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Costa Rica

To answer previous questions--We went last month in November. Still a LOT of rain, but it is the shoulder for rainy season in November. Would not complain about that! However, having everything leafy and green prevented me from seeing any monkeys or toucans despite paying a "guide." I did get to HEAR a toucan. Smile. I too would have enjoyed seeing turtles hatch, or certainly would have appreciated renting a house from an expat. Again, different strokes for different folks. Dirty Hiltons, constant panhandling, Montezuma's revenge, and extremely dangerous driving pretty much exclude a place from my planning a return trip. Those four are all deal breakers for me. Have traded for St. Lucia for next November. Hoping that is a better fit--at least for me!

If you stayed at Marriotts Los Suenos I agree with you. We stayed there in 2006. We stayed there on Marriott points, which they gave back to me. We did not like t there at all--lots of prostitues etc. my favorite part of Costa Rica were the monkeys in the rain forest.
 
I used to go to Mexico once a year and Hawaii once a year when I lived in Alaska. Eventually the panhandlers and getting Montezuma's revenge made the savings on the Mexico trips not worth it for me. We especially liked Ixtapa. I agree you can have a REALLY nice vacation much cheaper in Mexico. It is just not worth it for me. But that was the thing in Costa Rica. It was extremely expensive. Higher than Hawaii. So perhaps in the past people could live on $1000 per month, but I have trouble believing that today. We went to local grocery stores for snacks, and milk, chips, sodas were all much higher than in the continental US.
 
I used to go to Mexico once a year and Hawaii once a year when I lived in Alaska. Eventually the panhandlers and getting Montezuma's revenge made the savings on the Mexico trips not worth it for me. We especially liked Ixtapa. I agree you can have a REALLY nice vacation much cheaper in Mexico. It is just not worth it for me. But that was the thing in Costa Rica. It was extremely expensive. Higher than Hawaii. So perhaps in the past people could live on $1000 per month, but I have trouble believing that today. We went to local grocery stores for snacks, and milk, chips, sodas were all much higher than in the continental US.

Most is imported and very few sales. Maybe a tax added on as well. The savings can be in labour and property/income taxes.
 
Bumping this for new recommendations related to Guanacaste
 
Just want to point this out since there's some discussion of Mexico in this thread...

CCVslHjUEAAqfNg.jpg
 
Bumping this for new recommendations related to Guanacaste

So, are you flying into Liberia?
Where are you staying in the area, at a timeshare? Hotel resort? Vrbo rental? What city?

How long will you be there?


Oh... See next posting, sorry, I went back and reread everything ...
 
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So, are you flying into Liberia?
Where are you staying in the area, at a timeshare? Hotel resort? Brno rental? What city?

How long will you be there?

Oh, sorry, I see you are flying into Liberia and staying 5 days in an all-inclusive Westin! So you won't have to worry about food or food prices people mentioned, although we found prices very reasonable .

With only 5 days, I would not attempt driving, even though you say you are used to driving narrow roads... Note the other posters' experiences, seems they were lost most of the time ( as well as being on difficult roads).

That may be the time that turtles come in masses (arriiba) to lay their eggs ...
You can check, but your hotel would definitely have information and probably tours. You would be able to use your short time there more wisely then.

I think the volcano and cloud forest are a long ways away, probably an overnight tour... So that might be out. But there is still lots to see along the coast, the animals especially are fabulous. I woke up every morning at 5:30 to a beautiful chorus of birds and other animals .(. The monkeys "howling" too, ) which lasted almost 45 minutes and was a real highlight.

Each village is different too, and we took the local bus to the nearest city to experience that.

I researched a lot before we went ( the rental car insurance problem question was enough to decide that early on). The locals were the most helpful though for details .
 
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Oh, sorry, I see you are flying into Liberia and staying 5 days in an all-inclusive Westin! So you won't have to worry about food or food prices people mentioned, although we found prices very reasonable .

With only 5 days, I would not attempt driving, even though you say you are used to driving narrow roads... Note the other posters' experiences, seems they were lost most of the time ( as well as being on difficult roads).

That may be the time that turtles come in masses (arriiba) to lay their eggs ...
You can check, but your hotel would definitely have information and probably tours. You would be able to use your short time there more wisely then.

I think the volcano and cloud forest are a long ways away, probably an overnight tour... So that might be out. But there is still lots to see along the coast, the animals especially are fabulous. I woke up every morning at 5:30 to a beautiful chorus of birds and other animals .(. The monkeys "howling" too, ) which lasted almost 45 minutes and was a real highlight.

Each village is different too, and we took the local bus to the nearest city to experience that.

I researched a lot before we went ( the rental car insurance problem question was enough to decide that early on). The locals were the most helpful though for details .

Thanks Joan. How expensive is insurance? Perhaps you are right and it is not worth renting. Food will be covered but we are OK buying food while we are out and about.

We will also go to Panama. Kids want to see the Canal.
 
Thanks Joan. How expensive is insurance? Perhaps you are right and it is not worth renting. Food will be covered but we are OK buying food while we are out and about.

We will also go to Panama. Kids want to see the Canal.

Your insurance will explain their own program... The operative word was "question"....it was very unclear. Obviously other posters were able to get insurance they were satisfied with but I am leary of renting when roads, behavior of other drivers, directions and street signs are unknown, etc. their postings just reassured me of our decision not to rent.

Yes, I noted you were going to Panama after your 5 days in CR.
 
Your insurance will explain their own program... The operative word was "question"....it was very unclear. Obviously other posters were able to get insurance they were satisfied with but I am leary of renting when roads, behavior of other drivers, directions and street signs are unknown, etc. their postings just reassured me of our decision not to rent.

Yes, I noted you were going to Panama after your 5 days in CR.

Thanks for the input. I will do some research and plan tours. Would you advise going to Nicaragua for a quick day tour?
 
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