Costa Rica Honeymoon 2017

bugeye1257

Observer
Hey All!

My future wife and I will be in Costa Rica in early June! We will be staying in the Manuel Antonio area for our honeymoon. We are adventurist people so we are coming here to seek any insight on where to go and what to see! We have yet to book a resort or Air B&B to stay, so options for this are also very helpful.

Costa Rica is beautiful and would love to see it all but don't want to travel to far of where we are staying. We will have a car down there to explore, its no 4runner but I do know we can rent Defenders and Jeeps if need be for the day. Any thoughts on beaches, hiking, good surfing area, ATV riding, waterfalls, hotel/resort/airB&B, restaurants!? As most of you guys here, we don't like being that tourist couple and try to blend in.

Hoping to hear great feed back!

Thank you,
 

Adventurous

Explorer
My wife and I honeymooned in Costa Rica in December of 2016 and happened to spend one of our two weeks in Manuel Antonio. We stayed at Villas Nicholas which was a bit removed from the hustle and bustle of Manuel Antonio proper which was much busier. The area surrounding Villas Nicholas wasn't too bad, there were enough restaurants within walking distance provided you don't mind walking on the side of the road and they served decent food. It was also easy enough to catch the bus to the beaches at Manuel Antonio or back to Quepos and the airport. The staff also happened to be pretty darn nice and accommodating and were happy to book tours and arrange transportation. All of their activities can be found here: http://www.villasnicolas.com/NewSite/activities/

We booked the horseback ride and catamaran tour through them. Both were awesome. The horseback riding was through a jungle and we got to visit a waterfall with just the guide, the wife and I. It was quite thrilling launching yourself off of the rocks into these tiny waterfall fed pools.

We visited a few beaches but the most secluded and authentic was Playa Biesanz near Punta Quepos. It had limited parking (that a roadside crew of guys are happy to help you "find"), was filled with locals and was only accessible after a 1/4 mile walk through the jungle, so it kept a lot of the tourists out. Beaches wise a lot of the stuff near Manuel Antonio was geared more towards tourists though this is where a lot of the surf lessons and the likes took place.

The National Park was a good way to kill most of a day as well wandering around looking for animals. There are plenty of guides to help spot them if you need the assistance but we managed to find some sloths and lizards and stuff on our own. The beach in there, Playa Manuel Antonio was nice but it attracts a healthy crowd of people and thieving raccoons and monkeys. Seriously, we watched a raccoon try to steal a lady's backpack. Playa Las Gemelas was more secluded and we had the pleasure of watching a 3' lizard scurrying around the joint.

We spent one week in Manuel Antonio and one week in La Fortuna. To be honest I liked La Fortuna better as it wasn't as hot (our place at Villas Nicholas didn't have AC), was more in the jungle and seemed to offer more in the way of adventure driven activities. We did our whitewater rafting tour, zipline tour, and ATV tour there.

Bring dramamine if you get motion sickness and some ear plugs for the planes. The trip from San Jose to Manuel Antonio is cramped, hot, and bumpy. Pay attention to the baggage allowances as well, what you can truck down on the flight there doesn't align with what the smaller planes allow you to carry.

Here is the video the wife put together from our trip. Hope you guys are getting excited, it was a fun time!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BejV4GZd3hY
 

Wbp

New member
Bugeye 1247. Manual Antonio Park is very nice but very busy and I think they still limit the amount of people in the Park due to how crowded the place gets. The views from the resorts above park are some of the most beautiful view of anywhere in Costa Rica. You will be able to get all the tours to do everything you want from there it will just be a little crazy around that area I avoid it these days because I am trying to get away from things.
All over Costa Rica these days it is busy but you can still get a little bit away. You will find some of the nices people all over the country and you can drive much easier these day due to all the improved roads along the coast. You don't need much of a vehicle as most of the main roads are paved.
You may look further south to the Domical and Uvita area you can still get tours to do the things you want just a few less people.
I agree with Adventurous that La Fortuna area is worth seeing it is busy up there but worth dealing with to be able to see the Volcano and hot springs.
I love the country and have been traveling there for the last 30 years lots have changed but it still is a wonderful place.
You will have a wonderful time and remember if things start to go a little south just relax as it will are turn around and you will experience Pura Vida.
 

yfarm

Observer
Just returned from trip to Quepos. Stayed at the Costa Verde which would be a nice honeymoon hotel. Rogelio of Rogelio's surf lessons at Playa Espadilla Norte said best surfing beach in CR is Playa Hermosa just south of Jaco Beach which is relatively close if you have a vehicle. There are hotels there and A few restaurants if surfing is a major interest. Did a great Zipline tour with ElSantuario canopy adventures. 10 different lines up to 1700 meters, will pick you up at hotel.
 

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