We decided to visit Costa Rica for our holidays this Christmas! We dithered a bit, and originally were planning to visit Cuba, but then at the last minute we changed our plans and decided to go to Cost Rica. We found a direct flight from Calgary to Liberia (red-eye on Christmas eve, not recommended, and then returning Jan 7). We ended up booking fairly late, so had some trouble finding accommodations (especially the week between Christmas and New Years), and it ended up costing quite a bit more than we expected, but overall a great trip!
We left late on Christmas Eve and arrived at our condo in Tamorindo early on Christmas morning.
https://www.vrbo.com/299931
It was a beautiful 2 bedroom, 2 level condo in a complex with a pool, 5 minute walk to the beach. We had a nap, decorated a stool with some Christmas lights we brought down, and had our Christmas morning. We had a nice dinner out at Seasons, a fancy restaurant just down the street.
We spent a couple of days exploring the local beaches, and one day rented wake boards to do some belly surfing:
Then we booked a dinner/snorkel/sunset cruise on a local sailboat. Unfortunately Sonya and I got violent food poisoning (or something) and had to cancel our cruise :-( We instead spent the day alternately laying in bed and throwing up. Fortunately the next day we were slightly better as it was our day to pack up and drive to our next stop, about an hour up the coast, in Playa del Coco:
https://www.booking.com/hotel/cr/marina-loft-apart.html?label=gen173nr-1FCA4oggJCAlhYSDFiBW5vcmVmaCeIAQGYATG4AQfIAQzYAQHoAQH4AQOSAgF5qAID;sid=c9e8897f628d16217c112bf30a8389f6
This was a smaller unit, just one bedroom with a pull-out couch, but also in an enclosed complex with a pool and also about a 5 minute walk to the beach. It was managed by a Russian woman who ran out to greet us and gave us a big hug and kiss! To much energy, and we were still recovering from our food poisoning (or something). We spend a few quiet days in Playa del Coco, exploring local beaches and generally laying low:
By New Years eve we were "mostly recovered" so we ventured out to Coconutz, a sports bar downtown with a band playing on NYE. It was mostly full of Canadians, and the locals lined the street outside, sitting in the backs of their pick up trucks and setting off fireworks:
Tamarindo definitely had the best surfing and boogie boarding. Playa del Coco seemed to be more about hanging out at the beach bars. Tamarindo had a much younger crowd (mostly surfers) and Playa de Coco was generally older ex-pats. Both towns had quite a number of families with kids.
After New Years we moved on to our next location, inland to a condo over-looking Lake Arenal:
https://www.vrbo.com/570684
This was definitely the nicest condo of the week! Two bedroom, with a large balcony overlooking the lake. It was much more remote than our previous condos (nothing much within walking distance except thankfully a couple of nice restaurants and a pizza place, and a short drive to the local brew pub :-D) but a nice change of pace from Tamarindo and Playa del Coco, which we decided were "tourist traps".
We spent a day watching the wind surfers on the lake (we tried to get lessons but the guy who did the beginner lessons was out of commission with a broken rib).
We drove up to Volcan Tenorio and did a hike through the mud to see a waterfall and an azure blue river, and stopped for lunch on the way home at a restaurant/resort run by another ex-pat Canadian/Frenchman. Apparently he accidentally opened his place in the best bird watching location in the world!
The next day we did another waterfall hike, this time to a private farm called Viento Fresco. It was about a 2 hour hike and we saw 5 waterfalls and a bunch of leaf-cutter ants.
The next day we went zip-lining! We drove down to Sky Adventures (like everything else it was about an hour and a half drive from our condo) - they gondola you up to the top of the mountain and then there are a total of 7 zip-lines to get back down (including a short trainer at the top and another short one at the very end to de-bark the mountain). The highest was over 600 ft, the longest about a minute, and the fastest about 70 km/h (actually I'm just guessing on the last one).
We luckily got a break in the rain while we were zipping, because it rained on the drive down and then again while we were eating lunch afterwards, but it was sunny and clear while we were on the mountain.
Not too many pics of food, but the most common "local dish" was rice and beans with grilled chicken or fish. We also found a few local brews - Lake Arenal Brewery (close by our Lake Arenal condo), Angry Goat (served at Coconutz in Playa del Coco), and these brews at the Sky Adventure restaurant:
On the last day we drove out to Santa Rosa National Park and did a couple of short hikes. We visited a small historical museum, and found a rusted out old Nicaraguan armoured vehicle in the jungle, from a failed 1955 invasion of Costa Rica.
We spent our last night in a small hotel in Liberia (Hotel Liberia natch!):
https://www.booking.com/hotel/cr/liberia.en-gb.html?aid=356293;sid=c9e8897f628d16217c112bf30a8389f6
This was the only actual "hotel" we stayed in, but it was the last night and we were going for "cheap". Liberia was a nice little town, and we wandered through the main square, bought some souvenirs (including a 7 yr aged Costa Rican rum) and had a few drinks.
In the above video listen for the cacophony of birds, church bells, and music blaring from the local shops!
The last day was an early rise and then home to Canada (from Liberia - plus 30 degrees - via Calgary - minus18 degrees).
Recommendations for travellers:
Definitely book well ahead! We booked in September for a Dec/Jan trip and had a lot of trouble finding accommodations, especially for the Christmas/New Years week. Other folks we talked to down there had booked as early as last May.
It is more expensive than you expect! Especially in the coastal towns we visited, Tamarindo and Playa del Coco. Inland, around Lake Arenal, prices were a bit more reasonable, but budget as much in Costa Rica as you would expect to spend at home on groceries, eating out, etc. (We met a couple on our zip-lining adventure who had exhausted their 3 week budget within the first week.)
Tamarindo is for surfing, Playa del Coco is for drinking :-D Also the nicest beach we visited was Playa Hermosa, just north of Playa del Coco (about a 40 minute drive). Inland the jungle tours are pretty neat. There are lots of activities (like white water rafting) that we didn't do, so probably makes sense to do some research ahead to figure out what you want to do. (We did basically no research before our trip, and just kind of made it up on the fly. A lot of tours leave out of La Fortuna or some of the larger towns, so may make sense to book your accommodation based on the activities you want to do.)
Car insurance is expensive down there (and mandatory)! See if you can purchase before you travel, and if you can get a "package deal" from the rental site. Our insurance cost more than the rental of the car!
Google doesn't know Costa Rica. It frequently sent us down dirt roads (where there were much better alternatives) and often showed us driving several hundred metres off the road. The Canadian/Frenchman we talked to said Google had the location of his restaurant about 2 and a half hours away, and it took 3 years to fix the problem. So, use Google, but check the directions with the locals.
Most of the main roads are fine (paved, no potholes) but once you get onto the side streets things deteriorate very quickly! I felt pretty comfortable driving down there, but I could tell a few times Sonya wished I would slow down a bit :-D
If anyone is planning to visit Costa Rica and has any questions let me know!
