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HornPhD

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Nueces River Rat

Nueces River Rat 5500

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On 4/3/2019 at 7:13 PM, 4th and 5 said:

FYI if you do Arenal (and you should) here is one of the best hotels in the world to bring your lady friend, same company and next to each other, I've stayed in both and had an extraordinary experience

https://www.arenalnayara.com/index.html

http://www.nayarasprings.com/index.html

 

Did you fly into Liberia?    And how did you get to the resort?    The site says it's a good 2 1/2 to 3 hours from either Liberia or San Jose to the resort.

I'd be tempted to rent a car, but not sure about the quality of roads.    The good thing the Southwest flight from Houston arrives at 1:00 PM , so that leaves plenty of day light.   Also are  taxis readily  available  for La Fortuna? 

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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

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.

ernest_t_bass
ernest_t_bass

Greetings from Tulemar! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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justhookit

justhookit 4167

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Worn out. Leaving to fish again early in the morning. If it was a little calmer we would have spent the night offshore to save some fuel and travel time. The good news is that the sailfish are here in large numbers the bad news is they are close to a 50 mile run. May be extending our trip to get some extra fishing days in.... stay tuned. Also found the tuna early this morning and had some great sashimi.

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Chopper

Chopper 16692

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14 hours ago, ernest_t_bass said:

I have a friend whose wife had a stroke while in Mexico.  Buku bucks to get her to a Florida hospital, etc.  Not sure if they had insurance.  I think $132 could be worth it.

Besides credit cards that offer coerage, if you have aaa you may already have some travel insurance maybe some travel medical coverage. I don't know for sure though. I purchased travel medical through medjetassist. Their coverage was comprehensive, the rates were competitive, and the policy is good for a whole year so if you are going on more than 1 trip, it's cheaper than a one-use policy.

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ernest_t_bass

ernest_t_bass 1196

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7 hours ago, Chopper said:

Besides credit cards that offer coerage, if you have aaa you may already have some travel insurance maybe some travel medical coverage. I don't know for sure though. I purchased travel medical through medjetassist. Their coverage was comprehensive, the rates were competitive, and the policy is good for a whole year so if you are going on more than 1 trip, it's cheaper than a one-use policy.

This is great advice!  I'll check with 1) my credit card company  2) my home+auto broker  3) our medical insurance through work.  

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4th and 5

4th and 5 4903

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18 hours ago, Nueces River Rat said:

Did you fly into Liberia?    And how did you get to the resort?    The site says it's a good 2 1/2 to 3 hours from either Liberia or San Jose to the resort.

I'd be tempted to rent a car, but not sure about the quality of roads.    The good thing the Southwest flight from Houston arrives at 1:00 PM , so that leaves plenty of day light.   Also are  taxis readily  available  for La Fortuna? 

Flew in to San Jose.  It’s it is much cheaper and same distance. To the hotel in Arenal in a van arranged by the hotel. It was a no brainer. I don’t recommending driving there. We then took another van to Tamarindo for a few days. Then flew out of Liberia. More expensive but much closer to where we ended our vacation and a better departure time. 

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midtown

midtown 3339

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3 weeks out.  Scored a room at the Parador for $190 a night and was even able to knock it down a bit more with a $75 rewards credit at hotels.com.   My understanding is that Tulemar and Parador compete for the top spot in MA.  Will report back.

 

We decided not to go to Fortuna due to the approximate 8 hours in bus rides.  I would have been fine with it but my travel partner hasn't been to CR and wanted more time in MA and isn't a big intl traveler but more of a fly to the resort and take a 20 mins bus ride.  In fact the only intl trip she's ever been on was with me a year ago to Belize.

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justhookit

justhookit 4167

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Posted (edited)

Parador, Mariposa, Si Como No, and Tulemar are roughly all on the same tier if you are comparing the one bedroom options. Tulemar has more extras but Parador is walking distance to Playa Biesanz which is nice. Parador is also my moms favorite place to stay but it’s been about 4 years since she stayed there.

There is definitely a tier above those and then there are the super high end condos/villas/houses but there is no reason to do those options unless you just want to blow money or have a large group.

im in Villa Caletas now near Los Suenos and head to the airport tomorrow. I’ll get a full trip report up soon.

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justhookit

justhookit 4167

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Looking at going down to fish the full moon in mid July. Most of my regular fishing partners have schedule conflicts so I thought I’d post this up here to see if anyone is interested. Looking to find 2 or 3 people. My boat is in Quepos so we would fly in to San Jose and then have our driver come pick us up to take us to the marina.

