"Costa Rica: It's Hawaii in Spanish! " a Costa Rica Travel Page by caminoreal

The title is a paraphrase of a magazine article I saw called "What's A Nice Little Country LIke Costa Rica Doing In A Place Like Central America?" The article was written back when strife and civil war had neighboring Nicaragua and Panama torn apart, but Costa Rica was (and still is) a peaceful, safe-for-travelers, tropical paradise.
It may be the best place in the world for birding. You can catch a tremendous variety of pelagic and deep-water fishes in both the Atlantic (Caribbean) and Pacific.
There is great surfing on the west coast and great scuba diving and snorkeling on the east coast.
The home-grown coffee is better than anything you'll find at Starbucks.
The people are friendly toward gringos and if your Spanish, like mine, is limited, you'll find someone speaking English at many stores, restaurants, offices, hotels, service businesses and other places you'll be shopping or doing business.
I arrived at night, checked in to the high-rise hotel with a casino on the top floor, had a wonderful dinner which included, as nearly every meal there does, "Costa Rican Caviar" -- black beans, often served mixed with rice and called "gallo pinto" (spotted rooster).
When I woke the next morning and went for a walk, then for a drive to the airport, I kept thinking I must be in Hawaii. The air, the flowers, the color of the light .... it all seemed like I was back on Maui; only the signs were in Spanish.
Volcanos, beautiful flowers, waterfalls, rushing streams, colorful birds, beautiful women and great food are all a part of Costa Rica.
San Jose has a diverse and cosmopolitan population with lots of European ethnic and cultural enclaves and a large population of gringos.
Of all the Latin American places I've visited, Costa Rica is the friendliest and most beautiful.
It is wonderful any time of the year, but the dry season, which Ticos call "summer" even though it is December through April, is my favorite. Even in the lengthy wet season, though, it usually rains only a part of the day, leaving many hours for outdoor activities.
Ticos (what Costa Rican's call themselves) are usually friendly and accommodating people. Tourism is the country's biggest business, so many people go out of their way to make North Americans and Europeans feel welcome.
My biggest problem with Costa Rica is that it keeps me from visiting other places as much as I would like, because when I have time and money available, I choose Costa Rica as my destination again and again.

Like any city with lots of tourism, you can find high-priced restaurants here, especially around the major hotels.
But most restaurants throughout the country, and in San Jose, are comparatively cheap by American standards. You can have a great "Tico" meal, called a "casado," for less than five U.S. dollars almost anywhere. The meal usually consists of some sort of meat dish -- beef, chicken, pork or fish -- accompanied by gallo pinto, a salad, maybe some fried potatoes or plantains, and a fruit drink or bottled beverage.
The most common and easily accessible local restaurants are called "sodas." You'll see them if you walk or drive around.
There are sodas on darn near every block in central San Jose, and virtually every small town I passed through had one or several.
And within walking distance of my downtown hotel I found American-style barbecue ribs, great seafood, a good steak, and more. There are also many pizza-by-the-slice places along Avienda Central downtown and there are the usual assortments of fast-food joints like McDs and BK and Colonel Chicken. I recommend the SODAs

There are so many sightseeing tours and activities to choose from in Costa Rica that it's hard to single out one or two. Besides fishing, hiking, surfing, sightseeing and more, one of my favorite things is go ride four-wheelers on mountain trails. There are several outfitters offering one-day trips out of many San Jose-area hotels. For prices ranging from about $80 to $130 per person, you can be picked up at your hotel, ride four-wheelers through some of the most beautiful scenery in Central America, and have a nice meal included. Even if you've never driven a four-wheeler, they'll give you basic instructions that will have you bouncing along the trails in only a few minutes.