Costa Rica around October 2025

[LuS1fer]

There seem many ways of doing this.

Given the distance, I think 10 rather than 7 days but is that enough? How long is the flight and how far are the transfers?

There are cheaper alternatives which are not all-inclusive and while the other half and I eat little and drink not very much, is AI still preferable?

The more expensive options seem to include guided trips, though these seem to be pre-dawn starts, presumably to see more animals. Is this the best option?

Also mention of fly-drive, has anyone done this?

I've been to Zanzibar and India and wouldn't want to drive in either location and I'm keen to avoid being ripped off by "tourist price tours" that have no benefit to the local community.

We are not overly spry and athletic but neither are we decrepit but zip wires are out. Light exercise and a little bit of lounging about. We want to see the beach, the volcano but mainly animals of the non-carnivorous type. Staying in a single location that offers all this would be great.

Any views and experiences welcome.

[Mashwort]

Few years since we went but would definitely recommend. We had an pre organised trip with private transfers but would have no issue going back and being more independent in terms of driving around etc. We felt it had a pretty well developed tourist industry, with a focus on the Americans (pros and cons to that!)

We spent 10 days, but did 3 different places to get a wider experience - the east cost (stayed in a place in the 'jungle' only reachable by boat, loads of wildlife watching but a few days sufficient), then the central volcano area (stayed in a very nice hotel, chilled a bit and also visited the cloud forests, again lots of wildlife but a few days was sufficient), then the west coast, (stayed at a beach hotel, fab beaches, some wildlife viewing opportunities). The transfer times were fine and never felt like we wasted the time to move to the next location. Not sure the locations we visited would 'justify' more than 3 /4 days.

Hope that helps

[LuS1fer]

Mashwort said:

Few years since we went but would definitely recommend. We had an pre organised trip with private transfers but would have no issue going back and being more independent in terms of driving around etc. We felt it had a pretty well developed tourist industry, with a focus on the Americans (pros and cons to that!)

We spent 10 days, but did 3 different places to get a wider experience - the east cost (stayed in a place in the 'jungle' only reachable by boat, loads of wildlife watching but a few days sufficient), then the central volcano area (stayed in a very nice hotel, chilled a bit and also visited the cloud forests, again lots of wildlife but a few days was sufficient), then the west coast, (stayed at a beach hotel, fab beaches, some wildlife viewing opportunities). The transfer times were fine and never felt like we wasted the time to move to the next location. Not sure the locations we visited would 'justify' more than 3 /4 days.

Hope that helps

Fantastic. Thank you.

[marine boy]

We did a fly drive, as a family holiday, organised everything ourselves, covered the east, west coasts and inland over 10days

Costa Rica was very safe, no problems driving around, amazing country, probably my favourite yet and I've visited quite a few

[LuS1fer]

marine boy said:

We did a fly drive, as a family holiday, organised everything ourselves, covered the east, west coasts and inland over 10days

Costa Rica was very safe, no problems driving around, amazing country, probably my favourite yet and I've visited quite a few

Did you feel you saved money or felt obliged to tip everyone? I know that in India, they sold coffee at the airport for 5 rupees. I had 100 rupees left ( about £1.20) and offered it to the girl serving who seemed shocked, like I was buying her. Put it in a charity box instead.

[marine boy]

LuS1fer said:

Did you feel you saved money or felt obliged to tip everyone? I know that in India, they sold coffee at the airport for 5 rupees. I had 100 rupees left ( about £1.20) and offered it to the girl serving who seemed shocked, like I was buying her. Put it in a charity box instead.

Definitely saved money but that wasn't the reason, we planned everything ourselves so we could see exactly what we wanted to see and stay where we wanted to stay

We went during Oct halfterm, stayed a couple of nights on the Pacific coast, a few night inland and a few right down the bottom end of the Carribean coast

We did beaches, jungle, hot springs, cloud forest, volcanoes, towns, chilled out surf villages, car scrap yard, sloth spotting, even got lost driving in banana plantation so far south my phone pinged up a 'Welcome to Panama' message

Scenery, wildlife was outstanding, a few beaches world class, people lovely, no pushy sellers, food great, hotels very clean, prices not too bad and never felt obliged or pressured to tip like an American

Driving was very relaxed, San Jose part from the airport wasn't bad, if you're happy driving in the UK you'll be fine

Been to 70 countries and Costa Rica was my favourite and 1 of only 2 countries I'd love to live in

Can't recommend it highly enough, we enjoyedvit so much we're doing the same around Panama as I've heard good things

Edited by marine boy on Tuesday 29th October 21:47

[LuS1fer]

marine boy said:

LuS1fer said:

Did you feel you saved money or felt obliged to tip everyone? I know that in India, they sold coffee at the airport for 5 rupees. I had 100 rupees left ( about £1.20) and offered it to the girl serving who seemed shocked, like I was buying her. Put it in a charity box instead.

