CHAPTERS

What You Will Find In This Post

Rio Celeste stunning waterfall from above

The Most Beautiful Hotels In Costa Rica

El silencio lodge & SPA

Arenal Volcano Area (North Mountainous Area): We would definetly recommend the Nayara Springs Hotel which is probably the hotel we liked the most in Costa Rica and also one of our favorite of all time! It is an adult-only hotel with a terrific view over the Arenal volcano. Each suite is beautifully decorated and features a private plunge pool fed by natural mineral hot springs. The service is truly 5-stars, food is great and it is a great starting point to visit some of the must-dos in Costa Rica The area is more touristy and therefore more pricey as well but the experience there is just great. Another option in the area would be the Origins Lodge, which is closer to Nicaragua, its lake and the great Cano Negro park. The Origins also seem to offer a pretty great rainforest experience, amazing views over the volcanoes, somptuous lodging and service.

Nicoya Peninsula (Pacific side): The area really has a more laidback beach side type of atmosphere, we stayed at the Casa Chameleon Mal Pais. This is a nice option, rooms are lovely with private pools which were hot enough for us to really enjoy them. Just don’t expect 24h room service, rooms have no phones so when you need something you need to go to get it. 

Osa Peninsula (Corcovado, South Pacific Side): This is a pretty rugged area qualified as one of the most biologically intense place on the planet by National Geographic and blessed with a few beautiful small luxury lodges. We spotted the El Remanso rainforest wildlife lodge, which is located at the southern tip of the Osa peninsula, not so far from the Corcovado national park. The lodge is immersed in the rainforest and has its own onsite hanging bridges and zipline canopy tours. Some rooms offer great views on the rainforest and the ocean and boast a private plunge pool. There is also the Lapa Rios Lodge which is a founding member of the National Geographic Unique Lodges of the World. It is situated in a 1,000-acre private reserve on the Osa Peninsula, has stunning newly renovated wooden villas with private pools and incredible vistas. They offer tours to Corcovado, their private reserve and to the Golfo Dulce (the only tropical fjord in the Americas)… We also found the Playa Cativo Lodge, which is located on the inner side of the peninsula, on the calm waters of the Golfo Dulce. They offer some thrilling tours through the rainforest, kayaking in the mangroves, dolphins and whale watching tours, snorkeling tours and the Bio-Luminescence tour which look pretty neat.

Uvita/Manuel Antonio (Pacific side): There are a few nice options there as well. We intended to go to the luxurious adult-only Kura boutique Hotel, they have only 8 rooms, spectacular views over the rainforest and the ocean and modern stylish design. It is located next to Uvita, famous for its iconic Whale’s Tail sandbar and not so far from the Manuel Antonio national park. Another option, would be the adult-only Makanda resort, which seems to have a bit more fancy/ostentatious vibe, judging by the “beautiful people” (… and lady wearing a thong doing yoga… haha) on the website gallery. But it has modern design, beautiful suites with private pools or jacuzzi and perfect location being super close to Manuel Antonio.

Las Catalinas/Guanacaste (Pacific side): There are some options in the area like the Four Seasons  or the W but we are not really into big resorts with too many rooms (they both have respectively more than 180 and 130 rooms…).  In this area we would recommend the Casa Chameleon Las Catalinas Hotel, they have only 21 rooms each with a salt water private plunge pool (definitely warm enough for us to get in without any hesitation!). It is decorated with a lot of taste, « capturing the pura vida ideals through open-air spaces, understated luxury and undisturbed privacy ». The view from your pool over the sea is great, the service is good and the food was really nice as well! Definitely a very good base in order to visit the wonders Guanacaste has to offer.

What You Must-Do In Costa Rica?

Costa Rica is a pretty small country but we really loved the diversity of things to see and to do. Here is a glimpse at the things you absolutely should not miss when going there.

How Long  Should You Stay?

Costa Rica is one of the most diverse country to visit, with its biodiversity, its various landscapes, the cool way of life that Ticos call Pura Vida, its numerous incredible hotels…. If we had enough holidays and enough money we would have stayed easily one month in the country in order to visit most of the awesome things we spotted.

For us, you should at least stay in Costa Rica for 12 to 15 days. 

