of Costa Rica is no bueno.

On the West Coast, the beach destinations I've been to:

Tamarindo is north up near Liberia airport, highly recommended but during dry season it is very arid all around there.

Further south- at the end of the Nicoya Peninsula, fly into Tambor, I've stayed in Malpais. Off the grid but I felt really safe.

Even further south, Quepos is good as well, Manuel Antonio Park and you are in the real jungle.

I'd rate them (for me):

1: Tambor
2: Quepos
3: Tamarindo

I have driven a bunch in CR, some routes are OK, other roads may be impassible when you get to a river or stream. Some roads you literally can only make 5 mph on for miles and miles due to them being so bad in a 4WD.

Don't mistake short distances on a map necessarily for a short drive time.

I love driving there but it does eat up time.

The Ticos are very nice, lots of expats there as well.

Good luck.

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but don't expect it to be like an all inclusive resort.

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Good, rather hit local bars and restaurants then eat crappy food at the resort.

Thanks for the input, looks like there are some really good options for low-key areas on the Pacific side, close to the beach.

There’s no direct route to Quepos from SJO and what passes for roads are crappy. Traffic can be crappy as well if Farmero Jose wants to move a piece of equipment and there’s always the slow local buses to contend with.

I’ve flown into SJO then into Quepos (via Sansa) and the Dollar Rental Car local agent met me at the Quepos strip with my rental.

Good luck, hope this helps.

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We were thinking late summer early fall...

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Hope you like rain...that is smack in the middle of their high rainy season. Best time to go is usually from December to May.


We went to Monteverde in March...no rain...but since you are way up in the rainforest it was always cloudy/misty. If you go to Monteverde...you have to go ziplining there. It is kinda scary at times cause you look like you are just going off into the middle of clouds...but a lot of fun. We loved Monteverde and would have enjoyed spending more time there. We were told that during the rainy season some of the roads up the mountain are closed because they are flooded/unsafe to drive on.

WE went in rainy season last year. While it did rain pretty much daily, it never really hampered our ability to do anything. My wife is a sun junkie on vacation though, and she did whine some about the rain. Still had a great time.