This was probably one of our strangest days...

We woke up early for breakfast. By now we have gotten used to waking up around 6 and going to bed at 8:30. For twenty-five years olds on vacation, this is very unusual for us. But the whole daylight thing and total relaxation really threw us off.

We headed to the Ylang-Ylang restaurant first thing for breakfast. No one was there. No guests, no employees, no one. We went to the main desk and asked if we were supposed to eat here or in the town. We thought we might have gotten confused and that we had to go to the main hotel for breakfast. The girl asked which rooms we were staying in. We said the beachfront bungalow and she said we could eat at either restaurant then.

Since we had to go to town shortly to meet for a tour we figured we would just eat there and take our time. We got to the main hotel and the folks there told us we had to pay to eat there. We told them what we had been told. They made a phone call and then sat us. Obviously, someone had made a mistake but they took care of everything for us.

Breakfast was good. They had the american and tico breakfasts, fresh fruits and yogurt with granola, etc. It was nice to sit out on the front porch of the restaurant and watch people as they went by. This place always had people there and seemed to be the place to go for dinner and the movie.

ISLA TORTUGA

We were so excited for this trip because we had read so many great things. We were looking at pictures while waiting and getting even more excited.

We did the tour through Cocozuma and booked through our hotel when we arrived.

This turned into a nightmare. The island was beautiful, the boat ride was horrible. I don't know if it was because it stormed the night before and the waters were rough or if it was because our driver thought it was funny to make us feel like we might die. People on our boat came close to throwing up. I was holding on for dear life and the driver kept laughing and trying to "outdo" the other boat. I had the feeling when you are on a white water rafting boat and you can't keep yourself from bouncing up and down through the boat.

The island was amazingingly beautiful. The snorkeling was very cool. We saw beautiful fish. I have never been before and the experience was neat. However, we think there was a big group of sea lice. We all got stung. However, I had some sort of allergic reaction that got pretty bad by the end of our trip. My husband's bites or stings went away within an hour or so.

We thought it was strange that we never got any sort of instructions. They threw us on the boat and said here we go. We got there and they handed out flippers and snorkels. Neither of us had ever snorkled before so some of the other folks had to teach us the basics - not that it was very hard. They never offered us life vests. No one ever told us what time lunch was so we ended up waiting by the cook for almost 45 minutes because we thought we'd miss lunch. We weren't told about the second snorkle trip out. We were on the beach and saw that the boat had gone back out. Us and several other couples all said, oh well, guess we don't get to snorkel again.

I'm hoping our boat ride was out of the ordinary. So many others enjoy it. Compared to the other trips we had taken in Arenal I just didn't feel informed. It was a shame because the island was really beautiful. We did meet a lot of other folks our age and we shared tips about Montezuma and places we ahd already been. Enough about the Isla.

COCOLORES

So we tried again to go to Playa de los Artistas for dinner. Closed. Not sure if they were closed just on Tuesday or for an extended period of time. We did however take a walk down to see Pension Lucy and Amor de Mar. Amor de Mar looked really pretty. I think we would stay there next time, just to go somewhere different. They had a beautiful lawn with hammocks out front. They seemed pretty busy, too.

Ended up at Cocolores. We really liked this place. The service was great and the food was very good. It was extrememly peaceful to eat outside under the roof while it thunderstormed. It was also very pretty at night with the luminaries and lantern lights.

NIGHTLIFE

We were pretty boring after dinner. The folks we met said they spent most nights at Chico's or at El Sano watching the movies. They were showing new realeases on DVD. White Chicks, Hotel Rawanda, etc. People also went to the club/bar at El Monos? I can't remember the name. Near the bakery. You can't miss it, it gloes blue at night and has booming music. I heard it was really cool, had a stage and a lot of folks dancing. It was open after Chico's closed. I think it was pretty wild.

ARENAL PARAISO BREAKFASTS

The breakfast the first day was wonderful. The best breakfast we had our entire trip. Tons of food. The second day wasn't quite as good (they had different main dishes) but still tastey. I think the fact that we were stuffing our faces as quickly as possible may have made a difference. We were terrified of getting lost on the way to the ferry and missing it.

CHECKING OUT

Overall we were very disappointed with the staff at Arenal Paraiso.

I had asked them to make reservations at Eco Termales and they wouldn't.

I asked them to help me with the ferry times and they said they didn't know three was a ferry in Puntarenas. When I pressed they said oh yes it goes every 2 hours. The phones in the rooms weren't working so I asked if they would call and they told me that the ferries don't have offices. I told him they did. They refused to look it up and told me to bring them the number. I did and they finally agreed to call after some more hassling.

I had heard of other people being given the wrong rates during check out. Sure enough they did the same thing to me and seemed bothered by the fact that I made them correct it.

That being said the accomodations were quite nice and I was pleased with the hotel otherwise.

THE TRIP TO MONTEZUMA

Was pretty uneventful. We got a little lost in San Ramon coming back but I asked some folks for directions and they pointed me in the right direction. It is amazing how well I can speak Spanish when under pressure. I hate being lost. People were always willing to stop on the side of the road and point me in the right direction.

Our frive to Puntarenas only took about 2 1/2 hours so we were about an hour early for the ferry. That turned out fine because we got in line.

One of the funniest things of the trip happened while waiting in line for the ferry. I had left the car to go find out how to buy tickets. Josh stayed with the car because he doesn't speak a lick of Spanish. When I came back he was dozing in the driver's seat with the window rolled down. I saw that an elderly lady was stopped at the car in front of us talking to the driver. Then she started walking past our car. I looked up and noticed that she was coming back. She stops right by Josh's head and just talks to herself for a good minute. I had no idea what to do and had no clue what she was saying. Then she looks at Josh, grabs his arm and starts laughing hysterically. I think she might have been senile. She started making gun signs with her fingers and that is when Josh rolled the window up on her. That taught Josh not to sleep in public. I will never forget the look of shock on his face when he opened his eyes and saw this old toothless woman staring straight at him.

