Costa Rica or Hawaii?

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Ari

Definitely COSTA RICA:
active volcanoes, golf, diving, fishing, paragliding, dolphin and whale watch, Coco Island adventure, turtle nesting, rainforest and cloud forest, plantations and processing plants of coffee, sugar cane, banana, and many others, cultural cities, caves, monkeys, bird watching, beautiful beaches, adventures like canopy and rappel, quads, indigenous reserves, typical rural festivities, gondolas suspended in the canopy of the trees, mangrove tours, flower plantations, horseback riding, boat tours at dusk, hanging bridges over the rainforest, butterfly farms, orchid farms, church ruins, mountain biking, hiking tours, white water rafting, frog ponds, national parks and wildlife refuges, crocodiles, waterfalls, kayak tours, good food, fun nightlife, kind people, romantic getaways, hot springs and much more.

Why is Hawaii being part of USA a reason to go there? You will have no problem tavelling to Costa Rica. You just need a valid passport.

ENJOY COSTA RICA!

Crescent

Hawaii is better. Plus, it's in the US.

muncie birder

I just returned from Costa Rica. Enjoyed the trip a lot. I did not do the activities that you have planned but I do know that there are many opportunities in Costa Rica to do those. At this time it is the rainy season and rates are cheaper than during the dry season--November through April. But even then they are a lot less expensive than Hawaii.

I spent most of my time on the West coast. There is not a great deal of English spoken there. It is my understanding that on the east cost English is more prevelent.

Costa Rica is very friendly and they have excellent beer. Two local brands, both excellent.

Scuba diving is supposed to be supurb at Cahuite on the east coast. But most of the popular beaches are on the west coast and there are hundreds. I am certain that the more poplular beaches will have accomidation that have English speaking residents.

While I was there, we traveled by bus everywhere. Bus travel is excellent and dirt cheap. $8.00 from San Jose to the Panama border--7 hour trip. That is as expensive as it gets. Rental car rates in Costa Rica are not bad, but the insurance is a killer. And gasoline is $5.50 a gallon. Taxis are also a bargain by U S standards. But some of the taxi drivers in San Jose are very unethical. We had to get out of one taxi because he refused to turn the meter on. He wanted to charge us twice the official rate. In Monteverde we actually had our own personal taxi driver for the three days that we were there. He drove us everywhere and was always there to pick us up when we wanted.

Now if you are looking to eat gormet food, Costa Rica is probably not going to be the place you will want to travel to. Arroz con pollo is main dish. Rice with chicken. However, they do provide some variety. You also will have a choice of rice with sea food, rice with pork and rice with shrimp. And you can get black beans on the side. But some places serve excellent coffee. And every town has at least one bakery. The bakeries open about 5 am and they are very popular places to eat breakfast. There is a very wide selection of thing to choose from, rolls stuffed with chicken, rolls stuffed with cheese, sweet rolls and many many others.

The price of a room will vary greatly from $100+ for a room at an American establishment to $10 at a Costa Rican establishment. Imagine paying $10 a night in this day and age. We did. I spent 3 weeks there and spent less than $1000. Everyone in Costa Rica accepts dollars--everyone. In fact they prefer dollars to colones because colones are subject to about 12% inflation rate.

A little more about the rainy season. It never rains in the morning. Only after noon. But almost every afternoon it does rain, maybe just a little, maybe a lot. It normally begins by 2:00 pm. During the 3 weeks I was there, I believe there were maybe 5 afternoons when it did not rain before 5:00 pm.

Of course if you are kayaking, surfing, and scuba diving who cares?

LA_Bruin786

Costa Rica. It's international so you get a new taste of life. Plus, the chicas are SMOKIN there.

Plus, if you convert dollars into pesos, You'll be freakin LOADED with money. Save it for the hookers yo. And use protection

If you want Hawaii, just go to any beach.

PacificDreamer

TRAVEL..get OUT of the USA and see how other's live. Costa Rica will be by FAR much cheaper once you arrive. It's not all FAKE and touristy as Hawaii has become. The people are nice, the food is great, there is a TON to do...you won't regret making Costa Rica your vacation destination. You might even want to MOVE here like SO many folks do after having visited only ONCE!!