Definitely saved money but that wasn't the reason, we planned everything ourselves so we could see exactly what we wanted to see and stay where we wanted to stay

We went during Oct halfterm, stayed a couple of nights on the Pacific coast, a few night inland and a few right down the bottom end of the Carribean coast

We did beaches, jungle, hot springs, cloud forest, volcanoes, towns, chilled out surf villages, car scrap yard, sloth spotting, even got lost driving in banana plantation so far south my phone pinged up a 'Welcome to Panama' message

Scenery, wildlife was outstanding, a few beaches world class, people lovely, no pushy sellers, food great, hotels very clean, prices not too bad and never felt obliged or pressured to tip like an American

Driving was very relaxed, San Jose part from the airport wasn't bad, if you're happy driving in the UK you'll be fine

Been to 70 countries and Costa Rica was my favourite and 1 of only 2 countries I'd love to live in

Can't recommend it highly enough, we enjoyedvit so much we're doing the same around Panama as I've heard good things

Edited by marine boy on Tuesday 29th October 21:47

Fantastic. I'm sold.

[marine boy]

LuS1fer said:

Fantastic. I'm sold.

Top stuff, you won't be disappointed

Depending on what time of year you go, one coast has warm sunny weather and one rainy season, we had warm sunny both sides

Favourite place for me was Manzanillo, sleepy beach village on the Carribean side before you hit Panama

On our 1st morning on the Pacific side while walking past the pool to breakfast, 2x beautiful, rainbow coloured parrots flew over our heads

Last morning on the Carribean side we went sloth spotting with a guide from the hotel, along the beach after breakfast and spotted 12x in about an hour

Best meal was from a little place on the side of the road, think it cost $2 each for chicken and rice

Enjoying cerviche with a cold beer looking at the sea sat in the sun is how I want to start retirement and I plan to do it in Costa Rica for a few months

[LuS1fer]

marine boy said:

Top stuff, you won't be disappointed

Depending on what time of year you go, one coast has warm sunny weather and one rainy season, we had warm sunny both sides

Favourite place for me was Manzanillo, sleepy beach village on the Carribean side before you hit Panama

On our 1st morning on the Pacific side while walking past the pool to breakfast, 2x beautiful, rainbow coloured parrots flew over our heads

Last morning on the Carribean side we went sloth spotting with a guide from the hotel, along the beach after breakfast and spotted 12x in about an hour

Best meal was from a little place on the side of the road, think it cost $2 each for chicken and rice

Enjoying cerviche with a cold beer looking at the sea sat in the sun is how I want to start retirement and I plan to do it in Costa Rica for a few months

Is it like Zanzibar, ignore the local currency and use US dollars?

[The G Kid]

LuS1fer said:

There seem many ways of doing this.

Given the distance, I think 10 rather than 7 days but is that enough? How long is the flight and how far are the transfers?

There are cheaper alternatives which are not all-inclusive and while the other half and I eat little and drink not very much, is AI still preferable?

The more expensive options seem to include guided trips, though these seem to be pre-dawn starts, presumably to see more animals. Is this the best option?

Also mention of fly-drive, has anyone done this?

I've been to Zanzibar and India and wouldn't want to drive in either location and I'm keen to avoid being ripped off by "tourist price tours" that have no benefit to the local community.

We are not overly spry and athletic but neither are we decrepit but zip wires are out. Light exercise and a little bit of lounging about. We want to see the beach, the volcano but mainly animals of the non-carnivorous type. Staying in a single location that offers all this would be great.

Any views and experiences welcome.

Did you book this trip? I'm currently planning a trip in June/July in 2026.

[LuS1fer]

The G Kid said:

LuS1fer said:

There seem many ways of doing this.

Given the distance, I think 10 rather than 7 days but is that enough? How long is the flight and how far are the transfers?

There are cheaper alternatives which are not all-inclusive and while the other half and I eat little and drink not very much, is AI still preferable?

The more expensive options seem to include guided trips, though these seem to be pre-dawn starts, presumably to see more animals. Is this the best option?

Also mention of fly-drive, has anyone done this?

I've been to Zanzibar and India and wouldn't want to drive in either location and I'm keen to avoid being ripped off by "tourist price tours" that have no benefit to the local community.

