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Trigger
 
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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 nights at la mansion arenal and 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!!!
I LOVE MY WIFE
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Snapper
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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!
 16 ft. Avalon "Flat Bottom Girl" Team Chunky Love member
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Snapper
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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.
16 ft. Avalon "Flat Bottom Girl" Team Chunky Love member
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PFF Moderator
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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 especial rum, 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!
Capt. Tony BlantonCertified Marine Technician Powerpole dealer and Outfitting specialist SAMS SA Marine surveyor
http://powerpole.com/
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Sailfish
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| how much does a trip like that cost? Been thinking about doing a big trip like that sometime.
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Snapper
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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.
16 ft. Avalon "Flat Bottom Girl" Team Chunky Love member
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Pin Fish
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| 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 at minimum 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 desk and ask for a 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
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Snapper
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| 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.
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Trigger
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| Just make sure to have an Imperial beer. Seriously.
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Trigger
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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 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!
I LOVE MY WIFE
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Snapper
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Pin Fish
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 : I've been to Costa Rica 3 times in past 4 years. Just south of Los Sueanos is the town of Jaco where you can afford a private charter from a local fisherman. Jaco also has a fantastic canopy tour (zip-line), and your family could horseback from the beach up to the top of a mountain with a great view of the Pacific for cheap. Check-out the hotel Copa Cabana, they have a bulletin board with info, as does many shops in the town. Also a great place to buy souveniors before coming home.
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Sailfish
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FLYBOY (6/1/2008)
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:
Pilsen is also awesome local beer!
________________________________________________________________________________________
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Trigger
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dont get a bot fly because if you do (and include in your post afterwards) we will have to laugh but it will suck for you man
Fishforlife2Go Noles Chandler Whelan RED WINGS STANLEY CUP REPEAT TRACKER: CONGRATULATIONS PITTSBURGH PENGUINS 2008-2009 STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS THIS WAS ONE OF THE BEST FINALS SERIES IN RECENT MEMORY. MAYBE NEXT WE CAN GO FOR 3 TIMES IN A ROW PITT VS. DETROIT GAME 1 IN DETROIT: 3-1 DETROIT GAME 2 IN DETROIT: 3-1 DETROIT GAME 3 IN PITTSBURGH: 4-2 PITTSBURGH GAME 4 IN PITTSBURGH: 4-2 PITTSBURGH GAME 5 IN DETROIT: 5-0 DETROIT GAME 6 IN PITTSBURGH: 2-1 PITTSBURGH GAME 7 IN DETROIT: 2-1 PITTSBURGH
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Snapper
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| OK, just got back from Costa Rica 2 weeks ago. Your trip sounds extremely similar to mine. So, heres my take. Arenal = Beautiful place. My wife and I did the zip line tours, white-water rafting, and some other tours by ourselves. ZIP Lining was a blast...one of my favorite parts of the trip. White-water rafting was good...we needed more water in the river. The rainy season has started in Arenal, so pack a light rain jacket each day. An absolute must is...the TABACON HOT SPRINGS!!! Wow, that place was nice, and the hot springs were awesome after a long day. I felt like I was in Jurasic Park and dinosaur was going to come out at any minute...extremely lush vegetation and beautiful flowers. We stayed at the Tabacon resort and I will definitely return there one day. Oh, take a bathingsuit to the waterfall tour...that was cool swimming under the hugh falls. As stated before, try some Casados for dinner (or lunch). Its great! Get use to rice and beans. It comes with every meal...including breakfast. The roads... Well, I did NOT think the were as bad as advertised. Now, they are no where near as good as U.S. roads, but not too bad. Roads are very curvy and NARROW (I repeat NARROW), but I was expecting more potholes (there wasn't many at all). No guardrails on the shoulders either, and its a long way down on those mountain roads. The worst part about the roads is, THE DRIVERS...those folks are absolutely CRAZY on the roads. They pass going up hills, around curves, anywhere they please...you'll see. And, pedestrains walk right on the roads with the vehicles...remember its NARROW. So, I thought we were going to kill a couple people a time or two. As stated before, don't bother with San Jose. One big, DIRTY, city. The rest of the country is MUCH more scenic. Once we arrived at our beach resort in Tamarindo, we were told NOT to venture out at night without taking a taxi. Basically don't walk around at night...take a taxi to where-ever you're going...and take a taxi back to the resort. Now, during the day, its all good..roam around freely. Maybe Los Senos is different than Tamarindo, I hope so for you and your family. I had an absolute blast fishing in Costa Rica. I don't have any tips for charters for ya, but definitely find a charter and GO! I caught sailfish and Mahi Mahi. Definitely and highlight of the trip! Good Luck! Also, go snorkeling if you can. We went on a sunset sailing snorkeling tour. That was a blast as well...OPEN BAR!!! Very cool fish, octapus, sea snakes, eagle rays, etc., and did I mention OPEN BAR!!! And the important stuff...BEER!!! Imperial, Pilsen, and my favorite, Bavaria negro (black). All good beers...all cheap...I prefer dark beer, so bavaria was my fave. Good Luck fishing...watch out for those crazy drivers...take hundreds of pictures (and post them when you return). Its a great country with cool people. You guys are going to have a blast!!!
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