Any thoughts on Costa Rica?

[goingdownsouth]

I'm thinking about it, although the UK government travel advice is a bit off putting. Maybe trouble is on the increase?

It would be June/July next year with my teenagers/young adults.
Don't want to drive, nothing too strenuous but not too lazy. Other than that fairly open minded.

It seems quite good value for something a bit exotic/ different

It would be July/August next year. School holiday time
Not June as one DC will still be in school! Opps forgot that bit.

U.K. government travel advice can always be a bit alarming, try reading the France terrorist activity advice section! Essentially what it’s saying is their might be the odd political protests and there have been one of two serious incidents in remote areas from my reading? Obviously. It’s entirely up to you and what you feel comfortable with but probably worth bearing in mind that you can look up most countries on it as find things to alarm you.

Costa Rica has the reputation of being the safest Central American country. It doesn’t have much to offer on the historical interest side but it’s very beautiful and the wildlife plentiful. We went 4 years ago and felt very safe - multiple Mumsnetters have gone and no one has reported experiencing any incidents.

We went in August and it’s worth bearing in mind that our summertime is their rainy season. In practice, this was usually one thunderstorm either in the afternoon or evening. Not a biggie & it meant the hotels were cheaper and the countryside was greener!

Thanks @SJane48S what did you like best? Any must do ideas or things to avoid? What was the food like?

We'd also go late July or August

Our itinerary was San Jose/Arenal/Manuel Antonio. We flew BA and I’d organised transport between destinations in advance (though plenty of people do hire cars. The roads in the North by account aren’t always great but the the roads we travelled were absolutely fine. San Jose isn’t at all pretty - it has a few Colonial buildings and museums but could easily be skipped. I glad we went just from the insight to the politics and history of the country front but I know my DH wished we hadn’t bothered! I wish we’d done Monteverde not Arenal but it’s an interesting enough area with lots of hiking/riding/zip lining activities. Manuel Antonio was beautiful - we stayed in a resort called Tulemar for a week for our 10th wedding anniversary and i have very fond memories of lying in a hammock, looking down to the ocean through the jungle and watching monkeys play, glass on wine in hand! It is one of the more visited National Parks and I know others prefer more off the beaten track places but in principle what that meant is on the road leading to the park there are numerous hotels, bars and restaurants with jungle behind them. It did offer us plenty of choice food wise from traditional Costa Rican food (which was ok but limited choice for me as I’m pescatarian) through to steak joints and Italian. Certainly in the places we went to there were decent food options available and we as a family all eat different things so don’t always find that!

I've booked Riu Palace for next summer.

I think the fact CR doesn't have an army says a lot about how safe it is. It is a poor country through so there are some instances of poverty to be encountered

We went with exodus on a family adventure tour and I would recommend that; there's not many places where you can visit both the Pacific and Caribbean coasts on one trip. There's loads to do and see for teens - wildlife is very accessible and amazing.

We went as budget backpackers and I would not hesitate to go back with DD. Manuel Antonio is great and buses are modern and safe. Food is, like the rest of central America, nothing to get excited about.

It’s on the list for us to go but when is anyone’s guess

They've had a lot of tourist deaths recently and some fairly horrific attacks on tourists. Personally I'd give it a miss.