The La Selvatica houses are located about a 15 minute cab ride from the town of Puerto Viejo. If you have spent any time looking for houses in the Puerto Viejo area, you know that your options are limited. Very few places will rent for long term and those that do charge a premium for it. However, since La Selvatica caters to long term rentals, you will have no problem finding a room or house months at a time.

La Selvatica offers a number of houses and apartment style suits. Prices start at around US$600 a month for a suite and go up to US$800+ for the largest option.

All of the houses include weekly laundry service with clean sheets and towels delivered to your room each week. The houses and suites also have full kitchens which include an oven, stove, toasters, coffee makers, and all your basic cooking ware. Finding a fully equipped kitchen in a rental house here is no easy task, so this huge plus.

The grounds a small, secluded, and very private. The property is off of a side street from the main road which helps keep it safe and free from wondering traffic. Since the property is so small, it is hard for a stranger to walk about unnoticed. There is a small pool and self service washer and dryer (Costs US$3 a load)

If you will be bringing your dog with you, you will be happy to know that the property is very dog friendly. Depending on what house you rent, you may even have your own yard for the dogs to run around in.

For more information, visit: www.laselvatica.net

If you want to see more photos, check out our Costa Rica Photos group on Flickr. Feel free to add your own photos to the group as well!

website | US$108

The hotel is a little piece of luxury situated just a short distance away from the main strip of La Fortuna. The hotel might be close to it all, but as soon as you step on the hotels grounds, you would never know it. The private bungalows are situated of winding trails through the properties beautiful landscaping.

>>>Read our review of Hotel Silencio del Campo

2. Leaves and Lizards Arenal Volcano Cabin Retreat

website | US$99

The Lizards and Leaves Retreat is a small and very personal accommodation. The facility includes three cabins, two barns, and one main lodge. The retreat sits on an impressive 26 acres of land. On that land you will find a wealth of springs, rivers, waterfalls, and more. The staff at the hotel will be more than happy to show you around the grounds.

3. Hotel Arenal Manoa

website | US$135

Hotel Arenal Manoa has 40 rooms and everyone of them offer a stunning view of the volcano. Thats right, no paying extra for a room with a view here. Aside from the view, the rooms are equally as stunning. Spacious bathrooms and spotless rooms with huge sliding glass doors mean you don’t even have to leave your room to enjoy your surroundings.

4. Tree Houses Hotel In Costa Rica

website | US$95

Fancy hotels or resorts not your thing? What about a tree house? The Tree House Hotel offers a number of private tree houses. Your room will consist of a multi level tree house complete with bathroom and kitchen.

5. Volcano Lodge

website | US$84

No matter where you stay at the Volcano Lodge, you will be able to appreciate the panoramic view of the volcano right from your very own private terrace. The lodge also offers a wealth of other services including spa treatments and restaurant.

6. Arenal Volcano Inn

website | US$82

The Arenal Volcano lodge might not look like much from the road, but one look at the rooms and you will be asking how to make a reservation. The rooms here are wide open, well decorated, and as always, provide great views of the volcano. They even have a suite with a private jacuzzi.

7. Arenal Kioro

website | US$276

If you a re looking for a hotel in the La Fortuna area that is more chic than rustic, check out the Arenal Kioro hotel. The rooms here have just a touch of rustic Costa Rica, but offer plenty of luxury amenities. Each room comes with a breakfast nook, views of the volcano, in room jacuzzi, and private terrace.

8. Hotel Vista del Cerro

website | US$30

For the price, you can’t beat the Hotel Vista del Cerro. The rooms might not be rustic and volcano themed, but they are clean and spacious. The hotel is ideal for families and couples who will be spending a lot more time outside of their room than in it. If you need a clean safe place to rest at the end of hard days adventure, this is it.

9. Hotel Magic Mountain

website | US$110

One of the newer, larger hotels in the in the area, Hotel Magic Mountain is a first class joint. Every room in this hotel is luxury and the service is top notch. Like many other hotels in the area, they offer views of the volcano, but the views here offer something extra. On this side of the volcano you get a front row seat to the lava flows.

