Costa Rica - Travel Advice

[Bilko]

Anyone been there for New Year's Eve? Is the HDR or KL crowded or very limited in selection?

Also, how hard is it to get a hotel room.

Thanks,

MCruddy

Ticos like to spend NY Eve with family, even the hookers. There will be some girls but not many. Best to avoid SJ on Christmas and New Years (not to mention Good Friday).

[MCruddy]

Anyone been there for New Year's Eve? Is the HDR or KL crowded or very limited in selection?

Also, how hard is it to get a hotel room.

Thanks,

MCruddy

[Stevewxly]

For the T Man -------

Go to the other thread......Jaco Beach in Costa Rica....you will see a report - titled - Where To Stay In Jaco - about a good hotel option in Jaco.....and it doesn't get any closer to the Beatle Bar than the Los Four Grandes Hotel....which is about 50 feet to the front door of the Beatle Bar.

Friendly advice - FYI
Read the other posts and other threads - before asking questions.....almost always - your specific question has already been asked and answered many, many times over...............

Steve

[JT Wildman]

I looked all throughout this forum and can't seem to find any options for Hotels in Jaco. Can ya'll help with suggestions? Near the Beatle Bar, yes. No Chica fee would be great. I have always spent my time in San Jose mostly because I could find no reason to leave, but this upcoming trip I at least want to venture off and be able to return home and say that I did something beside Fuck all day and night. Not that there's anything wrong with that but.

Help a brother out?

[Kman1]

from a short trip and had a nice time. first HLH, do the girls here get a regular health check? for god's sake.. the services they offer!! Its great to see the attitude but still Pamela and Lorena freaked me out... plus the new sister Samantha. I did not have time for Samantha but Pamela was crazy and Lorena topped it. When I was in with Lorena (ultra crazy session) the phone kept ringing and the door knocked constantly... the sisters were trying to get hold of her as the guy who paid their house showed up and this time was offering to buy them a new car and wanted a group session with all three.. go figure.. IMHO, if not for this forum I would have picked the other chicas here who were just as fine or better, esp the asian looking ones.
That being said nothing in San Jose can top the Del Rey experience. The massage places can be a cheaper and good distraction during the day but HDR offers the quintessential CR experience. You can negotiate a good deal these days. Most of them started at the usual Cien but agreed to 30-45mil col. You can change your dollars to col. and pay 30-45 mil as I did and things will will improve for us... you can exchange ur money at the casino counter, they give a good exchange rate.
I have some pics of the HDR girls that I will post soon.

The massage places will be closed by then...
they open early in the morning though....check the new fantasy massage it's 'fairly priced - among them all'

[Ze Gato]

Thanks you all. I found the manager Jose Troyano's email (troyano111@hotmail.com) and emailed him. He asked for a cc number to confirm reservation but I told him I'm paying cash and sent him my itinerary upon which he sent me a confirmation number. $52/nite inc. taxes. Now thats a deal compared to paying $100+ at Del Rey plus $10 Chica fee.

I am arriving at SJO around 9:30pm, just wondering if any of the massage places are open past 9 as I would like to hit them first before ending up at Del Rey. Last time I got lucky and scored a TLN at HDR for just under cien but those are hard to come by. Anyone have any recommendations for TLN?

The massage places will be closed by then...
they open early in the morning though....check the new fantasy massage it's 'fairly priced - among them all'

[Kman1]

Thanks you all. I found the manager Jose Troyano's email (troyano111@hotmail.com) and emailed him. He asked for a cc number to confirm reservation but I told him I'm paying cash and sent him my itinerary upon which he sent me a confirmation number. $52/nite inc. taxes. Now thats a deal compared to paying $100+ at Del Rey plus $10 Chica fee.

I am arriving at SJO around 9:30pm, just wondering if any of the massage places are open past 9 as I would like to hit them first before ending up at Del Rey. Last time I got lucky and scored a TLN at HDR for just under cien but those are hard to come by. Anyone have any recommendations for TLN?

Email addresses:

costaricamorazon@hotmail.com

info@costaricamorazan.com

Phone: 506-2222-4622

Fax (506) 2222-4722

I stayed there a little over a year ago and also have a business card.

[Iamsmooth]

Email addresses:

costaricamorazon@hotmail.com

info@costaricamorazan.com

Phone: 506-2222-4622

Fax (506) 2222-4722

I stayed there a little over a year ago and also have a business card.

