The Green and Gold of Costa Rica

We sampled a little of the Green and Gold highlights of Costa Rica.

The Green: the wonderful nature and forests of Costa Rica and its reputation for eco-tourism.

The Gold: We started our trip with a visit to the Gold Museum in San Jose, and ended the trip with 3 days along the Gold Coast (the northwest Pacific beaches). Costa Rica has some gorgeous beaches, with relatively little development on most of them. With our rental car, we were able to explore several of them.

More green: we visited Costa Rica during its Green Season (their euphemism for rainy season). Airfares and hotel rates are slightly lower at this time. The rain didn't really interfere with our enjoyment of the country and activities at all. It typically rained in the afternoon, so we just planned our main activities for the morning, and the afternoon rains usually came when we were returning from our day trips or were just resting up. There were a few days that we woke up to very hard early morning rainfalls, but they passed by quickly.

Quick Tips:

Plan outdoor activities for the morning and try to get going early. We drove up to Poas Volcano and had a clear view all way up, but by the time we got to the crater (about 10:30 a.m.) the crater had filled with clouds. (It was still worth seeing.)

Most rental car companies will deliver to your hotel around San Jose, saving you the airport surcharge.

From volcano watching, to jungle boat tours, to zip-lining through the forest canopy, to just chilling on the beach, there a plenty of activities to keep you busy in Costa Rica. Most of the big activities like zip lining or white water rafting are pretty expensive, so if you're on a budget, you'll probably have to pick which things you like best.

They really do accept US dollars just about everywhere. Credit cards are also widely accepted.

Can you drink the water? Costa Rican tap water is supposedly safe. I drank it frequently and had no problems at all. My wife and kids weren't super careful (brushing teeth, ice in drinks, eating things like lettuce) and also had no disease problems.

Best Way To Get Around:

We rented a 4WD Gran Vitara. It was very convenient getting around with our own car, and driving wasn't too bad, as long as you aren't in a hurry. With narrow winding roads, some slow trucks or buses, you're doing well to average 60 kph. Despite how close destinations look on a map, it takes a lot of time for most drives here. Road signs for directions weren't always very good, with some of them pretty small and easily missed. We managed to not get lost. At the Pacific beaches, there are lots of big signs pointing you to the bigger resorts and beaches.

We hired a driver to take us into San Jose from our hotel in Alajuela. We considered it money well spent since the traffic was really horrible, it was pouring down rain, and we would have had no idea where to park.

The big debate in renting a car in Costa Rica is 4WD vs. regular car. We went with 4WD, but in retrospect, it really wasn't necessary and we could have easily saved our money by going with a regular car. Most roads were paved on our drives from Alajuela to Arenal to the Pacific coast. There were three or four exceptions: 1) The 9km lane to VillaBlanca which was in pretty good shape. 2) The very rutted road up to the top of La Fortuna Waterfall. 3) The road to Arenal National Park and the hotels there --- truly horrible and rutted. 4) (The worst) The last 3 km to Pan de Azucar Playa --- very rutted, bumpy, hilly, and slow-going.

Gasoline cost about the same as in the USA (about US 1.30 / liter when we were there in July 2008)

If there hadn't been four of us, it would have been cheaper to get around using buses, taxis, etc. There are bus or shuttle companies that'll take you between most major destinations for US 35 or less (e.g. San Jose to Arenal, or Arenal to Tamarindo or US 20 for Jeep-boat-Jeep from La Fortuna to Monteverde).

Most travelers start or end their Costa Rican vacations at the airport in San Jose. The Orquideas Inn is about 15 minutes from the airport in Alajuela. Alajuela, the airport area, and San Jose can be pretty ugly, but Orquideas is an oasis of colorful lush gardens where you will be happy to relax after your flight. It isn't just a cookie cutter chain hotel like a Hampton Inn, but you feel you've arrived at someplace special and different from home, without sacrificing your comfort.

Included in the room rate, they serve a very nice breakfast, with fresh fruit, cooked-to-order omelets, the national dish of pinto gallo, sausage, plantains, and more.

The Marilyn Monroe themed bar & restaurant is a nice place to relax, with a pool outside. We ate our first dinner of the vacation at the restaurant and it was very nice and not too expensive (typical main dish was about $10).

Our quad room had plenty of space (1 double bed and 2 singles). Bed covers were a little old looking. Bathroom and shower were fine.

The only bad thing about the hotel is that it is right next to a fairly main road, and you will hear trucks, etc. going by in the morning.

It's a nice base for exploring sites in the San Jose area such as Poas Volcano or the nearby Zoo Ave (bird zoo). We felt badly that we only had two nights to spend there.

The tour desk people were very helpful about providing directions and fixing us up with a driver to go into San Jose for a reasonable price.

Flamingo Beach Resort is right on the very pretty Playa Flamingo. Technically, there is a dirt road separating the hotel property and the public beach, but it doesn't really matter and doesn't get much traffic other than hotel guests. The hotel's charms definitely grew on us during our 3 day stay. It isn't a huge place, with sort of a colonial style to it with wide, open air, arched hallways which allow the occasional bat to fly through at night.

