Cahuita

Muchos Tours: Marco.

BriBri Chocolate / Medicinal Plants Tour

Cahuita National Park

Snorkelling

Tortuguero

Roots Tours

Turtle Nesting Tour

Canoe Tour

Hiking Tour

La Fortuna

La Fortuna Waterfall

Canoa Aventura: Safari Float

Eco Termalitas Hot Springs

Tubing

Estukuru Chocolate Tour

Monteverde

Sky Adventures hanging bridges & zip lining

Selvatura Zip Lining

Monteverde Frog Pond

Equus Equestrian and Sugar Tour

Don Rodolfo Night Tour

There’s a lot of choice of zip lines and hanging bridges in both La Fortuna and Monteverde. We decided to keep them for Monteverde because of the cloud forest and after a lot of trawling Youtube videos and reviews, settled on Sky Adventures for both. We weren’t disappointed!

Firstly, the hanging bridges – it’s the same price for taking a guided tour of these to just walking the route independently. We chose to walk them independently so we had time to enjoy the bridges and take photos. Each bridge is labelled with its height and length and a particular tree you should be able to spot from the bridge. There were a couple of parts of the route where we needed to wait for others to clear the bridge, and it would have been helpful if the route had been one-way as at times nobody was taking any notice of the limits stated on the bridges – eek!

The ziplining started with us getting kitted out (it’s $5 extra for a helmet with a Go Pro bracket), being given thorough explanations of how things worked and going down the test line to the base of the sky tram. I was cool until I was released on the test line – which was much faster than I’d imagined it would be (having never zip lined before!) and was a bit too rollercoaster-like! Sky Adventures is the only company that use a breaking system on the line, and it did feel safe, but I didn’t like the unexpected freefall sensation at the beginning, so was trying to rationalise it as we made our way to the tram. In the tram cabin, one of the instructors was joking about death rates which didn’t help, even though I knew he was joking! The tram was also more scary than I’d expected. I definitely am not a height-loving person!

We had to climb a couple of flights of stairs for the next zipline and once I was attached I freaked out. The instructor was lovely – and so patient. After a while I stepped back and everyone else went ahead of me, with me trying to decide whether to walk down or give it a go. Eventually I went and am so pleased I did. The rest of the lines got better and more fun as I got used to what I was meant to be doing and how it felt. SO special to be flying through the clouds (although surprisingly dirty and cold too!).

There are two lines where people go in pairs at Sky in Monteverde. For these, the heaviest person goes first, so don’t expect to get to decide yourself. At the end there is a choice between a bungee jump and being lowered down to the ground from a platform. I thought I’d struggle with this as well, but it was okay (although I did end up in a heap on the floor at the bottom when I could probably just have stood up as I got near the ground!

I liked that the same staff and group moved through the lines together at Sky. It made it easier for me as we got to know each other. I did feel safe and I’d even like to go and do it again!

We did buy the photo package of the trip, which was $40. There’s no hard-sell though and the price depends on how many people are in your group.

Selvatura Zip Lining

After the success of Sky, and realising we had both a spare day and spare money (from not eating out as often as I’d planned), the kids did Selvatura zip lines as well. This was less tight with the organisation and more of a free-for-all.

We saved a bit of money by booking through WhatsApp with them rather than directly through the website. Transport (in a shared shuttle) was included and overall ziplining at Selvatura is cheaper than the Sky Adventures experience by quite a bit.

On arrival, you have to join a queue and you get kitted up there as a continuous process – there’s no groups despite the allocated time and no keeping together people or staff. Staff are instead stationary on their allocated job and stay there throughout. Once kitted up (helmets with GoPro brackets are free, but there are a limited quantity available), you have a minibus trip to the start point and need to walk quite a bit between lines (there was practically no walking at Sky). For Selvatura, the caribenas go straight on the lines and you can hold onto the rope connecting that to your harness or slow yourself down with a gloved hand on the actual zip line. The kids said this was okay. They did feel rushed at each line though (so I’d have never had time to get over my panic). They also reported that although there were more lines, the lines were shorter and not as spectacularly high above the cloud forest as Sky had been- they generally went through the trees rather than above them. I watched for them at the end of the last long (1km) line and a lot of people weren’t making it to the end – they had to be dragged by an instructor going out to fetch them. This was causing lots of delays, but it also felt a bit of a cheat – to advertise the 1km line as special when probably 75% of the people I watched didn’t actually travel 1km seemed wrong.

