Has anyone been to Costa Rica?

[Miatabich]

If so, any thoughts on where to stay and what to do? I don't really know anyone who has been and I'm usually great at planning trips but can't if I don't know where to start :)

so any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[HudsonHawk]

A budyof mine went. He is into scuba and had a blast. Also there are jungle hikes and lots of other stuff to do.

Don't know where he stayed though.

[miataspeedracer]

I think Gary took the family there last year...

[Mr626]

I'm from Panama which is right below Costa Rica. I've traveled to the Panama-Costa Rica border many times but I've only gone into CR once which was last summer on a business trip with my dad. It has great scenery but its very rural compared to Panama City. We stayed two nights at a hotel in some Valley but I don't remember what the name was, it was about an hour out of San Jose.

[OZMDD]

I think CR is one of the best destinations out there, especially when you consider how good a value it is.
The small villages near the Hot Springs at the base of the Monteverde volcano are really cool little places to stay; lots of inexpensive "cabinas: to rent where you can watch the lava flow down the mountain at night, then go do some of the cloud forest tours in the area.
Beach-wise, my favorite is a little town on the Pacific Coast called Quepos, which has beautiful beaches, a National Park to hike, monkeys everywhere, and is easily accessible by rental car, bus or small plane. Its about a 3 hour drive from San Jose, but only a 15 minute flight in a little 10-seater (around $40 each way, on-the-spot ticketing). You can get all over CR in a rental car. Busses are really cheap, but stop a lot and you are on their schedule. I drove and flew, since the local airline can get you anywhere in the country in under an hour, and you just buy your ticket like you would buy a bus ticket here in the US. No big security hassles; they use a separate terminal at the main airport.
Do yourself a favor and eat at the local "diner" places, and the "standard CR lunch" is usually some fish or meat, fried plantains, some mashed-potato-like yumminess, and runs under $5. You can get the same basic dish anywhere, and its always fresh and tasty, kinda like the old blue-plate-special in the US, years ago.
I can go on forever, but that's a good start. I'll try to recall some names of specific places I stated, but local, B&B and villa-type deals are the best.