10. Hotel Lomas del Volcan

website | US$95

Located on a 125 hectare farm, Hotel Lomas del Volcan offers visitors rustic private bungalows. With so much land, you feel far away from the hustle and bustle of La Fortuna. You can enjoy the peace and quite, as well as views of the volcano, from one of the bungalows two terraces.

Location

Jaco is a popular beach town located in North of the Puntarenas province on the central Pacific Coast.

How to Get to Jaco

Jaco is located only about two hours from San Jose. It is very possible to get off your plane in San Jose and arrange transportation to Jaco. The cheapest means of getting there will be by bus, but if that doesn’t work for your schedule, you can arrange for a group tax van at the airport.

Weather

Jaco follows the same general beach climate as the rest of the coastal cities. Temperatures usually stay between the 70s and 80s F. It rains regularly here, but never anything major. You have the occasional afternoon showers and some times regular rainfall all day, but thats anywhere in Costa Rica.

What To Do

Because Jaco is such a popular town, there are plenty of tour operators to go around. Most hotels and hostels will have their own tour companies to help you plan your adventures.

Next to the night life, the most popular activity that brings people to Jaco is surfing. The waves are always breaking and decently sized year round.

With such a beautiful beach and picturesque coast, it is no surprise many people opt for horseback rides on the beach.

If you feel like seeing the beach from another view, you may want to check out some of the sea kayaking tours.

If fishing is your thing, Jaco has plenty of it. The town offers a number of offshore sport fishing charters. these are great fun for novice and experienced fishers alike.

While these girls are models and not escorts, their are plenty of prostitutes in Costa Rica who are and look just as good as these models.

Leave us a comment telling us who your favorite Costa Rican Model is.

10. Angeline Conejo

9. Karol Quesada

8. Jale Berahimi

7. Karla Bermudez

6. Hazel Carvajal

5. Johanna Ortiz

4. Krystel Byers

3. Sharon Brenes

2. Diana Salinas

1. Kathryn Arbenz

More Beautiful Women

If you found this post entertaining, check out the the Hottest 13 wives and girlfriends of Italy soccer players many of whom are also models, or at least model quality.

Here are my top Costa Rican cuss words.

• Malparido [Mal-par-ee-do]
  This is a pretty strong insult in Costa Rica. Literally translated it means, “poorly born”. In Costa Rica this is sort of like calling someone a bastard child. While that might not seem like a huge insult to most of the world, Costa Ricans will take this very offensively. Use this one with caution.
• Puta [Poo-ta]
  This is one of your staple cuss words and covers a lot of ground. Puta can be used to call someone a whore, bitch, slut, etc. This term is used a little more freely and doesn’t offer as much of an insult as some of the other terms on this page. As with any cuss word though, the context can make all the difference.
• Hijueputa [ee-hu-e-poo-ta]
  As I said before, Puta is kind of the catch all of cuss words in Costa Rica. This phrase is kind of a general phrase and Im not exactly sure what it means. If you need something a little stronger than Puta, you can pull out the ever popular, Hijueputa. Hijueputa in Costa Rica means “son of a bitch.” this isn’t really used as an insult in Costa Rica. It is more used to curse at something that happened, like realizing your cab driver ripped you off as he drives away
• Eres [er-es] un pura [poo-ra] mierda [mee-er-da]
  Did you manage to catch that taxi driver trying to rip you off before he drove away? Call him out on it by saying, Eres un pura mierda. This basically means, “you are full of shit.” Just be ready for a slew of new cuss words to come at you at an indecipherable speed.
• Laurito [la-ow-ree-to]
  Another must have in your arsenal of Costa Rica cuss words is Laurito. This is your basic “motherfucker.” it is a oldie, but a goodie and should not go unpracticed.
• Jude [ho-de] a tu madre [ma-dre]
  It is almost impossible to add isult to injury without bringing someones mom into the equation. For a good insult involving someones mom, try, Jode a tu madre. This is telling your crass friend to “go fuck your mom.”
• Me cago [ca-go] en la leche [le-ch-e]!
  A bizarre one to say the least, me cago en la leche! literally means “I shit in the milk.” In Costa Rica this means something along the lines of , “damn I have bad luck.”
• Besame [be-sa-me] el culo [coo-lo]
  Another classic response for when a cab driver insists on ripping you off, besame el culo. This is the ever popular curse phrase of “kiss my ass.”
• Calientapollas [cal-ee-en-ta-po-yas]
  This one is just for guys. You know you hate meeting a girl at the bar and being led on. If you feel like calling her out on it, in a very gentlemanly way you can simply call her a calientapollas. This is pretty much the equivalent to a “cocktease.” Im not sure how Costa Rica women respond to this, so try it at your own risk.
• Conyo [con-yo]
  literally means cunt, often used as fuck, shit, damn, etc.
• Mierda [mee-er-da]
  Shit, a nastier version of conyo
• Punieta [pun-ee-eta]
  literally means to jerk off, but often used to call someone a jerk off.
• Cochino [co-ch-ee-no]
  literally means pig, used to call someone a dirty bastard.