Pura Vida!

argentinian boy

Costa Rica, except for the people there

Kimmer

Hawaii. Sorry but I have no justification for this other than I think the area is sooooo beautiful! They're culture is beautiful too and I've always wanted to go there. I wouldn't care about saving a buck or two. Hope you have fun!

mountainman

Hawaii. You will be within the jurisdiction of United States law, you are assured of quality food, water, treatment, etc. People sometimes don't realise that when you travel outside of the U.S., you are entering not only a foreign country but a foreign world. Language, cultural, legal differences can create problems for you. Why risk it? Hawaii is a better vacation spot, too.
have fun and be safe.

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Costa Rica is cheaper than Hawaii.

littlehuevo

Hawaii, all the way
unless Costa Rica is cheaper then go there.

stephanieluvsla

hawaii

Rolando MacTavish IIII

Hawaii, it's the USA

alexnaturals

Men, I've been to both places, since I'm a costarrican (now Iive in Thailand) and worked in Hawaii for two years...
Those are different places... it depends on what you really wanna see and do... party is in both, beautiful beaches in both... diving is much better in CR, surfing unless you are a pro and huge waves are ok for you, I'll say CR has more pristine sites to surf... but if it comes to get fun with the girls and crazy staff, Hawaiians are more open and like the people as crazy as well.
In CR you can go from a coast to the other in 5 hours drive and still will need two months to see some of this amazing paradise which hostess - with only 52000 square Km - 4% of the total biodiversity of the world...
Both are great vacations... you decide... have fun!!!

coldice8

Hawaii

VALERIE C

Costa Rica, Hawaii is an Island with an expensive taste. You may find discounts on yahoo travel. or just time in on your search engine for cheap deals to which ever country your going to visit. Great deal are also found in your Newspapers in the Classified session. Good luck

EMAILSKIP

Costa Rica will be much cheaper when you get there. Hawaii is like plastic and Disneyland. Costa Rica is much more "natural" and people are nicer and more down to earth.

TCarrizal

PURA VIDA!
Just got back form Costa Rica and it is a great place.
Definitely cheaper than Hawaii and mostly less touristy.
Went to the cloud forrest first and then over to the Northwest coast for some R&R jungla beach style!
People are very friendly and always willing to help you out.
You can get by fairly easily with speaking english, but people are also always eager to help you with your spanish. You may also find youself giving a quick english lesson - People are that friendly and easy to talk to.
Tha only bad thing is the roads are horrible, but for me it just added to the adventure of my experience.
I'm already thinking about my itineary for my next trip down there.

cutie66m

costa rica hands down. cause its in central america. lol and its oh so cheap/reasonable. the food is fabulous rice with black beans yummmmmmmm they also eat a lot of chicken too , the fajitas are awesome, not like home AT ALL. the beaches are beautiful, you can swim in the atlantic and pacific just pick a side... lol CANT DO THAT IN HAWAII! you can surf in Jaco, BIIIIIIG waves there watch out for riptides. andddd its just much better. ohhh HANNNDS DOWN i would pick there its BEAUTIFUL MAN! hahah go and support their economy lol

gueroloco28

Costa Rica!! It's more unique. Surfing is supposed to be good at several locations on the pacific coast. it is a gorgeous country with lots of flora and fauna to enjoy. it sounds like you are into adventure traveling, and C.R. specializes in that. Try a canopy tour while you're there!

Traveller

We have been to Costa Rica several times, mostly for birdwatching. We love it and feel very comfortable there. It is much less expensive than Hawaii and English is spoken just about everywhere. In fact, I find it difficult to find a place to practice my Spanish. It has a Latin flavor we enjoy, but is very modern.

Hawaii is gorgeous, but much more expensive. I imagine the surfing is better there. Possibly scuba as well, but will be very, very expensive.

songbird

I would go to Costa Rica. Less tourists, a lot cheaper.

World_Traveler

i've spent a lot of time in CR, but I've always dreamed of going to Hawaii. Of course, CR would be a lot cheaper, but I'm very sure that Hawaii is much more beautiful. I've heard HI is really expensive. CR isn't.
But if you don't know Spanish, I don't recommend going on your own - get w/ a tour group- it would be more expensive but definitely worth it. I don't recommend going it alone.

Erin the ROCKSTAR!

go to both, twice as fun, twice as many girls... yay

Belindita

If you are from the U.S., why not visit another country? It will be cool to say that you have been overseas. Plus Costa Rica is a beautiful country where you can practice all those activities and more. Now, the waves may not be as high as those in Hawaii, so do some research about surfing, kayaking and scuba in Costa Rica before you decide. Have a great trip wherever you decide to go!