www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Gentleman,

I was lucky enough to stumble across this site while browsing for info...

In the great tradition of the summertime roadtrip, I am once again tossing off the shackles of the 9 to 5 grind and looking to seek refuge in a place where the beer flows, the girls are pretty, young and wild, and where guys are not "haters" but "congratulators". Not an easy feat here in the land of the cosmo magazine princesses(like my ex), and im sick of the college towns. Last couple years i've been all over europe (14 countries) and the carribbean (11 islands).

This August I convinced a couple good buddies to head down to CR with me for a week of... pura vida

From what i've read in other posts most of you sound like regular guys who have stumbled upon a winning lottery ticket, and aren't afraid to share the wealth, but are quick to guard it from those idiots who would spoil it for the rest of us.

I know the typical posts for first timers like myself usually include highly naive and highly debateable questions like how much, and what place is best, and where are the hottest girls... But I won't waste your time with something so subjective as that, which im sure all depends on the time and place and people involved.

I see that some guys never leave San Jose during their trip. However I so want to see more than just the city. Basically my two friends and I are flying into CR for 8 days, want to explore the country, scuba, surf, see a volcano, hit the beach, and of course chase after some lovely young ticas.

Anyone here dive? surf? been up to the arenal? Rented a vehicle and driven themselves? I've also heard that for a negotiable price, you can hire a girl in san jose to be your arm candy and travel a bit with you. Would this be difficult with 3 guys trying to find 3 girls? most of the posts i've read on this seem to be a single guy and a girl.

And lastly if anyone is in town from the 18th to the 25th let me know.. i'll buy ya a beer

The big advantage of Costa Rica over many hobbying options is it offers immense tourist opportunities.That is one of the big atractions that has brought me back many times .we may be the minority but there are several of us who come to experience all of Costa Rica.Welcome to the board and enjoy.You will find a good bit of tourist info on this site.And there of course are many hobbying options as well.I can't hobby 24 hours a day myself so like to do tourist stuff as well .rbc100

Welcome to CRT. There are plaenty of places to go, Arenal, Canopy tours, Waterfalls, the beach, Fishing, Cloud Forest, and the rainforest.

As far as hiring out some local talent for eye candy, yes this is possible depending on your budget and length of time away from SJO. There are girls that like to get away, especially if you treat them nice and they like you.

Read more and ask some specific questions and we will be glad to help!

Pura Vida!

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GG
"Last time I said no......I misunderstood the question!"

(This thread might belong in the newbie section instead of roll calls.)

Hola Sub,
Sounds like a fun trip in the works, read up and you'll have a great time.
My opinion for what it's worth (nada)
First I think you and your buds need to look at your priorities. Is tourism the main objective, or chicas? If chicas then make SJO your home base and take day trips to the volcano, rain forest, rafting, etc... None of your party been to CR before? If not, I say forget renting a car (others might disagree) and for sure forget about dragging chicas along on your surfing/diving/tourist trips, more trouble than it's worth. Instead go places overnight where you can find them if the urge strikes, (and pay them to leave after the urge is gone)... like Jaco, Tamarindo, maybe Quepos.
PS,
try search for diving..

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Living well is the best revenge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwUtj_YnNoY

One advantage of Costa Rica is that everything you might want to try out is at most a day away from San Jose.

It is indeed possible to decide on two or three "base camp" towns (i.e. San Jose and Quepos), organize your adventuring in each area. Then after a day of zip-lining over the jungle floor, kayaking, deep-sea fishing and the like, you and your pals can return triumphantly to the base camp to fish for a different prey.

You write very well. Crisply and concisely...like a writer for HBO. Or something equally cool.



Please do avail yourself the opportunity to do some research here. There's a lot to sift through, but the search function works well. Take some time; there's gold in these here pages!

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Pura Vulva! Wandering through the dark, I am El Ciego.

You can drive from San Jose to Jaco in about 2.5 hours. Get good directions from the rental company as road signs are few and far between. It is a very hilly drive with lots of sharp turns both going up the mountains and coming down. Lots of fun though. I suggest travelling during the week between 10am and 3pm at the latest. Jaco has great surf and clear water for diving. The Beatle Bar is a blsat at night. There are also other venues but you must go to the BB at least once. There are plenty of reasonbly priced restaurants with good food.

Any place else, like Quepos, Tambor Bay, the Osa Penisula, Samara, or Tamarindo I suggest booking a round trip flight on either Sansa of Nature Air. You'll pay around $150.00 for the round trip ticket but make up for it in time savings. Again great surf, usually and clear water for diving. Beaches are great any where along the Pacific coast.

Arenal Volacano is about a 3 hour drive and can be tricky. I suggest getting a driver. A few walking tour that lead up to the volcano too. Tabacon Hot Springs are great place to relax. There are also the Hanging Bridges. Tons of fun with great views, I hope none of you have a problem with vertigo however. Also close to Monteverde and the cloud forest. Irazu Volcano is about 3 hours east of SJ by car and is a brutal drive, for the car that is. Lots of switch backs going up the volcano. Paos (sp) is near to Arenal as well. Arenal Lake has some of the best windsurfing in the world. If you are lucky you might even see the top of Arenal.

I have had lots of fun visiting the CafeBritt coffee plantation. Close to the gulch too, right there in San Jose. Other tours available. There is also the volcano nearby but I forget its' name.

Best zip lines are in Montezuma south of Tambor Bay. Long runs and high trees. If the rains have been heavy, the water falls after platform number 5 or 6 are incredible. Also great views from the lines. You can just do the falls if zip lines aren't your thing.