We didn’t choose the photo package – it was significantly more expensive than Sky’s and there were fewer photos included.

The kids had a good time but all preferred Sky Advventures. We hadn’t chosen a couple of the other places due to either them not wanting to have to go down a line in ‘superman’ style, or because of not being able to organise it at such late notice, but clearly it’s worth identifying the differences between places and choosing carefully, as they are more different to each other than I’d expected.

Monteverde Frog Pond

We had a rainy afternoon to fill after ziplining so walked over to the Monteverde frog pond. The mixed reviews I’d read hadn’t been too helpful and I’m not sure mine will assist in that respect. Firstly, the advertised prices online were nothing like what we were told they were when we arrived and we had to pay $20 each (no discount for students). The bug displays were interesting but not exclusively Costa Rican (and all dead). A guide turned up to show us around and immediately criticised us for not knowing enough technical Spanish about frogs to follow his tour in Spanish and told us we shouldn’t have planned a visit to a Spanish-speaking country without knowing more of the language. Argh. This view was only replicated in the Adventure Inn in San Jose. Everybody else was accepting and kind with our efforts to communicate in Spanish, and interested that Spanish isn’t a subject that everyone learns in school in the UK.

Anyway, our tour began (in English) and basically was a ‘spot the frog’ game around the whole exhibit. We got some good photos, especially once it got dark and some of the frogs became more active, but the frogs are all in glass enclosures and the glass was dirty, which could have easily been rectified by the staff. We wouldn’t have seen some of these types of frogs ‘in the wild’ based on our other choices of activities in Costa Rica, so I’m glad we went, but would advise others not to have high expectations of the visit!

Equus Equestrian and Sugar Tour

This was another activity that we organised on arrival in Monteverde as I knew we’d need to make a decision depending on transport and the weather. Transport was included for this trip and I liaised with them beforehand to check that I was well within the weight limit for the horses. We were in a group with about 6 others (so 10 of us in total, with two guides) and were allocated horses based on both our size and experience. I appreciated the instructions given as although I know how to ride, these horses were used to riders holding the reins with one hand and being given slightly different signals than I was used to. I think I expected the ride to involve some well manicured paths along hillsides to lovely views and it wasn’t like that at all! The paths were steep (up and down) and rocky. The horses were quite sure-footed but the ride wasn’t an easy one. The guide at the back didn’t seem to like the horses going at their own pace either and kept rushing them, which startled them into cantering when the riders involved weren’t necessarily keen or prepared for that. I was surprised nobody fell off and disappointed that it wasn’t all more relaxed. The ride was a couple of hours long and I wouldn’t have wanted longer – it was starting to get samey by then, although we saw an amazing flock of green macaws flying below us at one point, there wasn’t much other wildlife to see as we were out of the forest.

After the ride, we were taken to the sugar mill and shown how to get sugar cane water out of sugar cane (it was hard work!), and talked through how sugar and sweets are made from that. We got to make our own ‘candy’, with a choice of mint or peanuts being added to it. This part of the tour was done really nicely – and we had some amazingly good banana bread afterwards too!

Don Rodolfo Night Tour

This was booked on our arrival in Monteverde, and again, included transport. The tour was just us plus one lone traveller, so we had plenty of time and the guide was unbelievably knowledgeable. I was hoping to see frogs but although we started approaching the water at one point, didn’t continue to go towards it. We did see a lot of bugs, a porcupine (in a tree!), a lizard and several sleepy birds – no scorpions or tarantulas which surprised me. We could also here coyotes in the distance, which I didn’t like thinking about too much! This is a good reserve and was a well organised final tour of our holiday.

