Diamante Adventure Park – Longest Zip Line in Costa Rica

We did the trek to Diamante and took advantage of the zip line and animal park. Included with our Adventure pass was a buffet lunch with a variety of foods to choose from such as pizza, chicken, rice, beans, salad, fries and sides – plenty of options for most any pallet or diet.

I’m not a huge zip line fan but I feel it my duty to know all the zip lines well so I can recommend the right one to our friends who come visit. So this was our second one after the one at Hacienda Guachapellin in Rincon de la Vieja. It’s quite a bit different than that one in that Diamante’s are all canopy and longer and Guachepellin’s were shorter but over a raging river in a canyon. Both are beautiful as the Diamante one has an ocean view back drop but for the money, the Adventure Pass at Guachepellin is a far better value.

Diamante’s zip line consists of 5 lines:

The first is a short line from the main lodge to get on a bus
The bus takes you up a steep and windy road to the longest zip line where you’ll ride superman style for a mile reaching speeds as high as 60-80 mph. Yes, it takes less than a minute to get across the mile-long canopy stretch.
Then you’ll ride normal style again on a zip line that takes you back to the lodge. You might stop on this one. If you do, keep yourself from going backwards by grabbing the cable behind you and holding yourself in place until they come get you. You’ll be right by the restaurant so you’ll have an audience.
After that line, you take another line to the controlled free fall. It’s a short fall but that first half second that you let go and jump backwards is definitely a rush.
Finally you take the last zip line to the Crocodile exhibit where you’ll take a hanging bridge over to get to the end. This is where you can tip the guides if you want (there’s a tip box).

From here you can go straight into the animals Plenty of snakes, frogs and iguanas as well as tucans and cats – ocelots, jaguars, etc. And no one can forget Lucy the sloth who is the highlight. Don’t get too excited about that. She’s usually asleep and looks like a furry next in a tree. Stay for her feeding at 12:30 and you’ll get to see a little movement.

The Butterfly exhibit is beautiful as there are hundreds

of Blue Morphos flying around at all times. Some will even land on you if you hold still. Into bugs? Go inside from the butterfly exhibit and there are lots of (mostly dead) bugs on display that are indigenous to Costa Rica.

They also offer horse back riding and some beach stuff but we didn’t partake in that so I have no advice to give there. Some friends did horseback riding the week before though and gave it a thumbs up.

How to get to Diamante

If you’re in Brasilito or the surrounding area, take the Monkey Trail (highway 911). It’s a short cut and you get to take part in the charm of Costa Rica by driving a steep, windy gravel road with shallow rivers.

This route takes about 45 minutes each way.

Drive north from Huacas or Brasilito, veer right in Flamingo to head toward Potrero. Drive through Surfside, taking a right at El Castillo and then a left at Perlas (basically follow the paved road). Soon you’ll come to a T intersection with a blue wall in front of you. Take a right there and you’ll be on the Monkey Trail. It’ll be gravel for 20 minutes and then you’ll come to a paved road where you’ll take a left. That road will take you to Diamante – as well as the Riu.

What to bring to Diamante

I always wonder when I go to one of these adventures what I can/should take with me from the car. Do they have lockers? Can I carry my backpack with me? Here’s my advice for Diamante if you’re doing the zip line.

First, take your backpack because they give you a locker at check in.

You have to wear close toed shoes for the zip line and horseback riding but I recommend taking flip flops to keep in your locker for after the zip line.

You could take your phone on the zip line for photos as long as you have a pocket that zips. I wouldn’t recommend having it out while you zip line but I’ve seen people do it.

The longest zip line won’t allow for photography because your arms are totally strapped in. Instead take a pic of the people in front of you with the view. Also, there are photographers there so if you want to buy pictures at the end you can for a fee.

Bring a hat to wear under your helmet for two reasons: (1) you’ll like having the shade coverage over your face and (2) you never know who wore it before. We had a lice breakout at school so it’s top of mind.

