Yesterday I played at a wedding ceremony and cocktail reception at Hotel Capitan Suizo in Tamarindo, Guanacaste, Costa Rica.
What a great place for a wedding! The hotel is located just outside of Tamarindo on the road to Langosta, right on the beach. It has seven bungalows, a honeymoon bungalow, 22 rooms and a four-bedroom suite.
The wedding ceremony music was provided by Intermezzo, a duo featuring Vittorio Petrosillo on piano and Brad Moodie on bass. We played classical music for the ceremony and jazzy pop tunes for the cocktail reception.
We saw someone fly over us on an Ultralight Tour! I’ve never tried it yet but it looks like a lot of fun! Pure Life Adventures in Playas Del Coco can help you get this organized if you’d like to try it! The cost is $160 for 30 minutes, or $240 for one hour. Click here for more information.
If you are interested in a destination wedding in Costa Rica, please send me an email at and I can help you with your musical options.
One of my favorite places to visit in Costa Rica is the Arenal Volcano area.
You can also go to Monteverde but for me, Arenal is the better option. The roads are paved, the majestic Arenal Volcano is spectacular and although accommodation is slightly more expensive than Monteverde, you can find really nice places to stay for $50-60 for a double. In the past I recommended going to Arenal from Playas Del Coco and Tamarindo for just a day trip. But now I have discovered so many neat things to do there and reasonably priced accommodation, so I recommend staying the night.
The driver cost is $140 for day trips to Arenal from Playas Del Coco or $160 from Tamarindo. It makes for a long day, leaving around 7am and returning around 9pm. Maybe it’s better to spend the night there so you can enjoy more of the activities. The driver cost for two days, one night is $200 from Playas Del Coco or Riu Guanacaste and $220 from Tamarindo, Flamingo or Conchal.
You can also rent a car but I think you’ll find it cheaper and easier to hire a driver. Car rentals in Costa Rica are usually around $50-70 a day for a small car, gas is more expensive than in United States or Canada at around $5-6 a gallon, and driving in Costa Rica is dangerous, with horrible drivers, nasty pot holes, almost invisible bicyclists at night with no lights, and hardly any signs.
Here are some of the activities you can enjoy in the Arenal area:
The drive from Playas Del Coco to Arenal is just over 3 hours, so it’s nice to take a break when we arrive at Lake Arenal, an hour before the volcano. The are two places I can recommend to stop for coffee and baked sweets: Macademia Café and The German Bakery.
Macadamia Cafe in Nuevo Arenal overlooks Lake Arenal
Then when we arrive at the dam there are the hanging bridges. It’s a really nice 1-2 hour hike through the rainforest with around 15 suspension bridges high above the trees, and spectacular views of Arenal Volcano. The entry cost is around $24 each and is fairly strenuous.
The Hanging Bridges offers a strenuous hike through the rainforest
Next is the zipline canopy tour at Sky Trek. This is one of the best canopy tours in Costa Rica, with 9 long cables high above the rainforest with terrific views of the volcano. You take a tram lift up to the start point and sometimes you can see monkeys, birds and maybe a sloth. Sky Trek is a bit more expensive than other canopies at around $68 each, but I strongly recommend it…it’s worth it! There is also a butterfly sanctuary there.
The view at the start point of the Sky Trek Zip Line Canopy
Video showing the thrilling Sky Trek Canopy Tour
There is a spectacular waterfall near La Fortuna. It’s a strenuous 30 minute hike to the falls and it costs $10 each for the entry fee.
La Fortuna Waterfall
After a busy day in the Arenal area, you should relax at one of the many natural hot springs. I recommend Arenal Paraiso because they have 8 hot spring pools with different temperatures. It’s actually one spring at the top and the water runs down through the different pools and the water cools as it travels. They also have a zipline canopy onsite, not quite as scary as Sky Trek but still a lot of fun. Arenal Paraiso offers a package of zip lines, hot springs and an excellent lunch for $90 each. It’s a great option if you are a bit unsure of the very scary Sky Trek ziplines.
Arenal Paraiso offers natural hot springs and canopy on-site
There are lots of adventure options in the Arenal area. Two popular choices are white water rafting and canyoneering. Or if you prefer you can take a floating tour, which is a tranquil wander down a river, observing wildlife and exotic fauna.
White water rafting, canyoning and safari river float tours in Arenal
If you are staying the night I recommend Hotel La Fortuna. It’s right in the center of La Fortuna, off the main street. Nice, clean and comfortable rooms with A/C, reasonably priced from $50-60 with continental breakfast and wireless internet included. There are also three computers in the lobby.