David dropped us off here where we spent a good afternoon. It was quite busy but there are plenty of places to stop and rest or admire the view on the 500 steps down to the falls and back. The water immediately at the bottom of the falls is too rough to swim in, but the area that is okay for swimming (if you know what you’re doing) isn’t far below that at all. It is deep and rocky though, so be careful. Lots of people posing for Insta photos on the rocks here!

As well as the waterfall, there is an orchid garden. We were disappointed with this but didn’t know if it was because it was the wrong time of year to see orchids (there were no flowers at all) or whether it was because it hadn’t been maintained, as the paths and surroundings seemed rather neglected. Nobody else was looking around it when we were, which might indicate that nobody expected much from it.

The butterfly garden was clearly better maintained and is nearer the entrance. There were a few butterflies, but nothing we hadn’t seen ‘wild’ elsewhere. However, the flowers clearly attracted hummingbirds too which were lovely to see.

There is free wifi at the entrance which everyone seemed to be using to summon Ubers for their return journey. Bear in mind that these are in high demand at the end of an afternoon, so are less likely to be available and will cost more (looking at the app, the price tripled during the afternoon…). We walked back to La Bijagua instead which was mostly downhill.

Canoa Aventura: Safari Float

I’d been looking forward to this tour and although good in parts, it wasn’t as good as I’d been hoping. I think we’d been spoilt by our Tortuguero canoe tour experience by this point! We were in a boat that was just our family, but there were other boats on the same tour which made it relatively busy, and perhaps deterred some of the wildlife we’d been hoping to see. Our guide was fabulous though, with excellent English (he explained that he’s currently doing a law degree, so won’t be a guide forever) and the best sense of humour! We did have to paddle at times on this trip but it wasn’t hard work.

Canoa Aventura is very well organised and has one of the longest trips (we were shown where other tours get out). We saw cayman only after this point so would have missed them if we’d got out sooner. Afterwards, a snack meal is provided (tortilla with plantain) and drinks (sugar water, hot cacao, moonshine!) before boarding the transport back to La Fortuna, which was a welcome surprise.

If I was looking for a rafting trip, Canoa Aventura would undoubtedly be excellent. For a wildlife experience, I think it would be better to use a company that run private tours instead though.

Las Termalitas Hot Springs

David introduced us to these hot springs which were perfect for what we were looking for. I didn’t want to spend a fortune for somewhere too posh; was worried about the safety of slides reported in Karumbu and the potential safety, lack of facilities and crowds at La Chonin (free). Las Termalitas is a hot springs resort which is almost exclusively used by the locals. It cost 4000 colones each for entry plus a couple of thousand more for a locker key. There are no restrictions on what you can take in and plenty of spaces where families were setting up a BBQ and cooking for themselves. We ate at one of the on-site sodas, which offered simple Costa Rican / fast food.

The spring pools are clearly labelled with temperature (some were too hot!), there are two slides for children and some jacuzzi areas. We walked back from here because we wanted to see the crazily big tourist shop on the way, but really we should have got a taxi – the walk was not fun as it was along the main road.

Tubing

This was an activity I should have booked before arriving in La Fortuna! I knew which provider I thought I’d use, but was put-off by their website claims of being “the best for tubing in La Fortuna” without telling me why. I had emailed to ask, but my question about why they were the best was ignored. We were lucky to get on the trip though, as I left it until we’d arrived in La Fortuna and there aren’t a lot of companies offering this activity.

Fortunately, I can now tell you why they are the best! They have very experienced guides (ex-rafters) who work tirelessly through the route monitoring everyone as a team; and the longest journey. Snack treats are offered at the end while everything is packed away. The bus is in great condition and the owner has dual American/Costa Rican nationality so very good at giving clear instructions to tourists. We were provided with sleeves to protect our arms from chafing on the tube and everything was done very professionally.

I didn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to – partly because I was in a larger tube which meant I couldn’t reach the water to paddle the tube as effectively. This involved the guides getting a bit frustrated with me as I was almost constantly in the wrong place or overshooting the right place!