Bring money. Ideally you could bring it on your person so you can tip at the end but there’s also a snack bar down by the Butterfly exhibit, Lucy the sloth and the animal sanctuary. You’d be surprised how good a cold beverage sounds at 10:30 am after the zip line.

There’s a gift shop near the locker area but it has all the same stuff as every resort gifts shop and grocery store and it costs more.

We got there early (like 8:45) at the advice of experienced Diamanters as if you get there late, I’m told you can wait a long time for the zip line.

February 2, 2018

Turtles Everywhere!

And not just turtles, but turtle eggs – literally millions of turtle eggs

“Over the course of a five-day arribada nesting turtles will leave up to 10 million eggs on the beach of Ostional.”

Turtles during arribada at Ostional — Playa Ostional – Turtles lay millions of eggs during the arribada

One of the best parts about Costa Rica is the eco adventure. If you’re into that kind of thing, you will want to try and time your visit with a new moon as that’s when the arribada occurs and literally hundred of turtles come to shore in Playa Ostional to lay their eggs. While there are a variety of sea turtles that might come to shore, the most common are olive ridley but you’ll occasionally find leatherback sea turtles there I hear. Other species you might run into include:

Here’s an interesting fact too: even after traveling thousands of miles, the baby females come back to their birth beach to lay their own eggs when they become adults.

The rainy or green season is known to bring the most turtles as once. Time your stay with the new moon and you’ll likely have a few days’ window to witness the miracle of turtle egg laying.

If You go to Ostional

Unless you’re already close by, it’s worth checking with the refuge to see if the turtles are coming first. The website doesn’t really offer much info, nor does social media but if you message them on Facebook, they’ll usually get back to you pretty quickly. If they don’t, you can also ask one of the many hotels, lodges and inns in the area – also vie Facebook or you can try them by email – as they know it brings in tourists.

Speaking of hotels nearby, we have experience with two and would recommend them both but for different types of stay.

Places to Stay in Playa Ostional

Hotel Luna Azul

The first is the Hotel Luna Azul – this place is more of a quaint, smaller place and probably the closest to the turtle refuge. This matters because you have to be up before the sun to get there at sunrise to see the turtles in the best light. You can’t use flash photography and the turtles leave in the morning so at sunrise you get to see them finish nesting and laying and waddling back out to the ocean. It’s pretty magical. But I digress… back to Hotel Azul for a moment. The dining area overlooks the pool and is set in a beautiful treed area. The tables are made of beautifully finished local wood and it’s a serene and quiet setting. Rudy at Hotel Azul is so warm and kind. We showed up and he was ready to welcome us. Shortly after arriving, we realized we didn’t have a reservation there, but rather 20 minutes drive before we arrived here. We called Ocean Azul and they wouldn’t let us out of a reservation we made literally an hour before. Kind of BS frankly, and almost enough to make me not ever recommend them to anyone. But the property is nice for multi-day stays – more on that in the next paragraph. Anyway, now it’s after sunset, I’m in LOVE with this place and we have to drive 20 minutes back in pouring rain to go to a hotel I’m not interested in but is holding me hostage. I’m not happy but Pura ida right? Rudy was really nice and the other place turned out to be fie but don’t make this same mistake if you go.

Azul Ocean Club

The other “I’m-so-not-interested-in” hotel is Azul Ocean Club – this wasn’t the place we intended to say but it’s really nice. It’s a larger resort style place on the beach with individual building spread across the property. If you have a family and plan to stay more than overnight, it’s probably more convenient. We rented a villa that had two floors, a small kitchen and dining area. There was a bed and bedroom upstairs with a nook for an office and a couple of chaise type loungers that someone could sleep on. Be warned that you’d all be in the same room technically. There’s a nice balcony off the bedroom with a hammock. I’m sure the sunsets there would be amazing but we got there too late. The main floor has the kitchen, dining and living area. The sofa pulls out into a futon style double bed. So basically, this is great for a family staying a couple of days or more. It’s right on the beach and they have a pool area and a couple of restaurants. All this said, if you go in the rainy season – when the arribada is best – you might be the only people there like we were. We ate at the restaurant and the food was good but the service was so slow and random – a couple of kids meals came, then an appetizer, then the bootle of wine, then another couple of kids meals and then some adult meals and finally the last adult meal. They did give the adults a shot at the end that was a coconut cream kind of dessert shot that included the local liquor, guaro. Can’t say it will be faster in the high season either – it seems to be the Tico way.

