www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I’m headed for a scuba diving vacation to Costa Rica later this month, and plan to extend it for a few days after I finish diving in Samara. I was thinking of finding a bus to San Jose from Samara (or Liberia, which is where I’m flying into… although I’m flying out of San Jose) and staying at the Sportsman’s Lodge, then finding company there (or nearby).

I usually visit Thailand and the Philippines, where overnight companionship runs around $60 for bar girls, or slightly lower if you just want them to come back for a few hours. Is that number or duration very much different for Costa Rica? How much should I expect to pay, and for how long?

Depending on the answer, I’ll probably end up shortening or lengthening the time I’m going to stick around for after I finish dicing. I’m sure I’m going to have a lot more questions in the days to come, but this is the primary one that I find myself most concerned with at the moment.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge, and if you all ever have any questions about southeast Asia, just let me know - I’m more than happy to answer questions on an area I actually know stuff about. Although after this upcoming trip, I should know a lot more about Costa Rica, too!

First off, get Thailand and the Philippines out of you head. If you keep comparing you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

(1) Overnights are generally a bit more difficult to schedule in San Jose as many of the women have to go home and relieve the babysitter. Also with the 9 pm bar closings (might be 10 now) that makes for a longer stay until morning. I'm not saying it can't happen just more difficult than SE Asia.

Expect an all nighter (TLN - toda la noche) to run at least $150 with a good looking woman. Many vets on this board will say that is overpaying but realistically a newbie in the Sportsmens is going to be asked to pay at least that. Many women will ask twice that.

(2) In the popular gringo bar venues (SL, Castillo and Taormina) expect the women to start out asking for at least cien ($100) fir an hour if they don't know you. How low you might get them to go will really depend on how much competition there is for your dinero as well as your negotiating skills. A bit of Spanish will help.

I would not expect any decent looking woman in a bar at night to go for less that $80 though YMMV.

Many women will not come down in the price but are very willing to extend the time to 2 or 3 or more hours. Be sure to ask. Again, some Spanish wiill help.

Another option besides the bars are the pensiones or massage parlors. Usually very little massage coupled with full service sex. Prices are a lot less than the bars and many guys rave about them. Personally I'm not a big fan as I like to take my time in my own bed but I am in the minority.

Search the forum for Monicas or Relax, two of the more popular pensiones with gringos. There are probably humdreds of these places scattered across the city. Again, search the forum.

I'm sure the prices are higher than you expected but as a fellow SE Asia fan, I think you will have a good time in San Jose. The Sportsmens is a great place to stay for a first timer. If they are booked consider the Castillo which is just around the corner. Remember, you are on vacation. What's a few extra dollars.

Enjoy

If you only speak English, do not negotiate, and seek company from the most easily available venues, then for a bar girl expect to be quoted "cien" (one hundred) for 1 hour and additionally prodded for "propina" (tips) for anything more involved than covered sex where you pop once and then she leaves. At the "pensiones" (literally: boarding homes the women rent, but effectively massage parlours) you will be charged a flat fee between $20–60 USD for an hour of full-service sex at the front desk, and the girl may or may not ask for additional propina. If your tastes are more luxurious, you can find "prepago" (pre-paid) arrangements with model-tier women in the hundreds to thousands of US dollars, depending on the length of time.

If you speak even a little Spanish, are willing to negotiate and step away from high quotes, and look around, you can easily get all the above quoted services for half or even less. Some of the girls popular with forum regulars will frequently charge $100 or more to strangers at bars for quick, passionless relations, while with the men they know as regulars that's enough to spend the entire afternoon or overnight.

I've never been to SE Asia, and I'm only familiar with the culture of Latin America: here, the girls very much view this as a job, and since pimping and syndicates are illegal there's nothing to keep them from trying to get the most buck for their bang. If you read through the forum sections, you'll find conflicting testimonials about different girls by name. One man will say he paid hundreds of dollars for an hour or two, and all she did was lie there like a dead fish, while another will brag that he paid only $80 to spend an exciting afternoon and evening with her on the town followed by passionate sex all night. You will almost always find that the latter experiences are from men who speak at least some Spanish and are willing to negotiate and talk with the girls.