Cental Valley Stay

[DENNY MEYER]

We will be visiting in March for two weeks on a fact finding tour.  We will fly into San Jose and be meeting with Terry Moran in the Arenal area.  We wanted to spend a day in the valley on our way to Lake Arenal.  Could anyone suggest a place that we could spend the night either in Grecia or somewhere else that would give us the flavor of the valley?  Also will be visiting Tamarindo after Lake Arenal  and wanted a suggestion for a place to stay for seveal nights.

[JASON HOLLAND- COUNTRY EXPERT]

Hi Denny,

Great to hear you’re coming down for a scouting trip. A great place to stay in Grecia is B&B Grecia (http://bandbgrecia.com/). It’s right in the middle of town, which is a real Tico town no tourists. Very typical of life in the Central Valley.

There are a lot of options in Tamarindo in all price ranges. The top hotel is the Tamarindo Diria. The Best Western Vista Villas is also nice. And in nearby Playa Langosta, just 5 min from Tamarindo center, is the Capitan Suizo boutique hotel.

[CHARLES SCHMIDT]

Denny,

Let me give you one more to check on in Grecia.  La Terraza Guest House.  http://www.laterrazab-b.com.  Just outside of town but the owners are expats with a wealth of information.  We are making the tour in April and will be staying there for a couple of days.  Hope that helps.

Charlie Schmidt

[WILLIAM BURNS]

We will rent a car at the airport and explore the central valley and southwestern coast of Costa Rica on May 8-16, 2013.  Any driving or road tips?

[JASON HOLLAND- COUNTRY EXPERT]

Hi William,

Congrats on your visit. Renting a car is the best way to see the countryside and scout out locations for a possible move.

Driving can be more “active,” shall we say, than in the U.S. or Canada.

As far as road conditions:

Keep an eye out for potholes and narrow or nonexistent shoulders
A lot of secondary roads, especially in the southern zone, will be dirt or gravel and sometimes very bumpy. Some locations in the southern area will need an SUV or even 4WD, if you’re going remote

Driving tips:

Driving through the countryside is no problem. There won’t be much traffic at all.
When you hit cities there will be more traffic and it can be intimidating with motorcycles weaving through, taxis jockeying to pass you, stuff like that. San Jose is where you’ll find the worst of this. Avoid driving in San Jose, especially downtown.
Avoid driving at night if you can due to windy roads, pedestrians, livestock, and lack of street lights.
Get the GPS but get a good map as back up
Plan on the drive taking longer than you think. Distances on the map look small but the windy roads make things take longer.

All that said, it didn’t take me long to get used to driving in Costa Rica. You just have to pay attention and be patient.

Enjoy the drive! It’s beautiful. Stop often to take pictures, eat lunch at a soda (kind of like the Costa Rican diner), or buy fruit at the roadside stands.

[JIM URICK]

Denny, where are you from?  After experiencing the cental & southern zones the first half of March, we will be in Arenal, Tamarindo, and Montezuma the last 2 weeks.  Would love to compare our fact finding trips!   Wish we had more time to spend looking at real estate. Minimum time, this first trip to CR.

Jim Urick

Minnesota snowbird

[Author]

Posts