There are several other hotels in the area of Ostional and many are really nice so check Trip Advisor if neither of these seemed interesting to you. Keep in mind that some don’t offer AC because they are uber eco-friendly. But they are also quite a bit cheaper.

Back to the Turtles…

We departed Reserva Conchal, where we live, at about 4:00 and got to Hotel Azul by 6:00. The road is not too bad. It’s gravel and rutted for a ling stretch but we never had to drive through a river. Given this was the rainiest season in 20 some years, that’s a good sign that you won’t either. We did however, cross many a sketchy bridge. They’re all fine to cross but some lack railings and some have big ruts at the entrance and exit and then some are so narrow you would lose an arm if you put it out the window. My advice: enjoy the bridges – they’re part of the adventure! And please keep your arms in the vehicle at all times.

So we drove to Ostional on a Thursday night and wanted to get home so our daughter in 4^th grade could take part in the Halloween festivities at school the next day. Friday morning we got up at 4:15. Got dressed and ready and made the 20-minute drive back to Ostional (reminder: it would have been a 3 minute drive had we stayed at Hotel Azul – did I mention that’s where I wanted to stay?). We were of the first to arrive and others quickly line up behind us. You know you’re there because you get to a river that you probably don’t want to cross. It’s not shallow and it’s moving pretty quickly – at least it was when we were there. That said, I think the Honkey Tanque could have made it. We didn’t chance it though because there’s a walking – slash ride your motorcycle across – bridge you can take to get to the other side. As soon as you’re over, someone seemingly pretty unofficial will tell you you have to pay them to see the turtles. You probably do but it’s ok to walk to the beach and not enter waiting for someone at least dressed in an official shirt to show up. It’s $10 a person so take some US dollars – exact change if you want to save yourself a headache.

You’ll walk down a road, not very far, and then the back is on the right. You can see the turtles from the road but if you want to walk out on the beach, and you do, you’ll have to go with the guide. That’s what the $10/person is for. They’re pretty cool. If you know Spanish you can ask questions but I don’t think many of them know English. They’ll take pics for you with your phone if you want them to.

You’ll see pretty quickly how many eggs don’t make it. The Beach is hovered by turkey vultures and dogs just having a hay day snatching up the exposed eggs and turtle babies. And if you aren’t careful, you might step on an egg that didn’t quite get buried. Although chances are that one wasn’t going to make it anyway.

After the mamas come to shore, walk out of the water a ways they dig a pretty big hole about the size of themselves. Then they lay their nest of 80ish eggs – which is apparently a fairly painful and arduous process. Once they’re egged out and exhausted, they then have to completely bury the nest and get back to the ocean at which point they often get tossed and rolled onto their backs just to wait for another wave to hopefully turn them back over. It’s amazingly intense watching all of this as the cards are really stacked against them from day one.

So far we have seen the mating (stumbled upon tis unexpectedly while kayaking at Playa Conchal one day) <add picture/vid of mating turtles> and the laying of the eggs. We look forward to going back and seeing the hatchlings attempt to make their way to the shoreline to flee the dangers of land (dogs, heat, vultures, people) only to get into a sea of all new dangers. It’s a risky life for turtles but they sure are amazing and beautiful creatures that are impossible not to love.

October 6, 2017October 6, 2017

In Costa Rica: When it rains it pours … and other things to know before you visit

Is this the rainy season or a tropical storm?

I was inspired to write this blog about the seasons in Costa Rica by Tropical Depression 16 turned Tropical Storm Nate turned Hurricane Nate (but not before leaving Costa Rica to Nicaragua, Honduras and who knows where next?). It’s been raining here for almost three days straight but it’s subsiding. While we have power now in Brasilito, most of our friends in Potrero, Mar Vista, Playa Grande and Tamarindo still are without – and have been for more than 48 hours.

