Costa Rica

[talloulou]

I'm planning a trip to Costa Rica and was wondering if anyone has been there or has any advice. Specifically I'm wondering if we should opt for one of the all inclusive packages where all the activitites are planned for you and paid for ahead of time vs. just booking a hotel in Costa Rica and figuring out what we want to do when we get there. So if anyone has been I'd love any advice or recommendations. Thanks.

 

[Hatuey]

I'm planning a trip to Costa Rica and was wondering if anyone has been there or has any advice. Specifically I'm wondering if we should opt for one of the all inclusive packages where all the activitites are planned for you and paid for ahead of time vs. just booking a hotel in Costa Rica and figuring out what we want to do when we get there. So if anyone has been I'd love any advice or recommendations. Thanks.

Careful with the scams. There are a lot of people targetting North American tourists in Costa Rica.

 

[talloulou]

Careful with the scams. There are a lot of people targetting North American tourists in Costa Rica.

Have you been there? I'd appreciate any tidbits you have to offer. I always thought Costa Rica was mostly just petty theft and not very dangerous for tourists.

 

[Hatuey]

Have you been there? I'd appreciate any tidbits you have to offer. I always thought Costa Rica was mostly just petty theft and not very dangerous for tourists.

No but I have friends that have been there and there are a lot of scams targeting American and Canadian tourists there. Specially scams involving tour guides. If I were you I'd get to the U.S. embassy first thing and ask if there are any American tour guides provided by the American community in C.R.(There are quite a few Americans in Costa Rica).

 

[talloulou]

No but I have friends that have been there and there are a lot of scams targeting American and Canadian tourists there. Specially scams involving tour guides. If I were you I'd get to the U.S. embassy first thing and ask if there are any American tour guides provided by the American community in C.R.(There are quite a few Americans in Costa Rica).

Hmm. So perhaps we would be better off doing the prearranged prepaid for tour offered by Caravan. That way we wouldn't be left to our devices making deals once we got there. My Spanish is very weak also but from everything I've heard that shouldn't be too much of a problem and not a problem at all if we use the Caravan tour company and have everything spoon fed to us! :mrgreen:

Do you know which places your friends enjoyed the most? And did they go during the dry or rainy season? We most likely would be going during the rainy season but it's much less crowded by far that time of year and I'd prefer afternoon rain to crowds. Plus living in Western Washington has conditioned me to pay very little mind to rain anyway.

 

[Hatuey]

Hmm. So perhaps we would be better off doing the prearranged prepaid for tour offered by Caravan. That way we wouldn't be left to our devices making deals once we got there. My Spanish is very weak also but from everything I've heard that shouldn't be too much of a problem and not a problem at all if we use the Caravan tour company and have everything spoon fed to us! :mrgreen:

Do you know which places your friends enjoyed the most? And did they go during the dry or rainy season? We most likely would be going during the rainy season but it's much less crowded by far that time of year and I'd prefer afternoon rain to crowds. Plus living in Western Washington has conditioned me to pay very little mind to rain anyway.

Osa Conservation Area, Nicoya Conservation Area, Amistad Conservation Area

Costa Rica is a haven for people who are into conservationism. A lot of wildlife reserves.

http://www.visitcostarica.com/ict/paginas/home.asp?ididioma=2

 

[RightinNYC]

One of my good friends just went and absolutely loved it...they did an all inclusive thing and had a great time. Highly recommended, hope you have fun, and make sure to do the canopy things!

 

[talloulou]

One of my good friends just went and absolutely loved it...they did an all inclusive thing and had a great time. Highly recommended, hope you have fun, and make sure to do the canopy things!

We definitely will be doing the canopy tours, some turtle egg laying watching, and I'm looking foward to doing some river boat tours, and of course seeing some monkeys! :mrgreen:

 

[aps]

We definitely will be doing the canopy tours, some turtle egg laying watching, and I'm looking foward to doing some river boat tours, and of course seeing some monkeys! :mrgreen:

Let us know how your trip went once you're back. By the way, you can come to Washington, D.C., and walk by the White House if you want to see "some monkeys."