Headed to Guanacaste Costa Rica, what should I see?

Question

I checked the web and found these things that are relatively close to our hotel in playa hermosa(from closest to furthest). Have you been to these places, what was it like, do you reccomend it etc. We'll be there on our honeymoon in a month and stay for a week. Feel free to make any suggestions as far as towns to visit, sights to see, things to do, food to eat, etc.

Iguanita Wildlife Reserve

Costa Esmerelda WR

Congo Trail

Santa Rosa National Park

Isla Colorada y murcialago

Guanacaste NP

Rincon de la vieja NP

Rio Corobici

Las Pumas cat zoo

palo verde NP

Lago Arenal y Volcan Arenal

Selvatura

Monteverde cloud forest

Gracias!

Answer 1

My wife and I went to Guanacaste in October, 2006.  We mainly went for scuba diving, which we did from Playa Ocotal (the next beach over from Playa Hermosa).  It is a beautiful country, and we had a great time.

The only thing we did on your list was Monteverde, but it was absolutely worth it.  Pay the extra $20 or so to have a guided tour, you won't regret it.

If you have a month, you might be able to get scuba certified in that amount of time.  My class was 6 weeks, and I finished it just a week before we went.  Swimming around with all those puffer fish and seeing eels and rays was amazing.

Someone has probably already warned you about driving at night, due to potholes and stuff.  I don't know if you're flying into Liberia (I think they pronounce it lee-BEAR-ee-yuh or lee-bear-EE-yuh, not lie-beer-ee-yuh like in English) or San Jose, but honestly, driving on the Pan-American highway between the San Jose airport and Liberia was no sweat.  Like any 2-lane paved country road in the US, but with a fair bit of semi traffic.  To get to Playa Hermosa you'd turn left at the stoplight in Liberia (yes, THE stoplight) and then pass the Liberia airport.  Through this point, and for the next few miles, the road is absolutely fine.  It's only the last few miles that it gets really rutted.

Driving time takes longer than you think - you'll only get up to 50mph for rare stretches.  We had planned to see Arenal, but didn't because we underestimated how long the driving would take and ended up not having time :(

The road from the P.A. Highway to Monteverde is ridiculously bad, but we had a 4wd and viewed it as like an amusement park ride, and loved it.  We went up in the daytime, but stayed too long and came down at night - I probably wouldn't do that again.  I also wouldn't do that road w/o 4wd.

Costa Rica isn't really known for its cuisine, but if you can find a soda (what they call diners) give it a try.  We stopped at one on the P.A. Highway that was (coming from San Jose) just after the stretch of road where the North- and South-bound lanes split and rejoin.  It was on the left, and had a great view over some mountains and the valley between.

Enjoy your trip!

Answer 2

I own a condo in Ocotal and the beach there(black sand) is beautiful. There is some really good snorkeling as well. If you can spend the money visit Tabacon. It is about a 4-5 hour drive but a very pretty in the rain forest. The city is called arenal and it is at the base of a volcano(one of the 10 most active in the world) so on most nights you can see lava flowing down the side. There are amazing hot springs and cute little stores all over. The resort at Ta bacon was pricey(500 a night) but well worth it. There are other cheaper hotels around(Los lagos was recommended to me). Rincon de la vieja is closer and was very nice. We saw monkeys there. If you go there stop and eat at the hacienda its on the way and the food was amazing. Have fun.