Here are the number of days we recommend staying in each area of Costa Rica depending on your interests during the trip:

For rafting – 2 to 3 days in the Pacuare River area. The Limon Province is one of the most off the beaten path region. When planning our next trip in Costa Rica, we will have one or two days dedicated to the Pacuare river, it is rated one of the best rivers in the world for rafting and it is also incredibly beautiful as you pass through canyons in the middle of the forest. Other interesting sightings in the area includes Tortuguero and Catrarata la Bruja (Turrialba was not recommended to us).

For hiking off the beaten path and see the most beautiful waterfalls in Costa Rica – 4 days in the Cloud Forest area (Alajuela Province). It is the Costa Rica’s best kept secret. From there you can visit amazing waterfalls (like Bajo Del Toro, Las Gemelas, Rio Agrio, Tesoro Escondido and many more), the most beautiful natural pools with their emerald color (Poza Azul) and see a lot of wildlife (it is a bird paradise). We would not recommend the Poas Volcano in the current visiting conditions.

If you want a good mix of experiences (Wildlife, Volcano, Waterfalls, Zip lining, Hanging Bridge…) that Costa Rica has to offer without travelling in all parts of country, then you should stay 3 to 5 days in the Arenal / la Fortuna Area (Alajuela Province). From there you could enjoy the Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges, the Caño Negro Wetlands National Wildlife Refuge, the Palo Verde National Park, the Hanging Bridges of Monteverde, a rafting trip on the Sarapiqui River, a tubing trip on the Rio Perdio, some Zip Lining, the Rio Celeste Waterfall(in the Tenorio Volcano National Park), the Llanes de Cortes Waterfall… But the wildlife experience would be less intense than in Osa Peninsula, the waterfalls less extraordinary than in the Cloud Forest Area, the rafting less incredible than in Pacuare…

From left to right: catarata del Toro, a sloth in tropical forest near Nayara Springs Hotel, Arenal Mistico hanging bridge

If you want to go surfing, we recommend to stay in Guanacaste Province, otherwise we would not, except if you really want to visit Las Catalinas or Islas Murcielagos. We were not amazed by Playa Conchal or the other beaches we have been in that region. The only thing we really liked in this area was our Rio Colarado White Water Rafting experience. Other hikes seem very nice as well like Poza la Pipa, Rio Blanco and Catarata la Leona, and maybe Rincon de la Vieja National Park (even if we had some very mixed feedback regarding this one)

If you want to go surfing or hanging on the beaches, Nicoya peninsula (Puntarenas Province) is a fair option for 2 to 3 days. It is more remote (also longer to get there) than the part of Guanacaste we have been to and we had a good time hanging around in the Mal Pais’ country side with our ATV. The beaches were nicer than in Guanacaste (ok it is still not Thailand or Maldives tough) and our snorkeling trip in Isla Tortuga was OK.

For a good mix of beaches and tropical forest experiences, you can opt for 3-4 days in the Uvita / Manuel Antonio region (Puntarenas Province). When we will come back we may stay there 3 days in order to chill on the way back from the Osa Peninsula. The region has really nice hotels and the Manuel Antonio National Park might be worth a try despite the many advises saying that it too crowded. We spotted a nice ATV trip in the area, the video seemed really cool.

For the Wildest experience: 3 to 4 days in the Osa Peninsula which said to be is say to be the most intense place on earth in term of biodiversity. You can check out Drake Bay and the Corcovado National Park. The area is on our top list for our next trip. With lovely beaches, you can see sharks, dolphins, crocodiles…The Caño Island seems very nice as well, it is a biological reserve that is said to be the best diving spot in Costa Rica. Although, more generally speaking visibility in Costa Rica is not top-notch… (there is a lot of life in the water, but water is often murky).

All in all with the benefits of hindsight, for a 14-day-trip:

If you don’t mind travelling long distances or taking national plane, the best itinerary would be 2/3 days in the Pacuare region, 4 days in the cloud forest, 4 days in Osa and 3 days in Uvita.

If you have a bit less time and do not want to travel long distances taking planes or ferry, you could 2/3 days in the Pacuare region, 4 days in the Cloud Forest, 4 days in the Arenal Area and 2/3 days in the Uvita region if you want to chill a bit on the beach.

