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.
The Riu Guanacaste Hotel is a beautiful, all-inclusive resort located about a 45 minute drive from Liberia Airport in north west Costa Rica. It’s situated on a nice quiet beach on the Pacific Ocean.
The resort is very private and quite isolated. Great if you want to just relax and enjoy the pool, the beach, the all inclusive bars and restaurants, and the various activities that the resort offers. The nearest town is Playas Del Coco, about a 30 minute drive, or Tamarindo is about an hour away. It’s about a 45 minute drive from Liberia Airport and under an hour from the town of Liberia, where you can find shopping, restaurants, bars etc. There is even a mall and a movie theater.
The road to the Riu Guanacaste was a problem for the first year or so after the hotel opened but in July 2011 the road was finally paved all the way. From Liberia Airport you need to head south towards Tamarindo. Turn right when you see the sign for Playas Del Coco (there’s a gas station on your left). Then just after the turnoff for the Tico town of Sardinal you’ll see the other gas station. Just after that there’s a turnoff to your left. Follow that road and you’ll come to the Riu Guanacaste Resort.
I can help you with airport shuttle transfers to The Riu Guanacaste. The cost is $50.
If you are renting a car it might be an idea to take a shuttle to the resort, relax for the first day or two, then have the rental car delivered to you at the resort. I work with a car rental company that will deliver your vehicle to you at your resort for no extra charge. I believe basic car rentals are around $50 a day, small 4×4 SUVs are around $70 a day and large 4×4 SUVs are around $85 a day.
The Riu Guanacaste is also a great place to get married! If you are considering a destination wedding, I can recommend a few wedding coordinators, photographers, videographers and of course, musicians. I specialize in providing musical accompaniment for your wedding ceremony, cocktail hour and dance reception. Visit my other website at Live Music In Costa Rica for more details. I also offer a Free Guide To Getting Married In Costa Rica, giving tips to make it easier for you to coordinate your dream destination wedding here in beautiful Costa Rica.
Send me an email and I’ll try to help you. You can contact me here:
If you are going to visit Playas Del Coco and you want to stay in a cheap hostel, try Cabinas Coco Azul.
You can rent a basic room with a bed and private bathroom, or some apartments have a small kitchenette.
The advantage of Cabinas Coco Azul (apart from the cheap price) is the location. The cabinas are beside downtown and the beach. But be careful at night because the area around the soccer field has a few unsavory characters hanging around.
When you come into Playas Del Coco, go down to the beach. You’ll see the green (very green) catholic church beside the soccer field. Follow the dirt road around the back of the church and you’ll see the sign for Cabinas Coco Azul. There is parking for around 5 cars.
I believe rooms start at around $25-30 a night. You can contact Steve at or Phone: 011-506-2670-0431
And I can help you with airport transfers from Liberia Airport and the cost is $40. Please send me an email at and I’ll help you get it organized.
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 Riu Guanacaste is also a great place to get married! If you are considering a destination wedding, I can recommend a few wedding coordinators, photographers, videographers and of course, musicians. I specialize in providing musical accompaniment for your wedding ceremony, cocktail hour and dance reception. Visit my other website at Live Music In Costa Rica for more details. I also offer a Free Guide To Getting Married In Costa Rica, giving tips to make it easier for you to coordinate your dream destination wedding here in beautiful Costa Rica.
