My son who was thinking of going to San Francisco is now thinking of Costa Rica, in late January or February. They would like to have an active vacation, probably with activities included in the price of the trip. Things like zip lining, white water rafting, hiking, etc appeal to them. Some history/culture would be OK, but more active things are preferred. They are looking for a spend no more than 6K for 2 people, including air fare from the east coast. They do not want the trip to be any longer than 10 days. Anyone have suggestions? I’ve sent them lots of links, but I have no personal experience in this area.
A friend of mine and her husband did an REI adventure trip to Costa Rica and loved it. It only costs $20 for a lifetime REI membership, to get the member rate. Their trips do run on the more expensive side, because they are small groups with plenty of activities, however, they have a 6 day trip with a member rate of $2,799 in Feb. it probably includes the activities they are looking for, though with the airfare, it could exceed the 6K goal. I’ve always wanted to go on one of these trips, and if they haven’t considered this, they might want to take a look.
https://www.rei.com/adventures/trips/latin/costa-rica-escape.html
Now that I look at this again, I want to go! We were thinking of doing something tropical in February, and my husband mentioned Costa Rica.
Do they think they need a tour?? A guide?? Everything is cheaper if they do their own planning. I highly recommend Rio Pasquale for white water rafting. The price includes pick up and return to your hotel in San Jose, but I wouldn’t recommend the San Jose capital city for anything but a stayover if the goal is adventure travel.
My suggested general itinerary
Arrive San Jose one night. Walk around, see sights, good restaurant
Rental car, drive to Arenal area. Stay 3 nights
Rain forest, hikes, zip lining, mud baths, wildlife
Drive or transfer to a coastal city (Manual Antonio) for turtle nesting, beaches, tropical forests
Return to San Jose and do one or two different white water trips
Thanks for the suggestions. I sent the REI link already. I will mention doing it on their own, but she doesn’t drive and he doesn’t have a car (or insurance) so renting a car may get pretty expensive for them. I’ve heard going with a Costa Rican company may also make it cheaper.
@somemom any thoughts?.
Hot springs at the Arnal Volcano.
https://www.elremanso.com/en/home
We stayed here a few years ago and it was one of the best vacations ever. It’s not for everyone, no nightlife or AC, but beautiful and wild.
Trip Advisor has a very active Costa Rica forum. If you don’t want to rent a car, there are private shuttle vans you can use to go from place to place. I would recommend against staying in one hotel for the whole time. Drive times are long, roads are mountainous and potholed, and there is so much to see, you don’t want to be stuck doing day trips (but salespeople will offer them to you!). Particularly in the northwest part of the country, where the big tourist hotels are, you are not close to rainforest or many of the other activities. They have great beaches there though, so it isn’t bad as part of a multi stop trip. Have them check out the Trip advisor forum, lots of great advice there.
Not having a car complicates things, but we went on a solo trip about 12 years ago. In addition to the zip lining, Arenal hot springs and white water rafting already mentioned, I’d add canyoneering and a trip to The Monte Verde cloud forest, including the midnight hike. Arsenal was mentioned, but there are a couple other volcanoes to visit (Poas and Irazu , iirc).
We drove right from the rental car pickup to our hotel out of town - no reason to stay in San Jose that we found. The Peace Lodge at the Waterfall Gardens was very nice.
I also highly recommend contacting the Trip Advisor Forum! 5 years ago the resorts that were all-inclusive or provided adventure trips had very poor reviews due to theft and environmental concerns.
Costa Rica is beautiful but it’s not the best destination to fly into and expect adventure at your doorstep. I agree that you only stay the night in San Jose if your flight requires it. A couple of days around Arenal to explore the adventure sports then take shuttle transfer to Manuel Antonio for wildlife and coast. These are the most touristy areas of Costa Rica but provide the most shuttles if they aren’t renting a car.
It has been a few years since our Costa Rica trip but we booked our own “package tour” using a San Jose hotel called the Adventure Inn, spending first night and last night at the Adventure Inn, rest of trip was spent in 2 or 3 night stays around the country, in Manuel Antonio, Monteverde, Arenal, Tortuguero and Puerto Viejo. We stayed in all small, locally owned boutique hotels, used the point to point van shuttles to get from place to place, never missed having a rental car. The whole trip was booked through adventure inn who booked each transfer, other hotels, even the activities in each location, all worked out perfectly and was much easier to have the bookings taken care of by someone local to work out the logistics with all the transfers and trips.
My D went to Costa Rica with a school trip through EF Tours. They are super affordable and also have trips for adults. They went zip lining, kayaking in a volcanic lake near Arenal, horseback riding on the beach, white water rafting, hiking, etc… It was an all inclusive trip including food and transportation. She was gone for 10 days and the trip was under $2500 including airfare (a few years back).
Wow @leennp . The Adventure Inn package tour looks like a great option for when we eventually get down there! Thanks.
OP here - final answer…
They did a complete 360 and are booked for 6 days in Disney World.
They started by saying the did NOT want to go to Disney, and they wanted an active vacation. They really seemed to like the Costa Rica thing, and were looking at different tours, because they are not particularly experienced travelers, and wanted something easy.
Then a friend came back from Disney, said they had a great time, and they started looking at that. They booked airfare and hotels earlier this week.
All is not lost - I really want to go to Costa Rica (husband is less enamored with that idea), and if I can convince him, I will revisit this thread.
I suspect they may go also, but not this winter.
Thanks everyone.