August, budget, Costa Rica, Thailand, anywhere else?

[Ontheup75]

I'm looking for inspiration!

1 adult, 3 teens.

We loved Sri Lanka, Borneo, Slovenia in recent years.

I'd like a cheaper destination, with budget accomodation (hostels, guest houses) and cheaper eating out.

Slovenia seemed expensive - similar to Italy - cost about the same in total as the other two, but with those we could eat out all the time instead of self catering and I could say 'yes' to (most) of the kids requests as activities were so cheap (surf lessons £10 vs £40 in north Yorkshire for example). They definitely felt more of a break for me.

Costa Rica appeals but seems like costs will add up quickly. Although flights well priced at the moment (relatively).
Thailand - too wet in August? Ko Samui ok, but where else? We like to travel around.
India? Whereabouts in August in relation to monsoon? (And too much hassle for 2 girls???)
Eastern Europe?

Thanks for any ideas!

My DD (1st year Uni) did off the beaten track Bali last Aug - weather is good that time of the year. She went to stunning islands off it (Nos Pinenas?) - did loads of activities - hikes, swimming with dolphins, waterfalls etc.

She’s looking for somewhere in Aug again that lives up to her trip and as cheap but weather is tricky in many places.

She also loved Sri Lanka - would have to be east coast - but worried about the political / economic instability.

Definitely Bali and Lombok, great weather in August, loads to see and do and relatively cheap.

Costa Rica is very expensive, we were there in August and found it very easy to rack up nearly £800 per day

@NisekoWhistler Wow! That's definitely out of my budget - need something more like £100 per day!

We were there recently and spent nowhere near that. It will be wet in August though.

Costa Rica is £££

Thailand would be ok, the gulf islands are better in our summer but we went to BKK and Hua Hin in august and just had the odd shower in the afternoon. It generally doesn’t rain all day.

Audley travel has a great weather guide to various destinations.

We went around CR peak season and didn't spend anywhere near that, we didn't rent a car which did make a lot of difference ! If the £100 a day is to include accommodation, that could be more challenging

@Peccary can you share roughly what your budget was a day?
Was it a DIY trip?

We're going to Costa Rica again soon and have budgeted £200 a day for 2 adults. Good hostels and cheaper hotels come in cheaper than that but it'll stack up quick if you go for flights between arenal and Corcovado at £150 a person one way and amazing rainforest lodges. There are buses but they take about 5 hours San Jose to drake bay for example. Hire cars are expensive though with government insurance extra on the quotes. If you do Costa Rica I'd do Monteverde and the Osa peninsula then you can blow the budget on rainforest activities and stay in a hostel with a bus in between. I've got my eye on bolito jungle lodge or life for life hostel for our trip.

However, have you looked at Panama? Boquete cloud forest and coffee region, Caribbean islands, the Darien national park, and the San Blas islands. And it's cheaper.

Hi, yes DIY with a 5 year old in tow. We used a combination of shared and private shuttles to get around and stayed on the Pacific coast , Monteverde and La Fortuna. We stayed in a mixture of places and lot of tours/activities were free for DD. We spent around £4k not including flights (that includes accommodation, food, activities and transport) which works out about £250 a day over 16 days. This was over Christmas and new year when prices are highest. We didn't scrimp on what we wanted to do.

We have travelled throughout Latin America and there is no doubt CR is expensive by comparison (not helped by its popularity with Us and Canadian tourists). I'd say prices comparable to a tourist destination in western Europe but tours more so so we were selective.

Thank you 🙂
Haven't looked at Panama, will do now!
It'd be me and teens. We're very happy with hostels to keep accomodation costs down but would obviously want to make the most of activities / sites on offer, although equally happy with hiking and beaches for cheaper days.

How long would you go for? I'd also recommend Cuba as you can travel on buses and stay in casa particulares. Loads of beaches, horseback riding, hiking, swimming, etc. outside the big tourist areas. The big cost for most of these places are the flights but a Google flights is pretty good for finding cheaper ones.

Time wise we're pretty flexible - I'm a teacher.
At least two weeks on the ground would be great, so buses instead of internal flights are fine. Gives more chance to see the interior too.