Estukuru Chocolate Tour

This was just a few minutes walk up from our hotel in La Fortuna, so we popped in the day before (on our way back from the hot springs) to ask about a tour and booked it via WhatsApp the next day. They offered a student price to the kids, so it’s worth asking for one, even though it’s not advertised on the website. The tour was private but I don’t know if this was fluke or how things are normally organised.

We were given an incredible amount of detail on this tour – much more than the overview of the chocolate-making process given at BriBri – as the guide talked about types of plants and fruit; how they are harvested; timescales; diseases and then the very complicated processing that is needed long before ending up with a bar of chocolate. After the tour of the orchard (not sure if that’s what it would be called for cacao plants!) we were shown the factory parts through windows and then got to make our own chocolate bars before sitting down with a tasting tray and hot chocolate. Products from the shop are then available at a discount to those who have done the tour. This would be a great activity to do in an afternoon after an active morning.

We booked a full 2-night Tortuguero package with Roots, more than 3 months before travelling. This included the trips outlined below, as well as two nights accommodation at La Casona and the transport. Raquel and I exchanged numerous emails, and although there were a couple of communication issues, she was mostly very patient and understanding. The package ran smoothly and included everything we had booked and Raquel even offered for Megan to go on the canoe tour the next morning after she missed it due to being unwell. The tour staff were kind, informative and professional.

We probably could have fitted everything into a 1-night package (with hike on the first afternoon, turtle nesting that night and the canoe trip in the morning before leaving) as there wasn’t a lot else to do in Tortuguero that we were interested in, which gave us more downtime than we were expecting but we were on holiday and meant to be trying to ‘slow down’!

Turtle Nesting Tour

This is done by a lottery-style system, so it isn’t known until the evening which tour slot you are on, so be prepared for a very late night if you have children with you. Roots keep their groups small, which was a bonus as some groups had more than 20 people with one guide. Roots’ guide was clearly very keen to ensure we not only understood the impact we were having by being on the beach but also that we minimised that impact as much as possible. Each group is allocated a station to wait at – this is inland in the national park, and you can use torches along the path to get there. There were a lot more people at our allocated station than I expected, but somehow the organisation seemed to work. Scouts on the beach determine when each group can go on the beach and where they need to be. There’s a long stretch of different entry points, so be prepared for a lot of walking to get to the right one! NO torches or cameras are allowed to be used on the beach, and they are very strict about this. We were guided to the turtle, saw her laying eggs (while she’s in a trance), then moved away, went back to look again when she was nearly done, moved away, then went back to watch her fill in the hole. This was a special experience, despite Megan being unwell on the beach – the guide was amazing at the end of the tour in making sure I knew where to find someone from Roots if she got worse in the night.

Canoe Tour

This wasn’t really a canoe – more like a small rowing boat. There was enough room for 6 of us plus the guide. Again, I was glad we went with Roots, who seemed more eco-conscious than other tours which were using engines and bigger boats. This tour was better than I’d expected and I’d do it again! We saw so much and it really felt like being ‘in the Amazon’. It was much longer than I’d expected too, which meant we took our time when we saw something of interest, rather than rushing through the route. We didn’t have paddles and didn’t need them – this was very much a ‘sit and watch’ tour rather than hands-on activity, although we had been given the choice to kayak instead at the beginning, for an additional cost.

Hiking Tour

We had the same Roots’ guide for our walking tour of Tortuguero national park. Roots also provided wellies for us to wear, which was unexpected but helpful as it was quite muddy. While we didn’t see as much wildlife as we’d seen in Cahuita, we did get our best sloth pictures and saw the amazing land turtle (not a tortoise, apparently). It was very hot that afternoon and we were tired from our early canoe trip start, so perhaps didn’t make as much of this tour as we could have done.

