FLYBOY

I need some advice from folks who have been to Costa Rica before, myself the wife and my 6 yr old daughter are headed down there end of july-first of august. We are flying into San Jose. We are breaking the trip up into 2 sections. We are staying 4 nightsatla mansion arenaland doing a volcano tour, jungle tour, zip line thing, horseback trip, hot springs and waterfall tour, and a cave/river float tour. We are then transferring to Los Suenos and spending 3 nights where I get to fish and the wife and daughter are going to do dolhin/whale sightseeing trip. I am looking for advice on this plan, safety considerations, and most importantly who to fish with! I will only get 2 days to fish and want to maximze my time. I will be a single fisherman and I won't be able to afford to charter a boat by my lonesome, so I will need to fish with other folks. I want to catch pelagics and maybe a roosterfish if do some nearshore stuff. I believe the Black Marlin bite starts getting hot that time of year. I have never caught a marlin and thats really what I want. Any advice on anything Costa Rica would be appreciated. I will take lots of pics and post em!!!:letsdrink

FenderBender

Make sure you rent a good 4 wheel drive vehicle, its rainy that time of year and depending on where you go, the roads are terrible (awesome in my opinion!) and you may have to drive through a couple of rivers to get where you are going. Eat lots of casados and take some pictures, you'll be spoiled forever!

FenderBender

Also make sure the wife and kid are safe strong swimmers... the beaches on the pacific side get very heavy surf and have undertows and rips and currents that are unlike anything we have in the gulf.

Voodoo Lounge

MMM black beans and rice!!! The ride to Arenal SUCKS!! Dont spend any time in San Jose. No need for any jewelry or anything that attracts attention. Beautiful place and the locals are awesome! Get yourself some Ron Centenario Anejo especialrum, and bring back as much as you can. Drink an Imperial or ten for me!! I second the 4wheel drive, and dont speed, there are some spots as bad as Gulf Breeze!

AUradar

how much does a trip like that cost?

Been thinking about doing a big trip like that sometime.

FenderBender

I was there a month surfing and exploring 2 summers ago and with 3 friends splitting car rental prices and plane ticket, spent 1100 bucks. If you do it yourself, and don't go through agencies and don't want to stay at super nice resorts, its super cheap. I don't remember paying more than $11.00 a night for a hotel the whole trip. We rented a house in Pavones for $30.00 a night (3 story house!!) for most of the trip and saved a lot there. Its as cheap or expensive as you want it to be.

roosterfish

Flyboy,

I don't know much about the volcano trip, but I know all about Los Suenos. I have had a place there for a few years and make the trip as often as possible. From what I have heard in the past two weeks the bite has definately slowed down from late March. We had a total of 70 Sails and Marlin in two days on the water. In one three hour stretch we had atminimum 60 fish in the lines, and hooked up on a quad. I sent a friend down two weeks ago and the numbers were under ten shots a day. The best bet for a single is to hook up with Costa Rica Dreams. They are the Marina Sponsored boats, but they do catch good fish. The Mahi should still be hot and the Tuna bite will pick up this time of year. Roosters will bite most of the year and you should have a good shot at a Cuberra. I would call the Marina deskand ask fora captain named Tigre's phone number. He is good with the inshore bite, especially the roosters.We bagged a 50lber and a few smaller ones last trip. I hope this helps. If you need resort numbers or info, just ask and I willl get you what you need.

Roosterfish

curtpcol

White Water Rafting was a ball the volcano trip you can do that yourself without paying a tour guide . Not much to see and one hell of a hike go up a real steep hill look down at the volcano and your done . San Jose is nice but like all large cities be careful . Make sure you fish on the Pacific side and not the Gulf side . I had a really good time and would go back in a heart beat.

ul412al

Just make sure to have an Imperial beer. Seriously.

FLYBOY

Thanks everyone for the responses, I have been wanting to make this trip for years and can't wait to go. Tony I will be sure and drink numerous imperial's for you and thanks for the tip on the rum:letsdrink I am calling the marina today to book my fishing trips I will ask about Coast Rica dreams. Oh and fender Clay told me you had been down there several times and you are the man to talk to about visiting there. I will post pics when I get back!