It would be a multi day trip out to the FADs which are over 100 miles offshore. You leave the dock late in the afternoon and slow boat out. Fish all day the next day, spend the night out there, fish all day the next day, then spend another night to fish the next day or you can run in. So 2-3 days of fishing, likely 3 unless the weather is bad. This is blue marlin fishing and it’s not unreasonable to expect to catch about 10 a day. It’s by far the best blue marlin fishing in the world.

This kind of trip is not for everyone - it can get a little rough out there and stormy but it’s usually decent weather. We troll lures, run teasers to pitch to fish, and live bait with yellowfin tuna which makes for nice snacks and dinner.

Cost of trip would be roughly $4000 which would include fuel, bait, food/drinks which we would split by however many people go. Since we stay on the boat the only other expense would be airfare. 

Here’s a video a friend of mine did from one of our previous trips

 

Edited by justhookit
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midtown

midtown 3339

Posted
Posted (edited)
9 minutes ago, ernest_t_bass said:

Flying out of Chicago.  Flying into San Jose.

$400 per ticket seems like a great price from CHI..I'd hang on and just set up an alert.  You have plenty of time.  I assume that's direct non-stop.  It's more expensive to fly into Liberia

Edited by midtown
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wood

wood 10966

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OK, so we've been to Manuel Antonio, Jaco, La Fortuna, Tabacon etc & now we're planning a trip to take our boys. Someone told my wife the prettiest area near the water is Tamarindo. I'd always heard that Manuel Antonio is the prettiest, & that seems to be backed up here. For y'all that have been to both areas, which is nicer? Also, in Tamarindo, is there a lot to do aside from the beach, surfing, etc ... rafting, hiking, atvs, etc?

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justhookit

justhookit 4167

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Yeah I cant imagine you are going to ever see anything under $400 from Chicago. But I’ve only flown out of Texas.

@wood From everything I’ve ever heard, MA is nicer but I haven’t been to Tamarindo in person. I would guess you’ll find the same activities in both places. Tamarindo is getting up into the drier area of the coast so not as much in the way of rain forests.its also windier up there so if fishing is on the menu, it can get really rough up there in the winter and spring.

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troph

troph 24028

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Posted
Looking at going down to fish the full moon in mid July. Most of my regular fishing partners have schedule conflicts so I thought I’d post this up here to see if anyone is interested. Looking to find 2 or 3 people. My boat is in Quepos so we would fly in to San Jose and then have our driver come pick us up to take us to the marina.
It would be a multi day trip out to the FADs which are over 100 miles offshore. You leave the dock late in the afternoon and slow boat out. Fish all day the next day, spend the night out there, fish all day the next day, then spend another night to fish the next day or you can run in. So 2-3 days of fishing, likely 3 unless the weather is bad. This is blue marlin fishing and it’s not unreasonable to expect to catch about 10 a day. It’s by far the best blue marlin fishing in the world.
This kind of trip is not for everyone - it can get a little rough out there and stormy but it’s usually decent weather. We troll lures, run teasers to pitch to fish, and live bait with yellowfin tuna which makes for nice snacks and dinner.
Cost of trip would be roughly $4000 which would include fuel, bait, food/drinks which we would split by however many people go. Since we stay on the boat the only other expense would be airfare. 
Here’s a video a friend of mine did from one of our previous trips
 


HOLY FUCK. That’s awesome!
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JimmyHoffa

JimmyHoffa 1188

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FYI-

At least 19 people have died in Costa Rica after consuming alcohol contaminated with toxic levels of methanol, officials said.

The victims, who ranged from 32 to 72 in age, consumed the tainted alcohol in various cities across the country dating back to early last month, the country's Ministry of Health revealed over the weekend.

They each died from what appeared to be methanol poisoning. The fatalities occurred in San José, Cartago, Limón, Guanacaste and Heredia.

Government officials confiscated more than 30,000 bottles of alcohol suspected to be tainted, the ministry said in a statement on Friday, warning residents to avoid several brands that tested positive for contamination.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/least-19-dead-drinking-tainted-alcohol-costa-rica-023448991--abc-news-topstories.html

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HookEm

HookEm 2432

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I'm headed out this Thursday to stay at the Andaz Papagayo in Guanacaste.  Hopefully they won't kill me with bad liquor. Looks like I picked the wrong time to negotiate an all-inclusive package with them.

We are planning on renting a car for a day to explore somewhere in the region.  Any thoughts on Rincon de La Vieja, Tenorio or Palo Verde National Parks?  Or any other day trips that are <2 hours away?  We have been to the region several times, but this will be the first time driving around ourselves.  