Marco helped us with transport and information, a yummy dinner delivered to our AirBnB from his restaurant, and a very full day trip (oh, and with registering my prepaid Kolbi sim!). When we decided to go to Cahuita, I knew the BriBri experience was something we’d want to do; and then I realised that it would be great to get a chance to go down the coast, see the beaches and visit a second national park (Gandoca-Manzanilo) but that it would be tricky to organise (given that we hadn’t hired a car) and we’d probably need to spend a separate day doing it. Thanks to a forum post, we found Marco who offered everything all in one day – and even included lunch. It was a bonus that his English is perfect and he was so patient (if not a bit bemused) by my stress and difficulty adapting to ‘Pura Vida’ life! This was one of our most expensive days but we were feeling very alien to the country at the time, and having a personal guide for the day was just what we needed. Marco taught us so much! Zoe has written more about the day here: Activities with Marco.

BriBri Chocolate / Medicinal Plants Tour

This was part of Marco’s day trip but I’ve separated it on this page as we were originally looking to do this on its own. The BriBri tourist centre feels a bit like a farm, with ramshackle buildings and different sections depending on what is included in your tour. It’s all very compact, and quite clearly set up to demonstrate historical practices to tourists rather than reflect the current way of life. Marco was our guide, which was helpful as the BriBri didn’t speak English. The tour covered more than I’d thought it would (e.g. there’s a small frog pond in the middle) and was our first introduction to cacao. It was more hands-on than I thought it would be (e.g. getting us involved in grinding the nibs; using Megan to demonstrate how leaves were used for camouflage) and therefore would have easily been suitable for younger children too.

Cahuita National Park

Cahuita National Park was our first independent foray into Costa Rican wildlife and we weren’t disappointed. At the Cahuita end, entrance is by donation but this donation is expected to be around $5 per person. Bags were searched, but I wasn’t really sure what for, as locals were taking in full ice boxes for picnics on the incredible beach. I’ve written separately about not using the guides who tout their services at the park entrance. This was a personal decision, but I think if you want a guide for the park it would be better for you to be organised about it anyway and not leave it to chance on arrival.

Snorkelling

Sadly, we didn’t get to go snorkelling as the visibility wasn’t good for the time we were there. We always knew this was a risk related to the time of year we were travelling. There are a lot of tours available though so you don’t need to risk booking this in advance – wait until you know what the visibility is like before committing to it. We were lucky, too, that Marco could give us honest advice on this, as someone did try to sell us a trip regardless of what we’d see.

1. San Jose to Cahuita (private shuttle)

Marco came to our rescue for this trip, as he coincidentally needed to drop someone off at SJO the day we arrived. Unfortunately with our flight diversion situation, we then didn’t meet him when we intended, but all got sorted out in the end. Marco has a spacious van, and although it’s a long way from being new, it was comfortable, had two-point seat belts in the back and air conditioning.
Most of all though, Marco was an excellent driver and reassuring as the first Costa Rican we met. His English is fluent and he willingly stopped for us to get essentials, tolerated my snoring when I dropped off to sleep, identified crops and birds we saw on the journey and also stopped to get us lychees on that first trip. He liaised with Yordi about our first accommodation arrival time, and took us somewhere to get lunch when we were going to arrive too early. Wow – went well over and above what we needed from a driver.

2. Cahuita to Tortuguero (shared shuttle)

This trip was organised as part of our Roots package. It was eventful but organised. The shared shuttle was run by Exporadores and the staff were clear with information and helpful. We enjoyed the unexpected stop at the Exporadores base for breakfast and were thankful that the driver for the leg to the boat was able to be decisive when we had to change the port we were heading to and then had to wait for an accident to be cleared up ahead. We were also grateful that we bypassed the chaos and queues at La Pavona and were literally driven to the waters edge to transfer to our boat, which only had people from our bus on it. The boat part of the journey was fantastic – one of my favourite parts of the trip!

3. Tortuguero to La Fortuna (shared shuttle)

This was also organised by Roots and run by Exporadores. Unfortunately the detour to the Exploradores base meant that we were not travelling the most direct route and the journey took a lot longer than it needed to have done. If I’d know this was how it was going to be organised, I’d have asked Roots to organise a private transfer from the dock (or asked Marco to pick us up, as he’d originally offered to).

