Cost Rica

CoralN00b

CoralN00b

New member
Anybody ever been to Costa Rica? The MRs. and I are thinking of going there. I have never scuba Dived but we love to snorkel. Anybody ever done it there?

Any tips or advice?
 
Was there 2 years ago. Not really a place for snorkeling. Went to San Jose, Monteverdi, Jaco and Quepos. Rented a car and drove thru country. Did the mountains, hot springs, rafting, horse back, atv, and surfing. Was not as cheap as I thought. Beautiful country. Not a place to party, but if you love the outdoors, lots to do.
 
I agree--not even a place for novice divers. Most pelagic species, not much in the way of shallow reefs. Great land stuff to do though! If I were you, check out Curaca. There's even an aquarium you can snorkel in & feed turtles, rays, fish & sharks! Look up Curacao Aquarium. The main town is colorful & very quaint & there's gambling.
 
So we decided on Costa Rica. My wife was pretty set on going there this year. Happy Wife, Happy Life.

We are staying in the Guanacaste area in the gulf of Papagayo.

Going to do a day trip to Nicaragua too and a few other volcano, rainforest tours.
 
We stayed on that side flew into Liberia. The black volcanic sand made snorkeling a waste. Scuba diving was better than Montego Bay Jamaica. I heard that Pacific side is better but rougher watet. Have a ball. Just don't go overboard on the Cacique. I think that's the was to spell it, but it can things happen.
 
My father seemed to really like Costa Rica. He went there at least 6 times in 6 years lol! It was before he started diving though.
 
Would stay away from diving unless you're an experienced diver (75+ dives). Very cold water, strong currents and poor visibility. Mostly larger fish, not many reefs.

One of the best places to dive with hammerheads and dolphins. Don't trust locals to keep you away from danger. Better off leaving your diving for the Caribbean or Key West, Florida.
 
Not a nice place neither snorkel or dive. If you unlucky in a rainy week then you are done, black sand down to the beach (nasty), no volcano and no tour. Too much rain. Nice country with nice people but I am not go back.
 
CoralN00b said:
So we decided on Costa Rica. My wife was pretty set on going there this year. Happy Wife, Happy Life.

We are staying in the Guanacaste area in the gulf of Papagayo.

Going to do a day trip to Nicaragua too and a few other volcano, rainforest tours.
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I was there 3 years ago...excellent area. Which resort?
 
maidia said:
Not a nice place neither snorkel or dive. If you unlucky in a rainy week then you are done, black sand down to the beach (nasty), no volcano and no tour. Too much rain. Nice country with nice people but I am not go back.
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Were you near the volcanos? We found the Guanacaste area to be very nice.
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone. Erik, we are staying in guanacaste. I have heard arenal and other areas aren't great but guanacaste is excellent! I can't wait to go.

We are staying at the Allegro Papagayo in guanacaste. It is an all inclusive resort. I heard snorkeling in that area isn't bad because it is in the peninsula.

We will see. I have never dove so I won't be doing that.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4
 
EricTheRed said:
Were you near the volcanos? We found the Guanacaste area to be very nice.
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Yes Guanacaste area are nice. The tour go to hot water spring (forgot name) place is wonderful. Raining too much for me back then so cannot see any volcano.
Lot of monkeys and birds.


Michael, next time you stop by me, I will show a nice Sculpture I bought from Costa Rica. Each place I went I bought one. If I come back I will go between November to February (they said no rain that time).
 
Wonderful, wonderful place! Snorkeling at Cano island is fair, you will see big stuff, along with small fish. Corcovada national park is amazing., as well. The Gulf of Dulce is world renowned for charter fishing. I favor the Osa, but there's plenty to do in the north.

Don't miss the sky bridge experience, in Monteverde!

Cloud-Forest-Bridge-travelmuse.com_.jpg
 
I took my family to Costa Rica several years ago. Best Vacation of my life!!!!! We went for 13 days. We started out at a resort called Almonds and Corals. The owners are super nice! They arranged all our accommodations, transportation and tours throughout the country. Lots of birds,(be sure to bring your binoculars) poison arrow frogs, monkeys. Zip lining is a must as well. I went snorkeling on the Atlantic side, I liked it very much. Since the kids were with us I did not go SCUBA diving. The volcanos at Arenal were pretty cool when we could see them. The hot springs were great. The coffee is exceptional! I still get coffee shipped from Costa Rica.The locals were very nice as well. Like any place, you can find problems if you look for them. A guy I know went down there and decided he could do some drugs and handle it. . He got hooked, lost everything.(Job, House,Family. Went to prison)
I would go back to Costa Rica in a heartbeat. I'm actually thinking of retiring there I liked it that much. And ocean front property is reasonable.
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone! I won't be experimenting with the local drugs so I am ok on that note. LOL

We are definitely doing the Arenal volcano tour, a day tour to nicaragua, a sunset dinner cruise and a snorkeling and zip lining excursion. The rest of the time will be rest and relaxation along with plenty of drinking!

I am picking up a new camera for the trip and some other goodies that I will need.
 
hsolano said:
would stay away from diving unless you're an experienced diver (75+ dives). Very cold water, strong currents and poor visibility. Mostly larger fish, not many reefs.

One of the best places to dive with hammerheads and dolphins. Don't trust locals to keep you away from danger. Better off leaving your diving for the caribbean or key west, florida.
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post of the week ......
 
Hi Guys! We made it back safe and sound around midnight last night. It was a long day of travel.

The trip was absolutely amazing. We went snorkeling, zip lining, seen two active volcanoes and stood right at the mouth of one! That was intense and pretty stupid but a great experience!

We visited some hot springs and went to Nicaragua too. Even got to feed some Monkeys. We stayed in the northern part of the country right in the bay and Manta Rays, sea turtles, dolphins and humpback whales were all migrating there. It was amazing. I'll post some pics later on when I get out of vacation mode but it was a blast.

We had no problems with the locals and the country. It was beautiful, the people were great and very helpful and everything was amazing.

Some awesome pics to follow.
 
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