Travel Announcements Only (No questions or comments please)

[Acenva]

I will be in San Jose on Tuesday Sept 23rd, anyone around.

Ace

[ThunderPants]

LEFT OUT BEACH TRIP NO THE BEACH NOT WORTH THE TIME OR MONEY UNLESS YOU ARE GOING FISHING.

DR MONGER IS CORRECT ABOUT MOLINA ROJO BEING IN THE RED LIGHT DISTRICT, 3 PLACES FOR COMPANSHIP ON THE CORNER Arcadas, Ms Caribe and Molino Rojo plus a decent soda I have been to Molino Rojo several times never found it dangerous. The later you go the better after 12:00 until 3:30 or 4 is best.

[DR Monger II]

Don't go to Molino Rojo, it's in the red light district. It's dangerous.

[ThunderPants]

HOTELS

older sectio of Sportsmen lodge
Castillo
Amistad

Resturant

Machu Pichu
Costa Del Sol
Soda Peru

Bars

Blue Marlin
Molino Rojo
Arcadas ?

Raquel@ Sportsmens or several from Jet Set and the pensiones on 6th

I love to explore best advice go out and find new and undiscovered places

[James3433]

Been to Thailand a few times and Mexico twice, I wanted to try something different. I was thinking about a short trip - 5 days, to see how I like it. I am looking for a low stress experience and some very friendly ladies. Thanks for the advise about the buses, I'll try them. But I just wanted to ask a few quick questions:

Clean hotel w/ AC in the $40.00-$60.00 range.

Is it worth taking a day trip to the coast just to see it or is there something special on the Pacific or Atlantic side worth seeing. I asked because I lived in Hawaii for three years. To me a beach is a beach.

Any chat rooms that you would suggest visiting to meet locals at?

Please name the three bars that are a must to visit.

Same for places to eat.

Names one woman that you would see again if you could find her.

And where did you meet her.

Everything else I think I can handle. Many thanks in advance guys.

Please let me know if you what any info on Bangkok or Pattaya.

[PapaMac]

I'll be staying at the Sportsmens from sep 27-30.

If anyone wants to meet up to hit up the spots, let me know.

This is my first trip to San Jose, second to Costa Rica though. Been to Colombia many times.

I am thinking about going white water rafting one day. Sounds like its a good break from the chicas.

[Paddy]

I will be in San Jose from Sept. 8-16. Although I'm a "newbie" to San Jose, I'm a veteran of EE and Prague in particular. This should be an interesting contrast.

Will be staying at the HDR if anyone wants to join forces and do some major "damage" around town. PM me if interested.

Paddy

[Prolijo]

Red,
IMHO, this topic might fit better under either the "CR Travel Advice" or the "Other Areas" threads. This section, in my view at least, is intended more for announcements of the "I'll be in town the 27th thru the 31st and who wants to meet up?" variety (such as your drink invitation, for example). However, please don't take my "criticism" personally. Other members have gotten on MY case in the past for posting commentary in the Photo Gallery thread. I'd actually be happy to meet up with you for beers some time (if you wouldn't mind listening to all my "gripes"). Unfortunately, I'm probably not looking forward to my next trip until late October or November at the earliest.

As for your rental car link, those DO look like really good prices. I guess that must be one area where prices must be coming down. Rental just be careful. It doesn't always cover as much as you might think. Check out this link http://www.insurance.com/article.asp...ance/artid/156. I called my cc company one time to check and was told that their coverage included CR but only for "regular vehicles" on "regular roads". What constituted "off-road" was a little less clear. Fortunately, I've never personally had to test how good my cc coverage really was, but I have heard horror stories of cc bureacratic foot dragging and other aggravation. Honestly, I've aleays taken the gamble myself that my cc coverage was good enough or that I wouldn't have any major accident, but thought you should be forewarned.

[Maple Red]

... First, I should say this discussion is really in the wrong thread ...
If you can really get a car for just $20/day then I'd say you should probably go for that. What type of car is that? A sub-sub compact with a hamster on a treadmill under the hood? Does that $20 include all taxes and insurance (not to mention what you'll need to pay for gas)? I'd imagine you're not going to return the car in Tamarindo, so its really an expense for more than that 1 day (ie $20 x the several days until you return to Liberia). Otherwise there will probably be an extra charge for returning it to a different location than pick-up.