4. La Fortuna to Monteverde (shared shuttle)

This was the jeep-boat-jeep transfer that Zoe has posted about, and although I knew the boat would be shared didn’t realise the ‘jeep’ was going to be a shared shuttle bus on both sides. The La Fortuna side was fine, but the Monteverde side switch to the buses from the boat was chaotic and included an unexpected stop at a tourist shop / service station. I was surprised that some people on this trip weren’t aware they were going to have to carry their own bags between the shuttle and the boat and thought they were going to have a porter or something!

5. Monteverde Taxis

While we intended to use Ubers and taxis in La Fortuna, we didn’t need to because of David’s help (see Hotel La Bijagua under accommodation). However, in Monteverde, the Sky Adventures rep advised us to use a taxi instead of their transport. The first one we picked up was on the taxi rank in the centre of Santa Elena – but the Sky Adventures lady said that anyone in there would call us one if needed too. This driver gave us his WhatsApp and understood my Spanish (and replied in English). We paid about 5000 colones for four of us to Sky Adventures. We also had a taxi driver take us to the night tour (organised by Don Rodolfo tours) and he was great, with very good English and also gave us his WhatsApp in case we needed any other journeys. The key seems to be making contact with one taxi driver so you can call them to do your return journeys, but all activity locations can call them too. I was surprised to discover that most of these drivers work for a company – they do not own the taxis they drive and are not independent.

6. Monteverde to San Jose (private shuttle)

This was organised through Miranda Tours. I’d asked for an English-speaking driver and was told we’d been upgraded to an SUV. A car arrived that wasn’t spacious nor high-riding though, and this made the journey uncomfortable. The driver didn’t speak English so couldn’t tell us anything about the journey or plans, and once we were on the main road drove much faster than the speed limits which was scary. Teresa who had organised this trip had been so lovely and helpful, so I was disappointed not to be able to write a positive thankyou to her afterwards. This was the only journey where I felt we were at risk of having an avoidable accident.

When looking on Costa Rica forums, there seem to be two types of people – those who have hundreds to spend, and those who are backpacking and staying in hostels. We don’t fit into either of these extremes and were looking for economical accommodation (<$150 a night for the four of us) that offered privacy, convenience (without a car), a pool when appropriate and most importantly a bed for each of us. Here’s what we chose: (links and photos to follow, please get in touch if you need more details before I get around to doing this).

1. Casa Coralita, Cahuita (AirBnB)

This was a brilliant AirBnb and a great introduction to Costa Rica. Unfortunately the AirBnb system had a time limit on submitting a review, which had passed by the time we got home to do it. There was plenty of room for us, a great pool and very reassuring security gates. It was 10-15 minutes walk to the national park (and centre of Cahuita) and 5-10 minutes walk to the nearest supermarket. Easy! Air conditioning was effective, great outdoors seating area, comfortable beds and amazingly supplied bug-repellent-lotion which we missed once we’d moved on! Yordi, the caretaker, doesn’t confidently speak English but his English is massively better than my Spanish, and we got by using WhatsApp and Google translate. Yordi liaised with Marco to allow us to check in slightly earlier than expected after our disastrous 40-hour start to the holiday, so that we could get settled. Yordi also spoke to the delivery agents for my bag when they arrived, to facilitate the delivery of that. He was very helpful and friendly.
Like everywhere we found in Costa Rica, the kitchen sink didn’t have hot water and the toilet paper needed to be put in a bin, not flushed away. Also like everywhere else, there was a microwave and hob, but no oven.

2. Cabinas Surf Side, Cahuita (Booking.com)

We needed another night in Cahuita after I changed the Tortuguero dates (which I probably shouldn’t have done, now I think about it, but then my bag would never have reached me, so who knows…). Sadly, Casa Coralita had a booking straight after ours and despite me checking repeatedly, that one night never came available. Ena (not sure of spelling) at Cabinas Surf Side was SO friendly. Again, security was clearly a high priority and we felt safe. The kitchen facilities were basic but did us fine for an unexpected meal (we’d intended to eat out that one night but then didn’t want to). Rooms were also very simple and not as comfortable as the airbnb but were fine for one night. These cabinas are what are in the featured photo for this post – very colourful!

