quote:

Originally posted by BigCity:
As an undertaker, I notice that tourists sometimes die down there. It can happen anywhere. But if someone does, I recommend cremation there and bring the urn home. Shipping a body home is not a pretty sight....

Yeah, I'm a killjoy

OK...now that was different. Hey, it was some useful information!

If you want the Pacific side, closer to Liberia, put the Riu Palace on the list. It’s a nice resort, branch out for tours as desired.

There are usually monkeys near the ‘monkey bar’ or by the flea market tents in the woods.

quote:

Originally posted by smlsig:
We’ve been a couple of times, the last one for 3 weeks kayaking the entire Golfo Dulce.

You’ll find the people very friendly and as you probably know they take US Dollars.
The offshore fishing on the Pacific side is off the charts good. We’ve caught several sailfish as well as my first Marlin.

Do you have something specific in mind?

I stayed at Crocodile Lodge and fished the Pacific side last year both offshore (for sailfish) and inshore (for Roosterfish). I've got and released sailfish before, but this was the first time I fished for roosters. I liked those in particular. Very hard fighting, especially on light line!

The accommodations were comfortable, the food was excellent, and there were ecotours and zip-line expeditions that members of my family and I also enjoyed.

quote:

Originally posted by Bassamatic:
OK...now that was different. Hey, it was some useful information!

Yep, the things one can learn here at Sigforum

Funny you should ask...

We are going to CR next week. This will be our first trip there.

Industry winter thank you trip.


Secrets Papagayo Costa Rica

We just got back from The Westin at Playa Conchal. Nice place, nice beach. Local wildlife was howler monkeys, coati, birds and lizards. Not very close to much else but a great place to hang for a week.

quote:

Originally posted by SuhlShooter:
Funny you should ask...

We are going to CR next week. This will be our first trip there.

Industry winter thank you trip.

Secrets Papagayo Costa Rica

Have fun! I’d definitely be interested in hearing about it. Secrets is in the running for us. I like the idea of no kids!

quote:

Originally posted by BigCity:
As an undertaker, I notice that tourists sometimes die down there. It can happen anywhere. But if someone does, I recommend cremation there and bring the urn home. Shipping a body home is not a pretty sight....

Yeah, I'm a killjoy

Ha ha ha. Talk about raining on someone’s parade.

You’re a damn Party Pooper Royal !

LOL

That’s pretty good advice.

Jaco is a good spot for surfing.

Jaco surf school is really good for all ages

jacosurfschool.net/

Well we just got back Wed night and boy am I glad to be back in the States. We left on Wed the 11th and spent one night in the Doubletree near the main San Jose airport. It was very nice. They included access to the lounge with happy hour and breakfast included. Very nice.

Rented a car at Hertz, they bumped up the price almost double due to required insurance. USAA would not cover me there, so I was going to buy insurance anyway, but was expecting about $150 extra for the week, but they wanted about $350. Its very much like a car dealer trying to play four square, they showed me several squares with different deductibles with corresponding extra fees. I almost passed. Called Hertz and managed to get some idea on what it should cost and they offered me smaller SUV which saved me some money.

Everybody says don't rent a car there, they are correct. It was a harrowing experience driving around the country and we probably could have hired drivers or taken buses to where we were going, but we wanted the flexibility. In the end it worked out, but the vacation wasn't nearly as relaxing as it should have been for several reasons, and having to worry about getting in a wreck and having to pay for a bunch of damages was won of the bigger concerns.

We were also warned to not drive after dark, and we goofed that up on the day we drove from the volcano in Arenal to the cloud forest in Monteverde. The "road" between Tilaran and Monteverde is about 40km of twisty, rutted and rocky cow path that can only be driven at about 20 KPM. Had no idea how bad it would be. We drove the last hour and a half in the dark and rain with very poor headlights and we were almost certain we were not going to be able to find our way to the hotel and would be spending the night in the car or driving off the edge of a cliff in the dark. It was miserable. We eventually found our way and made it to the hotel.

The places we went were cool, the volcano and the hot springs, then the national park in Monteverde, and down to the beaches at Manual Antonio national park. We went on a catamaran tour in Manual Antonio and took a guided tour in the national forest.

We spent the last night back at the Doubletree and got to the airport 4 hours early on Wed to make sure we could handle any delays getting through customs and security, 3 hours was recommended.

We were worried about being able to get back into the States due to all the hysteria over the virus and possible travel bans. We almost tried to bail early but figured we would take our chances and it worked out, but we were worried about the return the entire time we were down there. Flight to DFW was completely full, it appeared that only a few people got off from the inbound. Getting through immigration in DFW was a snap as it was a ghost town. Flight from DFW to MEM was nearly empty. We were very happy to make it home safe and sound.

So Costa Rica is off the wife's bucket list, its pretty and has some beautiful scenery, but we were too uptight most of the time to really enjoy it. We saw a lot of cool stuff, but not enough to make us want to go back.