Terri

Hello. I have just begun to research Costa Rica for a vacation this spring. I must say I'm over whelmed by all the information here. We would like to find an area that has a nice, uncrowded beach with soft sand &amp; beautiful water that's good for swimming. We'd like a nice, clean, quiet place steps from the beach. We'd also like this place to be walking distance to restaurants &amp; bars (we don't want to rent a car). We aren't into the late night wild partying but would like to be near a laid back place to go to for a drink or two (or ten) and maybe listen to some music. Any ideas to get me started?<BR><BR>Thanks<BR>Terri

Joe

Check out El mono azul or the Blue monkey in Quepos and Manuel Antonio. I stayed there last year and paid about $75. a night, Its a decent place with 2 pools and a good restaurant. A bus passes buy all the time to take you two the beach which is 5 minutes away. You can also hail a taxi pretty cheaply.<BR>My advice is to high tail it out of Sn Jose as quickly as possible. You talk about a dump. The rest of the country is nice though. Good luck

Terri

Thanks Joe, I'll check those out. I know nothing about Costa Rica and need to research more to figure out what area we'd like. How far is Quepos from San Jose and how would we get there (plane, bus, etc?)

Terri

Terri - Check out Hotel Capitan Suizo at Playa Tamarindo. It sounds exactly like what you are looking for. (www.hotelcapitansuizo.com.) You can fly, drive or take a bus to Tamarindo - just depends on your budget and your time constraints.

Tess

Terri,<BR><BR>To get from San Jose to Quepos, you can fly (either on Sansa or NatureAir) or drive (must be up to challenges of navigating w/minimal signage and potholes galore) or take the bus. On a visit to CR this past September, I flew back from Quepos to SJ on Sansa Airlines; it's a small plane, seating 12 passengers and took about 45 minutes. Quick and easy.<BR><BR>Alternatively, if you choose to stay in Tamarindo (it's nice, too) or another spot along the Nicoya peninsula, you might consider flying into Liberia rather than San Jose. Starting Dec-1st, Delta Airlines now has a flight into that city out of Atlanta. I'm not sure how long it'd take you to get from Liberia to Tamarindo; it may be easier to do so without having to stay overnight (as you often do when arriving in San Jose).<BR>

Sue

I don't think you will find it terribly quiet in the Manuel Antonio area as it is one of the top tourist areas. One place on the beach would be Tulemar Bungelows. <BR>Tamarindo, Playa Hermosa are both beautiful areas and much less crowded.