Liberia Travel Forum

We are considering flying in to Liberia, Costa Rica in early February 2005 for a week. There will be 6 adults. None of us have ever traveled to CR. Where are the best places to stay/visit? We would love to rent a house or villa. Is this recommended and where would the nicer places be to do so?

Don't believe everything you read. Costa Rica is a very user friendly place and the Ticos are as sweet as can be. Most people go back as much for them as for the beauty of the country.

A lot of where you go would depend on how nice a place and also what kinds of things you would like to do while there.. There are lots of villas, condos, homes, etc for rent. The mid to southern Nicoya Peninsula from Tamarindo down is a well known surfer area although there are a few places that also have swimming areas. The upper Guanacaste coast is better for snorkeling, diving. Keep in mind that this is the Pacific ocean and the things you see will not be like off of Mexico and Belize. A day trip to Rincon de la Vieja volcano is great. Go to one of the hotels for the day for horseback riding, hot springs, mud bath, zip line canopy tour, as well as hiking. Rincon is really neat to hike around on as there are fumerols and boiling mud pots along the way to see. The Nicoya/Guanacaste area is pretty big so the things you do will obviously depend on where you end up staying.

A good guide book will tell you what is available with contact numbers in the various places. Even after many years of traveling down there I carry a current book because CR is a growing country in the tourism industry and things are changing quickly. Where I stayed two years ago may have a different owner/name and there may be more things offered to do. There is a new Christopher Baker Moon Guide coming out this fall. He is excellent and has tons of info.

This is also a good area to practice your latin american driving. Not nearly as many people as in the central valley. There are several car rental companies up there that you could easily rent from at any time depending on where you stay.

VRBO (Vacation rentals by owner) is a good place to start looking. Just doing a search for Villas in Costa Rica will pull up some. Don't hesitate to come back to this board to ask about specific areas if you see something good.

Regarding my first paragraph, there was another reply from someone pushing El Salvador. He has been around for awhile and pops in periodically with nasty, untrue stuff about CR.

Hi,
The charter flights into Liberia sometimes come with a good price tag. It makes them very appealing. My only objection to that consideration is the location. While the Pacific Beaches such as Tamarindo and Conchal and Flamingo have beautiful views, they are only a portion of Costa Rica. The most dry portion at that. Therefore, the real tropical atmosphere I enjoy in Costa Rica lacks a little.

Think about this idea. Fly into Liberia and have your plane met by a private van. Usually, for about $125-$150 a day a driver will drive you back to the Central Valley of Costa Rica. or perhaps to Volcano Arenal at La Fortuna for a dip in some of the most beautiful hot springs in the world.

Flying into the northern area you will miss the jungle areas of Costa Rica. I love Tortugero. Hard to do in one week but going to Tortugero and staying in one of the lovely jungle lodges is my idea of what Costa Rica is all about.

I have mentioned on here before that I really enjoy the one day tours through the coffee fields, volano Poas, and Sarapiqui River.

Costa Rica, to me, is about ecotourism, plants, animals and the beauty of nature.

The northern beaches to me, are more about relaxation, beautiful white or pink shell beaches and lots of ocean!

Which appeals to you more?

hopabout mycostaricaplans@yahoo.com

Playa Junquillal is just over an hour from Liberia and is a great base of operations for touring the Guanacaste area. For lodging, see www.guacamayalodge.com or www.iguanazul.com. The Guacamaya Lodge has cabinas as well as a villa. The Iguanazul has a three-bedroom beachfront home for rent with a pool.

I'm curious about the snorkeling..
I awlays have gone to Belize ect to snorkel and am wondering what the snorkeilign in CR will be like.

West coast/east ? Which is best, and what might I expect?
Thnaks@@!

It will be nothing like Belize. I have only tried snorkeling twice in CR. The visibility is very short and you won't see pretty reefs and tons of colorful fish like in the Caribbean. I have been many times off of Cozumel and Belize. You can still see giant rays and a few reef fish, depending on where you go. I saw moray, reef shark, yellow puffer, sting rays and a few other things around Cano Island.

Up further north in the Guanacaste area I hear that people see the giant rays and on occassion, whales.