Though I've only stayed on the Pacific (not Caribbean) side of Costa Rica, when I arrived there, my first thought was "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE?!" Where we went - Santa Teresa - was really hard to reach (kind of the story of my life, since I like remote places), but there are plenty of easier places to reach with big-name resort hotels and access to beaches, mountains, rain forests, cloud forests, etc. Such a beautiful place, with lots of progressive and green policies, and lovely people, that make it so appealing. Here's my blog post about our trip: Costa Rica