Costa Rica advice

What Tico said. Dozens of beautiful beaches in Nicoya. The whole place just about is one big beach. Tamarindo itself is just a bit icky. Hit one of the other gorgeous beaches out there instead.

yea, over them...keeps the flip-flops from fallin off.

Are they white socks?

Sometimes white with a green stripe around the top but usually dark blue.

Hey MCP i would do exactly as i said before go to Domi then u can easily ride all the way from Domi to Puntarenas in 1 day or even half if u stop just for food and gas and if u really want to go to take the ferry to Paquera just star your day early 7am and i m shure you can take the 1:30pm ferry i have not been in Montezuma and Pauqera in a long time so i can't help you there as much as i will like, thinking on going back that way in january but i can tell you that Mai Pais beach and all those areas are very different from dominical and beatifull as well, hope this help a little oh by the way from Domi to Puntarenas turist towns where to find just about anything are Quepos y Jaco beach lots of stores for the wife in Jaco if want any souvenirs
quote=MCP]Booked the airfare and the bike, the map just arrived, so I'm doing some planning.

Thinking of this route, what do you think?

Looking at your suggestion, San Jose to Dominical, just confirming this is a easy day ride form San Jose/ and Dominical is worth staying a night or two for exploring?

The ride north (2 up) to Puntarenus, what do you suggest, stop for a night mid way? Where?

We were going to take the ferry over to Paqera, from there south Playa Montezuma for a night? Suggestion for an area?

From there we were wanting to go north up the coast to Tamarindo? Is this road(s) ok?, places of interest to stay?

Were going over Christmas, so hopefully its dry. We have about 7 days. Is this to much for 7 days?

Any other hints suggestions are welcome.


thanks[/quote]

MCP,
Your trip sounds great....I spend winters in CR, but won't be there until mid-January...My wife and I stay about 20 minutes North of Tamarindo, and I can recommend great places to stay and eat as well as some fun things to do if you've got a free day (e.g. canopy tours on ATVs). PM me with contact info if interested and I can give you names of places and a rough 1-2 day itinerary that will be memorable.

John

90 XT250 in CR
98 & 99 XR400s
06 CRF250

Leaving for Costa on Tuesday...with all the great information from helpful people on this thread, I'm ready.

Thanks very much

There are those on this thread with far more CR experience than me; I've only been there twice. What a great place.

If you're heading south out of San Jose after noon I would recommend avoiding the Pan Am (Cerro de la muerta / Pass of death). It climbs to 11,000 feet and will likely be shrouded in fog by 3pm. I've taken it twice but would never do it with my wife on the bike. It was exhilarating but pretty dangerous.

Linky: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerro_de_la_Muerte

Wild-Rider worked for us. Have a great trip!

fishdawgz - Pm'd you

Mr Farkle - thats exactly what I was planning, so I will likely stay in SJ then leave early or change our route.

When I'm not here (DR) I live on the BC coast - I'm not a fan of fog.

You coulda' mentioned that a year ago.

Buen viaje

Maybe I got to this thread a bit late, but I live in Costa Rica, and have been going over the areas you mention many times in the past few months.

If you need any guidance, pm me.

You can take the Road from San Jose, to Jaco and then drive down to dominical, and avoid the so called "Cerro de la Muerte", avoid going through there in the afternoon or nights, too cold and foggy.

From Jaco to dominical at legal speed will be a trip of 1.5 hours.

Rode through that section last month. I got lost several times trying to skirt San Jose on local roads, ending up riding right through downtown...which was not nearly as bad as feared, merely congested, confusing, dangerous and time-consuming. Arrived about 3:00 for the long climb up Cerro de la Muerta, wondering whether I was doing the right thing but wanting to at least put a few miles on before dark. Dressed warmly once the fog rolled in and found an appropriately-driven car to follow through the murk. After about 20 miles, we broke above the clouds into brilliant, warm, nourishing sunshine, so I pulled ahead and gloried in the views and high-quality roadway. Hit a few sections of fog on the way down, but nothing serious.

I'm no bold adventurer (at least, not on purpose), but I've seen worse fog, worse truck traffic, worse cold and worse overall danger on a half-dozen roads throughout Central and South America, and I'm only as far as Peru. They're cloud forests, and sometimes they get cloudy. So maybe I hit the Mountain of Death (hubba hubba) on an off day, but I found it fine in late afternoon.

Just one more data point.

Mark

Started my little ride report here: http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?p=11610467#post11610467

Hope you like it...it's my first so be gentle.