We went on vacation to Costa Rica back in January 2006. We flew into San Jose and picked up our rental car. We had about an 8 hour drive to our hotel including a ferry ride from Puntarenas. We stayed in Tambor, the southern most point on the pacific side, by Cabo Blanco. Getting there with a rental car was quite an adventure, but in a fun way, not dangerous or scary. Beware, the roads there are pretty tough, there are detours down dirt roads which are detours from route 1, the main highway.
Once we got to our resort, Barcelo Playa Tambor, we checked in without any problems and went off to ur room. The rooms were large run of the mill resort rooms with rockhard beds, but the view into the rain forest, and the pools, people and service, made you forget about the hard beds very quickly.
We drove all over the area and checked out a ton of stuff. There were a lot of Canadians there, and tons of surfers from Canada that were just bumming around in Mal Pais. We gave some of them rides to and from the tiny 4 cornsers of Cobano. Cobano had a bank, a fruit stand, and a small market, but it was the only thing in the area. We hiked the Montezuma waterfalls, got totally lost in the rain forest and had a blast. We kayaked in the bay area, went deep sea fishing and caught a HUGE Mahi Mahi. Our guide was AWESOME!
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In the resort compound there is a wildlife area where we spotted monkeys, alligators, iguanas of all shapes and sizes and some really neat photo opportunities. More toward the entrance there is bird sanctuary that features parrots from all over South America. If you look up while wondering through the bird sanctuary, you will see a bunch of monkeys quietly peering down at you. It wa amazing!
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We also did a 4 wheeler tour with the same guy that took us fishing. That was wonderful as well, we got to experience the country on 4 wheelers and we made some friends while we ere at it as well. During that tour we stopped, drank a few beers and went for a swim in beautiful waterhole that had a rope swing and huge waterfalls.
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It was a wonderful trip that we will never forget, and byh far our favorite trip ever!
Here is a picture of the hotel pool just to make your mind up about going!
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Hotel airfare cost per person: $755
Rental car $325
Driving in Costa Rica: Priceless.