San Jose General Reports

[The Dirty Pirate]

Costa Rica is no place for point-and-shoot mongering. Not even in the MPs if you want to have something non-mechanical. You need to talk to them for a while and feel them out. It's pretty easy to see within a couple minutes if they're interested or not.

[Mr Gogo]

Since this is your first trip I think the last thing you should do is take a girl to the beach. If you want chicas at the beach you need to go to Jaco for a sure thing. The beach itself in Jaco sucks. It's not fun for swimming, the sand is black and rocky, there are strong currents, and it's attached to the skuzz hole city of Jaco. You can easily take a taxi, bus or find a van ride to Herradura or Hermosa the towns next to Jaco. They are cleaner, close and less populated.

Jaco has the Beatle Bar and Monkey Bar and you can talk to chicas outside, you'll see them at the supers or sodas before or after working. You can tell who they are by their clothing and are usually in groups of 2 or 3.

The previous report is right, Beatle Bar is more cut-throat than Del Rey. Those chicks land careless idiots on most days who over pay. Some of those guys will not even think about forking over 300 dollars. Chicas will all ask 100 for short time, most will go for 80, just hold your ground. It's a fun place, a lot of people hate it, but like anywhere it is what you make it. If you let street riff raff and hardcore chicas get to you, it's not a place for you. They will all go away if you say no though. Find yourself a condo to use versus a hotel. Usually they are cheaper and have everything you would want yet besides a free breakfast.

Good post, and your on point. After my initial visit two months ago I'm seriously pissed at guys missleading us. Hell, the chicas are more honest than us. They are orgainized and want 100usd per hour and get it.

If you want hard core, clock watching chicas with a boys club enviorment then CR is for you. I don't want to flame but members need honesty. I wasted time and money on this bullshit ass place, because my wingman liked it. He cool, but it wasnt what I thought. The chicas are overated, and over priced. The natives are nice. The food is average. And the Del Ray is bullshit hustling chicas. Now put this in your report of distinction so people understand not to waste their time or money. Or continue with the illusion, I don't care, but for those who do be warned.

[The Dirty Pirate]

Since this is your first trip I think the last thing you should do is take a girl to the beach. If you want chicas at the beach you need to go to Jaco for a sure thing. The beach itself in Jaco sucks. It's not fun for swimming, the sand is black and rocky, there are strong currents, and it's attached to the skuzz hole city of Jaco. You can easily take a taxi, bus or find a van ride to Herradura or Hermosa the towns next to Jaco. They are cleaner, close and less populated.

Jaco has the Beatle Bar and Monkey Bar and you can talk to chicas outside, you'll see them at the supers or sodas before or after working. You can tell who they are by their clothing and are usually in groups of 2 or 3.

The previous report is right, Beatle Bar is more cut-throat than Del Rey. Those chicks land careless idiots on most days who over pay. Some of those guys will not even think about forking over 300 dollars. Chicas will all ask 100 for short time, most will go for 80, just hold your ground. It's a fun place, a lot of people hate it, but like anywhere it is what you make it. If you let street riff raff and hardcore chicas get to you, it's not a place for you. They will all go away if you say no though. Find yourself a condo to use versus a hotel. Usually they are cheaper and have everything you would want yet besides a free breakfast.

[Psychman]

A nice beach with some avaliable chicas is Playas de Cocos. Of course, there is not close to the scale that you would find in Jaco, but on several of the clubs on the main drag there are certainly single, alone chicas that are more than avalaible. Not a place to go for major mongering, but if you want a nice beach experince, a classy town with good food, and have the options of pulling a chica, it has some appeal.

[MrWeebist]

I am coming to Costa Rica for the first time on April 1st and was supposed to leave early on April 5th but due to some international flight cancellation, I will have to stay an additional 48 hours and I am really worried that I will get bored.

I've decided to stay at HDR to make things easy but don't know if I can take staying there this long.

