Looking For Costa Rica Resort Recs

How long are you planning to stay?

You need to narrow down which area in Costa Rica you are interested in visiting - they are very different. My favorite area overall is the Manuel Antonio region along the Pacific coast. It has beautiful beaches and some of the best wildlife in the country. There are many houses for rent in that area, along with some hotels but no big "resorts". There are plenty of restaurants and shops in town. My favorite place to stay is Tulemar - it is a collection of various sized houses and villas inside a beautiful gated community. They have an amazing private beach with beach service (pretty uncommon in Costa Rica), a few different community pools, and an on site restaurant. There is a sloth research facility on property, so will see numerous sloths on site. The area is loaded with different monkeys, birds, etc and is fantastic. Activities nearby include rafting, hiking, fishing, and zip-lining.

We have also stayed in the Arenal Volcano region near the famous hot springs. This area is more lush. Lots of rafting, zip-lining, and canyoning activities nearby not to mention the hot springs. Two high-end resorts in that area include Tabacon and The Springs and both are fantastic. While there is wildlife in this area, it is not as plentiful as Manuel Antonio. The towns in this area are much smaller - still some shops and restaurants but not as plentiful.

Then Guanacaste area of the coast is also popular and there are more large resorts in that region. I didn't like that area as much as Manuel Antonio, but may be worth looking at.

April is a nice time to go as far as weather. Enjoy!

Stay three days somewhere on the Pacific coast and get a rental car and drive and stay another four days North or South of it on the coast.

The flavor of areas on the CR Pacific Coast is different from Guanacaste down to the Manuel Antonio area.

I love CR.

We stayed at Tulemar in the Quepos region. From there we took a day sail/snorkel trip and my 2 sons and I took surfing lessons. Also went to the Miguel Antonio region and did a rain forest tour. They have a concierge service that will help you book excursions or activities and it was very nice.

Tulemar

We then drove to Tabacon Thermal Spa near Arenal. Got massages, soaked in the hot springs and did a zipline .

Tabacon

Driving is doable but definitly get a GPS from the rental place - It was helpful to have a navigator call out early warnings for curves. Once out of the city almost every bridge is one lane and you have to look for a yield sign to know if it's you or the oncoming dump truck that has right of way. 5 hours through mountainous passes isn't fun - but it's an experience.

Almost everyone spoke English - more rural areas are less likely to speak it.

Excursions and activities aren't cheap - but the food and drink is pretty reasonable.

I spent a couple of nights at Los Suenos a year ago and liked it. It's a great resort if you're a pool person who wants a resort near a beautiful shoreline.

But the beach sand is fairly muddy. It's definitely not the right resort for people who want white, fluffy sand.

Hotel Gaia in Manuel Antonio area

Waking this thread up again!

GF and I are considering our first trip to CR at the end of December, for about a week. Few questions,

If we were to spend all or part of it on the Pacific Coast, like say Manuel Antonio area,

Where to fly in?
Would we need a car all week?
(How to get around town? Day trips etc)

Also open to suggestions on areas etc. We'd like to experience the local flavors of food, bars, entertainment. (I'm thinking smaller owned places versus resorts. Yay, nay? Security?)

Also considering half week in one area, the other in a different area.

We stayed at Casa Chameleon in Mal Pais for part of our honeymoon. Each room was its only little chalet/hut with our own infinity pool.

I've been all over Costa Rica with my friend Richard Heart. As far as beaches go I liked the beaches on the West Coast better. Tamagringo or around Santa Teresa Beach.

Stayed at Tabacon Resort with the GF in La Fortuna two weekends ago. Would highly recommend that resort spa and hot springs.

If you are solely focused on Manuel Antonio area it looks like San Jose (SJO) airport is the better of the two.

I will say though while I was there, I got a lot of recommendations from people about the Guanacaste area which would be more northern pacific coast and the Liberia Airport would be the easier one to fly in and out of.