One tip for the ferry. If you don't want to sit in the sun, make sure the passenger gets on with all the other walk ons right away. I waited with my husband until the last minute and thre were no seats outside in the shade.

EL SANO BANANO

We checked into the hotel in the early afternoon. The hotel office is easy to find. They showed us where to park. They had a guy on a motorcycle move so that we could take his spot. They didn't want us to park under the palm tree and have coconuts fall on our car. I thought that was very kind of them.

We were picked up and driven along the beach to the resort.

This place is gorgeous. By far my favorite place we stayed. We had bungalow 4. My reservations were for number 2 but a couple getting married that night was in that one. I will say that in my opinion 4 and 1 are better. Only because they are on the ends. The path to get to the bungalows leads between 2 and 3. Number 2 is the least private, followed by 3. Just my opinion.

The pool was gorgeous. We loved listening to the waves and thunderstorm at night in bed. Extremely peacefu.

PLAYA GRANDE

After putting our stuff down we put on our suits and headed to Playa Grande. A bit of a hike. About 20 minutes. At first I wasn't sure how I would know when were there. We followed some paths through the jungle and I thought we were going astray. We then came to a rocky beach and I thought is this it? We decided to keep going because we saw footprints ahead and sure enough, we knew when we were there.

It was a huge beautiful beach. We heard the monkeys for the first time there. Only a couple other people there. Good beach to play in the water.

DINNER

We wanted to go to Playa de Los Artistes. However, it was very dark and we turned back before making it all the way there.

We ended up going to LAS GEMELAS. Nothing to write home about but cheap and a good vibe. Pretty good casados. Quite a few folks there that night. We had tried to go to Cocolores but they are closed on Mondays.

This was one of our most memorable days. It was action packed.

Well, there are no alarm clocks in the rooms, but luckily we brought ours. Somehow when we were setting the alarm the night before, we pushed it ahead 15 minutes. So this morning we woke up to the alarm clock and got ready for breakfast. We planned it so we got to breakfast right when they were starting - or so we thought. We went to the front door of the restaurant, but it was locked. A couple other groups were doing the same and saw that a few people were going in the side door straight to the dining room. We followed them along, grabbed a table and started helping ourselves to the buffet. About one minute later the manager comes out, looks at us and locks the side door. Shorly after a long line starts to form at the door. It was a funny scene with four couples/families eating while the rest of the guests stood in line staring at us.

WATERFALL RAPELLING
We had the 7 am PURETREK waterfall rapelling trip. If you like adventure you must do this. It is hard to explain it, but it was amazing. Puretrek was by far the best tour company we worked with. I felt they went way beyond what was expected as far as safety. The guides were wonderful. Spoke perfect english. I didn't believe the main guide when he told me he wasn't from the US.

Everything was explained clearly to us and I never felt at easy with safety. Basically the trip consists of going on a truck 8 km I believe down a dirt road. From there you get your gear on and hike a little bit to the first waterfall.

The first rapell is NEXT to the waterfall. The other 3 waterfall rapells are THROUGH the waterfall. Quite invigorating. I think we saw the most beautiful scenery of our trip during these 3 hours.

I will say that I was much more nervous doing this than the ziplines. I'm not sure why. I do have a bit of a scare of heights but the ziplines didn't bother me. My husband was the opposite though.

We had one person back out before the first waterfall and they took her down to the bottom.

Also, you should be fairly fit to do this activity. The hike back up was extremely strenuous. I'm very active and was huffing and puffing by the top.

The guy that runs it is from LA so we chatted for a while. He told us of his plans for the "base camp" as I call it where we had a good lunch. He plans to add a pool and rock climbing/bouldering wall to the grounds. He has done a great job with the place.

I didn't know but they have showers there that are pretty nice and you can change afterwards. We just went home wet.

THE POOL

We spent a few hours in the afternoon at the Arenal Paraiso pool. There were not many people at the hotel and it was quite peaceful. They have a whole string of hot spring jacuzzi size pools that lead up the hill. Some are pretty private. If it weren't so hot out we would have spent more time in them.

The swim up bar was pretty cool. You can sit on these underwater bar stools and order drinks at a bar while staying in the pool. You also have a vew of the volcano from there. The drinks were pretty overpriced so we only did that once.

ECO TERMALES HOT SPRINGS

We opted to go here instead of Tabacon or Baldi. People who we met along our trip would ask us about Arenal and none of them had heard of this place.

Most everything I have to say about this place has been said before. We LOVED it. So peaceful. The family is wonderful. I have heard Tabacon compared to Hollywood, and that just wasn't what we were looking for. There were several more secluded pools (smaller) and we never had to share one of those pools with anyone. Our favorite spot was at the top pool there is a big waterfall that comes into the pool. You can push your way through the wall of water and there are seats behind the wall. It is really hot so you can't stay in there for long but it is like a sauna. Very cool. Also there is a string of waterfalls leading down to one of the lower small pools. If you climb up the first waterfall ledge, the next area is sunken in so that you can sit in it. Pretty cool to be in the waterfalls relaxing in hot water.

I will say that the dinner was one of the most unbelievable meals we have EVER had before. My husband is still talking about it. They had amazing salad as well as everything else. He said he would have paid the $60 just for the food.

The price seemed to have raised $1. For dinner and the hotsprings it was $28 a person.

We made reservations through email two days before we got there.