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HornPhD

By HornPhD
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midtown

midtown 3,354

Posted
Posted
On 8/26/2020 at 1:41 AM, justhookit said:

Way easier to get in and out from without worrying about catching a cab to go home.

I assume this is because cabs don't always go down that road towards the Parador and Biesanz beach but are constantly running back and forth from Quepos to the park and all points in between?

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justhookit
justhookit

Got back in late Monday night and took the puddle jumper from San Jose to Quepos Tuesday morning. Well, that flight got cancelled so they put us on a flight to Puerto Jimenez and from there to Quepos.

Tailgate
Tailgate

This is #4 of the five yellow-fin tunas I hauled in. I was the only “customer” on the boat so after number five.... I thought my arms might fall off. Ran into a pod of 500* dolphins/porpoises and tuna

ernest_t_bass
ernest_t_bass

Greetings from Tulemar! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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justhookit

justhookit 4,206

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^ yes. 
 

Finally some good news. Word is that CR will open to everyone in the U.S. Oct 1st. It’s not clear what if any restrictions there will be. They’ve been requiring a negative test within 48 hours of travel but I think that’s going away.

 

i was thinking it would be 2021 before I’d make it down again so this is a welcome surprise. I normally don’t go often in October or November because of the rain but I’ll be making an exception this year.

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midtown

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29 minutes ago, justhookit said:

I normally don’t go often in October or November because of the rain but I’ll be making an exception this year.

I loved my Oct visit.  Way less tourists.  Things seem to be cheaper.  Take a rain jacket.   Do shit all day.  At 5pm.  Find a bar and watch it pour for the next 11 hours. 

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justhookit

justhookit 4,206

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40 minutes ago, midtown said:

I loved my Oct visit.  Way less tourists.  Things seem to be cheaper.  Take a rain jacket.   Do shit all day.  At 5pm.  Find a bar and watch it pour for the next 11 hours. 

Yeah but the rain fucks with the fishing. When it gets stormy it can get really rough out there and it’s not much fun fishing in hard rain and lightning. I’m talking mostly about overnight trips. I’ll go soon and just fish day trips when the weather is nice, hang out on the boat, and hit up my favorite restaurants and bars that I know are desperate for tourists to be back.
 

 

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midtown

midtown 3,354

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1 minute ago, justhookit said:

Yeah but the rain fucks with the fishing. When it gets stormy it can get really rough out there and it’s not much fun fishing in hard rain and lightning. I’m talking mostly about overnight trips. I’ll go soon and just fish day trips when the weather is nice, hang out on the boat, and hit up my favorite restaurants and bars that I know are desperate for tourists to be back.
 

 

I hear you.  Ditto on that.

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futureman

futureman 22,691

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On 9/17/2020 at 3:21 PM, midtown said:

I loved my Oct visit.  Way less tourists.  Things seem to be cheaper.  Take a rain jacket.   Do shit all day.  At 5pm.  Find a bar and watch it pour for the next 11 hours. 

I’m looking at going down in early december.  have only been in summer previously.  what’s early december like wrt rain and tourists?

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Hornbeliever

Hornbeliever 737

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Been a couple times to CR.  Love it there but most unique thing I've done is stay at hotel closest to Arenal.  Can't remember name but searching for hotel closest to Arenal should do trick.

You sit on balcony, drink wine, and watch and listen to Arenal shooting out lava rocks while watching the lava flow down.  Really great experience.

 

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justhookit

justhookit 4,206

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8 hours ago, futureman said:

I’m looking at going down in early december.  have only been in summer previously.  what’s early december like wrt rain and tourists?

Yeah, you are good in December as far as the rain goes. Rainy season ends mid to late November. It’s not very crowded and if you go early in December you’ll beat the rate hike that happens for Xmas and New Years.

As to Arenal, there are tons of really nice hotels with volcano views. It’s still technically an active volcano but my understanding is there hasn’t been much if any lava flow in the last 5 years or so.

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justhookit

justhookit 4,206

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8 hours ago, Sweetnsourpoke said:

What kind of insurance do you guys recommend? Specific policies. 

I have no idea if the one above would work, even if that company says it will. Costa Rica is a bureaucratic mess. Any type of legal document, paperwork, insurance, etc. I’ve had to do down there has been a mess. Therefore my suggestion would be to go with one of the 2 listed in this article https://ticotimes.net/2020/10/10/visiting-costa-rica-during-the-pandemic-heres-what-to-expect-updated-oct-10


Also if you poke around that newspaper you will see CR is having some issues right now with crime and road blockades. It’s mostly up in San José but it’s also spilling down to the coast. Had a friend robbed last week at a blockade just outside Manuel Antonio.