We are not overly spry and athletic but neither are we decrepit but zip wires are out. Light exercise and a little bit of lounging about. We want to see the beach, the volcano but mainly animals of the non-carnivorous type. Staying in a single location that offers all this would be great.

Any views and experiences welcome.

Did you book this trip? I'm currently planning a trip in June/July in 2026.

No. In the end, my partner realised she couldn't do the heat, humidity or travel distance. So we holiday nearer, more often. LOL.

[The G Kid]

LuS1fer said:

No. In the end, my partner realised she couldn't do the heat, humidity or travel distance. So we holiday nearer, more often. LOL.

Ah, fair enough, thanks for coming back to me.

[P1Fanatic]

The G Kid said:

Ah, fair enough, thanks for coming back to me.

Have you got any further with Costa Rica? Asking as the mrs has suggested going there end of 2026 as its her 50th this year. So far I can see that BA are the only ones flying direct from LGW and its best part of 12hrs flight time (so maybe indirect is better via ATL etc to break it up a bit).

[The G Kid]

P1Fanatic said:

Have you got any further with Costa Rica? Asking as the mrs has suggested going there end of 2026 as its her 50th this year. So far I can see that BA are the only ones flying direct from LGW and its best part of 12hrs flight time (so maybe indirect is better via ATL etc to break it up a bit).

Quite a timely question as being trying to book over the past few days. Main problem is son (who will be 18 when we plan to go) is refusing to go away for 2.5 weeks, as he doesn't like being away for such a long time. So I'm trying to see if we can cut the schedule a bit to accommodate him (as this is likely our last big trip as a family). It's all complicated by us using BA 241 vouchers, and there is only availability going via Madrid and flying with Iberia. Bl00dy teenagers!

Original idea is to spend 1 night in San Jose, 3 at Arenal, 3 at Monteverde, 3 at Tamarindo and 4/5 at Nosara (I surf, so ideally want to spend as much time as possible surfing!) and then 1 in San Jose (plus 1 on the plane, and as we don't live in the UK 1 at LHR/LGW the night before we leave). Priced up a 4WD with Sixt which was coming in around £1K for the whole time.

Everyone I speak to who has been raves about the place so I really want to try and make it happen!

[P1Fanatic]

The G Kid said:

Quite a timely question as being trying to book over the past few days. Main problem is son (who will be 18 when we plan to go) is refusing to go away for 2.5 weeks, as he doesn't like being away for such a long time. So I'm trying to see if we can cut the schedule a bit to accommodate him (as this is likely our last big trip as a family). It's all complicated by us using BA 241 vouchers, and there is only availability going via Madrid and flying with Iberia. Bl00dy teenagers!

Original idea is to spend 1 night in San Jose, 3 at Arenal, 3 at Monteverde, 3 at Tamarindo and 4/5 at Nosara (I surf, so ideally want to spend as much time as possible surfing!) and then 1 in San Jose (plus 1 on the plane, and as we don't live in the UK 1 at LHR/LGW the night before we leave). Priced up a 4WD with Sixt which was coming in around £1K for the whole time.

Everyone I speak to who has been raves about the place so I really want to try and make it happen!

Thanks and good luck. I've got a chunk of Virgin miles to use up so its the whole indirect time saved vs cost vs best seats. We've only just started looking seriously but our main focus is wildlife - especially the birds, jungle walks and some beach time. We have friends who are out there now and are having a great time - especially night walks. Looks like their rough itinerary is:

San Jose
Tortuguero (inc National Park)
Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui
La Fortuna
Arenal Volcano NP
Northern Plains
Monteverde
Brasilito
Manuel Antonio

[The G Kid]

P1Fanatic said:

Thanks and good luck. I've got a chunk of Virgin miles to use up so its the whole indirect time saved vs cost vs best seats. We've only just started looking seriously but our main focus is wildlife - especially the birds, jungle walks and some beach time. We have friends who are out there now and are having a great time - especially night walks. Looks like their rough itinerary is:

San Jose
Tortuguero (inc National Park)
Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui
La Fortuna
Arenal Volcano NP
Northern Plains
Monteverde
Brasilito
Manuel Antonio

Looks like could get away with 1 night in San Jose on day of arrival, 2 at Arenal, 3 at Monteverde and then 4 on the beach at Nosara. Then drive back to San Jose on the last day then and afternoon flight to Madrid the same day. A bit shorter than I would have hoped but sometimes need to compromise! Plus my wife did point out this morning that 2.5 weeks 24/7 with two teenagers might test us as much as them!