Costa Rica Trip Report

Arenal Volcano.  Awesome from any angle.

Well I've been meaning to do this trip report since we got back from our trip in early April. If I wait much longer I'll completely forget the details so here we go:

 This year we decided to get our passports out for our spring break trip and head to Costa Rica.  This was to be our first trip to Central America.  Wherever possible I like to be able to get wherever we are going without changing planes and in this case we were able to fly directly from Chicago/ O’hare to Liberia (an airport/area in Costa Rica I had never heard of).  We had plenty of connection options into San Jose but we opted for the direct service on United.  Pretty much felt like a normal domestic flight honestly.

Getting There
The Liberia Airport feels more like a charter airport than a regular commercial one.  Essentially as near as I can tell the entire purpose of the airport is to get as many Americans into Costa Rica as quickly and easily as possible.  The airport is nice, new, very modern, and customs was a breeze.

As we were landing I saw long line of cars on the road next to the airport. It was clear there was some kind of problem on the road but we had no idea how bad it was until we landed. Apparently there was a car accident on the only road leading to the airport and it involved a fatality.  The road was pretty much blocked so all the rental car companies that had their offices in that direction couldn't get their vans to the airport (including, of course, our company).  

So we had the opportunity to sit outside Liberia airport for a couple hours enjoying the dry 90 degree heat until the road reopened and our car rental van was able to pick us up. Apparently our van driver had said that this was the second fatality in a week on this very road which seemed unusual as the road was not particularly hazardous looking. It was a good warning however into some of the hazards of road travel in Costa Rica.

Driving
Driving in Costa Rica is definitely not a relaxing experience.  If you are thinking of driving to enjoy the freedom and peacefulness of the road you may want to re-think your decision.  While I'm sure it’s much better than most if not all Central American countries is still not for the faint of heart.  Roads are usually narrow, bridges are often one lane only, shoulders are rare, and almost all roads are two lanes, even the major highways.  Don’t expect too many divided highways.

Just another chance to pass a dump truck on a 1.5 lane road.  :-)

In fact when we were traveling on the main highway through the country which I had thought would be most likely to feel like an interstate it was probably closer to a 2 Lane County Rd. Just with a lot of extra traffic. In the US since we spend most of our time traveling long distances on the Interstate I was able to reacquaint myself with the lost art of passing cars on a two lane highway.  The underpowered, loaded with luggage, four-cylinder SUV made it especially challenging.

The only driving we did during the trip was from the airport to the first place we stayed. Then from the first place we stayed to the second hotel. Then from that hotel back to the airport. In retrospect I think I would've priced out having a charter van take us to all three locations. It certainly would've been much more relaxed. You never knew when you're going to come around the corner on a narrow road and have a large tour bus coming the other way at you.  Anyway, we made it none the worse for wear (if maybe just a bit stressed out).

Trip Summary (way too fast)
The way we set the trip up the first half was in the jungle (Arenal area) the second half was along the Pacific ocean (Manuel Antonio/Quepos area).  These are definitely two of the more “touristy” spots in the country but there is also a ton of available activites at each one.  We really wanted to try a number of different activities.  Here’s a brief rundown on our tours:

1)      Arenal National Park hike/tour  - Interesting wildlife information and animal/bird spotting but you don’t really get that close to the volcano.

2)      Hot springs tour – We all loved it (especially the kids); very relaxing way to end the day.

3)      La Fortuna Waterfall horseback ride – Great fun and a beautiful waterfall/swimming hole

4)      Sky Tram and zip lining – Wow!  Fantastic experience.  Our favorite activity.

5)      Twilight safari float – Great tour with great opportunities for wildlife spotting.  Heard the howler monkey “up close”.  Very cool.

6)      Manuel Antonio national park tour.  – Interesting park and wildlife but SOOO crowded it did take away a bit from the enjoyment.

Sunset in Quepos

It sounds like a lot but we also had plenty of time to just hang out by the pool as well. 

Final Observations

1)      As previously mentioned driving in Costa Rica is a bit dicey.  Not “risk your life” scary, just a bit dicey.

2)      Costa Rica is a good place to go with teenagers as most of the tours are stuff they would enjoy (and we didn’t even try ATV tours or white water rafting).

3)      There is no such thing as “indoor” really in Costa Rica. Almost every place we went was outdoor; whether it was a restaurant, hotel check-in, or even a grocery store.  This was very much to our liking but if you're the kind of person that needs to eat meals at 72° you might be slightly disappointed/annoyed.

4)    Costa Rica is not big on signs. You notice this first on the roads where even with a really good map your challenged to be able to find your way. You see a turn on the map and you know your getting close, but is it your turn?  It’s difficult to know and I stopped expecting signs to help me early on in our driving experience.  You can also travel for a long time on a road and never see a sign telling you which road you're on, so you find yourself always unsure/hoping you made the correct decision.

But my favorite anecdote about signs in Costa Rica occurred not on the roads but at the hotel pool. In both locations we were staying when I went down to the pool I noticed a huge difference between what you see at a Costa Rican pool and what you see at a typical US hotel pool. There was not one sign anywhere in the pool area. No "no running "signs, no signs telling you how deep the water was, no “No diving” signs with the picture of the guy hitting his head; and no written pool rules at all. That doesn’t mean it’s chaos, they just don’t feel the need to write everything down.  I did see one guy try to bring glass to the pool and a hotel employee just asked him not to…no big deal.  Depending on your point of view you may find this either refreshing or scary. I actually thought it was kind of nice/refreshing.  A few kids, freed from the normal restrictions of US hotel pools, even participated in the lost art of chicken fighting (remember that). 

5)      Costa Rica is definitely set up for tourists, but I never really felt like it completely crossed the line into feeling “touristy”.  I know the industry appreciates Americans spending tourism dollars in their economy, but I didn’t have the impression that everywhere I went and every person I talked with was focused on separating me from my money.  Sometimes it’s a fine line between being “tourist friendly” and “tourist driven”.  Our experience was generally that the balance was pretty good

6)      Most everything was very positive but there were a couple of negatives. I usually like to run on vacation and despite the picture (bumper sticker) I really didn't have any good places to run.  The one time I did try to run on a trail near our hotel, the snake I encountered was enough to convince me this was not the place for "trying a new trail".

For me "The Joy of Running" does NOT include snakes.

One time I think we spent $27 for standard container of sunscreen at a grocery store. I’m not sure if that's standard pricing or if we were shopping in the wrong location but the price was unmarked and we didn't realize it until we were walking out. It was correct on the receipt but it sure seemed like they gouged us.  Also, as nice as the Liberia airport was on the way in on the way out you definitely felt like you were trapped. The food was unbelievably overpriced and not that great.  I think we spent $60 for two sandwiches a piece of pizza and drinks.  That combined with the $29 (per person) exit fee collected at the airport made for a bit of a poor last impression for the country.


Overall we had a great time. I would highly recommend Costa Rica for people interested in an active vacation with still plenty of opportunities for just relaxing. Our teenagers loved it, and they were of the perfect age to be able to do all of the tours and activities with no problems.

Pura Vida!

Pacific Ocean from Manuel Antonio National Park