 

I know multiple groups traveling down there over the next month or so. I’ll post here anything I hear regarding the entry requirements and the other problems.

 

 

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Chewbacca

Chewbacca 7,829

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Posted
I have no idea if the one above would work, even if that company says it will. Costa Rica is a bureaucratic mess. Any type of legal document, paperwork, insurance, etc. I’ve had to do down there has been a mess. Therefore my suggestion would be to go with one of the 2 listed in this article https://ticotimes.net/2020/10/10/visiting-costa-rica-during-the-pandemic-heres-what-to-expect-updated-oct-10

Also if you poke around that newspaper you will see CR is having some issues right now with crime and road blockades. It’s mostly up in San José but it’s also spilling down to the coast. Had a friend robbed last week at a blockade just outside Manuel Antonio.
 
I know multiple groups traveling down there over the next month or so. I’ll post here anything I hear regarding the entry requirements and the other problems.
 
 
That sounds very unlike CR. Damn.
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justhookit

justhookit 4,206

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Well early reports say its a clusterfuck like I figured it would be. Friends on an American flight were denied entry despite having the test done at the airport by American. Apparently half the plane was sent back to Dallas. American is no longer offering that test. We have found a place in Corpus that does the nasal swab test and emails you the results next day. That one is accepted. You just can’t use a rapid result test for entry.

 

My captain is going to try to fly down next weekend. If he makes it down with no problems I might try to go in November but I’m leaning more towards December.

 

Also the alcohol deaths from last year are back. Don’t drink local hard liquor or any Chile guaro shots. 
https://ticotimes.net/2020/10/18/booze-spiked-with-methanol-kills-20-in-costa-rica

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midtown

midtown 3,354

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I assume it was on a Friday before a holiday wknd with half the country was headed down to MA?  Because Ive done the drive back at 6pm on holiday wknd and I think it was 3 hours of bumper to bumper.   But hey lots of stuff for sale in the traffic jams

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GottaB

GottaB 605

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How did you go and what happened? 

It was a van. The roads wind and there was some traffic. The driver liked the brake as much as he liked the accelerator. I get motion sickness (rarely but it does happen) and we had to stop two hours in for me to toss cookies on the side of the road.

We had stopped a couple times, once to look at crocodiles, and another just for a break, but I couldn’t help myself.
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midtown

midtown 3,354

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5 hours ago, GottaB said:

It was a van. The roads wind and there was some traffic. The driver liked the brake as much as he liked the accelerator. I get motion sickness (rarely but it does happen) and we had to stop two hours in for me to toss cookies on the side of the road.

Off topic but relatable.  I have a good buddy that gets motion sickness in cars, like any car; so much that he has to ride in the front with the AC directly on him.   He attended the Naval academy.  Yup that makes sense.   One of his summer tours the got to ride in F-14s or whatever.  Everyone knew he was gong to get sick.  THe pilot asked him. Hey I hear you get sick, you want me to take it easy.  My buddy says. "im going to get sick whether you take it easy or go full bore so let it rip"  

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GottaB

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Paddle9.

It wasn’t so much a “hike one long trail and see a bunch of postcard waterfalls” as much as it was “let’s drive to 4 different spots and check out one 10-20’ waterfall at each and cliff jump at each.” This was great for me. I love jumping off rocks. The wife not so much. She was expecting something more like waterfall tours you’d get in Washington or Oregon where it’s more of a spectator activity.

We also stopped at Playa Ventana (the beach) and had lunch at a local place near the last waterfall. Everything seemed farm/ocean to table.

None of the trips from the van to the water was treacherous. But it did seem like 20 minutes in the van and 30 minutes at each site.

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justhookit

justhookit 4,206

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7 hours ago, GottaB said:

Paddle9.

It wasn’t so much a “hike one long trail and see a bunch of postcard waterfalls” as much as it was “let’s drive to 4 different spots and check out one 10-20’ waterfall at each and cliff jump at each.” This was great for me. I love jumping off rocks. The wife not so much. She was expecting something more like waterfall tours you’d get in Washington or Oregon where it’s more of a spectator activity.

We also stopped at Playa Ventana (the beach) and had lunch at a local place near the last waterfall. Everything seemed farm/ocean to table.

