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Original poster

Help me plan 2 weeks in Costa Rica

44 replies

Chocbuttonsandredwine · 23/10/2022 19:46

February.

Dp and I, for a big birthday.

nice hotels, beaches, food, wild life, a few adventure type things..rafting/high wire. Animals. All the animals.

can’t decide whether to do self drive/ organised tour or fry and do it public transport/flying etc

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TizerorFizz · 24/10/2022 18:49

Why don’t you look at Audley Travel and Wildlife Worldwide for ideas. Both are experts. The latter is brilliant for wildlife experiences. They are also helpful. Many tours are self drive. Having experiences organised for you makes sense though.

Gonegrey31 · 24/10/2022 20:14

I did self drive . Great fun and easy . Much preferred the pacific coast to the Atlantic. Wonderful place !

Hoppinggreen · 24/10/2022 20:17

I hope you have got plenty of £
We were hoping to go next year with the DC and were quoted over £17k!!!
That was for 4 of us though

TizerorFizz · 24/10/2022 23:48

I would expect over £3,500 each now. Flights have gone up and so has car hire. Not a cheap destination.

dontknowwhatisbest · 24/10/2022 23:51

We did an 18 day self planned self drive 5 location trip around Costa Rica. T"was absolutely amazing. I can PM you our itinerary if you like, I am inordinately proud of it!

user1477249785 · 25/10/2022 00:00

I always recommend this but I've been to Costa rice three times and by far the best was our stay at rafiki safari lodge. We did the super lekke package and it is the best holiday we've ever had.

Original poster
Chocbuttonsandredwine · 25/10/2022 06:04

@dontknowwhatisbest I would love that thank you

Tbf we know it’s not going to be cheap, but it’s for my 40th so I’m kinda ok with it it. Had looked at Maldives/Sri Lanka and other “big holidays” but CR has been in my list for so long. Feb seems like a good time of year to go too, which is ideal, will hopefully miss all school holidays 😂

@user1477249785 that looks amazing thanks

I guess it’s just a bit overwhelming trying to plan 3 or 4 stays, trying to figure out where we want to go and what’s worthwhile/do-able. There seems to be a lot of tours which look amazing but I’m not convinced about spending 2 weeks with other people…. My patience for loud/moany/irritating folks wears thin after a few hours so self drive might be the best option: 😂.

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TizerorFizz · 25/10/2022 08:39

The companies I mentioned don’t do tours. They do tailor made for you. They suggest itineraries. WW gives you the best options for wildlife. I don’t know who you are looking at for tours. The key is to look at decent holiday companies that know the country and plan these trips all the time. Their basic itineraries give you the best areas to visit. Always buy a book like Lonely Planet to see what they recommend too. If you don’t have firm ideas, why not use experts?

Original poster
Chocbuttonsandredwine · 25/10/2022 12:51

@TizerorFizz that’s really helpful thank you

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Delatron · 25/10/2022 15:27

We did self drive and much preferred it to the coach trips. It’s nice to be on your own schedule- for example we left the cloud forest a day early as we were itching to get to the beach.

Onthegrid · 25/10/2022 15:33

We also did self drive but note the roads are rough so driving isn’t easy.

falllakes · 25/10/2022 15:46

We did self drive with a pick up truck, the roads can be rough.
The only issue was the truck didn't have a cover for the bed so we had to buy bin bags to cover our suitcases.
But it was one of our favorite holidays, we only went for a week and went down south.

One day we drove to a park and after a lot of walking saw scarlet macaws. We finally got back to our hotel and three flew past and landed in a tree beside our room.

We saw so many animals it was fantastic.

astarsheis · 25/10/2022 16:00

Check out a company called Intrepid. friends just been to CR with them and loved it. They always include homestays too.

TizerorFizz · 25/10/2022 16:47

@Chocbuttonsandredwine
i think many people self drive but route planning keeps you on better roads. A 4x4 or soft roader would be best. Driving at night would be more of a challenge. Don’t go in the rainy season of Sept and Oct. Look closely at the best weather for each area of the country.

Help me plan 2 weeks in Costa Rica
Help me plan 2 weeks in Costa Rica
Delatron · 25/10/2022 16:52

Yes we had a 4X4 some of the roads were really bad. You need to be a confident driver. DH loved the challenge, I would have hated it.

Original poster
Chocbuttonsandredwine · 25/10/2022 16:53

@Onthegrid we live in rural Wales/Scotland so are used to shit roads 😂

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rookiemere · 25/10/2022 16:59

I had a two week trip planned for us for Summer 2020, clearly didn't happen but I'll see if I can dig it out. I did try Trailfinders but it was £5k more expensive than what I could price up myself and all the companies were very responsive in getting back to me, so they seem well set up for tourism.

rookiemere · 25/10/2022 17:00

Someone on here highly recommended the Tulemar resort at Manuel Antonio for the beach/relaxation part - it's got a sloth sanctuary on site and looked amazing.

Newusernames · 25/10/2022 17:02

We went earlier this year with Exodus travels. Really great - tour guide was fabulous! We had friends who went before us self-drive who said it was quite hard to get around themselves so would have preferred to do a guided tour.

Namefortodayandtomorrow · 25/10/2022 19:08

we are thinking of Costa Rica as well so would love a look at your itinerary @dontknowwhatisbest if you could PM to me too please ?

FettleOfKish · 25/10/2022 19:27

I've been twice, it's my favourite country in the world.

If you decide to self drive then get a 4x4 and avoid driving after dark (sunset is about 5.45pm in February). Otherwise if you're picking 3 or 4 areas to stay you could get private transfers between them and most activities/excursions will pick up from your accommodation.

A few nice accommodations I can recommend;

Tamarindo Bay Boutique Hotel (although Tamarindo isn't my favourite area).

Nayara Springs in Arenal

Hotel Alta Las Palomas if you need somewhere near San Jose airport that's nicer than an airport hotel.

My top 3 places to not miss would be Manuel Antonio, Tortuguero and Monteverde and the cloud forest.

I'm jealous!

Hoppinggreen · 25/10/2022 19:32

rookiemere · 25/10/2022 17:00

Someone on here highly recommended the Tulemar resort at Manuel Antonio for the beach/relaxation part - it's got a sloth sanctuary on site and looked amazing.

I have just sent them an enquiry, it looks amazing and just what we are after.
I think by booking direct we can do the whole thing for around £10k as opposed to the £17k we were quoted by an agent

FettleOfKish · 25/10/2022 19:33

Ps.. If you're not averse to 'public' transport then there are various companies offering shuttle transfers for tourists between popular areas across the country.

I used Caribe shuttles a few times and they were fine.

They pick up and drop to most hotels directly so easier than public buses with luggage (although I've done that too!).

TizerorFizz · 25/10/2022 19:58

@Chocbuttonsandredwine
Be careful about not doing a tailor made package. If you have flight issues, you are not covered by ABTA for all your hotel and transport losses.You have to weigh up what is important. We rarely find there’s much difference these days and we do value the services of decent travel operators.

Original poster
Chocbuttonsandredwine · 25/10/2022 20:01

@FettleOfKish that’s really helpful thanks

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