When we were there, its front gate wall was under reconstruction, so you had to drive (or walk) in from around the back, along the beach. The construction made a poor first impression on us, but the nice room with air conditioning and cool tile floors, the pretty pool area leading to the beach and the friendly staff soon overcame that first impression. We had a pretty standard two double-bed room. The bathroom and shower was nice and clean. Nothing terribly elegant, but the beds were comfortable. Our room had a nice big balcony, but no ocean view, unfortunately. Only the top-priced rooms came with ocean views.

The beach is very nice, relaxing, and quiet. Smooth sand. Nice body surfing at lower tide, a little rough at higher tide. I went out for a walk at 7 a.m. one day and had the whole beach to myself. The hotel provides chairs you can take onto the beach.

We didn't eat at the restaurant -- it seemed a little high priced, although again, the setting was nice.

They have a tour desk that can set you up with various excursions or scuba diving. The guys working it were friendly and helpful.

They have complimentary pool tables and tennis courts, and a couple small souvenir shops just off the lobby. Outside the hotel, in the "town" of Playa Flamingo, there are a couple other restaurants, a couple high rise condos, a small grocery store, and a couple shops. All within an easy walk from the hotel (but made slightly longer because of the front-gate construction). But the area is really small and peaceful and hassle free. Nowhere near the activity at a place like Tamarindo.

We really enjoyed the location. We had a nice time on Playa Flamingo and were close to other beaches to explore (Brasilito, Conchal, Grande,...) and Tamarindo is only a 25min drive if you want more action and souvenir shopping and hassles.

All the beaches along the coast here (except maybe Tamarindo) are very nice and quiet. Nobody asking you to go parasailing,buy marijuana, or get your hair braided every 5 minutes.

We enjoyed dinner at Marie's, which is in the typical open air style beside the shopping center right across the street from the Flamingo Beach Resort. We thought it was a very nice restaurant. A tasty selection of dishes including fish, of course. Most main dishes were about $10-15, with a couple cheaper items on the dinner menu. Marie's had a very relaxed atmosphere, but you still felt you were someplace special.

Our drinks had come, we had some nice chips & salsa, and a local guitar quartet was going around to play for tables. Our daughters had fun watching the local cats and we were enjoying the laid-back atmosphere, reading their goofy signs.
Unfortunately, then our meals arrived, and the food was really not that great. In their defense, they do claim to specialize in barbeque and we had ordered other things.

Outback Jack's is the most obvious place in Playa Brasilito, which is a pretty small settlement. There are a couple signs (and a rusted van) advertising it on the roads nearby. Outback Jack's is right down beside the beach. As you might guess from the name, they have a casual Australian theme. Main dishes mostly between US $7-14

After a drive on the worst 3 km of road we experienced in Costa Rica, we were richly rewarded with the views of Playa Pan de Azucar ("Sugar Beach"). The Sugar Beach Hotel is the only place on this beach, and it sits on a hilltop overlooking the gorgeous curving beach.

Without knowing exactly what was there, we had decided to go visit the beach in the middle of the day, and when we got there, we found the hotel pretty much had the prime location. Since it was lunchtime, we decided to try the hotel restaurant. The food was very good, not too expensive (several lunch main dishes in the US $7-8 range).

But the real reason to come is the atmosphere and view. The restaurant is open air, overlooking the ocean with large colorful arrangements of tropical flowers decorating the tables. You get to look for the occasional iguana lurking around or sunning on the roof.

We didn't look at the hotel rooms at all, but it seemed like a very nice place to stay if you want to be away from the crowds on a beautiful beach.

Do whatever you can to grab some lunch or snacks before you get to the Liberia airport if you are flying out of there. The food at their lunch counter was horrible. Easily the worst we experienced in the country.

To add insult to injury, it is also the most over-priced garbage, with the mark-up even exceeding what you'd pay for similar fast food at US airports like O'Hare.

Ick ick ick.

The Plea Mar restaurant is a casual little beachfront place at the end of the marina, at the opposite end from Playa Flamingo. It's on the main road as you turn along the ocean towards Playa Flamingo. When I say "beachfront", it is really as close as you can get without getting wet. Little (harmless) crabs come up from the beach into the restaurant and scamper underfoot while you're eating.

The place reminded me of what you would get if you transported a small Wisconsin lakefront bar and grill to Central America. One waiter for the whole place, thatch roof coverings over the tables with little Christmas lights, and a nice view over the water.

We enjoyed our inexpensive dinner very much. The fish was fresh and tasty and one daughter had a nice barbequed chicken dinner also. Dinner for a family of 4, including a couple nice daquiris, was about 38 dollars, but we did order some of the less expensive items on the menu. "Casonas" or one-plate specials, were about 7 dollars.

We had our last dinner of the trip here and it was a good place to spend our last evening. But if you're looking for a fancy, white tablecloths kind of upscale place, try somewhere else.

