Quepos Conseils de voyages:
Manuel Antonio National Park is the 2nd most visited destination in Costa Rica. It is at the end of a spit of land 7 km long. Where the spit joins the mainland sits the town of Quepos. While Quepos town is only about 1km square the 'canton' (or area) of Quepos stretches, from its centre (the bus terminal is commonly regarded as the dead centre of Quepos) approximately 9km in every direction. Technically every hotel/hostel in Manuel Antonio is also in the borough of Quepos, but not necessarily in Quepos town.
Quepos town services the people that want to visit the park (which is practically everyone). 90% of the shopping facilites, bars, restaurants, clubs, the bus terminal, tourist info, fruit and veg market, council offices, post office, etc. are situated in central Quepos.
Quepos town and Manuel Antonio are both at sea level and between them is a huge steep hill. Manuel Antonio Road (the road going between the two) is not paved, the road is in far from perfect condition, and there are several blind hairpin bends. Combine this with the macho attitude and limited driving ability of most local drivers and the inexperience of tourists driving in a foreign country and it makes trying to walk anywhere along this road extremely dangerous indeed. It is recommended that visitors wanting to go to Manuel Antonio take the bus or catch a taxi from wherever they are staying. The buses from Quepos to MA leave every half an hour between 7am and 7pm with 3 or 4 both before and after these times. It costs 105 colones (20 cents) and takes 10 minutes. It costs the same amount wherever you board it.
"I stayed at Vista Serena for two weeks in February of 2004. It was terrific. A bus outside the front door takes you to Manuel Antonia beach in five minutes. The owner (Sonia) and her family go out of their way to make you comfortable. COSI Spanish school is on same site. Also, one of the best seafood restaurants in Costa Rica is right next door. I saw beautiful sunsets." … "I just got back to the states after spending six weeks in Costa Rica. I spent a week in Manuel Antonio at Vista...
"This is quite simply the best hostel I have stayed in, in my four months travelling in Central America. It is new so some stuff is not there yet, e.g. a telephone. This was being put in when I was there but was not finished. They only have two computers for the Internet cafe but it was super quick. I cannot think of anything else wrong with it. It has a huge pool, really comfy beds, it's very clean, and has a great relaxed atmosphere." … "I stayed at the hostel for an extended period of...