I’m going there Septemember for 3 weeks. I plan on exploring everything. Wondering if anyone who’s been there had any ideas, precautions, recommendations, things I should be aware of, wouldn’t think I need to take with me, what the best gear to hike in…?
[quote]allNatural wrote:
I’m going there Septemember for 3 weeks. I plan on exploring everything. Wondering if anyone who’s been there had any ideas, precautions, recommendations, things I should be aware of, wouldn’t think I need to take with me, what the best gear to hike in…?[/quote]
Good timing for this thread. I was there just a few weeks ago for 8 days with the family. It was awesome! We traveled to different areas every 2-3 days from Liberia (airport) to Arenal to Monteverde to Quepos to San Jose (airport). Let me know where you’ll be going and maybe I can help you out more.
Do you or whoever you’re traveling with speak any Spanish? I was able to speak enough to order food and get directions when we were lost and talk to locals which helped alot in various situations. We were advised to drink only bottled water and made sure of not only that but also not having drinks with ice in it. 2 liter bottles of water was like $1.50 so we drank them like nobody’s business.
About the rain . . . it is the rainy season so it will rain almost every day. Sometimes really hard for 30 min then all of a sudden it’s warm and the sun is out as if it never rained. It can rain at the most random times with like a 5 min warning before it starts so we brought our lightweight water resistant jackets everywhere since you never know when it will rain. If you’re about to do an activity and it starts to pour, go anyways! It can come and go extremely quickly and you’ll just have to take your chances.
I have alot more info but I’ll stop rambling here. Let me know any specific questions and where you’ll be traveling. Happy to help!
[quote]allNatural wrote:
I’m going there Septemember for 3 weeks. I plan on exploring everything. Wondering if anyone who’s been there had any ideas, precautions, recommendations, things I should be aware of, wouldn’t think I need to take with me, what the best gear to hike in…?[/quote]
If you will be hiking be sure to bring bug spray, water proof hiking boots and a back pack for snacks and plenty of water to drink.
Check acadamy for thin hiking shirts with breathing mesh. They look gay but are super comfortable.
Also, don’t forget your bathing suit. The beaches are great.
Night life is fun too, bring club clothing and if you want to score a hooker, money. There are ample other tourists looking to get laid though and I wouln’t recommend hookers, but they are definately there if that is your bag.
lol, I sure hope I won’t have to resort to hookers tex. I’ll def. get some thin water resistant gear, but I’m thinking hiking sandals to avoid mushy feet? Will bugs eat them alive?
Iron, I speak a little spanish and will be based out of Heredia near San Jose so I can take domestic flights. I plan on exploring EVERYWHERE, so whatever you can share, please go nuts. Any stories would be cool too to get a feel of what to expect. I can’t wait to go to Arenal hot springs and do some zip lines and stuff like that.
I’m on a vacation right now so sorry bout not posting back here recently.
Arenal - We went on a zip line/canopy tour there and it was so awesome. The one thing about all the guides we had in our activities is that they all seemed very comfortable with their duties and all that. This is especially important when you’re trusting people to take care of you while you zip line across the tops of trees!
At the beginning of the zip lines, it poured all of a sudden even though it was good with no sign of rain in the sky. It ended up stopping about 30-40 minutes later all of a sudden. The rain made the lines faster which was sweet and since it wasn’t raining while going uphill, we left our rain jackets in the car.
From then on we brought our rain stuff everywhere just in case. I forget the company name but will try to remember it and I’ll let you know. We didn’t go to the hot springs in Arenal because it was a bit out of the way as we were traveling to another city. But, I’m sure it will be fun.
Forests - When you go into rainforests, it will be surprisingly bug-free. Only in the lower elevations did we find some annoying bugs on hikes. If you stay in higher elevations (which we did) and go to cloud forests, there will be like hardly any bugs.
There were so few that we didn’t have to swat any bugs or worry about them at all! That’s contrary to belief but tis true. There are more flies in our backyard at home even. But, it was nice for peace of mind to wear bug spray on our exposed skin and another type of bug spray for clothes.
If you will be in the area known for mosquitos (upper northwest) which you probably will be, it is advisable idea to get malaria pills. Suffering from malaria if you get it is NOT FUN! It involves 5 doses of a weekly pill used starting the week before the trip.
We also got hepatitis B and dealt with both of these medical issues with a travel medicine doctor. My dad is a doctor and he made sure we got both of these things before leaving JUST IN CASE! You’ll be quite screwed if you get malaria.
Gyms - I did not go to the gym for the 8 days we were there because it was a nice break to take and let my body recover since I only take a couple week long breaks a year from lifting. But, I don’t know what you will be doing for gyms since you’ll be there for almost a month.
I saw one gym the entire time that we passed by in a town (read: crappy, scary collection of buildings in one concentrated area). I didn’t get a great look but it looked very basic. It had some barbell benches but don’t expect more than very basic equipment. I doubt their dumbbells go very high as well (if they aren’t already broken).
Also, will you be renting a car? If so, I have some VERY good and worthwhile info for you.
I don’t want to make this an insanely long post so I’ll stop here. But I have alot more info for ya! If you don’t have any specific questions, I can give you lots of stories and info about other places we’ve been in.
I actually just got back from Tamarindo about a month ago and was there two years prior. One of the members on the board, Pura Vida lives there.
It’s a great country, speaking spanish isn’t necessary, you’ll manage. Depending on where you are it’s also very Americanized.
Arenal is great, there is a hot springs resort at the base of the volcano (active) there which is a great time, multiple bars, pools, natural pools etc etc. it’s also right in the middle of the forest so you’re hiking through woods and stuff to get to the next bar area and or pool. (i just noticed you said you’ll be going there, enjoy it man, it’s awesome).
