Costa Rica Links

http://www.anywherecostarica.com/destinations/la-paz-waterfall-costa-rica#

http://www.visitcostarica.com/ict/paginas/llanuras_norte.asp

tabacon resort

Costa Rica

Frontier now flys to Liberia
hmmm

RCI- we have a week to use before November 2011
Monarch Resort $80/day all inclusive
gold crown jr suite
Papagayo Gulf

Jaco Beach Hotel aka best western jaco
1 br 5/20-27
optional all inclusive

Costa Rica

ARENAL VOLCANO ; yearly ave temp 75'

Tabacon Hot Springs

you tube Tabacon channel i can't figure that out.

arenal volcano inn $90

MAP of all the hotels in ARENAL area
Arenal Nayara $199 regular room - so far winner winner
TA #1
$145 arenal springs resort, a/c, king bed,
TA 4.5
$125 for superior room with glassed in balcony or $250 suite with it's own hot tub at Arenal Paraiso - on the inactive side
Kokoro $120, king bed, a/c, wifi
la pradera - $70, bungalow, king bed, a/c

active side:
$164- honeymoon suite at arenal lodge with a/c, i think that's a must.
cabinas- on lake with volcano view. $70-90 with a/c. super funky little cabin on the lake.
vista lodge- no a/c
linda vista $111 - honeymoon - queen bed, a/c - LOOKS like winner on volcano side
arenal observatory $161, 2 king beds


Jaco Cafe- for open/shared fishing

for sure:
trek tour at arenal- waterfall rappelling etc
the springs resport- hot springs $40 for 2 day pass

costa rica: driving

COSTA RICA MAPS
from airport to arenal volcano
85 miles

Jaco- distance from:
- SJO: 102 km 2 hours
- LIR: 220 km 4 hours
- Arenal: 175 km 6 ½ hours- it's 5 on the shuttle bus.
- Daily Domestic Flights: No

From Airport

Juan Santamaria International Airport - SJO

• Hotel direction: 60 miles SW
• Driving directions: From the Juan Santamaria International Airport turn right on to Bernardo Soto Highway and follow the signs to Orotina, heading towards Jaco. Exit at Herradura Los Suenos and follow the signs to Marriott. *** Rates are subject to change ***
• Alternate transportation: Private Transportation; fee: 120 USD (one way) ;on request
• Estimated taxi fare: 120.00 USD (one way)

JACO Shuttle bus $70 to arenal
ground transportation CR

Costa Rica: volcano and cloud forest

Costa Rica

Maps
Monteverde Cloud Forest
4662 Ft.
canopy tours, zip lines, coffee tour,


Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve
5500 ft

Arenal volcano

map and hotels

hot springs
Monteverde
Volcano/hot springs
hot springs reservations http://reserve.anywherecostarica.com/arenal/tour_reserve/add.htm?id=79&timeId=167


Arenal Volcano- hot springs night time... stay at spa?\
hotels at volcano area map
Tabico hot springs - no available rooms 1/6---- 300+ per night w/ 2 night min.
Arenal Paraiso- has own hot springs and houses the canopy tour company
$75/standard
$105/superior - wood building, enclosed balcony
this hotel site has a lot of info on activities in the area!~
Monteverde Cloud forest is close to arenal.

Costa Rica: re-posted from WYODOC 2

Jaco Beach- Near Los Suenos

7 nights; 6 days ?

what we want to do:
Surfing
White water raft
Canopy tour http://www.skytrek.com/index/index.html
hanging bridges http://www.hangingbridges.com/
costa rica map- tours
Monteverde
Volcano/hot springs
hot springs reservations http://reserve.anywherecostarica.com/arenal/tour_reserve/add.htm?id=79&timeId=167


Arenal Volcano- hot springs night time... stay at spa?\
hotels at volcano area map
Tabico hot springs - no available rooms 1/6---- 300+ per night w/ 2 night min.
Arenal Paraiso- has own hot springs and houses the canopy tour company
$75/standard
$105/superior - wood building, enclosed balcony
this hotel site has a lot of info on activities in the area!~
Monteverde Cloud forest is close to arenal.

