Were Going to Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica what is there to do?

Question

were staying at the Si Como No Resort..were renting a car only because we need to drive from San Jose..is there anything else to do in Manuel Antonio besides the hiking and volcanoes and wildlife and waterfalls (provided by hotel)..does manuel antonio have a city that we could go in and shop and look??? were thinking of doing the shopping thing in San Jose on our way in and out of the country..do you have any tips?what to wear and bring (were going in August)?? is Manuel Antonio a city like restaurants and roads full of life or is it just trees and water?? help!!

Answer 1

No need to rent a car - actually I would recommend against it.  The roads from the airport to Manual Antonio can be quite rough.  Also, navigation is a little tough as there aren't a great deal of road signs or street signs.  It's just as easy to take a shuttle or taxi - at least I find it easier to do that.

Manual Antonio is basically the National Park.  There is quite a bit of activity beyond the walls though for tourism.  There are hotels, eateries, a little shopping etc.  But your best bet for the shopping is to head over to Quepos - it's the closest full fledge city next to Manual Antonio.  It cost us $6.00 to take a taxi from MA to Quepos.  

Also, if you check out the websites you can find so much to do.  We were there for 5 days and we did 2 guided hikes (I recommend doing at least 1 for the first one through MA - you need to know what you shouldn't touch, poison fauna and such - and how to avoid eyelash vipers), white water rafting, waterfall reppeling, canapy tours, a spice farm tour and spent a lot of time just chilling with a foo foo drink by the pool.  Not all of the tours are close - but everyone we took picked us up at the hotel.  Other tours included horseback riding, ATV's, kayaking, surf lessons - I could keep going on.  Start with www.iquanatours.com - it'll give you an idea of whats offered and what the prices look like.

San Jose is just a big city.  I try not to spend to much time there when I go down.  There are places to shop - the street shopping is more fun than the mall - but I enjoy shopping along the flea market type things by the beach instead.  More fun.

Weather in august will be comfortable and rainey.  Plan on it raining often, but it's not a cold rain.  You'll want to bring at least one pair of long pants and a sweatshirt for early mornings and evenings.  It does get a bit chilly.

Answer 2

There is a Small tourist oriented town near Manuel Antonio called Quepos.  It has most of the tourist aimed amenities.

Both Quepos and Manuel Antonio provide a lot of muggings and robberies so avoid carrying anything visibly valuable, especially laptops and cell phones.  Eco tourism has pretty much destroyed most of the area as well as over development.  Still, people ignorant enough of the rest of Costa Rica find it a nice place to go.

Answer 3

Hi All!

Well, I do agree with Kristina for the most part, but given the choice i would prefer to fly to Manuel Antonio rather than shuttle. I tried both as my flight didnt arrive in Costa Rica on time for me to take the flight I wanted to MA so I took a shuttle. Our drive was around 3.5 hours and was pretty nice, we had a funny driver that was ok with stops, so that was cool. On the way back home we flew from MA to San Jose through Nature Air and that was really cool, the flight was only 25 minutes long (compared to 3.5 hours it was heavenly) and really didnt cost much more than the shuttle. actually I think the flight was cheaper than the shuttle...have to look that up. We had a person help us so it was kind of easy to get around, she booked us in the  Costa Verde hotel in MA and it was great. We are contacting her again for our trip to Aranal for next January. I stick to the flights, it was easier to get around.

Answer 4

my husband and I spent 10 days in Costa Rica a couple of years ago and drove ourselves all over the Pacific and Central part of the country.  There are very few street signs but we managed very well.  The locals are more than happy to help you out.  We found driving around to be a great adventure in itself.  We were able to stop anywhere we wanted.  We stopped in little towns to get a feel for the people and culture.  

We stayed in Manuel Antonio for a couple of days.  The information from Kristina on what to do was right on.  There is so much to do in that area that we plan on spending about 5 days there on our next trip in a year.  I do recommend hitting all of the little shops/flea markets that are along the beaches in Manuel Antonio as well as all the shops in Quepos.  You will find some really neat items and great local art type items.  I hope you have a great time!