None of the trips from the van to the water was treacherous. But it did seem like 20 minutes in the van and 30 minutes at each site.

Go eat fish tacos at Sancho’s. You’re welcome.

Edit- shit, I think it closed.

Edited by justhookit
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Chewbacca

Chewbacca 7,829

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Paddle9.

It wasn’t so much a “hike one long trail and see a bunch of postcard waterfalls” as much as it was “let’s drive to 4 different spots and check out one 10-20’ waterfall at each and cliff jump at each.” This was great for me. I love jumping off rocks. The wife not so much. She was expecting something more like waterfall tours you’d get in Washington or Oregon where it’s more of a spectator activity.

We also stopped at Playa Ventana (the beach) and had lunch at a local place near the last waterfall. Everything seemed farm/ocean to table.

None of the trips from the van to the water was treacherous. But it did seem like 20 minutes in the van and 30 minutes at each site.
Yep, we have done that tour. Fun group of guys. Did you do lunch at the tilapia farm? That was cool as well.
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GottaB

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Yep, we have done that tour. Fun group of guys. Did you do lunch at the tilapia farm? That was cool as well.

Yeah. We did lunch at the tilapia farm. It was very good.

Today, we did EL SANTUARIO CANOPY ADVENTURE TOUR for some zip line fun. I’d recommend them.
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Hairy Biped

Hairy Biped 596

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Man, I'd love to get back to CR.  Summer before last we stayed at this place in Manuel Antonio for a week and it was amazing.

https://youtu.be/vQ_2BPYlrcQ

Fully staffed with 5 star chef, around the clock house keeping, a concierge, and even 24 hour security guards.  We did tons of excursions and adventures, but the grounds, jungle around it and semi-private beach alone were enough to keep you occupied.  Never had an experience like it.  I'm betting with the current state of things, this place would be a lot more affordable now.

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Chewbacca

Chewbacca 7,829

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53 minutes ago, rage-a-holic said:

cross posting.....

 

We're only about 9 months late on that one.

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luke duke

luke duke 6,449

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Man, I'd love to get back to CR.  Summer before last we stayed at this place in Manuel Antonio for a week and it was amazing.

Fully staffed with 5 star chef, around the clock house keeping, a concierge, and even 24 hour security guards.  We did tons of excursions and adventures, but the grounds, jungle around it and semi-private beach alone were enough to keep you occupied.  Never had an experience like it.  I'm betting with the current state of things, this place would be a lot more affordable now.


Cuanto?
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Hairy Biped

Hairy Biped 596

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13 hours ago, luke duke said:

 


Cuanto?

 

I think it was $24k plus gratuity for all of the staff and groceries/wine/liquor, but we were there at an off peak time.  I think the maximum occupancy is 24 people and we were at or near that.  They provided breakfast and dinner everyday and we were on our own for lunch, but they did stock the refrigerator with sandwich stuff, salads and any leftovers from the meals.

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Augustus

Augustus 3,061

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Heading to CR in May.  Landing in SJO, spending the night, then  4 days at Nayara Gardens near Arenal and then 4 days at Los Altos near MA.

We've always rented a car, no matter where we've gone, but I perused first few pages of the thread and saw references to vans/private drivers.

If I wanted to hire a car to drive us to Nayara Gardens, and from there to Los Altos, and ultimately back to SJO, do you just google these guys, or do any of y'all have a name/number?

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Augustus

Augustus 3,061

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On 2/28/2021 at 1:34 PM, TheAuditor said:

Looks like one needs negative test to get back into the US.  Anybody sort that out while in CR? Tulemar or anything in that area for easy testing?

I was able to schedule the tests to be administered in the Los Altos resort where we're staying.

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justhookit

justhookit 4,206

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They also have testing at the marina pharmacy if anyone needs it. I’ll send you the contact info of the driver I’ve used for 15 years. I think I saw you mention it on another thread but Los Altos is smack in the middle of Manuel Antonio. You’ll be able to walk everywhere other than the beach, national park, and marina (take the bus for those it’s cheap and easy).

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midtown

midtown 3,354

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Just heads up.  Flights to SJO in May are dirt cheap.  I picked up a ticket through AMEX Travel on AA for $263 from San Antonio.  Throw in the $200 travel credit and I'm gone.  Going to try Jaco this time for a change.   Anyone have any good or bad experiences for a hotel there or a reliable hooker?   

I'm going to spend a day in Atenas looking at homes while I'm there before heading down to the water.

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