Beautiful sunsets! And one morning a scarlet macaw flew by, just feet away from the balcony.
Submitted: March 5, 2013
Stayed: February 2013
The six of us - four adults and two small children - stayed very comfortably in the condo. It was well equipped with just about everything we might need, barring food of course, and it was sparkling clean. The balcony lights weren't working, presumably because of salt-water-in-the-air corrosion, but it wasn't a problem since we didn't need them. Leo was extremely helpful in helping us set up a fishing excursion & getting a key to the safe (although we ended up not using the safe at all) so I'm sure he would have seen to getting the lights fixed for us if we'd asked. Leo is a wonder.
The owners, Don and Denise, were very, very helpful in answering our questions before the trip. (Where is a grocery store? A few minutes' walk. What are fun things to do? Long list. Can we use U.S. dollars? Yes, but you get your change in colones.)
The swimming pool was the main attraction for the little ones, along with the tide pools, but they liked everything.
"Downtown" Jaco is interesting in its own right - we walked there twice and even the little ones had no trouble with the walk. Once we took a cab back because it was HOT. It's easy to flag one down in Jaco. If you go, be sure to check out the Taco Bar, with its swings. The six-year-old loved gently swinging side-to-side while eating delicious rice, beans, and tacos. Quite a few grownups did, too. There's an ice cream shop across from it, too. Mmm.
We were late getting to Manuel Antonio National Park (go early!), so we didn't see much wildlife - two species of sloth, two kinds of monkey, several birds, and a posse of raccoons. The raccoons' faces are quite different from their North American second cousins, BTW. We did hire a guide with a spotting scope, but if you have binocs you probably don't need one. It was a nice walk, anyway, and we ended up at the gorgeous beach inside the park. It's protected from the surfing waves outside the little harbor, so the children played quite safely there.
We had a rental car (tho' you could easily hire a driver), so we went to Poas Volcano. The cloud forest there was a little disappointing - because of the volcano's fumes - but otherwise it was a good excursion. The best thing, though, was eating at a "Soda". If we go back with children, we'll go to Zoo Ave. We couldn't fit it in this time. I think we'll also stay a little longer, spending the last two nights in San Jose. But we really liked Tres Regalos, and would heartily recommend it.
Recommended for:
Age 55+,
Tourists without a Car,
Sightseeing,
Families with Teenagers,
Families with Young Children
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