Costa Rica Anniversary Trip???

Hey girls, I'm thinking about planning a trip to Costa Rica in January 2010. I want to head to the pacific side. Can anyone who's been point me in the direction of looking for a place to stay? Ideally we are looking for some adventure, maybe rafting or something, hiking and nature. Restaurants, bars etc. are not that important to us. We like being in secluded areas without much to do other than enjoy the beauty of the place and explore. Also, I would love to combine this with a couple of days on the Galapagos Islands. Anyone know if this is possible? I'm going to head to my TA for some info, but my BDW girls always have the best info! TIA

ooohhhh i highly recommend Hotel Punta Islita - one of my favorite places I have ever been! very secluded, romantic, beautiful, luxurious but natural, activities - AWESOME!

Hello Kelly,

 

You sound like a Dominical kind of girl. Secluded, away from the more touristy part of Costa Rica. A 35km bad road divides Dominical from Quepos, this sort of filters some of the crowd (try looking into Rancho Pacifico). You will also have Osa Peninsula within reach. If you want to be really adventurous head that way (Corcovado). I'm costarican and I cross the Peninsula once a year (4 day hike overnites at the stations in the park)and then stay at La Leona Lodge or Bosque del Cabo. Lots to do out there!

 

I was just in Galapagos and did it aboard the Seaman II 16 passenger cat, very comfortable (5 days). Galapagos is amazing! I did it thru Andean Birding,(I'm a birdwatcher) we then stayed in Hacienda San Agustin de Callo near Cotopaxi (total pampering).

Let me know if I may be of more help Kelly

Thanks guys. I'm going to google the places you recommended, do some research and talk to my TA. I'm sure I'll be back with more questions.

My sister's friend from work went to Villa Caletas and loved it, it looks so beautiful, we are thinking about it for our honeymoon.

Hubby and I went on our anniversary trip and stayed in Arenal and in Manuel Antonio on the pacific coast. Our hotel was La Mansion Inn! Absolutely stunning views and was a great mix of being secluded but also close enough to all of the attractions. And not right on the beach but a nice mountain walk away, about 10 mins. We absolutely loved it and totally recommend it to anyone! Let me know if you have any other questions. Pura Vida!

Hey! I JUST got back from Costa Rica last night! And I LOVED IT SO MUCH! I cried when I left it is absolutely a perfect vacation.

 

We stayed at Villa Caletas for 4 nights and it was incredible. It is very secluded but a 10 minute drive to the town of Jaco which is busy and has a beach and a lot going on. We did a day trip to Manuel Antonio from there and it was about an hour and a half drive. Also AMAZING!

 

We then drove up to La fortuna/Arenal area and stayed at the newer hotel Royal Corin. I absolutely died, I didn't think anything could be more amazing than Villa Caletas but I was wrong. It blew me away. We had a jacuzzi that had a tv in it!!! The rooms look right out at the volcano, the grounds are incredible with thermal pools which were fantastic for nighttime. We relaxed at night but during the day did some hiking, a waterfall repel in the rainforest, and also just enjoyed the hotel.

Sorry to butt in on this thread, but we have been researching CR for a late HM in May. La Mansion Inn looks great! I would love to hear more! We will only have a week there, so we are looking for somewhere that lets us see a couple sides of costa rica without too much traveling...especially wildlife in the forest and the beaches. How was the beach that was in walking distance? Were there places to snorkel in the area? How did you get to and from the airport? Were there a lot options for places to eat in the area? Any info would be great...thanks!

Our trip basically went like this:
Flew into San Jose and got picked up by car rental company.
Got into our rental SUV (an absolute must if you want to do stuff on your own!) but there were also plently of people that got by via taxis and shuttles!
Drove ~3 hrs to Arenal and stayed there for 4 days (maybe 5?). This is where we did all of the activities: quad tour, zip lining, waterfall repelling (by far my favorite acitivity!) and caves.
Got into our car and drove ~5 or 6 hrs to Manuel Antonio. The road to La Mansion Inn really is as bad as all of the reviews said it would be. Very mountanous and very very very beat up! Hubby loved the "off-roading" though:) I would have been mortified to be behind the wheel!
We stayed in MA for 3 days and other than the tour of the National Park (an absolute must and with a guide!!!!) We kept it to the beach and the pool. The hotel is very small and since we were there during the off season, had a total of about 20 guests! We met a couple there who were on their honeymoon and did all of the activities we did in Arenal plus surfing. I would have loved to try surfing but we just found out I was pregnant right before leaving on this trip and decided it wouldn't be a good idea:)
The town (La Quinta I think!?) is about a 10 min drive from the hotel and has lots of places to eat and a bit of a night life. We did go Salsa dancing one of the nights.
The beach is not a Cancun type of beach at all but is very nice in it's own right. The sand is dark and the water is not the crystal blue but, it is the Pacific ocean so that was expected. But it's very very clean and the water was surprisingly warm!
All in all, this was by far our best vacation ever!

I stayed at La Mansion Inn and it is very beautiful. WE got a great deal and stayed there 3 nights at the end of our CR trip. It's abit stuffy in the lobby but the rest of the time it seemed like we were teh only ones there. The pool is very small and quaint. AMAZING service. yOu are treated like royalty.

We also stayed at Quepos Accommodations, Manuel Antonio Costa Rica Beach Hotels, Costa Rica Honeymoons, Manuel Antonio Hotels, Hotels Quepos, Beach Resorts Costa Rica, Accommodations Manuel Antonio, Hotel Manuel Antonio which was a really adoreable B&B
For adventure I highly highly recommend you look at Rafiki Safari Lodge, Costa Rica - White water Rafting, Hiking, Birding, and Horseback Riding in the Rainforest! It was sensational and such a wonderful memory for us.
have fun planning. I heart CR