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When I come down for my first trip in September, I figured I'd leave San Jose one morning, hit the coast, come back the next day. Which location is better? Easy to fly to Quepos, but bus ride to Jaco is cheap. Which destination has more going on? Opinions?

I visited both last trip.Jaco is great for action at night.The beatle bar is like the little Del Ray but more laid back.I personally liked it even better.There are also a lot of outher bars around town.Quepos is a nice beach town with better beaches and scenery but action is limited from what I have heard.I didn't look for any that day as I was in the middle of a 10 day trip and ready for a break so just enjoyed thew sites.I definitely will revisit both on future trips.The express bus from San jose to both is very cheap and comfortable.rbc100(the tourist monger)

Jaco, Jaco, Jaco..............Quepos sucks, don't like either of the two places there. One day is not enough in Jaco!!

I respect Diablo's opinion, but there is never really a one size fits all answer. As RBC pointed out Quepos/Manuel Antonio is much better from a purely tourist viewpoint - better beaches better tropical scenery. As both RBC and Diablo also correctly pointed out Jaco is much better than Quepos from a night owl/ monger viewpoint. Which is best for you depends upon what you feel is most important. If you just want pu*sy, personally I would stay in SJ. If you want a brief escape from the Gulch scene, I recommend Quepos. And if you want to try and get something that is a little of both though perhaps not nearly so good as either in their respcetive areas, go for Jaco. Since you plan to go for only one night, Jaco may be your best choice anyway just based on travel time.

YO Diablo:
I sort of wonder just how much you saw of Quepos, Manuel Antonio....not to mention further south several miles. That is the first time I heard someone say "sucks" about that region. Perhaps it's the age difference, appreciation of that environment or maybe naivete......but I personally dissagree with your assessment. To each his own I suppose.

Prolijo was correct.......may as well stay in SJ if pu*sy is your only reason for visiting CR. But on the other hand, you do what is enjoyable to you.....can't dissagree with that. Just try and broaden your horizons if I may politely suggest. Personally, I do not care for Jaco but then agin I do not think it sucks. Guess I find a little good in most places in CR.

Pura Vida........Circus

Ok-I guess sucks is too strong of a word. From my viewpoint, I have never liked the format of the two monger establishments in Quepos, whereas I like the laid back beachtown atmosphere of Jaco coupled with some nite life and lots of things to do in the day. Over the years I have met many friends in Jaco and plan to look for some form of investment in the area during my 3 month winter vacation. Manual Antonio would probably appeal more to a family or couple situation with the beaches and eco stuff-which I am not into....diff strokes for diff folks

What are your dates?

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Hanging in Laurelas with the Paisas

drmojo--

depends what interests you more.

JACO: I've only been to jaco to surf the areas around it. didn't seem to be much more going on there than that. if you want beach activity, jaco might be better. if you want the chance to hook up with a group of horny girls-gone-wild type gringas getting drunk at the hotel bar, jaco will be better.

QUEPOS: I went to quepos to fish and check out parque nacional manuel antonio. not much going on there other than that. manuel antonio park is something pretty awesome to see. fishing was pretty good too.

GIRLS: as far as girls, I've never sampled working girls in either of those areas although a couple friends I was with went to the strip club/brothel in quepos and said it was not so great. there's also a gringo bar with working girls nextdoor to the best western, but the girls were 4-5s at best.
after hanging in san jose, I didn't have much motivation to look for hired company in quepos. all I could think of was getting back to the city

RAIN: finally, keep in mind that sept is still the rainy season and both jaco and quepos rain like crazy in the afternoon through the morning.

Quepos: stay out of Itzamana (sp). The other stripclub (Layla) was closed when I was there in July. I was in a bar in Quepos called "Mar y Blues". There were 5 working girls, 2 that I knew from the BM. If you go to Quepos find out whick bar is having ladies night. The location changes every night. Mostly non working girls, but you might get lucky.

Itzámana! I couldn't remember the name! We went to look for it one night and couldn't find it. It's tucked away behind some buildings at the end of town. It started pouring rain so we ended up back in the truck and went to another bar. My buddies found it the next night (I was sick) and said the place wasn't worth it. It's an open bar they said, and super humid. Homely girls. Warm beer. But hey, maybe they were there on an off night....

I have been to Jaco about 3 times in the past 2 weeks and I have to say there is plenty of 'action' there for mongers. I have also been to Quepos/MA and if it was closer I would go there instead, just because I am not a hardcore monger. Jaco has a heavy party scene and surfing, but the beach isn't one where I want to swim. The town is totally touristy, which, since we are tourists, aint' that bad. Still, Quepos was prettier and I like to swim so... I prefer Quepos/MA. I saw lots of girls there and since I was ready to go home alone if need be, I was ok with the hit or miss nature of the place. My opinions only.

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"The only normal people are those you don't know very well." Joe Ancis

Got two nights, September 5 and 6, at the Copacabana.