At Playa Conchal, there is a stand where they rent a snorkel, mask, and fins, for US $5/hour. This was the only beach where we found you could rent the equipment on a walk-up basis.

One corner of the beach is somewhat protected from the waves by some rocks and the corner of the bay, and that's where you snorkel. The snorkeling was really pretty good and we saw yellow-and-black striped zebra fish, angel fish, little irridescent blue fish, bigger schools of regular silver fish, 3-foot long needle nosed fish, rainbow colored parrot fish, a leopard fish, a really big clam, an eel, and a nice assortment of other multi-colored tropical fish.

Playa Conchal is unique among the Costa Rica Pacific beaches in that it is made of small pieces of shells instead of finely grained sand. Unless you're staying at the big Conchal Reserve resort, to get to the beach, you park at Brasilito, then walk 1 km across Playa Brasilito's grey sand to get to Conchal. Or you can rent 4-wheelers in Brasilito and drive them over. Some people did drive their cars along the Brasilito beach, crossing one very small stream, to get to Conchal, but the people at my hotel said I shouldn't do that. But there didn't seem to be any problems for those who did. If you decide to walk, it is a pleasant 15 minute walk along Brasilito to get to Conchal.

Playa Conchal also has some souvenir stands at the resort entrance and jet-ski and kayak rentals.

Villa Blanca is a peaceful, away-from-it-all resort outside of San Ramon. It's about 1/3 of the way from San Jose to the Arenal/La Fortuna area, so stopping by is a nice way to break up the drive. The resort is beside the Los Angeles Cloud Forest nature reserve. It isn't a huge cloud forest, but we weren't going to make it to the Monteverde cloud forests on our trip, so we stopped by here for a 2-hour guided hiking tour (US $26/person).

They have some primary (uncut) cloud forest, some that was re-planted 20-40 years ago, and some more recent replanting, and it was interesting to see the contrasts. While hiking, the tour guide pointed out the usual plants and insects, such as leaf-cutter ants. We also spotted a pair of toucans in the wild, and several other species of birds. At the end of the tour is a hummingbird garden where we saw several of at least 4 different hummingbird species darting around. I could have watched the hummingbirds for hours. But seeing the trees dripping with bromeliads and moss and huge monkey-head ferns was really the main attraction.

Villa Blanca is about 10 km off of the main road just north-west of San Ramon. Watch for signs. The road from the main road is narrow, but in pretty nice shape.

The resort also has a small chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary and featuring hand-painted ceiling tiles depicting dedications to Mary for each Latin American country, for example, the Virgin of Guadelupe for Mexico.

Under an hour's drive from Alajuela is the active Poas volcano. There isn't hot lava here, but the caldera of Poas emits steam and noxious fumes and is filled with acid water.

You want to get an early start because it often clouds over later in the day. We had clear views of the San Jose central valley all the way up to the volcano, but by the time we reached the caldera, it had completely filled in with clouds. It was still easily worth the trip however, and we made the short hike to the other, now extinct crater which contains Botos Lagoon. Botos Lagoon, which is filled with rain water instead of acidic volcano emissions, was still clear, so we got some nice views of it before clouds rolled in.

Even with the clouds, the steep hike on their trails was worth it to see the jungle plants, including the huge umbrella leafed plants. At the start of our hike, we were remarking, "Boy it sure stinks on this path". Eventually we realized that it was sulfur emissions from the volcano that we were smelling.

The hike to Botos Lagoon was certainly worth it, and you can continue the trail back to the visitor's center. I do recommend doing the trail clockwise, the same way we did (first Poas caldera, then Botos Lagoon) because it seemed even steeper coming down after Botos than it had going up.

There is a nice visitor's center with a shop, restaurant, restrooms, and movie about the volcano.

The Gold Museum, in downtown San Jose, teaches you about the indigenous settlement and culture of Costa Rica. It describes some of the different tribes that used to live here and gives some description of their settlements. But as the name implies, the focus here is on gold artifacts from pre-Columbian times. They have a nice collection of ornaments of different shapes, including jaguar, butterly, bat, crocodile, and lobster shapes, among others.


The museum also traces the evolution and migration of the gold casting technology used here. According to the exhibits, the goldsmithing methods and influences moved into Costa Rica from Columbia, and the Mayan's to the north aren't really mentioned much at all, which we found surprising.

There are also some exhibits of somewhat whimsical pottery and ceremonial grinding tables from archaeological sites.

Housed in the same space (and included with the same admission fee) is the small Nuismatic Museum, tracing the evolution of money in Costa Rica, from cacao beans in colonial times to modern bills and coins. We walked through this relatively quickly, but it was a little interesting.

The National Theater is on the same plaza as the museums.

We hired a driver to take us there. I don't know if we'd have been able to find it on our own, and I wouldn't have known where to park a car anywhere nearby. It was also pouring down rain all afternoon, so being indoors in the museum was a good way to spend the afternoon.