Can anyone recommend a safe Beach place where I can stay for a couple of nights and do I have to take a girl from San Jose? Otherwise please recommend some local talent or mongering places.

IMHO jaco is a dirty hole of an experience. The beatle bar is fun but even more cutthroat than the dr chicas.

Manuel antonio is a real beach. A clean beach and if you venture outside of the dr you might hit it off enough with someone to consider taking them with. Lots of restaurants and the sunsets are not to be missed.

Just be careful there since two days can get very long with the wrong person.

[JayHighFive]

Hi is right. Try these places at Jaco beach. They also have drives at the Del Rey who can take you there. About 1. 5 hours away.

Jay.

Try Jaco Beach for your 2 day layover. There are P4P gals there. Check out the Beatle Bar. Like a mini Hotel Del Rey. Local bus from SJ to Jaco is safe and cheap. But watch your belongings. Several good hotels in Jaco, with cheap taxi's and good restaurants.

Best beach is Manual Antonio near the town of Quepos. But the P4P action there is somewhat slow. . But there are some local gals that hangout in the bars in Quepos.

And it is a great place to go to the beach (next to the national park) hangout, eat some good seafood, swim, etc. Again you can take the local bus there or you can get Grey Line or Interbus. Private small mini vans with AC and hotel pickup. You will need prior reservations for the mini vans though.

Have fun.

[Stevewxly]

I am coming to Costa Rica for the first time on April 1st and was supposed to leave early on April 5th but due to some international flight cancellation, I will have to stay an additional 48 hours and I am really worried that I will get bored.

I've decided to stay at HDR to make things easy but don't know if I can take staying there this long.

Can anyone recommend a safe Beach place where I can stay for a couple of nights and do I have to take a girl from San Jose? Otherwise please recommend some local talent or mongering places.

Try Jaco Beach for your 2 day layover. There are P4P gals there. Check out the Beatle Bar. Like a mini Hotel Del Rey. Local bus from SJ to Jaco is safe and cheap. But watch your belongings. Several good hotels in Jaco, with cheap taxi's and good restaurants.

Best beach is Manual Antonio near the town of Quepos. But the P4P action there is somewhat slow. . But there are some local gals that hangout in the bars in Quepos.

And it is a great place to go to the beach (next to the national park) hangout, eat some good seafood, swim, etc. Again you can take the local bus there or you can get Grey Line or Interbus. Private small mini vans with AC and hotel pickup. You will need prior reservations for the mini vans though.

Have fun.

[Samata61]

I am coming to Costa Rica for the first time on April 1st and was supposed to leave early on April 5th but due to some international flight cancellation, I will have to stay an additional 48 hours and I am really worried that I will get bored.

I've decided to stay at HDR to make things easy but don't know if I can take staying there this long.

Can anyone recommend a safe Beach place where I can stay for a couple of nights and do I have to take a girl from San Jose? Otherwise please recommend some local talent or mongering places.

[Paulie97]

Thank you a lot for contributing the report Tomasb. I enjoyed the read.

[Tomasb]

I just returned from Costa Rica last night and wanted to post my general impressions and experiences before memory fades. I have been reporting for several years on this site with most reports concerning my travels in South / Central America, and a few from SEA. Since I was employed as a consultant, I had the opportunity to travel, however, changing economic situations has compelled me to exchange my consulting work for a permanent type job so my posts will be few and far between for at least the next year.

I arrived in San Jose and spent a few days there at the beginning and end of my trip. As other posts have indicated, there are safety factors present in SJ there that should be considered. Unlike Lima and Buenos Aires, one does not randomly walk the streets in the evening (I. E. Miraflores, Peru) though days are generally ok. I recall my first evening in SJ that I decided to walk several blocks to a central downtown plaza opposite the Holiday Inn / Aurora after dinner and was informed by my restaurant that I should take a taxi instead. Too dangerous they said. The park was full of people during the day but the evening the park was virtually deserted on a Saturday night! In Peru and Colombia, you can see either an police or army presence in the evening in populated parts of their cities, whereas in San Jose I hardly saw any patrols. Since CR does not have a standing army that might be a negative in this context in that they do not seem to have the trained security presence available. A few nights ago, I attempted to walk only a few blocks from a great little restaurant called Esquina de Buenos Aires to Club Idem and felt quite uncomfortable with the riff-raff on the street. I heard Club Idem was good but alas they close at 10pm during the week and I arrived a few minutes after that and was turned away.

