Hi All,

Carol and I are trying to put together a *small* trip. Just us, the kids, the twin brother, the kids, a sister, another sister, and possibly both sets of parents. And maybe the twin's girlfriend and her kids. And maybe a few other people. OK ... we're up to 10 adults and nine children aged 6 through 13, so it isn't such a small trip anymore.

We're thinking of the Arenal National Park area, staying at the Tabacon Hot Springs resort, hoping that being in the central parts of the country will offset the fact that we're there in the worst of the rainy season. Neither of us have ever been to Central America, let alone Costa Rica, so we have no idea to expect.

We need advice. Is this even worth doing, or will the weather and other conditions just be too miserable? Is it worth it for the rainforest, rafting, and volcano? Is there some place we can ditch the family so we can have some privacy on our honeymoon?

I don't know where to start...

Even in the "dry" season, it rains almost every evening. The ground is always wet.

As far as the "volcano" is concerned...it's just a big mountain with a crater in the middle with enormous amounts of sulforus gas that will burn your eyes and make you cough. I don't know if the one you are going to see is active or not.

I'm not trying to rain on your parade (no pun intended) but with 9 kids trying to get through customs and airport security...it might be more of a hassle than a honeymoon.

Are you open to other ideas/places for vacationing? What are you looking for?

Quote:

---

Are you open to other ideas/places for vacationing? What are you looking for?

---

1. YES!

2. Some cute little co-worker is getting married there, and Carol thought it was just the ticket. Of course, the other woman is 20-something, and it'll just be the two of them (her and her husband, without the entourage).

3. I'm looking for a HONEYMOON, not a daycare center!

4. I've suggested getting married at her annual conference in San Francisco the week before. We could just hang out, drinking DavidN's wine and enjoying the scenery, then return home a married, unhassled couple that was ready for a trip.

Geeze, Bella doesn't give it a very good recommendation.

Costa Rica is fantastic. Arenal is very cool and there are great things to do there and all around the country. However, I would wonder if rainy season was a good time to center your trip at Arenal as the mountain may be socked in most of the time.

I went to Costa Rica this past October. Spent a couple of days near Arenal before heading down to Manuel Antonio. We had a great time there. It is a great place if you like to do "active" type things. Our first day there we went rapelling down waterfalls, then went on an incredible zip line near the lake. Went hiking near arenal also. It rained frequently, but the view of Arenal from our hotel was not obscured all day long. We were able to go to the pool and sip drinks almost daily. We didn't stay at Tabacon, but at a place just down the road that had great views of the volcano. After leaving Arenal, we went to Manuel Antonio, which I would highly recommend (stayed at Si Como No).

One upside to going during the rainy season is that it is a GREAT time to go white water rafting. I can't pronounce the name of the river we were on, but others have told me that it is one of the top 5 places for white water rafting. I don't know if they were pulling my leg or not, but I had an absolutely great time doing it. The other upside is that prices are MUCH cheaper. Not really sure if it is a great vacation spot for small kids or older folks (however you want to define that. I feel pretty old). My parents would not have been able to do all that much there. Hope that helps you decide if Costa Rica is a good place for your trip. Feel free to PM me if you want more info.

Thanks for the additional input, Badnik & Eimeria.

Here's a more accurate update: Carol's twin brother is a great guy with three children the same ages as Carol's three, and all six kids are great friends. His ladyfriend and her three children are NOT coming.

That makes us, the twin brother, and six kids. When we went to Disneyworld together last year he took all six kids and did what they wanted to do so Carol & I could spend some time alone. I figure if he could handle the six of 'em in Disney he can handle them in a jungle .

Then there'd be Carol's sister, who is head ranger at Rocky Mtn National Park ... so she knows a thing or two about the outdoors ... and my sister, who travels the world by herself and always has a great adventure.

My parents probably won't make it as they think they're "too old", but Carol's mom *might* come. She turned 77 yesterday, and is celebrating an upcoming FIRST anniversary ... she's still got a lot of spirit, and still walks about 5 miles a day at a brisk pace.

Let's say that there's us, the brother watching six kids, the two adventurous sisters and maybe the spitfire mom. Ziplining, whitewater rafting, and hiking all sound like fun and appropriate for most of our bunch. I'm liking the sound of our choices!

Eimeria: Can you give any more specifics on where you stayed, and what was your impression of the October weather? Also, out of curiosity, where are you located? I appreciate the similarity of your trip to what we're planning, so any guidance is welcomed.

Thanks for the help everybody!

Steve

Costa Rica has a lot to offer and is a great country.

Do you want to travel around the country and sample the various locales?
Do you want a true wilderness experience or organized activities sampling the outdoors?
Deluxe accommodations or willing to rough it a bit?
Need to drink good wine every night (you'd better import then)?

MTP,

We've recognized that we're going to have to use our rollaboards for wine. When we run low I know I can switch over to the local liquor.

We'd prefer deluxe accomdations. After all, we'll be spending a lot of time in bed ... errm, that is, in the room.

It's starting to sound like we're going to have a good trip.