As it down poured the morning of Wednesday October 4, 2017, we figured it was just more of the typical rain we saw throughout August and September but that it would subside in time for our beach adventure we planned for that afternoon with several other families. But we quickly learned by about 10:00 am when we got the email to come get the kids from school because they were evacuating early. This was an early release day already so to tell parents to come at 10:00 versus waiting for 11:30 when they’d have been released anyway, it was pretty clear this wasn’t your typical Costa Rica rain storm. Later we were told the country was on Red Alert for the tropical storm that was ensuing.

We now know that this level of storm hasn’t hit Costa Rica in what many estimate to be 20 years. One Tico told us that there was more rainfall reported in the first day of the October storm than all of September. This is particularly problematic because September had already 25-50% heavier rainfall than average.

Three days later and the aftermath (see pics below) is still pretty intense but at least many of the homes and businesses are out of the ground water now.

Outside of Tropical Storm Nate, though, there are still questions.

Since we’ve moved here several friends have asked if our seasons are reversed similar to Australia or other countries in the Southern hemisphere. It’s a common question but it isn’t a simple yes or no answer so it requires a little clarification. First things first:

Costa Rica is in the Northern Hemisphere

Costa Rica Map showing equator — Costa Rica is north of the equator

Because Costa Rica is actually in the Northern Hemisphere, it would not have opposite seasons as the US. And don’t expect the water in the toilet to swirl any differently either. To help you get your bearings, I’ve embedded this handy map showing where we are (balloon with A) and where the equator is (dotted line).

Costa Rica has Just Two Seasons

Even though we’re still in the Northern Hemisphere, we don’t have the same four seasons in Costa Rica as the United States and other countries north of the equator. In fact, Costa Rica has just two seasons: First is the rainy season from May – November that is also called the green season. Second is the dry season that spans December to April. This season is also called the high season given the dramatic increase in tourism. Even that isn’t as simple as it gets. Much like the US where the weather and climate change depending on the location, there are variances in Costa Rica weather across the country as well. We live in the Guanacaste Province on the North Pacific Coast where the country is known for beautiful beaches, amazing surfing and tropical dry forests.

So when is the best time to visit Costa Rica?

We get asked this, along with many other common questions, about visiting Costa Rica. We have several friends coming to visit us throughout our year in Costa Rica and all plan to come in the high season. This is likely less about the weather here than the weather in Idaho where we are from. Most people enjoy the fall leading into winter there because it’s mild and the colors are beautiful. After the holidays though, residents tend to want to want a glimpse of summer and head south for some therapeutic fun in the sun.

But if you’re planning a visit to Costa Rica – or thinking you want to live here for a few months – I would highly recommend the green season – for that reason. It is green! Sure it rains on a daily basis but rarely does it last all day and when the rain does come each day it often comes in the afternoon when you’re ready for a break from the heat and the sunsets and thunder storms the rains bring are an attraction in themselves. Guanacaste in particular is a great place during the rainy season because of the tendency to be dry most of the day with afternoon dumps.

Also, did I mention the dramatic increase in tourist from December to April? Aside from the sheer number of people and lines, the cost of everything goes way up. So, if it’s an option, I recommend a “fall” visit to the rainy season and save yourself the headache and cost and truly enjoy what pura vida has to offer!

Regardless of season, while you’re here, check out some of our favorite restaurants and adventures in Costa Rica.

Tropical Storm Nate Images in Tamarindo — Tropical Storm Nate Images

September 24, 2017October 4, 2017

Favorite Adventures in Costa Rica

Smaller falls at Llanos de Cortes waterfall

We’re living in in Costa Rica for a year with our family so plan to visit many places during our stay. Here we’ll list them all out with a short summary and you can link to any you wish to learn more about.

Catarata Llanos de Cortes Waterfall

This is an awesome day trip if you’re within two hours. Easy drive and an easy, short hike in rewarded by a gorgeous waterfall you can swim in and walk around. What’s not to love?

