I am planning a family trip to Costa Rica in March. I would like to spend a few days in La Fortuna and then a few days in either Manuel Antonio or Tamarindo. Is one beach area more desirable than the other? I would love some recommendations. Thanks.

Steve Dubb? Did you guys have a favorite beach?

I was in Manuel Antonio ten years ago. I can't remember it as being a beach to lay back and suntan on although I did see wild monkeys, sloths and other creatures. If you get a chance go white water rafting on the Pacuare River. We did the overnight trip and that was wild, absolutely incredible with class 4 rapids.

Thanks Margaret. We are definitely going white water rafting.

For beaching, I prefer around Manual Antonio rather than Tamarindo. A little more "off the track". However, get a good guide for the park - it is totally worth to spend more rather than grab some guy at the gate.

Thanks Erin

Manuel Antonio. Beach at tamarind is bit rocky

If you want a beach to just do beach stuff on, we enjoyed Jaco. it is a tourist zone, but the beach is sandy and large. Lots of hotels, and things to do. We also spent some time at

Esterillos Este. Beautiful beach, very long. Tide goes way out. It used to be mostly private houses, with a few small hotels thrown in. We stayed at http://hotelpelicancostarica.com/ It has changed hands since, but looks just as nice.
HOTELPELICANCOSTARICA.COM
Home - Hotel Pelicano Beachfront

Thanks for all the suggestions

Playa bejuco is about 1 hour north of Manuel Antonio. 8 miles of beach with very little people. It is a surfing beach. But we just played in it.

Playa Bejuco, the most beautiful beach I have ever been to! Hotel Pelicano is awesome and right on the beach.

I would caution against sparsely populated areas.

Shellie Aside from common sense, a family friend visiting his friend n wife were violently attacked n robbed in their home by a local wielding a machete. Sadly, the friend he was visiting later succumbed to his injuries.

Derek that is very sad but that could happen anywhere. Where we stayed had 3 smaller hotels and a couple gated communities mainly owned by Americans and Canadians. I felt very safe at all times.

Shellie Thus my suggestion to exercise caution in sparsely populated areas coupled w/ my mention of common sense. And yes, it was very sad, indeed.

Thanks Derek

Coreen You’re most welcome, Coreen. I wish you a wonderful and safe trip.

If you surf - Tamarindo hands down

I head there Nov 9

So is driving around Costa Rica pretty easy? I think we will see more if we rent a car.

It was recommended that we rent, not a car, but a jeep as many of the roads weren't paved and the bridges were barely hanging in there. This was 2006. Downtown San Jose was scary driving through as it was so busy and seemed to have no rules of the road. Outside of the bridges, downtown traffic and some rough roads all went well. We drove from San Jose to the East coast, back up through Fortuna and then Southwest to Manuel Antonio. Never went up to the all-inclusive locations on the North Coast though. Some of the bridge decking, the planks, had huge gaping holes in them. Sometimes you'd be driving over the metal formwork and not the decking. Fortunately no vehicles fell into the river and no one seem to suffer any hardships. All went well.

Margaret thanks so much for the info. I am thinking we might just get a Jeep for part of the trip.

In today's local terms, it's really a four wheel drive you want. They may have called all of them jeeps back​ then.

We stayed at Si Como No in Manuel Antonio and loved it! Mariposa hotel is also really nice.

We are renting for our trip

I would love to hear about your trip when you get back

Coreen were back November 24 pm me and I’ll fill you in . We are heading Kelowna to Calgary then non stop to Liberia airport

Samaria is nice

Samara