Prolijo,

Thanks for the added info. If you are in the Tamarindo area and interested in a beer, PM me.

Feel free to suggest an alternate thread in which I should post such subjects in the future. IMHO the "Travel Plans ..." thread seemed suitable. Perhaps a PM is better.

In response to your question, here is a link to the American Airlines car rental site I used. They consolidate prices across various rental agencies and vehicle types. Plug the LIR airport in and your choice of dates and you get a matrix of car rental prices which seem reasonable. I didn't see a category for "hamster on a treadmill" but with cheese prices these days ... probably not economical. Base prices and taxes are listed, insurance and gas costs of course are not. However, it is my current understanding that most credit card companies will provide car insurance if I reserve and pay with their card.

http://aav11.aavacations.com/Consume...ewSession=true

[Prolijo]

Maple,

First, I should say this discussion is really in the wrong thread but, just to answer these last few questions, I'll address them here.

If you can really get a car for just $20/day then I'd say you should probably go for that. What type of car is that? A sub-sub compact with a hamster on a treadmill under the hood? Does that $20 include all taxes and insurance (not to mention what you'll need to pay for gas)? I'd imagine you're not going to return the car in Tamarindo, so its really an expense for more than that 1 day (ie $20 x the several days until you return to Liberia). Otherwise there will probably be an extra charge for returning it to a different location than pick-up. I'm playing devil's advocate here because I definitely realize there are also a lot of intangible benefits of having your own set of wheels at your disposal throughout your trip. Those are much harder to quantify.

What about your other alternatives? Well, you happen to be asking a guy who is heavily biased towards using the local public transportation. Buses from Liberia to Tamarindo run nearly every hour from ~4AM until 6PM (or ~7:30Pm if you count the late bus from SJ). So, once you get through the airport, you'll probably have some delay in continuing your trip to Tamarindo if you wait for the public bus, but not horribly so. The main advantage is that the cost is only 1040 colones (~$2). Oh, and the trip takes 1.5 hours from downtown Liberia (a bit less than that if picking up the bus out by the airport which is on the way to the beaches).

In contrast, Interbus only has 3 departures per day (not the greatest times at that at noon, 5:30PM & 6:45PM) and costs $29-35. Somewhat on the plus side for them, however, they're a little quicker at 1.25 hours for the trip and they'll drop you off directly at your hotel vs. possibly having to take a local cab for a buck or two once you get to Tamarindo by bus. The real bottom line for Interbus is that they only possibly make any sense if you're flight's arrival time matches up reasonably well with their few departures.

What about taking a cab all the way from the Liberia airport? I couldn't really say on that. Perhaps someone else could give more exact estimates. I'm guessing that the cab wouldn't take much less time to make the 80km trip than either the public bus or Interbus, MAYBE an hour or perhaps a bit less if the taxista has a lead foot. The main advantage with the cab is that there would be no delays at all once you get through the airport (not even having to check out a rental car). The main disadvantage is that I'm guessing the fare would probably be at least $50 (others please correct me if I'm wrong).

Bottom line: I won't tell you one way is necessarily better than the other for everyone. You personally have to ask yourself how much your time is worth. Is it worth paying $20 or $30 or $50 more to get to your final destination 15-30 minutes or, in the case of Interbus, possibly a few hours earlier?

Re: road conditions, IMHO complaints about poor road quality in CR are greatly exaggerated. I haven't been on the road out to the beaches recently. I believe it has greatly improved since the early days before LIR became an international airport and all the resulting explosive tourism growth on the Guanacaste beaches. Rainy season does bring some degradation of the roads since it takes a while for tico road crews to keep up filling in all the new potholes with their cheap patching material (that seems to wash out with the next big rain anyway), but driving from LIR to Tamarindo should probably not be a big concern for you.

[Maple Red]

Tamarindo may be a great place to go to enjoy a really nice Costa Rica beach, especially if you bring your own "sand". You may also find some local P4P opportunities (or manage to pick up a non-pro gringa tourist?) as long as you're there anyway. But I personally wouldn't go there with local P4P being a major purpose for my trip.