Ostional Turtle Nesting

We haven’t been yet but go during the arribada (the darkest days before the new moon) and you’ll see hundreds (maybe even thousands) of sea turtles come to the beach to lay their eggs. It only occurs during the green season – August to November.

The Monkey Trail

It’s a typical Costa Rican road with rivers, ruts, inclines and declines. Fun to take if you have a four wheel drive. Kind of a short cut to Liberia from Potrero. Appropriately, the route is 911. Don’t be scared.

Las Catalinas

Tamarindo

September 23, 2017October 4, 2017

Restaurants in Guanacaste, Costa Rica

We’re going to be dining out a fair amount through the year here. Below are quick reviews and links for more info on restaurants in and around Brasilito, Tamarindo, Potrero and Flamingo. We hope it helps you decide where to dine out while you’re in the Guanacaste Province of Costa Rica.

A quick caveat – some places, we simply had a drink to get a feel for the vibe so don’t take our word if you want to give a restaurant a go – they’re all an experience in their own right! Salud!

Restaurants in Brasilito

Beach House

Looks sketch from the road but possibly a favorite. Go around 5 pm and stay for sunset. Great food, clean restaurant, beach location can’t be beat.

Soda Marcell in Potrero

Soda Marcell Restaurant in Potrero, Guanacaste, Costa Rica — Soda Marcell

Quaint little soda at the T-intersection in Protero. Menu offers comida typica as well as several American dishes. Prices range from 800 colones to 3,500 colones. They offer breakfast as well and there is off-street parking.

Tiki’s

Across the street from the open beach in Brasilito. Large, open-air venue with 12 – yes 12! – beers on tap. Worth the visit for the beer but the food and venue are good too. Same owners as Numuand Beach House. Pretty easy to get a discount – CRIA or La Paz families, CPI students, etc.

Il Forno Pizzeria Restaurant

Il Forno Restaurant and Bar in Brasilito — Il Forno Pizza & Pasta – Brasilito

This is a favorite for anyone craving good pizza. We had the Tica Pizza, Focaccia garlic bread and the Greek Salad. All were very good. The pizzas are 13″ and have a thin, crispy crust. One pizza will feed two people, especially if you get a salad or garlic bread to go with.

Don Brasilitos Restaurant

This is an awesome family-friendly restaurant on the beach in Brasilito. Has a nice fenced-in playground for the kids and is off the paved road. Large covered, open-air restaurant with lots of tables and an extensive menu.

Ander’s Restaurant

Small venue, great service, great typical Costa Rican food. It’s right on the road in Brasilito. The bathroom is a bit sketch – broken toilet seat and just kind of ick – so try to go somewhere before or after.

Inside Reserva Conchal

Catalinas

At the resident’s Beach Club, this restaurant overlooks the Beach Club pool. Also a great restaurant where kids can hit the beach or swim in the pool until dinner is ready or after if the adults want to hang out a bit longer.

There’s also a small satellite cafe that is part of Catalinas closer to the beach access. It offers the same menu as the larger Catalinas but is more casual.

We haven’t eaten here yet so check out the menu and photos of Catalinas here.

Spirulina

Full Italian restaurant inside the Westin property but we’ve only had pizza here because we hit up the resident’s night where they offer a personal pizza (plate sized!) and a beer or soda for $10 per person. It’s a great deal and the pizza is pretty awesome. The kids can swim in the Westin pool while waiting for dinner to arrive.

Restaurants in Potrero

The Smokin’ Pig

Shane had to check out the Barbcue place much to my shagrin, but it was good IMO. We shared the family rack of ribs with slaw and fries. All good. Shane expected more (he’s a BBQ snob though). I left smelling a bit like a camp fire but the place was clean, the service was good and the chiliguaros were tasty! (They really should make those as full-size drinks…)

Perla’s Restaurant

A kin to an american, country-themed brew pub. Cold beer on tap and good American style food. We shared a Buffalo Chicken Wrap with fries and a couple of Imperial lights and it was the perfect amount for lunch. Total check was $16.