Hotel La Fortuna in the shadow of Arenal Volcano
Low Season Prices (May 1 to December 20):
$50 (single without view)
$60 (single with view)
$63 (double without view)
$75 (double with view)
High Season Prices (December 20 to April 30):
$55 (single without view)
$65 (single with view)
$70 (double without view)
$85 (double with view)
Beside the hotel there is an excellent restaurant called Don Rufino’s. It’s more of a high end place, not cheap but terrific quality and quantity.
Don Rufino is an excellent restaurant in the heart of La Fortuna
You can see an example of their menu here (10,000 colones = $20 US):
I had Grandma’s Style Chicken (pollo abuela). It was unbelievably delicious! It was a half chicken wrapped in banana leaves, smothered in an incredible sweet BBQ sauce with potatoes and vegetables on the side. My friend ordered Chicken Courgettes for an appetizer, which we shared and were fantastic with a garlic butter dipping sauce. And she had a steak, perfectly tender, done medium rare, so delicious! I loved that restaurant, definitely you should try to visit there.
La Fortuna is a small town but it has a few bars with night life. We enjoyed drinks at The Lava Lounge on the main street, and I heard there is sometimes live music at some of the other bars.
When we are heading back home I recommend stopping at Moya’s Restaurant in Nuevo Arenal for one of the best pizzas I have enjoyed in Costa Rica. It’s just a small place in the center of town with around 10 tables but they have great meals including pizza, pasta and salads. I had a ‘Spitfire’ pizza with ground beef, onions, tomatoes and jalapeños! Really good and only 5000 colones (around $10).
TRANSPORT TO ARENAL
If you are flying into Liberia Airport and you are staying at Playas Del Coco or Tamarindo, you might consider going straight to Arenal from the airport. That could be a more efficient way to see Arenal. You could spend the night in Arenal without having to pay for the night at your beach hotel as well. I can help you with airport transfers and tours.
Typical costs are:
Liberia Airport to Playas Del Coco/Playa Hermosa/Ocotal – $40
Liberia Airport to Tamarindo/Flamingo/Conchal – $60
Playas Del Coco to Arenal (return same day) – $140
Playas Del Coco to Arenal (return next day) – $200
Tamarindo to Arenal (return same day) – $160
Tamarindo to Arenal (return next day) – $220
Prices are per car, not per person, for up to two people with luggage, or four people without luggage (the car is a regular sedan, comfortable with air conditioning). Day trips from the hotel Riu Guanacaste is also $140 (or $200 to return the next day).
Monteverde is also a great place but the problem with Monteverde is the terrible roads to get there. You need a 4×4 truck and it takes about an hour from the main highway near Caňas, down a horrible dirt road with large pot holes.
However, once you get there you can find several options for cheap accommodation, including the Treehouse and Camino Verde (under $20 for a double room).
In Monteverde one of the attractions is renting a dune buggy. Really great fun and not expensive, around $90 for three hours.
Rent a Dune Buggy in Monteverde!
If you are interested in going to Arenal, please send me an email at and I can help you get it arranged.
There are many places in Costa Rica that I can recommend for white water rafting. One good place to go is Rincon Corobici, which is located beside Caňas in Guanacaste. It’s about a one hour drive from Playas Del Coco, or two hours from Tamarindo.
I recently went with a couple visiting from The United States. I picked them up at their hotel in Playa Hermosa at 7am and we arrived at Ricon Corobici just after 8am. The trip starts at 9am so we had some time to relax and enjoy the view of the river with complimentary coffee or lemonade. We also pre-ordered our lunch, a typical dish in Costa Rica called ‘Casado’, which is rice and beans, vegetables with a choice of beef, chicken or fish (tilapia).
At 9am we went in a truck for about 30 minutes, down some back roads to take us to the start point. Then we spend almost three hours on the river covering eight miles with rapids up to class 3 and 4. There is also a 12 feet drop with class 5 rapids! There are lots of opportunities to see wildlife, including monkeys, birds, butterflies and reptiles.
When we returned to the restaurant we were able to get changed and then we enjoyed our lunch, before heading back home. We arrived back in Playa Hermosa around 3pm.
If you are interested in going white water rafting at Rincon Corobici, please send me an email at and I will help you get it arranged. Just let me know how many people are in your group and if you need transport or not. You’ll need swimwear, shoes and t-shirt that can get wet, a towel and a complete change of clothes.
If you are planning to get married in Costa Rica, consider Sylvia Guardia for your photographer. She is based in Playas Del Coco, near Tamarindo and she is available to travel throughout Costa Rica. Sylvia graduated from Universidad Veritas in Costa Rica in 2005 and now specializes in destination weddings, collaborating with many wedding and event planners throughout the country. She also speaks fluent English and Spanish.