One Week In Costa Rica Essentially Oriented Towards Surfing: Some of our friends are good surfers and for them, Costa Rica is one of the best surfing destinations! With more than 1000km of Coast on the Pacific side and more than 200 on the Caribbean one, you will find the ideal spot for you. The best season in order to surf seems to be between May and September. And if you wonder what is Guanacaste known for, it is obviously because it has the best surf breaks of Costa Rica (Playa Tamarindo, Playa Negra,Playa Grande, Roca Bruja, Playa Guiones, Playa Naranjo…). One of the other best spots should also be Puntarenas and its numerous beaches (Mal Pais, Playa Pavones, Boca Barranca, Playa Manzanillo, Playa Hermosa, Playa Santa Teresa…).

Rio Celeste Waterfall in the Costa Rica RainForest

Is Costa Rica Safe?

When planning a trip to Costa Rica, you will find many information regarding you safety there… And Internet being Internet, you will always find contradictory informations.

Overall feeling of security: During our 15 days trip we have never felt any danger in Costa Rica. When being reasonable, and paying attention like you are always suppose to do everything should be all right. We are not party goers and not particularly brave either 🙂 All the people we met there were really friendly and welcoming, I think, in a way that’s the Pura Vida!

The dangerous fauna of Costa Rica: clearly our main concern was more focused on animals there! 

• Mosquitoes: There are very few cases of Malaria and Dengue, but during our whole trip in March Mosquitoes were not an issue at all (we didn’t take any Malarone and only put some repellent sometimes but not that much… Nothing to compared with Cambodia or Amazonia where we were harassed by mosquitoes all the time even fully covered in some nasty repellent!). 
• Tropical jungle animals: If you want to know what can kill you in Costa Rica, we can recommend the 72 Dangerous Animals: Latin America on Netflix as most of them are in Costa Rica :-)… We definitely should not have watch that before going !! From the Fer de Lance snakes to the Assassin Bugs, from the Sand Flies to the Bullet Ants… One key take-away that we had during the trip discussing with guides about the dangerous snakes of Costa Rica is that they have most of the antidotes but you need to know which one bit you … so take a picture if you can or be with someone who knows! Also beware of the sand fleas which can be pretty nasty and more prevalent on the carribean side of the country (but still…) so protect yourself between dusk and dawn.
• Sea creatures: Obviously there is also some risks with bull or tiger sharks, and even if there is no zero risk, it is extremely low. Crocodiles may be an issue too, avoid to swim in a river mouth and always inform yourself before swimming in a river!

We went in March and it is totally off hurricanes season, nevertheless, in Costa Rica Hurricanes appear to be really uncommon.

The country is well advanced on an economic standpoint, and it appears that their hospitals are well equipped in case of emergency (of course it would depend on where you are in the country 🙂

Eyelash Viper in the Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridge Park

How to Visit Costa Rica?

One of the thing we particularly appreciated during our trip was how easy things were. The country is quite small and you don’t have to take any national flights (maybe if you have limited time and want to visit the Osa Peninsula). Hiring a car is definitely the best way to get around the country. Be careful tough, even if on google maps the distance seems to be short, sometimes you won’t be able to drive faster than 30kmh (like in Mal Pais for instance).

If you are asking yourself if it is worth it to visit the county with a travel agency, our answer would be no. One caveat is that you will occasionally need to to hire a guide or book a guided tour, especially for hanging bridge canopy tour, water safaris, rafting… We organized all the activities via our hotels, sometimes it was a little bit expensive tough, but they always provided us really amazing guides and we were very happy with the service. 

Irazu volcano crater lake from above

Is Costa Rica Expensive?

Costa Rica is one of the richest country in Central / South America. Don’t expect to find low prices on both hotels and activities. It is one of the most expensive destination we did so far. 

In all the hotels and shops we went to, we could always pay by credit cards. It is always good to have some cash on you though.

Regarding tips, it is pretty clear: most of the restaurants already charge you the sales tax and the service tax (13% + 10%). In that case, a tip is not mandatory. Tipping is not in the Costa Rican culture, neither in restaurants nor in taxis or tours. We were giving tips when the service is extra nice or when the waiter / driver is trying do go the extra mile.

Playa Danta in Guanacaste from above

What To Pack?

Here are a few things we found useful to have:

Hiking gear: walking sticks, good walking shoes, rain coat, mosquito repellent

Water gear: bring a rashguard and maybe also a water legging  as you will find the tropical rivers to be quite cold and who knows if there are leeches… also bring water resistant shoes to be able to walk in the pozas and waterfalls.

If you intend to go in the high mountains like volcanoes or cloud forest bring some extra layers as it is colder out there.

Depending on where you sleep you might want to bring your own mosquito net.