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December Costa Rica Trip Info (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Caon
- Start date
Peter C.
...just zis guy, you know?
Hi Caon;
First things first, Welcome to BF!
RE: the holiday to CR.
I have been there 4 times now, and barely scratched the surface. My general advice would be, any site you settle on, stay a few days - pretty much anywhere with good habitat will reward multiple hikes. Other general advice I would give would be to anticipate that any road trip will take about double the time you expect, so don't plan to go anywhere in a hurry.
Specific places I can recommend are Poas Vocano Lodge (out in the country, but still convenient to the Central Valley), Cabanas Cano Castillo (up in the north end of the dry north-west) and Carara N.P. near the Pacific Coast. Monteverde is great, but I haven't been there in over 20 years (ayieee! I'm old) so any information I might offer would be hopelessly out of date.
If you are feeling particularly adventurous, I would include Marenco Lodge on the Osa Peninsula as a possible destination.
There's a lot of info you could glean from the "Vacation trip reports" forum here on BF, as well.
Have a good time!
First things first, Welcome to BF!
RE: the holiday to CR.
I have been there 4 times now, and barely scratched the surface. My general advice would be, any site you settle on, stay a few days - pretty much anywhere with good habitat will reward multiple hikes. Other general advice I would give would be to anticipate that any road trip will take about double the time you expect, so don't plan to go anywhere in a hurry.
Specific places I can recommend are Poas Vocano Lodge (out in the country, but still convenient to the Central Valley), Cabanas Cano Castillo (up in the north end of the dry north-west) and Carara N.P. near the Pacific Coast. Monteverde is great, but I haven't been there in over 20 years (ayieee! I'm old) so any information I might offer would be hopelessly out of date.
If you are feeling particularly adventurous, I would include Marenco Lodge on the Osa Peninsula as a possible destination.
There's a lot of info you could glean from the "Vacation trip reports" forum here on BF, as well.
Have a good time!
Hi Peter,
Thanks for your advice and suggestions! It does seem impossible to cover too many sites sufficiently over two weeks, so I might as well pick only a few for more extended visits.
On another note, would you happen to know how early in advance I should book accommodations beforehand (seeing as it's the peak tourist season)?
Thanks for your advice and suggestions! It does seem impossible to cover too many sites sufficiently over two weeks, so I might as well pick only a few for more extended visits.
On another note, would you happen to know how early in advance I should book accommodations beforehand (seeing as it's the peak tourist season)?
Dan Miller
Avicasual Birder
Hi Caon,
My wife and I have been to CR three times in the last fourteen months (we are gearing up to winter there, perhaps). Trips have been two weeks, 12 days, and 3 weeks in duration. We find staying three or four nights in a location is a good compromise to experience a location and minimize travel days. We prefer to fly in and out of Liberia.
During high season, it is well worth booking in advance.
We did Carara in September. Be prepared for hot and humid. Cerro Lodge is a good place to stay.
Near La Selva, we stayed at Chilamate Rainforest Eco-Retreat. Quite nice, and an enthusiastic young birder leads morning birding/nature walks. It is about 15 mins drive from La Selva and 20 mins from Tirimbina Reserva.
Monteverde has (so far) been our favorite. Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve and Curi-Cancha Reserve offer similar, yet different experiences. Curi-Cancha is perhaps best for birding. If you can, book a room at Casa Batsu. Reasonably priced, awesome breakfast, and walking trails on-site. Carlos and Paula are excellent hosts (and have become good friends of ours). Be sure to take Carlos up on one of his dinners while there. We also stayed at Hummingbird House (via Air-B-n-B), which was nice because we could cook for ourselves, and was a couple hundred yards from Bosque del Tigre and easy walking distance to Curi-Cancha, the heredia (ice cream), Monteverde Coffee House and Stella's Bakery.
You might also consider Arenal. Our only experience here is at Arenal Observatory Lodge, but that was quite good - we've been there twice.
If you are interested in a northern Pacific beach experience, consider Lagarta Lodge, near Nosara. Excellent birding on their adjacent private reserva, and the morning boat tour on the river is very good.
Enjoy!
Dan
My wife and I have been to CR three times in the last fourteen months (we are gearing up to winter there, perhaps). Trips have been two weeks, 12 days, and 3 weeks in duration. We find staying three or four nights in a location is a good compromise to experience a location and minimize travel days. We prefer to fly in and out of Liberia.
During high season, it is well worth booking in advance.
We did Carara in September. Be prepared for hot and humid. Cerro Lodge is a good place to stay.
Near La Selva, we stayed at Chilamate Rainforest Eco-Retreat. Quite nice, and an enthusiastic young birder leads morning birding/nature walks. It is about 15 mins drive from La Selva and 20 mins from Tirimbina Reserva.
Monteverde has (so far) been our favorite. Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve and Curi-Cancha Reserve offer similar, yet different experiences. Curi-Cancha is perhaps best for birding. If you can, book a room at Casa Batsu. Reasonably priced, awesome breakfast, and walking trails on-site. Carlos and Paula are excellent hosts (and have become good friends of ours). Be sure to take Carlos up on one of his dinners while there. We also stayed at Hummingbird House (via Air-B-n-B), which was nice because we could cook for ourselves, and was a couple hundred yards from Bosque del Tigre and easy walking distance to Curi-Cancha, the heredia (ice cream), Monteverde Coffee House and Stella's Bakery.
You might also consider Arenal. Our only experience here is at Arenal Observatory Lodge, but that was quite good - we've been there twice.
If you are interested in a northern Pacific beach experience, consider Lagarta Lodge, near Nosara. Excellent birding on their adjacent private reserva, and the morning boat tour on the river is very good.
Enjoy!
Dan
Last edited:
ebwilderae
Well-known member
Howdy, yes indeed do look at advance booking. I tried to get into Cerro Lodge for Carara and the Rio Tarcoles boat trip [just posted ebird reports] last fall for a night in March and they were booked! So you want to ask around if you find a situation like that for alternatives. Strongly second the endorsement of Monteverde. The numerous sites have extremely well maintained trails with very different settings great birds and numerous places to stay but it is both expensive and gets booked early. We stayed at Tirimbina 5 years ago to avoid the tariff at La Selva and thoroughly enjoyed the birding. If I was to add a 4th to these 3 I would toss a coin between one of the highland lodges such as Paraiso del Quetzal at km 70 or Tapanti NP which we just barely scratched. If you have some Spanish and are using a 4wd rig I would substitute El Copal near Tapanti NP for a wonderful experience birding and otherwise. As said above driving times take longer than expected. It is a small country and you will always end up behind a very slow truck hauling way too much up a very steep hill with poor odds for passing. That's why folks drive like crazy when they can to even out the time 
Also if you are going to get a local SIM card for your phone [I really like to be able to call to confirm, get directions, use my real time Google Maps with WAZE, etc] you might want to look at getting a Kolbei card rather than the more ubiqitous [in the central valley] Claro card that we have. You will get far better, often vs none, reception behind the hills & down in the valleys. Costs about a buck or two but you have to get it via ICE the state electric monopoly. Maybe at the airport, not sure. Have fun!
Also if you are going to get a local SIM card for your phone [I really like to be able to call to confirm, get directions, use my real time Google Maps with WAZE, etc] you might want to look at getting a Kolbei card rather than the more ubiqitous [in the central valley] Claro card that we have. You will get far better, often vs none, reception behind the hills & down in the valleys. Costs about a buck or two but you have to get it via ICE the state electric monopoly. Maybe at the airport, not sure. Have fun!
JJP
Well-known member
I have some broad information on places and accommodations on my website.
http://www.quetzalbycar.com