Sylvia works with local musical group Los Mojitos and together can offer a package deal of photography and ceremony & cocktail musicians. Here is a video slideshow highlighting some of Sylvia’s work, with musical accompaniment from Los Mojitos:
If you would like a quote from Sylvia for your wedding, you can send me an email at and I’ll get her to contact you. Remember to include your planned date so she can check availability.
If you are planning to stay in Costa Rica long term, remember that you have to leave the country every 90 days unless you have residency. A lot of people don’t bother getting residency in Costa Rica even if they live here for many years because it’s fun to visit neighboring Nicaragua for a few days. I live in Playas Del Coco in Costa Rica, which is not far for the Nicaraguan border. I regularly visit Granada, which is a city of around 100,000, founded in 1524 and has a rich colonial history.
I enjoy coming to Granada to visit but I’m not sure if I could live there permanently. There are lots of bars and restaurants for the tourists, hotels and stores, markets and volcanoes to visit. It’s blistering hot all year round, around 90-95F or 32-35C which is fine as long as you have air conditioning.
Here are the four most common ways to visit Granada from Costa Rica:
Take a local bus, such as Tica Bus, costs $46 return & exit fees of $14 ($12 for CR and $2 for Nic), and takes about six hours from Liberia.
Go on a day tour in a minivan with other tourists, costs around $150 each, leaves Playas Del Coco around 5am and returns around 9pm.
Drive to the border and park there, walk over the border and take a taxi to Granada.
Take your car over the border. I’ve never done this but I think it’s OK if you have the paperwork ready and you’ll have to pay for inspections. You can’t take rental cars over the border.
Last time I went to Granada I went with a friend who parked at the border. There are a few parking lots between exiting Costa Rica and entering Nicaragua, and they charge 2000 colones a day ($4). Then we walked to the entrance to Nicaragua, paid our $12 exit fee then took a taxi to Granada which cost $40 (you can also go to San Juan Del Sur which costs $25). We arranged for the same taxi to pick us up in Granada and take us back to the border. This time we had to only pay $2 exit fee. Everything worked out well, the car safe safe and secure, and it only took 3-1/2 hours door to door from Granada to Playas Del Coco.
There aren’t many resort type properties in Granada, but lots of colonial style houses with tall ceilings and shady courtyards. It can be a little dangerous at night, I think but it’s quite safe in the downtown tourist areas.
There’s one pedestrianized street that runs from behind the main church and central park down to Lake Nicaragua. That’s a great place to hang out, for ice-cold drinks and smoothies in the afternoon and really good meals at the restaurants there. My favorite places are O’Shea’s Irish Pub, The Grill House, Vallarta Mexican Restaurant, The Roadhouse and Margaritas. I enjoyed a variety of dishes there including Tortilla Soup, Fish and Chips, Burritos, Grilled Chicken Salad, all priced around $4-6 a meal. Great value. Drinks are cheap too, local beer Toňa is around $1.25 and all the bars offer Cuba Libres, Mojitos etc for around $1. Supermarkets are cheaper than Costa Rica too, and cars cost about half as much as in Costa Rica. Gasoline seems to be $1.25 a liter, in Costa Rica it’s $1.35 a liter.
However, Nicaragua is quite different from Costa Rica, it’s a lot poorer, there are SO many beggars and homeless people. It’s very disturbing to see filthy, skinny people rummaging through garbage, desperately trying to find something to eat. There are also a lot of crazies there, high on something…not sure if they could afford drugs…maybe moonshine or something.
The street vendors are annoying as they walk up and down the streets asking everyone to buy something. If you sit somewhere for a few hours, the same vendors will approach you over and over again. They just don’t give up.
When you first arrive you might buy something, after ten minutes you’ll be politely saying no thanks, after twenty minutes you’ll just shake your head at them, and after thirty minutes you’ll just look away and ignore them…now you’re ready for Granada!
For hotel accommodation in Granada, I can recommend two places: Hotel Colonial and Hospedaje Valeria.
HOTEL COLONIAL:
Entrance to Hotel Colonial in Granada
The lobby at Hotel Colonial
Hotel Colonial is one of the fancier places to stay in Granada. It’s located just off the north west corner of the central park and is nicely furnished with onsuite bathrooms, four poster beds and includes a nice breakfast for $65 a night (single).