As far as eye candy or rentals are concerned for these trips I think you are better off, both financially and time wise, to take your chances when you get to the destination. Anything else could run into some serious money. You may also get lucky and not spend a small fortune for this.

These are some of my favorites. I have more so PM me if you want.

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Patriot: Ice Road Trucking through the Bearing Sea to recovery

Thanks to all for the responses.. I have useful information here than I derived from 4 solid hours of internet searches..

next round of beers is on me

Sub,
Unless you really want to travel a lot, I would not recommend renting a car. The rates are high and then they add on taxes and insurance. As was suggested to me by another CRT, check with your credit card company to see if they will cover your rental so you can decline the insurance.

Our rate for an SUV (very small SUV) was $220/week. We paid $458 for 9 days with insurance and taxes. Total rip-off.

But if you plan to travel a lot like you mentioned, the rental may be the way to go. Especially since you can split it 3 ways.

-Orange

I personally like to rent a car and drive, but it is not for everybody nor best for all situations. A few things to consider. Split 3 ways a compact SUV is not a bad or unaffordable choice, but you're not going to be able to squeeze 3 COUPLES into one if thats what you have in mind. Larger vehicle rentals cost considerably more. So if you plan on bringing companions with you, I'd look into other ways of getting around. Even if you don't plan to bring guests, there are factors against renting. A car is a definite liability while you are in SJ, which you probably will be for half your trip. So at the very least you won't need or want a car for your whole trip. Even driving outside of SJ can be chore if you're not accustomed to the roads, traffic behavior and/or have difficulty finding your way on strange unmarked roads.

Air travel is a pricey but reasonable possibility, if time for you is at a premium over costs and if you leave the SJ girls behind and its just you 3, but if you're going to more than one destination outside of SJ and/or you're bringing dates, r/t airfares for all of you will cost as much or more than a rental car for an entire week.

Other transportation possibilities include hiring a private driver, using tourist shuttle vans and public buses which are dirt cheap and an adventure in themselves. Do searches for more info on those.

Since you only have 1 week, you might not want to try to fit more than one destination outside of SJ anyway as a common mistake for many first time CR is to squeeze in everything. It can't be done. Pick the things you want to do most and figure you'll want to comeback for the rest. I'd start out in SJ if I were you. You can easily find several days worth of things to do in the central valley area using SJ as your base camp and that leaves you time to party at night while looking for possible travel companions (or decide to just stick it out in SJ the whole time). Figure 1 day to explore the city, 1 day for a raft trip, 1 day for volcanos mixed with a coffee tour or the popular 4-in1 tour, maybe another day for a canopy tour and thats half your visit right there (with no need of any car).

When you're ready to go further afield and are thinking of bringing chicas with you, you should seriously consider what some of the guys have said. A girl who is fun for a few hours or even a night can often grow very tiresome over the course of several days. Don't figure she will be much help as a tourguide either, since most have even less experience around the countryside than we do. Don't get me wrong, it can be also be a very fun way to go, just caveat emptor.

Many of the more interesting destinations outside of the central valley, such as Arenal or Monteverde will have virtually zero P4P. Others such as Jaco, and to much lesser extents Flamingo or Quepos have some action but nearly as much as SJ. If you want a compromise beach location, one that has the best nightlife outside of SJ while not necessarily the best of everything else, Jaco is your definite choice. It is also the closest beach to SJ (about 2.5 hrs away). If you just want to lie on the beach it's fine. There's also decent surf outside of town but it has probably the worst diving in CR and the most polluted waters. For much better diving go to either Flamingo in the NW or Cahuita on the Caribbean side. Their beaches and those at Manuel Antonio are also much more attractive than those at Jaco. Again, do searches for more info on diving, charter fishing surfing and particualr beach destinations.

Keep in mind that while the central valley stays reasonably temperate year-round anywhere on the coast is going to be brutally hot and humid in August. At that time of year, if I were you and mongering were not the be all and end-all of my trip, I'd go to either Arenal and/or Monteverde instead with or without companions. If you don't bring your own entertainment you probably won't get laid those 2-3 nights, but so what, you'll get plenty of pu*sy your first few days in SJ and after you return there before you go home.

Pro..


Thanks for the detailed response...

After another recent conversation with my travel buddies I think you hit the nail on the head, we are trying to bite off more than we can chew with trying to see the whole country in a few days. Too much is too much, however since they haven't done a lot of traveling outside the trips around the US that I have put together, there are some non-negotiable things that they want to do, one of which is diving. Fine by me... I wouldn't mind doin some surfing myself. Of course maybe their tune will change after a few nights around SJ

And all of you are right...i'm in no mood to drag even the hottest of local talent around with us.. Spend and hour or two and move on top the next.

Still trying to nail down the details, but it's basically SJ, a night at Arenal, a couple nights out on the pacific coast, and back to SJ.

As far as the humid climate... can it be any worse than South Florida in the summer?

Sub, a good place to base is playa hermosa. My friends and I rented a condo there for a week, $500.00. From there we were able to do the Ziplines, take a trip and go whitewater rafting and go fishing out of Los Suenos. Best part we were 15 to 20 minutes from Jaco and the Beatle Bar. El Ciego, play nice
Sparky

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Sparky
Get in line to ride the lightning!!!


Almost legally single again! Voy a Colombia otra vece!!

hey spark..... sounds like my kinda trip... any other details you'd like to convey, feel free brutha!

thanks man

Sub