The gf and I are headed to Costa Rica next month, flying into Liberia. We're planning on seeing Arenal, Monteverde, and the beaches on Nicoya. Any do's, don'ts, or otherwise helpful/funny stories? TIA.
I was there on vacation about 10 years ago, so I am sure things have changed since then. It is a beautiful country, but very rugged. (at least it was, all my info is pretty dated). The infastructure and road system was pretty primative. We had looked at maps and distances, and found it took us much longer to get everywhere than we had planned. So give yourself extra driving time between destinations. We went there on our 10th anniversary and my husband tried to kill me. We flew into San Jose and spent the night. The next day we drove to the west coast to our 5* time share resort (the week was given to us by my father-in-law, who has always hated me). Unfortunately I had picked up a severe case of "tourista" from something I ate/drank in San Jose. We drove on this windy mountain road for hours, making frequent stops. As we neared our destination, the roads kept getting worse and worse until we were on a dirt track. An hour down the dirt track, we finally stumbled across the ocean and some small buildings. It turns out our 5* resort was still in the planning stages. We spent the night in a primative room and the next morning my husband went to the pharmacia for some medicine. I took what he gave my without looking at the label. Then I noticed that the label said "con laxitivia." After accusing my husband of attempted murder, we packed up and headed north. We stopped at the pharacia and the guy behind the counter gave me some pills guaranteed to fix the problem. We headed up the coast and found a very nice all inclusive resort where we stayed the rest of the trip. We visited an active volcano and did a rain forest trip. I have a degree in geophysics and enjoy the outdoors and I loved the country, once we found a place to stay and the "tourista" went away.
Went to there last September and had an incredible time. Once piece of advice. Don't attempt to rent a car and drive anywhere. It's really dangerous. Arenal is amazing, the rafting trips have incredible scenery, and the surfing is great too. You will also notice alot of prostitution. It's legal and at night there are lots of women in the bars. I went with a buddy and I have too many stories to get into. You see and experience some crazy **** once you separate yourselves from the tourists
Perfect opportunity for: " I have an announcement, uh, to make. I am moving to Costa Rica. Thought about it for a long time now, and I'm finally gonna do it. So... I'm just gonna hop the fence and job home now. [runs out through door]"