Costa Rica Sailing Center

A favorite! Right on the beach and with a pool. One of the best places to take kids because they just wander from the pool to the beach and back passing by the table en route in each direction. Great food and drinks as well! If you go out on a fishing boat, they’ll cook your catch for you.

Restaurants in Flamingo

Surf Box Coffee Shop and Restaurant

In Flamingo, great for breakfast, coffee or smoothies. Working remote? Great place to hole up for a couple of hours with their Wifi, AC and great breakfast menu.

Restaurants in Tamarindo

Surf Shack

Not to be confused with Surf Box in Flamingo – totally different atmosphere and food. Awesome burgers and killer french fries. Don’t miss free fries on Friday! In the heart of Tamarindo at the end of Calle Centro.

Limonada Restaurant in Las Catalinas

With Playa Danta and Las Catalinas as the backdrops, the ambiance is phenomenal here. A short, winding road north of Potrero and you’ll come upon an Italian oasis. Lemonada is right on the beach – shaded by trees. You can hang out here all day – we do so every Saturday while our 8 year old, Mckenna, learns how to lifeguard through ConnectOcean.

September 12, 2017September 24, 2017

Top 12 questions asked before visiting us in Costa Rica

We are only planning to be here a year for sure so of course friends want to come check out Costa Rica while they have friends here who they can visit, stay with and/or get advice on how to get the most of their vacation. When we left, many people said “I’m definitely coming to visit you in Costa Rica”. But lives get busy and costs are still a factor so we didn’t really expect many would make the trip. Little did we know, we’d actually need a four bedroom instead of three.

We’re a month in and have 20 visitors with confirmed trips for a total of 61 days of visitation to Costa Rica. Apparently it’s a top destination for many of our friends. We look forward to our visitors but realizing now that January through April will be a bit of a revolving door at La Casa de Vaughan. Still, it will be great because we’ll get to share our favorites and send our friends on adventures we’ve already had the great pleasure of embarking on.

Without further ado, if you’re planning a visit to the Guanacaset Province of Costa Rica, here are the top questions I get as well as my responses:

1. What should we expect for flight costs?

This one is always first. And I fear I’ve set some incorrect expectations in telling people I’ve gotten flights for $550. Sorry folks; this is likely the best flight you’ll get. Plan on spending $600-750 and you’ll probably have several options.

2. Where should we look for the bet deals?

This advice will be applicable to anywhere you travel. Check out Google Flights. If your dates are flexible, you can find the cheapest round-trip airfare pretty quickly. You can also set an alert so you’ll get notified if and when prices fall. Don’t give up if flights seem high – contrary to popular belief, the flight prices don’t continue to go up. They fluctuate up and down for weeks and even days before the flight date.

3. What airline has the best routes?

Very few people ask this but they should. From Boise, United typically has the best routes. If you care more about reducing your connections and layover time over price, save yourself some time and go straight to United.com.

4. What time zone are you in?

Easy answer: Central Standard Time – always.

But it’s not that easy. This is a funny one because you think it’d be an easy answer but it often requires further explanation – especially to anyone in Eastern or Pacific time zones – they just aren’t used to making adjustments for others’ time zones. Here’s the thing: everyone says standard time when they give their local time – even when they are on daylight savings time. People, please don’t use PST, MST, CST or EST during daylight savings time. You’re wrong.

Since Guanacaste, Costa Rica is on Central Standard Time – always – we don’t “spring ahead” or “fall back” meaning during your daylight savings, we’re actually in sync with Mountain Daylight Time but outside of that, we’re in sync with – you guessed it – Central Standard Time. Mind blown? Move on to #5.

