If you can get the flights Lastminute.com do this hotel as well as hotels.com.

Also travelsphere do guided tours through Costa Rica http://www.travelsphere.co.uk/index.aspx

HTH

Kath HT Admin

First Choice now have packages to Costa Rica. I would love to go there. It looks like a beautiful place. They also offer tour packages.

My friend went back packing there after having worked in Guatemala for a few months.She said it is amazing. If you do go, enjoy and let us know all about it.

We are considering Costa Rica for our holiday next year but not sure about getting there from the UK. How long is the flight, where would we fly from, which airlines fly there and which area would be best to visit? I saw a hotel which looked really lovely called La Mansion Inn, which I think is located in Manuel Antonio.Does anyone know how far this hotel would be from the airport and how long would it take us to reach it? I would realy appreciate as much info as possible as we would like to book in the next few weeks, but not sure if this idea would be too difficult due to distances etc. hope someone can help. cheers.

I'm going to Costa Rica in July. As far as I know (and I'm no expert), package-wise only First Choice fly from the UK. We've got an 11.5hour flight from Gatwick.

We're doing a 5 day tour of the national parks and volcanoes before heading to one of the Occidental hotels.

Hello all,

I have been looking at Costa Rica for my holiday next year. I am thinking of going in September / October next year, can someone please tell me what I could expect with the weather?

Thank you in advance.

Lea28 x

I like to use this site for climate info - http://www.geographyiq.com/countries/cs/Costa_Rica_climate_f.htm

or http://www.wunderground.com

Got to trip planner and put the dates in your planning on going. It gives you what the chances of rain is & expected temperature etc...

Costa Rica is next on my list of places to go. I wanted to go this year but as First Choice now go there it's easier to find a package than Borneo (where we are actually going to)

Costa Rica here we come (in 2008, hopefully)

Thank you for your help.

I am looking at going with First Choice next year but am really unsure of what month would be best as they only fly May - October which is the rainy season. I went into FC today to ask why they only fly in the rainy season and they said it was because it is cheaper for them.

Lea28 x

Its a couple of years now since we went to Costa Rica, but we flew out to Miami with BA then onwards with American Airlines to San Jose. This was on an organised trip with Jules Verne. Only problem was getting through Miama which was a nightmare. I think the overall trip was about 14 hours.

We went in late March/April and the weather was lovely. Of course because the country is very diverse, local conditions can change very quickly so obviously in the rain forest we got heavy short showers but we both came back very tanned.

We did an organised tour which was absolutely fantastic and then had a 4 night extension at the Parador at San Antonio. This is about 4/5 hours from San Jose which has the only international airport.

Hope this helps. If you need any other info just let me know

We're going to the Gulf of Papagayo region in July when we're told the rains tend to hold off. Here's hoping.

Hi Suey

How many people was in your organised tour? We'd love to go to Costa Rica but we don't like big groups. I have Jules Verne brochure but it doesn't state how many people are doing this trip together.

Thank you.

My wife and I were in Costa Rica in eary June and found it to be an amazing place, we stayed at the Occidental Grand Papagayo, not to be mistaken with the Allegro Papagayo which is on the opposite side of the bay.
We traveled with First Choice direct from Gatwick 11hours 30 mins, long journey but after watching three/four movies the time soon passes.

A visit Costa Rica also enables the tourist to travel into Nicaragua on a day excursion which was a very interesting day as was the visit to Arenal the volcano, not so much for the volcano itself but the flora and fauna in the vicinity. All the tours from the hotel we found to very good.

There is lots of building work going on as the whole area is being developed, but it did not interfere with our stay as for seasons Costa Rica has a wet period and a not so wet period, in June we experienced rain in the afternoon on some days and the sun was very hot on a morning with sunbathing possible from 06:00 due to the time which is not adjusted to make for daylight saving so the sun is set by 18:00 each day

If you do decide to visit go with an open mind it is not as developed as the med but the people are as freindly as any we have met anywhere in the world.

Now a question "Has anyone visited Cape Verde"

MSB

Hi

Our Jules Verne party was about 15 I think. They only have smallish groups and do tell you how many are on when you call them. When we were leaving the next group arrived and again it was a similiar size.

Hope this helps.

I'm interested in this. What are the first choice flights like, standard chartered cattle class? Dont fancy that muhc on an 11 1/2 hour flight!

First Choice to India are superb seats in standard. Presume they are the same on all long haul. We didn't feel the need to upgrade.

Martin
find out about First Choice here

We are going to Costa Rica at Christmas for 3 weeks and doing it all independently. We are flying Iberia from Heathrow. Continental Airlines fly from manchester.
You can find lots of info on google and tripadvisor.

For those who might be intrested the hotel Occidental Allegro in Golfo De Papagayo, Costa Rica has been shut by order of the local administration due to pumping raw sewage into local rivers,and it is rumoured that other hotels, like the Grand will also be closed soon. When I got in touch with First Choice Holidays they did not even know but are still expecting to send us there in May. Has anybody any further uptodate information?. It would be nice to know what we are letting ourselves in for before we travel, any help would be appreciated, Thanks

mr stacey I have just seen a review dated 6 April of your hotel on another site and it says that all of the troubles have been sorted out and that the hotel is fantastic! have a good holiday.