Now to the important part: To get directly to the point, I was not especially impressed by Hotel Del Rey talent. As other members have noted, this is also not the place to go for GFE. Virtually all the chicas are hardcore pro's in my judgment and many have more than a few miles on them. Lots of big butts squeezed into tight clothing, fake boobs, etc. Aggressive girls who almost promise you a bad time based on their non-subtle approach. Very few young hot girls and most readily admitted to kids. One girl stated a price of $80 and when I seemed interested (I wasn't) quickly changed her price to $100. With that ridiculous upsell I walked away thought this appeared to be the general pricing structure. I did meet girls from all over Latin America including DR, Guat, Colombia and more Tica's than I expected. For my last evening, I decided to give it one last try. As it was getting late. Around 1am, I focused in on a girl who said she 26 and was from SJ. She affected a rather normal appearance wearing clothes one might encounter on a general pedestrian street. Called herself Alejandra and was wearing blue jeans with a hole in the upper leg area and a mid-riff blouse. After catching her eye, I went to talk to her as she did not approach me, which is generally a good sign. She spoke very good English and said she was taking math classes as well and had early English classes in the morning so she noted that did not like to stay out too late. I explained to her that most of my experiences with P4P were not good and was not sure I wanted to pursue this avenue but was just looking around. However, she reassured me that we could have a chill relaxing time etc. And she could stay with me for a while giving me the impression that GFE could be had. I took the bait and interestingly enough no prices were discussed. After we returned to the hotel, we quickly got down to business, however, though the sex was good, I developed the impression, based on her behavior, that she was a real pro and not an amateur as I had hoped looking for tuition money. Sure enough after one hour or so, she started to organize to leave. Then after dressing, she hung back waiting for her money. Since we had not discussed the specifics of the financial side of the operation nor her length of stay, I decided to be more proactive about the situation. With that in mind, I offered her $50 USD and she went through the roof, whining and complaining and stating that she thought I was a gentleman so it was not necessary to discuss cash. I told her that I expected her to stay longer and was disappointed by her attitude. I stuck to my guns though did give her an extra $10 just to get rid of her. She stormed out of the room and probably returned to HDR. The next morning the desk clerk told me that even the $50 was too much to pay confirming for me once again that the prices in the chica union at HDR and elsewhere are out of line with the prices the locals pay.

I also spent time at Little Havana Cigar Bar and rented a room there for one evening. It's a pretty good deal for one night as the room prices are reasonable (about $60-$80) and there is quite a discount for the chica's. Unfortunately, I found the talent to be lacking in the bar though the two girls on separate occasions I selected made up for it with their enthusiasm. If you have already rented their hotel room, then it's $35 USD total with $10 of that going to the bar and the remainder to the girl. This is for one hour service. However, the cost is more if it you rent a room for an hour. I think it's $55 per hour, which includes the temp room. Also, on my first visit, I selected two girls for a two hour romp, however, as usual only one girl knew what was going on and her inexperienced friend was just along for the ride. She was really a pain in the ass. I have finally come to the conclusion that threesome's are only rarely worth the effort.

The one thing that I did not like about the hotel rooms, which are comfortable with large showers and flat screen tv's, are virtually all the rooms do not have windows thereby blocking street noise but is disconcerting if you are used to waking up to the morning light. I kept waking up as I was concerned that I would miss my flight and oversleep.