[Paintergle]

Morazan 506-2222-4622

[Kman1]

Hi,

Does someone have the email address for the Morazon Hotel and Casino near Del Rey? Last time I stayed there and the guy gave me his card, I misplaced it.

Thanks much

[Stevewxly]

Hola,

If you are interested in getting a Garmin GPS unit with maps for Central America ( actually maps of the whole World Map are available ).

I just checked the Ebay auction, and there is a seller ( from Oklahoma) selling the Garmin World Maps for gps that is currently running on the auction. Current price is at $ 10.50.....and should probably go for around $ 18-20.00 at the auction end.

There are other sellers who have the same Garmin World gps maps and they are wanting around $ 75-80.00 for them....which in my opinion - is way too much to pay - unless you are really desperate to get them.

This set of Garmin World Maps should work well on most all of the Garmin GPS units....either the Ique models ( models # 3200 , 3600 or M3, M4 or M5 )or the any of Garmin Nuvi gps models.

I have never had much success on downloading any maps from the Garmin website.....too expensive, and too complicated to do.....in my opinion.

Steve

....................................................................................................

[Nixonbd]

Another fellow member PM's me about buying (from me) & using a GPS receiver in Central America.

Here is my answer for him.....which may also help anyone else interested in getting a nice GPS unit for use there:

I have several gps units now, but nothing that will work for the countries in Central America. the gps units I have only have USA and Canada maps.

There are very few gps units that will work for Central America....with the Garmin units being the exception to that....because they have Garmin World Maps that cover the whole world.

So the Garmin are about the only ones that will work in C. America.

If I were you I would go up on Ebay and try to find either a little used or new/refurbished Garmin Nuvi unit. They will come with the USA maps preloaded.

Then you will need to purchase the World Maps by Garmin on a CD ROM disk....should run you about $ 30-40.00 for the disk......then follow the directions and load the maps for Central America onto your Garmin Nuvi unit.

Make sure you buy the Garmin World Map as brand new....because it will come with a code number and if you do not have the code number from the factory....as new....the maps will not work on your gps unit.

The maps for Costa Rica will be with the World Map deal....and they are very usable but are not as good as the USA maps.....meaning that the house numbers and street names are somewhat obscure in all of Central America.....

Some houses have numbers......many do not.

And even some of the streets also seemingly do not have names....or if they do they too are very obscure..which would be unheard of here in the USA....but perfectly acceptable to the officials and residents in say Nicaragua, Costa Rica or Panama.

People there navigate by spoken or written directions from landmarks or such........


Directions in Costa Rica will be like :

Go 100 meters Sur (South) on Central Ave. - turn Oeste (West) at McDonalds ( or KFC or Subway)......go 200 meters until you come to 'grande casa' (large house).....that will be your destination.

So it is difficult to get all that onto and from a gps unit. But when you give the directions above to a local taxi driver - they can drive you right up in front of the house you have told them to go to.

The Garmin gps in Costa Rica will be OK for walking or driving or whatever, but you will not be able to get the exact house address from it.....as you would in the USA.

You can buy these new and ready to use in San Jose Costa Rica....but the unit will run about $ 500-600.00 US.....where you can get a similar Garmin unit here in the US before leaving for around $ 150-170.00 including the separate World Map setup.

Good luck with it........

I am getting ready for another trip to Nicaragua and will perhaps also go down to Costa Rica for a few days too.....so I will be buying my own Garmin gps unit in the next week or so to take with me.

I would recommend the Garmin Nuvi 200 W.....or any of the Wide Nuvi units with 4.3 inch color screens.

If you want to go smaller with a 3 inch screen then get the Garmin Nuvi 200, 205, or 250. plus you will need the World Map setup too.

You could also use a Garmin 3600 handheld gps unit....with the addition of the World Maps...but they are more difficult and tricker to use.
The Garmin Nuvi gps units are by far the best and easiest ones to use for any of the countries in Central or South America.

The others (gps) brands - Magellian, Tom Tom, Sony, Cobra, Lowrance, or any of the other major gps units would work in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, or wherever - ....but you would be looking at a more or less blank screen (without landmarks or streets....with little dots on it (without the addition of the specific maps for Central America) ....so you could get your longitude and latitude from them....but you would not be able to see where you were at - at the moment or where you were going without a map with those........

Hope this helps clear up the idea of using gps units in Cen. America.