5. What is the currency? Exchange rate? Should I change my dollars immediately?

This answer is similar for most countries I’ve visited. There’s not rush to convert your dollars to the local currency, Colones because (1) most places take American dollars (gladly) and (2) you can (and should) use a credit card at most restaurants or stores. You might want to get Colones for those few instances where you will need to pay in cash. Again, they will probably take dollars, but you’ll come out behind. Here’s why:

The current exchange rate as of Sep. 11, 2017 is 577.52. But if you want to buy a bottle of water for 2000 colones from a beach vendor, but all you have is dollars, they’ll simply give you a 500:1 rate and tell you it’s $4. If you have colones, you’ll pay an effective rate of $3.46. The higher the price, the bigger premium you pay when you use dollars. So, get $20-100 worth of colones from the ATM in town (not the airport) and you’ll have plenty to get you by. But use your credit card whenever you can; you’ll get the current exchange rate and won’t end up with a bunch or heavy coins (that aren’t worth much) filling up your fanny pack.

6. Fanny pack? Is it not safe there?

It’s safe. I was attempting humor. That said, don’t leave your

cool fanny pack — Cool fanny pack right?

cash, electronics, shoes, or really anything unattended. The thieves here are opportunistic – preying on the easy targets. They’re not stalking your every move, getting your routine down so they can rob you blind. But don’t be too relaxed and leave anything on the beach or in your car you can’t live without – because you might have to live without it. And please, don’t wear a fanny pack. It’s really only cool on the 4th of July in the US.

7. Should we rent a car in Costa Rica?

Absolutely! Driving here is an adventure in itself. That said, I would recommend if you arrive near or after dark, that you stay in Liberia or San Jose – wherever you flew into. The roads here are not lit or marked well with reflective materials. They also have blind corners, steep grades and many obstacles (people, cows, horses, pot holes, car-eating gutters, single lane bridges with no guard rails, etc.) that could ruin your vacation on day one if you’re not familiar with the road. Hilton Garden Inn in Liberia has a free shuttle and is very close to the airport. The Courtyard by Marriott is a good option in San Jose.

Also, if you fly into San Jose, give yourself four to five hours to drive to Brasilito or Tamarindo.

8. What kind of car should I rent?

If you’re coming to the coast or planning to hit a volcano, get a 4 wheel drive – like a Rav 4 or Tesorio. You don’t need full size SUV but you’ll want more clearance than a sedan. Many of them are standards (stick shift, manual transmission – whatever you want to call it) so if you can’t drive one, good luck. Ha ha, just kidding. Ask for an automatic. They might have one.

9. Is there Zika virus in Costa Rica?

Yes. Don’t visit if you’re planning to make a baby or are pregnant. If you’re in the clear on that front, bring bug spray – lots of it. Here’s a world map of Zika for reference.

10. What should we do while we’re there?

That’s a question that requires a personalized answer. Here we list our Costa Rica favorite places to visit and this post lists our favorite restaurants in Guanacaste, Costa Rica and we’ll be adding to – including favorite restaurants and favorite adventures. As friends of ours, we likely know a little about you and will make recommendations accordingly. We’ll send you some ideas before hand so you can pack appropriately.

11. Speaking of packing, what should I absolutely bring?

Besides your passport and credit card, there isn’t much you couldn’t acquire if you forgot it – but it’ll cost you. Items that are more expensive to replace or buy here that you’ll most definitely want to include:

Bug spray
Sunscreen
Swim suits (notice that’s plural)
A hat and/or sunglasses
Flip flops
Some clothes – no need for long sleeves or pants unless you plan to visit a volcano or leave the beach area.
A bottle of 44 North Huckleberry and/or a 6-pack of a Pacific Northwest IPA for your hosts.

12. Will my phone work?

All carriers are different so I’d suggest calling yours to get the options. If you were going to move here, I’d direct you to a whole different list of tips for how to manage your phone and data service in Costa Rica but for a week or two visit, it’s easiest to pay the surcharge or plan on using wife only.

13. BONUS QUESTION JUST ADDED: Can we come for Spring Break?

No. Sorry, that week was the first one to go. But Thanksgiving is still available!

And those are the top questions! If I get more, I’ll add them but I hope this helps you plan your travel with fewer uncertainties. We can’t wait to see you!