Puerto Rico or Costa Rica for HM?

[ringster]

hi, we are trying to plan our honeymoon and have come up with puerto rico or costa rica as possibilities. wondering if anyone has any pros/cons to each of them and how much time is good time to spend there?

we would like to come back from the honeymoon and have a few days at home before heading back to work so trying to determine what the ideal amount of time would be to spend at either PR or CR.

any other tips? advice? or any other locales you think would be better?

our considerations:

1) we are looking to go mid aug - early sept -- which country one would have better weather? -- we are trying to fit in a relative''s wedding that will be aug 15th in florida (we live in CA)
2) will have about 2 weeks of vacation time
3) trying to be economical but don''t want to be too economical (i.e. no hostels this trip!) as it is our honeymoon so do want to have a good time but not break the bank
4) would like a combination of things to do as we like to lounge around but also would like to have some activities to do
5) i would like to ideally go someplace with great food -- doesn''t have to be fancy but just good local food.

and if there are any particular airlines you would recommend, i would appreciate your recommendations! TIA!!

 

[neatfreak]

I don't have a ton of specific recommendations but I will tell you that overall I enjoyed Costa Rica much much more than PR. With the exception of the island of Vieques on Puerto Rico, I really could have done without the entire trip. We didn't have any amazing food, every corner had an american chain on it, and the island didn't seem to have much flair anymore. Our resort was nice enough but I am someone who loves to go outside the resort and I didn't really have any amazing experiences outside our resort in PR.

On the other hand I LOVED Costa Rica. The food was fantastic, and we stayed at a resort, but had many opportunities to go out and explore the countryside too. The rainforest is incredible and so are the beaches, so there is plenty to do. I also thought the food was much better outside the resort than in PR too. Our $ went a lot further there too if I remember correctly, although this could be because the trip was a few years before we went to puerto rico.

You could get a flight to CR or PR from Florida pretty easily but of course PR would be closer if that is a consideration.

 

[iheartscience]

I just went to Costa Rica in March and we had a great time! I haven''t been to Puerto Rico, so I can''t compare the two for you, though! However, I would highly recommend Costa Rica! It is pretty developing, though, which I know isn''t for everyone. However, we did a bunch of great activities and the country is just beautiful. The wildlife was great, too.

I would highly recommend Montezuma (loved this place the best!) and La Arenal. I wasn''t crazy about the town of Manuel Antonio, but the national park was nice there. San Jose was gross, definitely get out of there as quickly as possible!

Also, I would recommend flying between places if you plan on going to more than one place. The whole "private bus to ferry" thing did NOT work out for us (we got stuck at a disgusting port for 2.5 hours waiting for a crappy ferry), and flying would have been more $, but not that much more. Plus it saves time-the day we had to wait for the ferry we were traveling for like 8 hours. Total waste of a day!

Also, the roads are pretty crazy, especially during the rainy season. Sometimes they get washed out and you have to go different ways which takes forever-it happened to my parents when they went last August. Sorry to tell you a bunch of horror stories because I really did have a great time, but those are my things to avoid!

 

[ringster]

thanks so much for the info guys!

neatfreak - you kind of confirmed my suspicions. thanks so much for sharing your experience and i''m so glad that someone has been both places and can compare them for me

thing2of2 - i saw your thread on your trip and it looked like tons of fun! thanks for your tips. looks like the time we want to go might be pretty rainy. do you know if certain parts are less rainy than others?

 

[iheartscience]

Well I know there are definite seasons. Let me see...okay, it says on Frommers.com that the dry season is late November to late April and the rainy season is May to October. But since it''s a tropical climate, it did rain a little bit when we were there which was well within the dry season.

I think the biggest problem with going in the rainy season (besides the rain, because it sometimes only rains for a few hours each day) is the roads. But apparently is beautiful and ridiculously green when it''s the rainy season, so there are pros to that, too.

 

[ringster]

Date: 6/10/2008 9:04:45 AM
Author: thing2of2
Well I know there are definite seasons. Let me see...okay, it says on Frommers.com that the dry season is late November to late April and the rainy season is May to October. But since it''s a tropical climate, it did rain a little bit when we were there which was well within the dry season.


I think the biggest problem with going in the rainy season (besides the rain, because it sometimes only rains for a few hours each day) is the roads. But apparently is beautiful and ridiculously green when it''s the rainy season, so there are pros to that, too.

thanks thing2of2

! off to do more research!

 

[neatfreak]

The other thing to consider weather wise is that in August you are in prime hurricane season in the caribbean...I don''t know how PR usually fares in hurricane season, but something to consider.

 

[Shoopy]

If you are trying to be economical...definitely costa rica. Puerto Rico is just like having a vacation anywhere else in the US. It''s beautiful (dad''s family is from there) but it is expensive. Most tourists stay in San Juan which is super expensive and not as beautiful as other parts of the island (but a lot more to do). I would go to Costa Rica.

 

[iheartscience]

Oops, forgot to give airline recs. We flew Air Taca to Costa Rica and it was great. Very nice, new planes, semi good little plane meals. In Costa Rica I''ve heard good things about Nature Air if you''re flying between places. Hope this helps!

 

[ringster]

great info everyone!!

thanks neatfreak for the weather warning. i am a bit concerned about this

fieryred - thanks for your vote and giving your take on which is more economical - yep CR seems to be number one in the running. re: PR, i had heard to stay away from san juan so good to hear it from another person.

thing2of2 -- oooo, THANK YOU for airline info! i''m super paranoid about flying in any tin cans or sketchy planes so your recs help tons.