Need Costa Rica Advice

[leonardsteven]

I recently found myself totally stressed by my job, so I wanted to plan a trip to somewhere warm and tropical. I'm going to Hawaii in June and Florida is too crowded so I thought of Costa Rica. Unfortunately, I can't take off the time I would normally. I can only leave work from March 6 or 7 and need to be back on the 17th.
I want to spend sometime in San Jose and I want a beach experience.
Any suggestions of how to spend my time and where?

[fixmytire]

I actually did a similar trip as you, having traveled through Costa Rica for about 10 days in early March. It was the perfect destination and the perfect amount of time. As San Jose is the central hub it's worth spending a night or two there but nothing more. We went to Arenal, Montezuma, and Jaco. Arenal was my favorite and Montezuma was a beautiful small beach town with not too many tourists. Jaco was OK but if I had to do it again I would skip it.

[thomasr]

Yeah if you want to experience a really good beach town i wouldn;t recommend Jaco. Is typically a 'batchelor party' style town and for the general look of the beach, you could definitely find a lot nicer beaches to relax on.

Montezuma is an excellent recommendation but maybe also take a look at Manuel Antonio too. There is also a national park there which is outstanding. Tamarindo further north is also nice with smaller beaches further down the coast such as Playa Negra providing the most cleaniest and golden of beachs as well as a good surf.

If you can try and get yourself to some beaches on the Caribbean side like Puerto Vieja. The atmosphere is alot different with many Caribbean influences.

San Jose is worth staying in for a few nights, but not too many. There are plenty of tours and many place to enjoy yourself at night - bars, restaurants, clubs, casinos etc. but in general San Jose isn't the prettiest of cities and Costa Rica has lot more to offer outside of the capital :)

[dunga]

You can forget about San Jose. Go directly to the beach. Concentrate maybe only to the Caribbean or the Pacific side. Caribbean is more relaxed then the Pacific side

Recommendations for the Carribien
Manzanillo, Cauhita, Tortuguero

Recommendations for the Pacific side
Manuel-Antonio, Montezuma, Samara, Brasilito

All with exception of Tortugero and Montezuma reachable by direct buses from San Jose Travel time between 4-6 hours all destinations. Schedules to all sites you will find on www.thebusschedule.com.