Also, I spent some time in the beach town on the Nicoya peninsula called Malpais / St. Teresa. There is zero P4P there though lots of stunning young surfer girls and Europeans. If you are a young guy with some game and a surfer as well, I think one might be able to pull out something from the herd. Even the younger girls were friendly to an older guy (I. E. Me) and with a bit more time, I may have been able to generate something. Virtually everyone speaks English too and spanish skills are not really necessary. I also visited the area around Volcan Poas and that is certainly a place to bring your own talent. Incredible scenery and mild weather but zero things to do at night expect bang your chica.

PS:

I would like to add that I found the Costa Rica people to be exceptionally friendly and pleasant and it really made for an enjoyable trip. Since I will be out of commission for a while, it was a worthwhile conclusion to my overall travels in Latin America. However, it certainly cost more than most Latin America destinations, which includes the food, booze, and the hotels. At the airport, I saw a box of 10 Cohiba cigars for $150, which was confirmed by the store clerk. Buy your cigars at the Little Havana or elsewhere.

[Traveler04]

I have been to CR 20+ and to the DR 25+ times in the past 6 years and have been all over each country and have never had a problem nor have any of my friends etc. Had any problems. That said I have found that making smart choices = a safer (not 100% safe) experience. Things happen in any city in the world. You need to know the lay of the land as there are always people ready to take advantage of you. CR and the DR are no different. I try to make connections with locals, seek out other gringos if I am traveling alone and watch my back as well as the backs of other people around me. Just my 2 cents.

[MrWeebist]

Yes, I've been visiting CR for over ten years. And I won't be back anytime soon. It is very dangerous everywhere after dark. Taxi drivers are hijacking people and taking them to obscure barrios and robbing them. Everybody has a scam. Pick another place.

Thats the biggest load of crap. It might be a bad place for a drunken gringo to try scoring a tranny on a dark side street, but anyone with half a brain can avoid problems.

I have yet to hear of taxi drivers hijacking anyone for anything. Sure they might try to run up fare from 1 to 3 or even 5000 colones to the unsuspecting. Sure it HAS happened but in five years I have never heard anyone even talk about someone who knew someone that happened to.

Sounds like maybe something bad happened to you. But I suspect you might be one of the loud mouth drunken fools that had it coming.

Whether you like it or not the people of Costa rica are as friendly as any I've met. That is if you have a little respect for them and don't act like they are lucky to meet you. Give me a fucking break.

[The Dirty Pirate]

Some of the things you guys believe are just absurd! Yes I agree that if you hop in a taxi PARKED in front of Del Rey you might be ripped off because the meter isn't turned on or they have a rigged one. Simple solution, flag one down driving by! Saying no to a puta and / or their "taxi buddy" isn't that hard!

I have ridden in countless pirate taxis, regular Tico cars, walked around at night. Whatever. I don't encourage you to do this if you think you're in danger but seriously the amount of police presence is up very much. If you make yourself a target you probably will be one, simple as that. San Jose is relatively safe, even at night.

[Papa Fritas]

At night there are some shady people who loiter around the HDR and Parque Morazan. That's why the safety concern. Kids / teens have been known to come up and rip a gold chain off your neck and run off. Parque Morazan is where you can be double or triple teamed, distracted, and find your wallet gone.

Yes, I've been visiting CR for over ten years. And I won't be back anytime soon. It is very dangerous everywhere after dark. Taxi drivers are hijacking people and taking them to obscure barrios and robbing them. Everybody has a scam. Pick another place.

[Jerrycop]

Just got back from 1 night at HDR and 4 nights in Jaco, It was my 5th time there in the past 2 years. I had an incredible time in both places but I find the HDR to be much better and the action 24-7. At beatle bar you have to act fast because the place closes at 1am and it seems more like the girls want to hit and run while at HDR you can definely get better deals and the girls hang out with you. Also found an awesome TICA at Havana bar for $55 an hour and they had 2 for 1 drinks in the afternoon! Not only was the staff at HDR was awesome so were the girls! Going back real soon!