Costa Rica Travel Guru: July 2014

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Monkey Troop in Samara

If you love to watch Monkeys Samara is the place. This troop of Howlers were playing in the trees at Veneto Condominiums.

MONKEYS

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Best Beach View in the World....now with music!

Best Beach View in the World

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Best Beach View in the World - New Video

Thinking of Travel to Costa Rica?...Think Samara. Here is the new video of the condo...Best Beach View in the World! Hot off the camera...still needs music added.

Yes You Can Stay at the Best Beach View in the World!!!

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Check out Samara for your Winter Vacation!

Everyone who comes to Samara leaves with a promise to come right back! Samara is a special place that grabs the minds and hearts of her visitors. Set in Samara Bay the quaint beach town is home to fabulous restaurants that line a portion of the beach. Even in high season there is plenty of room and a relaxing atmosphere to relax, take in the sun, or swim n surf. There are quite a few hotels in Samara and condos. Veneto Condominiums is the closest to the beach and town with a drop dead gorgeous view. Veneto has just gone through a major facelift and whether you are watching the sunset from the infinity pool or one of the private balconies you will be glad you pick it for your vacation spot! Check out this popular Condo at Veneto.

Veneto Uno

Thursday, July 3, 2014

PAQUERA COSTA RICA - HOTEL WITH DROP DEAD VIEW - PAQUERA

VISTA LAS ISLAS - PAQUERA COSTA RICA

We really loved this hotel. The Pro is the view. The rooms are comfortable and the Pool is refreshing and lets you enjoy the fabulous view. The Duplex Casitas each have a deck to sit to enjoy the view. The Con: Price of the Food - too expensive, limited menu, you are captive up on this hill to eat there. Alternative, eat in Paquera. Great food! Get some food to bring up to the room for snacking. Breakfast is included. Was good, but not ready when was to be ready.

You need a car for this location. Not far from town, but very remote up the hill...thus the view. You will need a car to drive down to the beach or anywhere you want to go. I didn't like that they made me pay cash for the room and I could use credit card for meal.

GREAT MEAL IN PAQUERA

This restaurant has fantastic food and is sooooo reasonable. There were four of us and all of our meals together with smoothies was $44.00 USD. The smoothies were large glass with a refill. Do not miss the fabulous food. Right in town!

Excursion to Isla Tortugua

We traveled from Puntaranus on the Ferry. The first issue is that the ferry times on the internet were off from the actual times so we were really early. You need to buy your tickets from the ticket office before getting on the ferry. There is a charge for the vehicle and driver and each passenger. Once you are boarding the ferry only the driver is allowed to drive onboard. All other passengers have to walk on.

We were there during the World Cup. It was quite an event being with 200 Ticos during their game. Singing and cheering were the norm. You can purchase food on the dock or they sell food on the ferry. The food is a reasonable price.

We stayed at a hotel and hen took a local tour operator over to the island. Our first stop was to snorkle. The snorkling was enjoyable, but certainly not the plethora of fish that I have seen n the Carribean or in Mexico. One issue was the clarity of the water. It was not really choppy this day or bad weather so unsure if this is just the regular clarity of the water.

Our guide then took us to the island. It is nice and somewhat akin to a shore excursion from a cruise ship. However, there is a charge for everything down the the horrid $1.00 port a potty. They take no enemies on these fees. I decided to go into the water near the rocks on the shore. I did not realize there would be a bit of an undertow here. I got tossed around pretty good here. I finally was out of the water and needed to rest a minute. I sat in one of the chairs and no sooner than I caught my breath the chair rental person was making their way over.

All in all it is a nice island and there is a jet ski, banana boat, kayaks etc. What I greatly do not like is the proximity of all of the boats to the beach. Wading out chest height it was necessary to at all times watch for the smaller boats. The boats should be mandated to anchor further from shore.

I also cannot imagine how busy it must be in high season. My recommendation is to visit in low season in nice weather so the island is not over crowded. Our tour was $65.00 per person compared to the Catamaran that is approximately $100.00. We had a private boat for our party, drinks, snacks, fresh fruit and fresh made fish, rice etc. There were four of us so the price was right for this tour. We had a good time, but I would not go back again. There are many beaches in Costa Rica just as nice and easier to get to with less crowds.