3. Hotel La Casona, Tortuguero (Roots)

This hotel is available on booking.com but was booked for us as part of our package through Roots. We had two rooms, with air conditioning, each with a double bed and a single bed. The rooms were immediately next to each other and opened directly (within a couple of feet) of the pool. Breakfast (banana pancakes or gallo pinto) was included on the first morning, but we didn’t have it on the second morning (and didn’t ask, as we were dealing with Megan being unwell). Friendly staff, comfortable rooms, easy walk to the centre of the village.

4. Hotel Bijagua, La Fortuna (Booking.com)

Ah, we loved Hotel Bijagua! The pool was brilliant, the spaces outside was good. We had a ‘villa’ (a room with a kitchenette and two double beds) and a separate room (with two double beds). I did ask for the rooms to be close together but they were on opposite corners of the site, but it’s a very small site and the girls are old enough to be that far away, so it was fine. Air conditioning again, and no problems with it.

However, the main positive point of Hotel La Bijagua was David, the co-manager. He gave us great advice, sorted out tickets for tours we wanted and our onward transport, took us to the cash machine and gave us lifts when Uber were unreliable instead of calling us a taxi! He even went home and lent me his screwdrivers when I needed a tiny glasses one. So kind and definitely made our stay. Unfortunately, he was worried about being sacked and after telling us he was working every day for the next 6 days, suddenly vanished, so if he’s no longer working there, things will be different. Nobody spoke to us, and the receptionist didn’t speak English, when he wasn’t there.

Hotel La Bijagua is positioned conveniently on one end of La Fortuna, next door to a great supermarket and a good restaurant and ice cream shop. I was a bit worried when we arrived in La Fortuna, that it was very big, noisy, bright lights and touristy which was our first impressions as the van drove through, but we were out on the quiet edge and felt safe (more security gates!) and didn’t ever venture back into the noisy part we’d driven through.

5. Villa Santa Elena, Monteverde (VRBO)

This was a bargain booking that had everything we needed and a super American-style fridge with an icemaker! I had a lot of worries beforehand as trying to pin Diego down on where the house was was very difficult. Even when we had the instructions that it was ‘opposite the high school’, there were three other houses and we didn’t recognise the one we’d booked from the photos and what we could see. Once we got to the right place, it was comfortable (a bedroom each!) and well equipped (TV and Netflix!). It was noisy though, being on a main road and next to a mechanic’s garage. I’d spent a lot of time looking for places with better views and locations in Monteverde, and hadn’t come up with anything near enough to Santa Elena. I think having a taxi number beforehand would have given me the confidence to book further away from the centre, although it was very convenient to be able to walk (2 minutes downhill) into the centre of Santa Elena.
Don’t underestimate how hilly Santa Elena is! We did one walk to the supermarket (20 minutes) to cover our full stay, whereas in La Fortuna we’d been doing a daily shop instead.

6. Adventure Inn, San Jose (Direct)

This was our only relatively last-minute booking. It is available on booking.com but we were given a better price on contacting them directly with questions. The shuttle service to the airport is useful – as is the packed breakfast offer. I was disappointed with the pool / hot tub – they were both dirty and not of the standard we’d had elsewhere in Costa Rica. The rooms were noisy too, with staff conversations clearly heard long after the 8pm ‘quiet’ time. The beds were comfortable and bedrooms spacious with a connecting door, but I was told we were booking two rooms, each with two queen beds yet on arrival, one of them had a single and a queen, so we didn’t get what we paid for. There’s a list of rules in each room, dictating that if you had any criticisms, you shouldn’t be traveling in the first place, which seemed unkind and unnecessary, especially given the clientele for this hotel are probably almost exclusively first-time Costa Rican visitors and trying hard to adapt to unexpected differences. The hotel is located conveniently, walking distance, from a shopping mall (an interesting experience as it was nothing like what we expected and very deserted!) and an area with restaurants and a supermarket. The restaurants here were the best we’d had in Costa Rica, so that was a positive against an otherwise disappointing accommodation experience.