I have used several of the Garmin gps units ( with the addition of the World Maps) in all the Central America countries listed above...and they work pretty good for traveling to tell you where you are, and where you have been and are going next.......

Steve

Whe I bought my Garmin in the states, I know there was a version (not sure if Garmin or not) you could hook up and download other countries maps......I've used mine to walk around American cities......

[Stevewxly]

Another fellow member PM's me about buying (from me) & using a GPS receiver in Central America.

Here is my answer for him.....which may also help anyone else interested in getting a nice GPS unit for use there:

I have several gps units now, but nothing that will work for the countries in Central America. the gps units I have only have USA and Canada maps.

There are very few gps units that will work for Central America....with the Garmin units being the exception to that....because they have Garmin World Maps that cover the whole world.

So the Garmin are about the only ones that will work in C. America.

If I were you I would go up on Ebay and try to find either a little used or new/refurbished Garmin Nuvi unit. They will come with the USA maps preloaded.

Then you will need to purchase the World Maps by Garmin on a CD ROM disk....should run you about $ 30-40.00 for the disk......then follow the directions and load the maps for Central America onto your Garmin Nuvi unit.

Make sure you buy the Garmin World Map as brand new....because it will come with a code number and if you do not have the code number from the factory....as new....the maps will not work on your gps unit.

The maps for Costa Rica will be with the World Map deal....and they are very usable but are not as good as the USA maps.....meaning that the house numbers and street names are somewhat obscure in all of Central America.....

Some houses have numbers......many do not.

And even some of the streets also seemingly do not have names....or if they do they too are very obscure..which would be unheard of here in the USA....but perfectly acceptable to the officials and residents in say Nicaragua, Costa Rica or Panama.

People there navigate by spoken or written directions from landmarks or such........


Directions in Costa Rica will be like :

Go 100 meters Sur (South) on Central Ave. - turn Oeste (West) at McDonalds ( or KFC or Subway)......go 200 meters until you come to 'grande casa' (large house).....that will be your destination.

So it is difficult to get all that onto and from a gps unit. But when you give the directions above to a local taxi driver - they can drive you right up in front of the house you have told them to go to.

The Garmin gps in Costa Rica will be OK for walking or driving or whatever, but you will not be able to get the exact house address from it.....as you would in the USA.

You can buy these new and ready to use in San Jose Costa Rica....but the unit will run about $ 500-600.00 US.....where you can get a similar Garmin unit here in the US before leaving for around $ 150-170.00 including the separate World Map setup.

Good luck with it........

I am getting ready for another trip to Nicaragua and will perhaps also go down to Costa Rica for a few days too.....so I will be buying my own Garmin gps unit in the next week or so to take with me.

I would recommend the Garmin Nuvi 200 W.....or any of the Wide Nuvi units with 4.3 inch color screens.

If you want to go smaller with a 3 inch screen then get the Garmin Nuvi 200, 205, or 250. plus you will need the World Map setup too.

You could also use a Garmin 3600 handheld gps unit....with the addition of the World Maps...but they are more difficult and tricker to use.
The Garmin Nuvi gps units are by far the best and easiest ones to use for any of the countries in Central or South America.

The others (gps) brands - Magellian, Tom Tom, Sony, Cobra, Lowrance, or any of the other major gps units would work in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, or wherever - ....but you would be looking at a more or less blank screen (without landmarks or streets....with little dots on it (without the addition of the specific maps for Central America) ....so you could get your longitude and latitude from them....but you would not be able to see where you were at - at the moment or where you were going without a map with those........

Hope this helps clear up the idea of using gps units in Cen. America.

I have used several of the Garmin gps units ( with the addition of the World Maps) in all the Central America countries listed above...and they work pretty good for traveling to tell you where you are, and where you have been and are going next.......

Steve

[Soft Bob]

Thanks for the correction BabyHuey. I did mean HLH - Hotel Little Havana.

Sorry for causing confusion.

[BabyHuey]

Well, I re-read my post and did not see anywhere that I referred to HLN. Then I noticed that SoftBob did in a post that came later. What I think he meant was HLH, which would stand for Hotel Little Havana (used to be Zona Blue).

Or if you saw in my report where I wrote TLN, well, that means Toda La Noche. TLN is spanish for "the whole night", where you pay the girl to stay the whole night. I have to make a very close connection with a chica to even consider a TLN, and do not do them often.