Now this is something that if you get the chance to do, do it. There is a luxury rental home about 30 minutes outside of Arenal called “The Red Sunset Luxury Rental Home.” It’s owned by an American who built two houses, one for himself, one to rent out.
The house is up in the mountains, literally in the clouds. The views are amazing and his hospitality and service is insane. He and his maids come in and cook you a gourmet breakfast and dinner, and did I mention the house is amazing?
Here’s the website, check it out. www.resdsunsetcr.com if he has a slot open and you think you can make it, do yourself the favor, it’s a great experience. Oh yeah, it has a pool and a bowflex type weight set.
If you make it to Tamarindo expect it to be very busy with lots of Americans and absolutely gorgeous women everywhere. If you want to go surfing go to Iguana Surf. It’s owned by a friend of mine. They have the best rates in town. This is one of the major boomtowns in the country so there’s a lot going on. I’ll give you more info if you know you’ll be headed there.
The police will stop you just for being a gringo while driving and want to get a bribe, half of them cant read or write so just REFUSE that you were speeding and tell them to just give you the ticket and most likely they’ll just tell you to go.
Ummm lets see what else, every woman is gorgeous it seems like. Canopy tours are quite fun, definitely one of the “have to do” tourist things while you’re there.
Thats about all I can conjure up for now, PM me if you want names and contacts of people in Tamarindo if you think you’ll be there. Pura Vida!
MS
I know VERY little about Costa Rica but i’ve heard once or twice that it is one of the closest things to Eutopia on Earth. Like, really beautiful and untouched, very peaceful (not much violence) and generally a very comfortable place to live. Any opinions on this?
I was only there for one week but was absolutely blown away.
As of three years ago the dollar was very strong and everything seemed impossibly cheap.
The beaches are gorgeous–especially on the pacific coast. Make sure you get the pacific, it is much better than the carribean (IMHO).
Also, do not miss the chance to go zip-lining. I don’t really remember where we went for it but it was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. Sailing through the forest at 30mph on a wire is awe-inspiring for its beauty and uniqueness.
One last thing to mention is the volcano. I forget the name of it for the life of me but it was definitely the biggest dissapointment of our tripped. We hiked all morning to reach the rim and all we could see was fog. Apparently, this is usually the case. If you decide to go for the volcano, check visibility somehow before commiting to the hike. Trust me, seeing a crater full of fog is not worth the effort.
Good luck, it’s the most beautiful place on earth.
hey i just went a couple months ago for the 1st time.
My advice is to rent a car, im very glad i did, just be ready for some shitty roads with signs missing. It can be confusing driving there but as long as you have someone in the passenger seat with a good map you should be fine.
Do you have any idea what towns you are going to? I never went to san jose, everyone i talked to said the crime is very bad there at night so be careful if you go there.
The first town i got too was jaco its about a 2 hour drive from the airport on the pacific coast. It is somewhat “touristy” but a pretty cool town non-the less. The night life is pretty fun there.
the bars are-
The Beetle Bar, they may as well just put whore house on the sign instead. it is definitely worth a visit just be ready to hear “fucky fucky 100 dollar” its pretty surreal as ive never had shit like that happen to me before, haha. And if you are going to get a hooker dont settle for an alright looking $60 one get a $100 dime piece, it will be worth the extra money. I was able to get a local girl and rail her, so good luck.
Then theres the Monkey Bar, its a more modern club/bar with tvs all over and they play some pretty cool music
Then theres another club that i cant remember the name of that is open untill 6am everyone goes there after the others close at 2 so just follow everyone there its pretty fun. And outside when they are closing there will be a guy with a shopping cart flipped over cooking some meat, i have no idea what it is, but it is extremly good. Its pretty cool coming out of the club when the sun is coming up wasted out of your mind eating some weird meat, haha.
also at night you will be offered coke and weed like 15 times a night.
they have hotels with or without AC there, i payed extra for the AC it was worth it to me.
all and all jaco is worth a visit.
Next i drove to puntarenas to catch a ferry to go to montezuma
puntarenas is the skechiest scarriest place ive ever been to, we got there at night and i was completely freaked out. luckly we met some other people and hung out while waiting for the ferry and it turned out not to bad.
Montezuma is the most beautiful place ive ever seen, we stayed in a motel right on the beach with no ac, i didnt care about ac while i was there because it was so chill and relaxing, there are a couple chill bars around and everyone is pretty nice. I highly recommend going there, it is very surreal, ill post some pictures.
feel free to ask some questions or pm me
heres a pic of the beach at montezuma
another one of montezuma
this is the bridge you have to take to jaco, underneath for whatever reason is where dozens of crocs hang out. there fucking huge, try not to fall off the bridge it probably wont go to well
also i didnt do much exploring/hiking, i wish i did but i was only there for a week. next time ill do some of that though, hopefully someone can help you out more with that.
[quote]allNatural wrote:
lol, I sure hope I won’t have to resort to hookers tex. I’ll def. get some thin water resistant gear, but I’m thinking hiking sandals to avoid mushy feet? Will bugs eat them alive?
Iron, I speak a little spanish and will be based out of Heredia near San Jose so I can take domestic flights. I plan on exploring EVERYWHERE, so whatever you can share, please go nuts. Any stories would be cool too to get a feel of what to expect. I can’t wait to go to Arenal hot springs and do some zip lines and stuff like that. [/quote]
Goretex hiking boots may be your best bet.
[quote]blok wrote:
this is bridge you have to take to jaco, underneath for whatever reason is where dozens of crocs hang out. there fucking huge, try not to fall off the bridge it probably wont go to well[/quote]
Yea I stopped there to see all those crocs. I was there like a month ago. I also was thinking how screwed I would be if I fell over the edge. haha