Sam and Crissi wanted a fun and adventurous honeymoon. Sam had traveled to an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica before and really liked the concept of having everything paid before he left, but he wanted to try something new and go someplace neither of them had traveled. I suggested a multi-destination package to Costa Rica which included Arenal Volcano and the beaches of Guanacaste. I have sent several happy clients to Arenal Nayara, a gorgeous resort with outdoor showers and views of the volcano, and RIU Guanacaste and I thought they would be happy at these resorts. Despite a flight delay on the way down, I think they had a good time:
We had an absolute blast! Our travel delay getting to the Nayara was a bummer of course but it all worked out. We arrived in country just after 9pm, and of course it was then a 3 hour drive to get there. We had our driver (Manuel) stop somewhere along the way and we went into this little roadside bar for some nachos. Honestly they were probably my favorite thing we had the entire time we were there. I don’t know if that was just because we were so hungry or what, but damn they were good!
We arrived to the Nayara around 12:30 and they had rose petals in the shape of a giant heart laid out on the bed. The room was spectacular, and I loved the outdoor shower. The hot water went away quick there though. It must have had a smaller hot water heater than the rest of the room.
The room was fantastic. We had no complaints at all. There was only 1 night that a lizard got into the room. That was quite the scene, and we didn’t want it ending up in our bags, or the bed.
I would highly recommend the Nayara. Everyone was extremely friendly and helpful. Being tied on to Nayara Springs was awesome too. It gave you more options for eating, spa, etc. The scenery was fantastic! All of the excursions we went on were awesome. We did the hanging bridges, sunset cruise, ATV tour, and had a spa treatment. That was out of this world relaxing. We had a private outside room that was in the rainforest. You had the real rainforest sounds in the background, and not the one played off a CD player.
My favorite excursion was the ATV tour. We got to visit a banana farm and eat fresh bananas, they also had sugar cane fields and black beans fields on their farm. We also got to see the craters left in the ground from the volcano. Ohh and who knew pineapple didn’t grow on trees, because I sure didn’t. All of our guides were fantastic and provided us with lots of good information.
Holy buckets do they drive wild down there. It was full speed any where you went and they took the corners as fast as possible. I’ve never been car sick in my life, but I was getting a little nauseous on our way to the Riu.
The Riu was nice, but it was very hard to go to after being at the Nayara. The drinks were good, and the food was decent. I definitely preferred the food in Jamaica overall, although it wasn’t bad just different options.
Crissi had never seen the ocean so that was really cool. The beaches are definitely different there with the black sand, it is very unique. You wouldn’t think of it being black and rocky.
We can’t thank you enough for all of your help in making this happen. I loved every bit of it and would definitely recommend visiting.
Thanks again,
Sam & Crissi