I've been looking at Vietnam. Flights aren't cheap but there seems to be a lot of reasonable accommodation.

That's good, the budget goes further the longer you stay as cramming in amazing experiences is expensive and exhausting 🤣 rome2rio is pretty good for travel comparison and I also use Google maps saved spaces (have one each for restaurants, hotels, activities, etc. so you can overlay as required). Don't forget to check weather - rainy season, hurricanes, etc.

If I had unlimited time I'd do Panama city to boquete then down to Colombia via San blas before going from Cartagena to Rosario islands and then Bogota. Probably also San Marta for the ciudad perdida (lost city ruins) since machu pichu isn't an option. Fly back from Bogota as it's a hub. Reckon it would cost about £3k pp over a month.

That sounds amazing - my DS did this section the other way round - he loved Colombia and San Blas Islands.

Do you think your route would work weather wise in Aug / Sept?

We looked at Vietnam in August but the weather isn’t great.

@whiteroseredrose @LadyWithLapdog I've been to Vietnam late July - flew the evening term ended.
Weather in the north is good, south is bad at that time of year.
We flew Bangkok to Hanoi, junk cruise in halong bay, then train to danang, hue and hoi an. Loved Hoi an. Think we then flew danang back to Bangkok and on to UK.

@Ontheup75 we’re looking at options for the second half of August. I saw a nice itinerary on Trailfinders (I think), don’t mind a bit of rain, but want to have some sunshine over the Summer. I’ve spent days and days trying to decide.

Indonesia is good at that time. Borneo probably too expensive but Java and Lombok can be very cheap. However flights could be expensive and travel between islands often requires internal flights.

Yucatan, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras? Do your kids dive? I’d love to take mine to the Bay Islands to do their PADI when they are teens.

I wouldn’t go to India in August again. It’s incredibly hot and humid. Especially humid. The northern regions (mountains) are cooler but damp.

How long do you have?

Just back from Costa Rica . Loved it , definately recommend but we spent $$$. We stayed in some lovely places so accomodation was about £170 a night but there seemed to be quite a few backpackers so must be quite a bit of hostel accomodation and lots of rooms had two double beds so would probably sleep 4. food and drink was quite expensive (Uk prices ) and trips similar. There is loads to do though and I am sure teenagers would love it
intrigued by Panama now though so will be googling that next

@Puravida23 I've ordered the lonely planet to do some more research.
What were your favourite bits?
Looking on booking.com I've found hostels for around £50 a night. I guess they might give the option for some self catering to keep costs down (although not having to cook was a massive plus on our Sri Lanka and Borneo trips).
Surprisingly flights are (relatively) cheap at the moment - about £750 compared with £1000 for other contenders.

@minipie we've got at least 2 weeks on the ground. Pretty flexible really. Malaysian borneo was quite cheap when we went. We stayed in backpackers mostly which were very cheap, as was eating out but also did all the main activities and an internal flight.

I think it would be ok but they have rules on time of year. I found San blas adventures helpful.

Also worth noting that I've discovered on about page 3 of the reviews that one of the hostels I was looking at in the jungle is clothes optional. So, y'know, worth reading the reviews as not something I would personally have thought to ask 🤣

I loved all of it . Went to Manuel Antonio, Monteverde,Arenal, Tamarindo and a few days just outside San Jose to check out the Poas Volcano and a coffee plantation. . Didn’t do the Caribbean coast as it was too wet but I think this will be dry in the summer so probably good for you. Not sure about the weather in the other areas from the summer. Make sure you do a guided night tour and day tour . I think if you try and do the National parks without one you will miss a lot of the animals . Lots of activities to do we did zipwiring and surfing but there is rafting , canyoning and lots of other activities to do. Perfect for teenagers.
Food and drink was relatively expensive even in the supermarket particularly compared with South East Asia but we were mainly in tourist areas so may be cheaper off the beaten track
check our Airbnb as well we used them as well as booking.com for accommodation

@Puravida23 ooh, do you have a Manuel Antonio hotel recommendation?