1

before going to nosara, you might spend a couple of days in the rincon de la vieja area. this would give you a chance to see a "volcano/mountain" area and do some hiking. if the volcano is not acting up, you can hike a trail to the top. http://www.rincondelavieja.net or http://www.costarica-nationalparks.com/rincondelaviejanationalpark.html

you can also consider going to santa rosa national park. http://www.costarica-nationalparks.com/santarosanationalpark.html which is about an hour from rincon de la vieja.

of course, once you are in nosara, there are some good day trips you can take from that area -- i'm sure your friends will know about them.

2

Great - thanks! It looks like we'll be spending most of our time in Nosara. Our friends have graciously offered to pick us up and drop us off at the airport, but we'll rent a car in Nosara for the week to accommodate day trips or perhaps an overnight.

Might your above suggestions work for an overnight excursion roundtrip from Nosara?

3

both rincon de la vieja and santa rosa are day trips from nosara -- although a bit long.

from nosara to liberia is about 1.75 hours and from liberia to rincon de la vieja, about 45 minutes. from liberia to santa rosa, about an hour.

if you wanted to do an overnight, there's a good choice of accommodations near rincon de la vieja.

4

Unless you get a car and do an overnight, the majority of the countries highlights are out of reach for a day trip. But try to get to Rincon or Tenerio when going to/from Liberia.

Tortuguero
Rafting Rio Paquare
Arenal
Monteverde

5

NY Times happened to run an article on Nosara today.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/09/30/travel/waves-and-wildlife-in-costa-rica.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0&hpw

6

My god, $2700 for a weekend surf lessons and lodging? I am in the wrong business...

7

"....weeklong surf trips from $2,570, including lodging, meals, surf coaching, yoga classes, and airport transfers. ..."

read more carefully next time please.

while $2750 for a week-long surf trip is very pricey, if you break it down, it's about like the four seasons, which you like solohobo. lodging, meals, surfing, airport transfer, yoga classes - it's an "all-inclusive surfing vacation" - kind of weird when you think about the usual idea of a surfer!

my oldest grandson lives near big sur and is a surfer dude and this would make him laugh so hard!

Edited by: wiremu

Edited by: wiremu

8

I get bummed I have to pay $25 day for a surfboard...

Or you could get a room for $40 nights, eat out for $20-$25 day, rent a board for $25 day, and take the bus to and from the airport, and get a few surf lessons for $60, and meditate on a desolate section of beach.

Lodging $300
Food $200
Board $150
Surf Lessons $60

TTL $700 for a week, add airfare $500, you are still half the price.

9

of course you could do that, solohobo. the $2500 week is just an upscale version of what you suggest. you could break it down this way:

private transport to and from the airport: $400 (no waiting for the bus or schlepping your luggage or having to stay overnight to catch the early bus; no chance of having to stand up part of the way; air conditioned; stops along the way where and when you want to..... etc)
3 meals a day for 7 days: $350 (or more)
surfing lessons: $300 (includes board and private instruction)
yoga: $300 ($50 a day for 6 days)
lodging: $1200 (about $170 per day)

when people vacation, they do it in all sorts of ways and at all sorts of prices from the private jet, million dollar villa, chaffeured hummer to the public bus riding, hostel staying budget traveler - and everything in between.