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justhookit

justhookit 4167

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So I asked the Tico mate that works on my boat about this, and he said this was all locals dying and drinking in poor, working class dive bars and that there’s almost no way any tourist would even come across those brands of liquor anyway.

but yeah glad I’m mostly an Imperial guy

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spystud13

spystud13 2371

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Definitely don’t drink any of these. 

Quote

The ministry said Wednesday that it searched a facility that belonged to Pinares de Heredia, one of the suppliers of the alcohol, and confiscated boxes of liquor suspected of containing methanol.

Since the investigation, authorities have seized 30,000 bottles of alcohol from brands including Guaro Montano, Guaro Gran Apache, Star Welsh, Aguardiente Barón Rojo, Aguardiente Timbuka and Aguardiente Molotov, according to the New York Daily News. 

https://www.aol.com/article/news/2019/07/25/costa-rica-officials-confirm-20th-death-related-to-tainted-alcohol/23778514/

 

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justhookit

justhookit 4167

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So, word is they are building a resort roughly halfway between Quepos/Manuel Antonio and Jaco. It’s been tried before and was a spectacular failure so we’ll see. I might know a guy who knows a guy if anyone is looking to buy a place down there. It’s definitely a cheap area of the country to invest in.

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justhookit

justhookit 4167

Posted
Posted (edited)

Oh, and one of the latest fishing reports. This is from the FADs which are 80-150 miles offshore and are almost always fished on overnight/multi-day trips.

https://mobile.twitter.com/i/web/status/1174141063650582528

https://twitter.com/BillfishReport/status/1174141063650582528?s=20

Edit -ok I obviously have no idea how to embed a tweet

Edited by justhookit
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midtown

midtown 3339

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Posted
So, word is they are building a resort roughly halfway between Quepos/Manuel Antonio and Jaco. It’s been tried before and was a spectacular failure so we’ll see. I might know a guy who knows a guy if anyone is looking to buy a place down there. It’s definitely a cheap area of the country to invest in.
Is the failure that huge 6 story white building that looks like it belongs in chernobyl
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justhookit

justhookit 4167

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Posted
1 hour ago, midtown said:
22 hours ago, justhookit said:
So, word is they are building a resort roughly halfway between Quepos/Manuel Antonio and Jaco. It’s been tried before and was a spectacular failure so we’ll see. I might know a guy who knows a guy if anyone is looking to buy a place down there. It’s definitely a cheap area of the country to invest in.

Is the failure that huge 6 story white building that looks like it belongs in chernobyl

Ha, no that one is in Jaco

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GottaB

GottaB 588

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Posted
I'm headed out this Thursday to stay at the Andaz Papagayo in Guanacaste.  Hopefully they won't kill me with bad liquor. Looks like I picked the wrong time to negotiate an all-inclusive package with them.
... 

How did it go? Thinking about this for our trip?
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HookEm

HookEm 2432

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Posted
On 11/25/2019 at 2:14 PM, GottaB said:


How did it go? Thinking about this for our trip?

The Andaz was great.  It was our second time there.  We definitely got our money worth going the all-inclusive route.  The food - especially in their best restaurant - was tremendous. I also had zero worries about drinking anything at the Andaz.  The liquor is top-shelf.

We rented a car for 24 hours (~$100 all-in including gas) and drove up to Rio Celeste, a beautiful river in the rain forest.  It was about 2 hours each way of mainly country driving.  We stopped at a huge waterfall on the way back.

If renting a car, the best thing to do would be to rent it around 5:00 p.m. and then drive to Play Cabayul for the sunset.  It is about 10-15 minute easy drive in the countryside.  The beach is fantastic and mainly locals.  Then you will have the car for the whole next day to do an excursion and be back in time for dinner.

PM me if you have any questions.  We have lots of tips for the Andaz.  It is a great property.  Damnit now you are making me want to go back.

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GottaB

GottaB 588

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The Andaz was great.  It was our second time there.  We definitely got our money worth going the all-inclusive route.  The food - especially in their best restaurant - was tremendous. I also had zero worries about drinking anything at the Andaz.  The liquor is top-shelf.
We rented a car for 24 hours (~$100 all-in including gas) and drove up to Rio Celeste, a beautiful river in the rain forest.  It was about 2 hours each way of mainly country driving.  We stopped at a huge waterfall on the way back.
If renting a car, the best thing to do would be to rent it around 5:00 p.m. and then drive to Play Cabayul for the sunset.  It is about 10-15 minute easy drive in the countryside.  The beach is fantastic and mainly locals.  Then you will have the car for the whole next day to do an excursion and be back in time for dinner.
PM me if you have any questions.  We have lots of tips for the Andaz.  It is a great property.  Damnit now you are making me want to go back.

Thanks for the report. Sounds awesome.
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