Costa Rica
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- philipdrumman
Anyone know any good places to go in San Jose?
- Llyod0
outside the city
- stoplying0
Ask the Gooch.
- TheBlueOne0
I don't even know the way to San Jose....
- hiatus0
anyone go suggest to go for a honeymoon? if so where in CR? nayone buy a nice piece of land out there also?
- philipdrumman0
Nobody? anybody?
- wendog0
ugh, san jose is a dump
- wendog0
go to manuel antonio
- skelly_b0
If you need to stay a night in San Jose, I suggest the Don Carlos. I stayed there when I had early flight out the next morning. Other than that, get out to the coast or up into the mountains.
- threadpost0
yeah I agree, if you MUST stay in San Jose (the last place you want to be if you're in costa rica) then the hotel don carlos is really cool. There are some cool little shops, galleries, restaurants etc right around there, walking distance. Careful after dark, lots of tranny hookers that hiss at you, and if you walk down toward the casino area afterdark, best to go with someone, can be a little sketch in that part of town. Heard lots of stories about gringos getting jumped.
I've spent some time in costa rica, but the best and only really useful part of san jose is the airport, oh and it's where you catch multi day tours from (buses or whatnot.)
The hissing thing from the tranny (and regular) prostitutes is really trippy. oh and the 14 year old prostitutes are completely legal, FUCKED UP. avoid san jose if you can.
- gramme0
Tamarindo is nice if you can find a house to rent away from all the construction. There are also pretty good hotels in Playa Grande and Playa Langosta.
Haven't been to San Juan, not familiar.
- Dancer0
Been there travelled around 1/4 of the country by bus and driving. Touristy places are full of yanks so you don't wanna go there :p
- gramme0
Some nice secluded spots on the Nicoya peninsula, south of Jaco.
- philipdrumman0
Aside from accomodations what about sights, food, etc?
- gramme0
Why San Jose? It's not exactly a hot destination. Go to the beach. Either Pacific or Caribbean, take your pick.
- threadpost0
First of all: this is a design message board, for the best info, you should consider posting on Lonely Planet or something. Always good info over there on their thorn tree.
manuel antonio is one of the most beautiful spots in the world. There's a hotel (I believe called Costa Verde: http://www.costaverde.com/pgalle…) which has rooms overlooking the beach, a 2 minute walk to the sand, for I believe we paid $40/night at the time. Rates look to have gone up a bit in the 4 years ago I stayed there, but I'm telling you, this is one of the most beautiful places in the world and it costs less than $100/night for a room w/ full kitchen and huge deck. There was a restaurant directly across the street from that hotel which to this day goes down as one of the finest meals I've ever eaten. Fresh yellowtail tuna steak nearly 2" thick and a homemade cream of mushroom soup. Sounds simple I know, but with the fresh mangos, papayas etc...heaven.
Also, Tortuguero is one of the most amazing things I have ever witnessed. To watch an endangered green sea turtle come up out of the ocean, dig a hole, lay her clutch then cover the eggs over with sand and lumber herself back into the water almost brought me to tears. It was breathtakingly beautiful and there is so much to see and do there. I recommend Tortuguero to anyone as something they MUST do once before they die. It is life changing.
We took a bus from the hotel don carlos for about 3 hours through the mountains, then got into a boat and traveled by river for another few hours (it was like something right out of the jungle scene in a movie). Then stayed at this all inclusive resort type place for about 2 days, 3 nights. You get your own little cabins and food etc are all provided, booze is extra (its cheap, or you can bring your own). Then you pay a little extra for these little tours along the way. So we did a river tour and saw giant cayman, howler monkeys, sloths, a million kind of birds and butterflys etc. and a gawd damned jaguar. breathtaking. All told the totuguerro segment of our trip cost us each about $200. That included transport, food, tours etc. Our bar bill, however was probably double that ;)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tor…
The other tourist places are pretty cool too, Monte Verde is beautiful, Arenal, La Fortuna, Volcan Poas, etc. I've always wanted to go to the southern pacific tip, but never have. I would avoid Quepos and Tamarindo and maybe Jaco. All are cool, but they are full of tourists and not nearly as beautiful.
enjoy man (or lady), CR is a cool place. If you have time, check out Nicaragua and Panama too. So cool. So so cool.
But if you really wanna get serious. check out brazil, shit dont even get me started.
- Dancer0
Food is crap in CR. the deep fry everything. worth going to a decent restaurant, or make your own. The national dish is called Gallo Pinto which means Rice and beans, it is good to start the day with but generally shite.
the people are very warm and friendly, and always willing to help (except in SJ). There is no Army in CR so the county as a whiole is very peaceful.
- see post above. maybe some food is bad, but like anywhere else in the world, you can find amazing food if you look!threadpost
- THey're general food you find around is Shite. all from the US. deep fried crap.Dancer
- oh the irony. you, being from the UK saying CR has deep fried crap from the US type food. wow.threadpost
- The UK is the worst food in the world, deep fried everything. but like I said, everyplace has some redemption. for the UK its amazing indian food.threadpost
- ...amazing indian food.threadpost
- haha someone's a little tired and snappy. When did I say uk food was good? CR food is still crap thoughDancer
- now pick up your dummy and go home...Dancer
- almost every meal I had there was fresh, simple, and delicious.skelly_b
- philipdrumman0
Just asking because my sis has been there for the next 2 months
Thought i'd forward her some info should anybody got across some
nice foods and non-touristy hideouts
QBN is a lonelyplanet of designers...
- Dancer0
What I find the yanks do is depend on things being organised for them. they take organised trips from the hotel and back again you never get to see the country at your own pace and dicover your own things. Yes there are some good trips but most are massively over priced.
My advice. Do some research (like what you are doing). book a few places online and over the phone and hire a car. We dotted ourselves from place to place and stopped and stayed in some beautiful places.
Do see the turtles but they are only laying eggs certain times of the year.
If you are interested in wildlife – Osa de peninsula is one of the cleanest atmospheres in the world (something about 3 biosphere's coming together). We stayed in a secluded lodge with private Bungalows in the middle of a second canopy rainforest. (Dante Corcovado Lodge – Can find a link if you like). If you like walking then I recommend climbing Mt Chripo a few days though. Sand then Manuel Antonio – starts getting touristy though. Cannot comment on other places but Monteverde is very touristy too. Get out there and learn. Fuck the organised trips
- the only way to see the turtles lay their eggs, is through an organized trip genius.threadpost
- I know. Where did I say you can go and see them without "genius"?Dancer
- neverblink0
I'm off to Costa Rica the day after tomorrow.. trekking through the country and doing a bit of Panama as well..
- threadpost0
Like I say above, Panama and Nicaragua are def worth exploring. Certainly less tourists, one of the only drawbacks is that your spanish needs to be pretty decent. Also, because their primary GDP isn't tourism, you can't count on the same level of safety or comfort of C.R. But to some, myself included, I like a little adventure with my vacations. Getting lost and in trouble around the world have been some of my most amazing times.
My spanish is so-so, and with lots of pointing and gesturing, you can get by, but we certainly spent a lot of time lost too.