HOTEL VALERIA (HOSPEDAJE VALERIA):
Entrance to Hospedaje Valeria
Hospedaje Valeria is a simpler place, small and basic but still includes onsuite bathrooms with a good shower, air conditioning, TV, and it’s clean and quiet for $35 a night. Here’s a quick video showing the rooms:
They don’t have much for breakfast so I usually go to Kathy’s Waffle House, just around the corner, where you can sit on the balcony and enjoy a variety of American style breakfasts including pancakes, waffles, bacon and eggs. I can recommend the Club Sandwich! All the breakfasts cost around $3-5.
Breakfast at Kathy’s Waffle House in Granada
When I arrived back in Liberia last time I stopped in at a cafe and ordered two chocolate milkshakes. They cost $10…yikes, back to Costa Rica prices!
If you are looking for musicians for your destination wedding in Costa Rica, I can help you get it organized. I have a variety of options for musical entertainment, including latin, jazz, pop, classical, rock & roll, reggae and bossa nova.
LOS MOJITOS: Latin jazz for wedding ceremonies, cocktails and dance receptions. Available as a duet of piano and bass, trio with saxophone or quartet with our female vocalist.
THE POSSE: Rock and roll classics with a Tex-Mex feel! Features a trio of guitar & vocals, bass and drums with optional keyboards. Suitable for bars and restaurants or wedding receptions.
GUITAR DUET: Classical and jazz music, perfect for wedding ceremonies and fine dining restaurants. With optional piano.
If you would like live music for your wedding, party, bar or restaurant, please send me an email at and I’ll help you get it organized. Remember to include your planned date so I can check availability.
Each group is available to travel throughout Costa Rica! We have performed in Playas Del Coco, Tamarindo, Liberia, Jaco, Manuel Antonio, Dominical, La Fortuna, Alajuela and San Jose. Ask for my list of recommended venues and planners for your destination wedding in Costa Rica.
A lot of people that I have talked to have expressed concerns about the costs of shopping at the supermarkets here in Costa Rica. In my opinion the prices here are definitely not the cheapest in the world, but having lived for 12 years in Canada, I find the prices here to be overall considerably better. Costa Rica has high import taxes, so anything brought in from overseas is going to be expensive. So don’t judge the pricing in Costa Rica based on the cost of peanut butter, or Campbell’s soup. Try comparing it to items like fruit, vegetables, meats, breads etc.
In Playas Del Coco there are four main supermarkets. Most people go to Auto Mercado, Luperon or Super Compro, but today I decided to try Mega Super. Here are some of the items that I bought that I thought seemed very inexpensive.
I exchanged some US dollars at the bank today and received a rate of 507 colones to the dollar. A few years ago we were getting 580 colones, but then the financial situation in The States brought the exchange rate down to 480 a few months ago. Now it seems to be improving slowly.
How do these prices compare to your hometown? Please send me an email at to give me some feedback.
Sometimes it’s nice to have different kinds of entertainment so I try to offer a variety of entertainment options. If you are having a party or a grand opening, why not hire a MAGICIAN??
Magic Jim specializes in parties, company functions, birthday parties, balloon art, hotel resort shows, street and close up magic, with shows for adults and children.
Based in Playas Del Coco, near Tamarindo, Magic Jim has been a professional magician since 1998. He is currently a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians Ring 81 in Sarasota, Florida.
He has performed all over Guanacaste, including The Four Seasons Resort, Paradisus Playa Conchal, Allegro Papagayo, Hilton Papagayo, Condo Vac, Villa Sol and more.
If you would like Magic Jim to appear at your party or event, please send me an email at and I’ll help you get it organized.
If you are flying out of San Jose Airport or Aeropuerto Internacional Juan Santamaría Alajuela, one good hotel to stay at is La Posada in San Ramon. It’s about 45 minutes from the airport and really easy to find.
San Ramon is a nice little town on the main highway, about an hour west of San Jose. It’s high up in the mountains so it’s quite cool there, with nice scenery and friendly locals. There is a small number of retired expats living there but it’s mostly Ticos.
There’s one hotel and it’s a really nice place to stay. La Posada is located about three blocks north of the church and park in the center of San Ramon. It has around 32 rooms, all with private bathrooms. There’s no need for air conditioning because it’s cool and fresh in the mountains.
When I first moved to Costa Rica in 2008, I stayed at this hotel for a month while I figured out where I wanted to live permanently.
The prices are reasonable at $60 for 2 people or $45 for 1 person. If you offer them cash you might get a small discount. These rates include breakfast, secure parking and internet.
However, Nicaragua is quite different from Costa Rica, it’s a lot poorer, there are SO many beggars and homeless people. It’s very disturbing to see filthy, skinny people rummaging through garbage, desperately trying to find something to eat. There are also a lot of crazies there, high on something…not sure if they could afford drugs…maybe moonshine or something.