Guanacaste
Tamarindo beach
Hotel Bula Bula

Los Suenos Marriott near Jaco beach.
Jaco Beach is the big surfer hangout, but the quality of the sand isn't the best.
The best place is near Guanacoste on the Pacific side just north of Jaco Beach. It's ranked as one of the top spots in the world, with perfect sand, etc. There's a Four Season's Hotel there, but I hear it's like $1000 USD per night. You could stay across the street in a condo like place, which has use of the Four Season hotel pool/beach/amenities for much, much less. One of the gals that works for me did that.
At the Los Suenos Marriott, it was only like $135 USD per night. It's a 4-5 star hotel with a huge pool that's like a maze. You can feed giant iguanas and lizards french fries, etc like we did. From the hotel, you can take about any excursion for a reasonable price. Heather and I stayed there and went to Arenal.
At Arenal, you can go to the Tabico Hot Springs and sip some drinks while watching fire/lava/rocks come down the erupting volcano while sitting in the volcano heated water/springs.
Costa Rica is well known for the zip lines and mostly for what some say is the best white water rafting in the world. If you stay in San Jose (capital city in the mountains) you need to have dinner at the Monastery. It's an old Spanish monastery that overlooks San Jose up in the mountains, amazing view and sometimes live music/bar scene. The drive to the beach near Jaco or Guanacoste is only like 1.5-2 hours from San Jose. English literacy is like 94%. They're forced to learn it all through school. Almost every restaurant has menus in both English and Spanish.

Costa Rica: re-posted from WYODOC

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g309271-s304/Jaco:Costa-Rica:Taxis.And.Rental.Cars.html
Car rental article in Jaco , CR

$1 usd=517.93 colons (crc)

fishing in los suenos
http://www.stayincostarica.com/fishing/index.htm wooo muy $$$

fishing trip all inclusive.. stay on boat http://www.southfishing.com/pages/CRlossuenos2POP.html

full day $1250
http://www.captaintoms.com/reservations.htm

getting better priced
http://www.costarica-fishingcharters.com/charters.html
$700/day

tico fish
http://ticofish.com/fandango.html
rates $275 open boat 4 passengers min? i emailed them to question the "open boat"

tours & airport transfers & heli rides from airport
http://www.hookedoncostarica.com/costa-rica-tours/

EcoTours
http://www.costaricatours.net/
http://www.costarica-ecotourism.com/
http://www.southernexplorations.com/costa.rica.htm actual cruises
http://www.earthfoot.org/cr.htm
http://www.ecotours.com/dest_cr.html
http://www.naturetours.com/costrica.html
http://www.wildplanetadventures.com/content/view/11/30/ packages muy $$
http://www.caravan.com/costa-rica-tour/costaricaecotours.html
http://www.journeysouth.com/ packages 10days
http://www.ecotoursincostarica.com/ecotours/ all from san jose
http://www.crocodilebay.com/ - resort, fishing and tours :) way south of jaco beach


where is La Paz Waterfall Gardens ?
http://www.waterfallgardens.com/

Manuel antonio nat'l park
http://www.manuelantoniopark.com/mapk/default.asp

blog
http://wordpress.com/tag/costa-rica-travel/

surf board rental
http://www.wowsurf.net/

HONEYMOON Options Central America

We would both like to look into the treehouse experience. also, needing to utilize the RCI family.. is limiting our options. but still having good options.. ya follow?
Flying Crocodile in Costa Rica
Blue Jay Lodge also in CR
Jaco Beach Costa Rica- Weather high-Jan 88, Low 70.. NIiiiiIIiIce.
COSTA RICA
on RCI- MOnarch Resort not gold crown. no kitchen. mandatory all inculsive. F that.
Occidental Grand Papagayo - all inclusive $115/pd- booking direct seems the same as cashing in our week and having to pay all inclusive.. where's the benefit?


Panama
Royal Decameron gold crown
expedia $
Sol Melia - not gold crown- but 5 stars.. niiiice- gulf side. might not be on the beach. on the canal or water somehow.


Belize
Surfing in Belize
The only RCI resort is a Tradewinds Cruise.... hmmmm