Since we are asking the Pack - Costa Rica?

[LightninInside]

I have enough Marriot points to basically stay anywhere I want for a week. It will be a family trip. 2 kids, 16 and 12.

Delta has to go there and it has to be less than a 6 hour flight. I wanted to go to Hawaii, but for some reason the long plane trip doesn't seem to "fly" with the Mrs.

We've been to Puerto Rico several times and loved it and have been on gulf cruises but we have never stayed anywhere outside of the country aside from Mexico and Canada.

Heard good things about Costa Rica so that is where we are leaning but I am open to any suggestions.

Great beach is a must, oceanfront is even better. Stuff we like to do:
Caving, Waterfalls, Snorkeling, Kayaking, Street food, Bargaining,

Of course Safety is extremely important.

I know that many of you have travelled around the carribean and the world so please give me your thoughts.

 

[GratefulDawg.sixpack]

and it's got everything you're looking for. The people are friendly, and there is plenty to do. Right now, the off season has just begun, so you can get some deals. PM me if you want more info. One note, rent a car unless you either want to do all-inclusive or feel like paying $$$ for taxis. They drive on the left side of the highway and the locals drive like maniacs on the mountainous roads, so if you don't have an inner Mario Andretti, beware.<div>
</div><div>Costa Rica is definitely on my list of places to go in the next couple years. I'd like to do that and Nicaragua as well. I've heard to travel to both coasts if you're there for a week or longer.</div>

 

[LightninInside]

But no Marriott there. But you are right, looking at stlucianow.com shows that it is beautiful!

 

[Rebels7]

Could see Nicaragua from my room. I thought it was excellent. Very low key, and relaxing. One of the least expensive international vacations I've ever taken.<div>
</div><div>For activities, the standard scuba, snorkeling, fishing are available, as well as a volcano tour (didn't take, but heard good things about). </div><div>
</div><div>Also felt very secure where I was. Not like some other central American places.</div>

 

[CagerMania]

Felt very safe in Costa and found lots to do. We went with all adults and drank, surfed, drank, ziplined, and fished while drinking (Sailfish). i'm told the Gulf side is much less 'clean' than where we were (pacific side). Pretty inexpensive. we stayed near dominical, WAY outside the city. there were many resorts north of us, where I'm sure there's a Marriott property.

 

[JesterB]

It's about a 3 hour bumpy bus ride from San Jose. Very clean, very safe and tons to do. The beer sucks though. If I never see another Imperial again I will be just fine.

 

[jxndawg]

a few years ago. From the digging around I did back then, the east coast has prettier beaches but is dicier/more unsafe due to the drug trade. The Pacific coast is safer and has a lot more tourist-friendly destinations, which generally checks out if you look at a Fodor's, etc. Downside to the Pacific coast is that a lot of the beaches are more gray due to volcanic activity, though said volcanic locations might give you more opportunities for hiking, caves, etc.<div>
</div><div>The resort we went to is called Punta Islita, and it was a really beautiful, secluded place - we flew into Liberia (instead of San Jose), and then took a short hop on a very small puddle jumper run by an inland airline called Nature Air to a private landing strip run by our resort (they sent a shuttle to come pick us up). (FWIW, a buddy of mine who heard us rave about it tried to make the same trip but decided to rent a car to drive from Liberia to Punta Islita, and wound up having a hard time b/c the roads were extremely poor, so be careful.)</div><div>
</div><div>Punta Islita was very isolated on the side of a mountain - no town to walk into, no bars/shops/restaurants to go to, etc., but the resort was self-contained and had an awesome restaurant, an infinity pool and bar area, a spa, zip-lining, and our cabin had a private porch with a hot tub and hammock overlooking the beach which was about 200 yards down the side of the mountain. At the bottom of the mountain was a beach, which was kind of wet and gray, but the resort had a cool bar/restaurant and lots of palm trees and chaise loungers to make you pretty much forget about it. You could also arrange for horseback riding, deep sea fishing, hiking or a private bonfire dinner on the beach. At the time, my now-wife and I were perfectly ok with it being secluded and lazy because we went to celebrate getting engaged, and we had a blast. If you have kids and are looking for a lot of family-friendly activities I don't know how much I could recommend our resort. Hope that helps.</div>