Steve -

I'm from Baltimore (or Bawlmer if you're a local). I'll do what I can to remember where we stayed. I don't have easy access to my credit card statements since I'm in India for a couple more weeks.

We drove from San Jose to Arenal. We stayed at the Hotel Arenal Paraiso (I think that's how to spell it). It is little cabins, all with a view of the volcano from the front porch. We hit Tabacon for the hot springs at night. Also went rapelling down waterfalls near Arenal. I don't remember the outfit that did the rapelling, but I can find it out for you if you aren't planning on going in a couple of weeks. I think we got their name from either lonely planet, fodors or frommers. Also did a pretty amazing zip line canopy tour in Arenal. The weather was mostly fine. Only rained on one day when we were planning on hiking around Arenal.

Then travelled down to Manuel Antonio. We stayed at Si Como No. I'm sure they have a website, but again with limited resources here I can't provide a direct link. It rained heavily on a good portion the day we had set aside to tour the park. Even so, there were plenty of breaks in the rain to explore a lot and see a lot of wild live. There were monkeys galore. We also did another zipline canopy tour here. It wasn't as good as the one in Arenal, but it was still a lot of fun. Spent 2 1/2 days or so in Manuel antonio before heading out to Alejuela to Xandari. That was a pretty swank hotel that we picked in order to go white water rafting. We went with a group called Rios Tropicales. It took some time to drive to the river, but they only leave from around Alejuela. This was probably the best part of the trip. I wish we had left another day to hike around the waterfalls and enjoy the hotel, but it was time to go home.

I really enjoyed the trip and was glad we timed it when we did. The river would not have been as good for rafting if we had come outside of the rainy season. The only downside was that some of the sights near arenal (the cloud forest, if I remember correctly) weren't worth going to because visibility was pretty low. The weather was very warm. We brought lots of quick drying clothes to wear out in the rain. There weren't many good beaches to sit out on if that is your thing.

The food was pretty good and cheap to boot. It certainly wasn't haute cuisine, but I'm not one to complain when we were able to get 6 beers, an appetizer, 2 entrees and a dessert for $11. We pretty much avoided wine out in restaurants. It was usually WAY overpriced stuff that we could get at home much cheaper.

Anyway, hope some of that helps. Feel free to PM if you want more info. I am not checking here too frequently while I'm away in India, but will check back again if I can over the next several days in case you have any other questions I can answer.

Cheers,
Mike

I've been to CR twice on business, both times in October (the last in 04). I will only comment on the weather at that time of year as my business trips were pretty unexciting. It's humid, it may rain sporatically and the temperature is warm to moderately hot (but not unbearable).

Recommendations:

1. Stay out of San Jose.

2. If you drive around the country, my memory is that the Atlantic side has less humidity than the Pacific side.

3. Enjoy your honeymoon!

Stemor,

We stayed at the Intercontinental when in San Jose on the way in and out of the country. It's a well run hotel. We cabbed it around the city and enjoyed a few good meals about town. In general, this is not the country for gourmet food.

We did not rent a car when we were there. It was inexpensive to fly between our destinations or hire a guide/driver and cabs.

We spent time around Arenal. I can't recommend the hotel we stayed at. We did hire a guide and did a lot of day trips the others have described.

In addition to Si Como No, I recommend La Mariposa when visiting Manuel Antonio.

The northwest part of the country is the driest and sunniest. There is a large American-style luxury resort, Melia Playa, at Playa Conchal which also has golf courses. IIRC, rooms are grouped in four to a bungalow, which may be ideal for your group.

Probably the best part of our trip was the time we stayed on the Oso peninsula at Drake's Bay. We stayed at Aquila de Oso inn for a few days. Here we did days trips to Isla del Cano, swam with dolphins, hiked Corcovado (supposedly, the most prisitine rain forest in CR.). Lots of monkeys, toucans, macaws. Getting there is half the fun since most of the trip is by boat, down one river into the ocean, across the bay then up another river. All day trips are by boat with a lot of dolphins and whales about. My daughter loved it.

Unfortunately, we did not visit the Atlantic coast so I can't help you there.

One word of caution about swimming in the Pacific: there can a lot of strong rip-tides so check with the locals.

It's not just a vacation when you visit Costa Rica, it's an adventure.

PM me if you want more info.

Costa Rica is on our short list but we have not been yet. People whom we trust who have gone recently swear by the new Four Seasons.http://www.fourseasons.com/costarica/ I'd think twice about going during rainy season (aka Green Season) though.

Thanks for all the help, folks. You're giving us plenty of great things to investigate.

Carol has been told that she won't be able to get one week, let alone the two that she wanted, during the October fall break ... she's had that time off each of the past three years and others are getting antsy. She's been offered two weeks in June/July or November around Thanksgiving ... I think we're leaning towards November.

Jones, I love that euphemism -- "Green Season". I'll let you know if we can see any of the green through the clouds and rain showers.

Green season is the common description given the contrast in vegetation. September and October are the wettest months. Thanksgiving should be a bit drier and you might find some bargains since it is before peak season.

If there is a way to get more than a week in country, it will let you travel around the country more, getting a sense for the variety.