Prolijo,

Thanks for the info. I have another question for you. What is the best method of transportation from Liberia airport to Tamarindo? Taxi, if so how much should it cost? Alternatively, I was considering renting a car at the airport which seems to cost only about $20/day. What are driving conditions like in that area during the rainy season?

Yes, P4P is not the major purpose. I'll do some surfing and relaxing and P4P could be like the icing on the cake.

I did some research on the water contamination reported last year. Since then, it appears test results have been much better.

[Lancer520]

So I'll be in San Jose for one night on the 28th of August. My wingman won't be arriving till the next morning so i'll be solo mongering the Gulch. If any of you fellow mongers will be in town, send me a PM. This is my 6th trip to CR and i'll be staying at the Presidente... We're headed to Jaco for the weekend and then touring around the rest of the week.

[MrVee]

Will be there Friday and Saturday night (Aug 22-23), if anyone's interested in just having a casual drink and hobbyist hello. Not even sure that I'm going to "do" anything on this trip. (But having said that almost guarantees that I will do something - hehehe)

Getting the digital camera battery charged now, in hopes of contributing to the Photo Gallery.

Until then,

"V"

[Prolijo]

Maple Red,
The reason you found virtually nothing is that there is virtually nothing there (at least as far as decent P4P). The Tamarindo Diria is the hotel ($120/nt?) I hear most mongers talking about. If you want something a little more intimate and less corporate, you might also try the Pasatiempo (~$90/nt?) a little further up the hill from the beach. The Diria also happens to be right across the street from the Casino and Polly's Bar which are cited as the best places to find chicas (usually not starting until after 8PM). Some other places that have been reported for finding P4P working chicas are the Mambo and Babylon Bars (which don't start to take off until 10PM).

Not to dash your plans (or to "gripe") but there are a few possible negatives about Tamarindo that you should be aware of.

First of all, high E Coli counts and other pollution contaminants have been detected in the ocean watersin and around Tamarindo. Untreated sewage from the many hotels that have sprung up in the area in recent years has been cited as the major source and the large Diria Resort is one hotel in particular that was named as a major culprit. Tamarindo boosters will tell you that those high counts were mainly the result of heavy rain runoff that preceeded when the tests were conducted. The situation probably did improve greatly during the dry season, but it is the rainy season again. Does anyone here know if any more tests have been done recently and what were the results? The other thing is that, after last summer's reports, the worst offending hotels were finally forced to do something more to treat their waste products rather than simply dumping it into the nearby streams or directly into the ocean. Whether they've completed those improvements (or just paid someone off) remains to be seen. This issue may not seem that important to you if you don't plan to go in the ocean water at all, but if you plan to stay at the Diria (or some other hotel that is equally guilty), you might want to ask yourself if you want to stay at a place that is contributing to the problem.

Secondly, even without the water pollution that results from the excessive rapid growth in the area, the growth itself presents several other major problems. Construction noise and dirtiness are virtually everywhere when you go out on the streets. And beyond that, the place is changing rapidly from the sleepy little beach town which was what initially attracted all the tourists into a mini version of Jaco with all the concomitant rise in crime and drugs. I'd call it "Paradise Lost" or heading rapidly in that direction.

My last "gripe" (the reason one doesn't see more mongering reports on Tamarindo and perhaps the deal breaker for you) is that in touristy places like Tamarindo you'll tend to find only Jaco or HDR colombiana cien rates for Calle 6 Pensione quality. Of course, YMMV always applies (some guys really love going for the fat greedy pigs)

Tamarindo may be a great place to go to enjoy a really nice Costa Rica beach, especially if you bring your own "sand". You may also find some local P4P opportunities (or manage to pick up a non-pro gringa tourist?) as long as you're there anyway. But I personally wouldn't go there with local P4P being a major purpose for my trip.

New standard disclaimer: This is all just one mans opinion about a CR issue and is not meant as a personal attack on anyone else who may post a different opinion on this board. Others should feel completely free to disagree if they so choose.

[Maple Red]

Hi guys.

I am considering a trip to Tamarindo in mid September. The purpose of the trip would be a wide range of adventures, bedroom ones included.

I searched the forum for "Tamarindo" going back several months and found virtually nothing. Does anyone have info on the chica scene there? Even hotel suggestions would be of interest.

Thanks.