Costa Rica - 1st time

Thinking of going to Costa Rica in December. Never been. Any advice?

Just bumping this up. Surely some one here has some experience to pass on? My next big trip?

Sorry I missed this post. We just returned from Tamarindo area...Pacific coast...surfing area. We flew Us Air to San Jose, but next time we will fly Delta direct to Liberia Airport...saves 5 hours of bone jarring car ride. We fell in love with Costa Rica. The people are so kind and helpful.The food is delicious (lots of black beans & rice) and the water is clean and drinkable. Great pizza and chicken...not so good beef-although there are cattle ranches all over the place. The beaches are beautiful and deserted...lots of beautiful birds, monkeys,and sea turtles nesting during the Winter months. We can't wait to go back.

We Are now planning to go in June. I can't believe not many posts on this...

A couple of my general comments.

Always tour with a guide, as there is so much you don't know to look for that a guide can point out. One example was he showed us the underside of a leaf, and what I thought I saw was a lot of leaf scale, but it was a group of tiny bats shielded from the sun. Another pointed out a scary looking 12 inch insect which looked like a twig, some 150 feet up a tree, that we viewed through her scope. I have no idea how she could see it with the naked eye, as I was having trouble seeing it with the scope.

Other than fresh seafood, meals are fairly uninteresting, but filling. Imperial isn't the best beer around, but beats anything from Panama.

If you drive, allow plenty of time. Many roads reminded me of our unpaved Forest Service roads out here. On some stretches, covering 20-25 miles in a hour is more the norm, slaloming around the potholes.

The people are very friendly.

Bring lots of high powered insect repellent if you do any time in the jungles.

If you're going to fly to various places, learn to love San Jose, as we could never make a same day connection anywhere, and had to overnight there. Most people don't seem to like the city, but I really enjoyed it.

I haven't touched on where to go, because there is so much to see in what's probably a short time frame, that you need to set you own priorities.

And, have a great time!

Not sure what your likes are. But Costa Rica is about flora and fauna. There are nature tours, volcano tours, zip lines. West coast area has many things to do. San Jose has a market area, museums close together. A couple of days there was enough for me. I liked staying at the El Presidente hotel, it was within walking distance to many things. Hopper airlines are the best way to travel. Short trip times vs bus rides on winding rough roads. But now there is a better road to the Jaco beach area. There are many Expat's that live in San Jose. And you will need to exchange dollars to Colons for purchases. But major CC are accepted .

SXM??? Wendell

we flew to liberia