# How hard is it to get Costa Rica Exchange?



## suzanne (May 28, 2007)

I have been searching for Costa Rica thru RCI for several weeks and I never see anything at all come up.  I was wondering if its because my weeks are Gold Crown and the VEP filter is keeing me from seeing anything or if its just a really hard trade even for standard resorts. I only have RCI weeks so can't search on II.

Suzanne


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## ValHam (May 28, 2007)

Last year I stayed at Taranova Villas in San Jose and another week in Pueblo Real in Manuel Antonio.  Taranova Villas was not the greatest - I felt so uncomfortable I went up and stayed in a hotel in Monteverde - It had no amenities - very basic apt in a residential district of San Jose - It was good if you do not care about the accomodation - just want to do day trips - Pueblo Real was nice.  I enjoyed the area and the timeshare was spacious and clean.  I would say a gold crown would not allow you to trade to those resorts - I used a standard resort for the trade and told the rep to give me a resort below the standard one I own - nothing of gold crown status was available.. Next year I got a trade to Guanacaste to Condovac - It does show plenty of availability in May 2008 - However, it does not have such a good rating with trip advisor - 
Good .  My second week I have decided to stay in hotels - not too much available in Costa Rica -


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## suzanne (May 29, 2007)

Thank you for your help. I was afraid the VEP filter was what was keeing me from seeing anything. I will see what I can find using a friend's standard resort or else go thru Sky Auction, I have been seeing some good auctions for Costa Rica there. 

Suzanne


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## bailey (May 30, 2007)

I tried for many months to get Costa Rica for March 2007 and found nothing until the last minute when Pueblo Real finally showed up.  I did find something in the Northwest area but wasn't the right time frame.  Occasionally I have seen weeks in San Jose.   I did not care for the Pueblo Real resort.  It was really too far in my opinion from Manuel Antonio.  

I did use Sky Auction also for part of my trip and was very pleased and would definitely do it again.  This was my first experience w/ Sky Auction, and I was very pleased.  

I also stayed in an ecolodge in the Arenal area (Cerra Chato)...very clean and affordable accomodations.   It was something like $36.00 a night.  The owners were absolutely wonderful.  Unfortunately, we had someone try to break into our room while we were sleeping one night.  He actually cut the screen on the window.  I woke up and screamed and scared him off, but he had already gotten the couple next doors backpack off the bed next to them while they were sleeping.


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## Pat H (May 30, 2007)

Suzanne, when are you looking to go and what size unit do you need?


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## suzanne (Jun 1, 2007)

Hi Pat, Everyone,

We are looking at the months of March or April or Sept. thru Dec. 2008. These are the only months Hubby can get away from work. We want to go for two weeeks. Would like to spend a week on the beach and a week inland to see the rain forest, jungle, volcano, etc. So if you all have some advice on which times would be the best (driest weather) and what areas/resorts should we consider for each part of the trip? Also should we go for an all inclusive or is the food good all over. We usually don't like to do the all inclusives as we like trying out all the local foods. Are the restaurants expensive as compared to say Aruba, Cayman or the Caribbean Islands in general? We plan to do tours and not rent a car. I promised Hubby he would not have to drive this time. 

Suzanne


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## jlwquilter (Jun 1, 2007)

*This is what I see on RCI*

With my red summer Cape Cod studio at a standard resort:

Condovac La Costa  (#0131) 
Playa Hermosa
Guanacaste  Costa Rica 
672-0150 
www.condovac.com 

  1 Bedroom  5 / 4  Partial  04/25/2008  05/02/2008  
  1 Bedroom  5 / 4  Partial  09/05/2008  09/12/2008  
  1 Bedroom  5 / 4  Partial  09/12/2008  09/19/2008  
  1 Bedroom  5 / 4  Partial  09/19/2008  09/26/2008  
  1 Bedroom  5 / 4  Partial  09/26/2008  10/03/2008  
  1 Bedroom  5 / 4  Partial  10/03/2008  10/10/2008  
  1 Bedroom  5 / 4  Partial  10/10/2008  10/17/2008  
  1 Bedroom  5 / 4  Partial  10/17/2008  10/24/2008  
  1 Bedroom  5 / 4  Partial  10/24/2008  10/31/2008  
  1 Bedroom  5 / 4  Partial  10/31/2008  11/07/2008  
  1 Bedroom  5 / 4  Partial  11/07/2008  11/14/2008
  1 Bedroom  5 / 4  Partial  11/21/2008  11/28/2008  
  1 Bedroom  5 / 4  Partial  11/28/2008  12/05/2008  

  1 Bedroom  5 / 4  Partial  12/05/2008  12/12/2008  
  1 Bedroom  5 / 4  Partial  12/12/2008  12/19/2008  
  1 Bedroom  5 / 4  Partial  12/19/2008  12/26/2008  

I also see Taranova and it has alot of availabiltiy too. I guess VEP is an issue in your case. Good luck getting what you want!


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## Judy (Jun 2, 2007)

Suzanne, If it's a VEP problem (likely), you can call RCI and ask them to do a search for you without your VEP filter.  If you can convince the VC or the supervisor that you won't complain if the resort isn't up to the standard of your deposit, they will let you have it.  Unfortunately, this only works if what you want is in inventory.  The last time I tried (about a year ago), they refused to lift the VEP filter on an ongoing search.


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## jjlovecub (Jun 9, 2007)

FYI - my Sheraton Vistana traded into Costa Rica in only 2 weeks (searching a year out) for this July. It is an all-inclusive resort but that is what we wanted.


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## Calyn79 (Aug 8, 2007)

Generally speaking Costa Rica is a very difficult exchange for most people to get as few units are owned outside of the country. Most Costa Ricans do not have the financially ability to travel and use timeshares as a holiday place in their own country. The nicer, full service resorts are mostly owned that way as they come to the beach areas to holiday. It is not just financially hard to travel, but getting a visa to leave their country for every member of their travelling party can also be tough for them to obtain and there is a cost involved for that too.

It can also just depend where you wish to stay or be close to. But don't forget that for the most part tour companies transport tourists long distances to many sites for the day and then back to the outlying resorts. It is a small country to get around and at times made more difficult by the rainy season or the state of their infastructure/roadways.

I would not recommend spending much or any time in the San Jose area as there is little to do and it is just another large working class city with no real tourist areas or sites that you can't do in a day and get out, or travel to for the day.


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## suzanne (Aug 9, 2007)

Thanks for all the help. We traded a week thru RCI into the Condovac La Costa Resort in Guanacaste and then ended up getting an additional 3 days at the Ramada Plaza Herradura Resort close to the San Jose airport thru Sky Auction. We are going to try to get a day or two at the Tabacon Hot Springs Resort thru SKy Auction as well. This will give us three areas to do tours from during our trip. If we can get a good deal at the Tabacon we will check out of the Condovac La Costa 2 days early, if not then we will go there on a day tour that we saw offered.

We are going May 16 thru May 26, 2008, this is the beginning of the rainy season so I hope we get lucky and do not get too much rain during our trip.

We would appreciate anyone's help on which tours to take from each location. It appears from the map I have that they all seem to be pretty long drives. We want to do the Zip Line Canopy tour, the hanging bridge tour as well as Tabacon Hot Springs and the Arenal Volcano. Also Manuel Antonio, a white water rafting trip and a daylong snorkel/sail trip. Hubby is also going to try surfing for the first time.

Thanks again.

Suzanne


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