Do you know any other good Costa Rican or Spanish cuss words? We would love to hear. After all, who doesn’t like learning new cuss words! Leave us a comment below with your best line. We won’t take it personally.

Where To Stay
Given that the entire island is only about 7 miles long and 3 miles wide, there isn’t exactly room for hotels and condos. In fact, there aren’t any accommodation’s on the island at all. If you will be visiting here, it will either be on a day trip or involve sleeping on a boat.

What to Do
Look for treasure of course! The island is filled with an abundance of amazing flora and fauna. You can spend your day exploring the beaches and its inner. You can walk along the beaches and find remits of pirates and others who walked the island long before you ever knew it existed.

Most people don’t go to Isla de Cocos to explore the island unless they are treasure hunters. Most come to see what lies under its waters. Isla de Cocos is known for having beautiful reefs and a large amount of marine life. It has been said that the reefs around the island contain the richest concentrations of schooling fish in the world. There are over 270 species of fish in the reefs. many of these fish are native to the islands waters.

When you visit Costa Rica you are automatically given a tourist visa that is good for 3 months. There is no need to apply for this visa, it is given to anyone who is visiting the country. Thats easy enough to acquire right? So what happens after three months? All you need to do to re-new your tourist visa is to leave the country for 72 hours. After that, you can come back and stay for another 3 months.

Many long term expats have done this for years without any problem. Is this 100% legal? Honestly, I don’t know, but I have yet to meet anyone who has really had a problem with doing things this way.

Loop Holes in the Loop Hole

Leaving the country every 3 months is not a big problem when you live near the border of Panama or Nicaragua. If you live somewhere in the Central Valley though, making the trek to the border and back every 3 months can be quite tiresome. So what does one do if they don’t feel like leaving every few months? Why use bribery of course!

Many long term expats or those living in the Central Valley don’t feel like dealing with the trouble of leaving the country. Instead, they pay a local cab driver to take their passport to the closest border, bribe the border officials on each side (check out our post on How to Bribe a Police Officer in Costa Rica), and then bring their passport back.

This “loop hole” usually cost around US$70 if you live around an hour from the border. Prices for other locations, like that of the Central Valley, will differ greatly. By now you are probably asking yourself how safe this is. I haven’t heard any horror stories about people who got in trouble by border patrol or that didn’t get their passport back, but I can’t say for certain that this doesn’t happen. Your best bet is to talk to another expat who uses this method. That way you know the cab driver is trust worthy.

There is no shortage of hotels or hostels in San Jose. The problem with most of them is that they are lacking in many areas. Some of the hostels in San Jose may be nice and safe, but far from everything. Others will be in a nice area, but the rooms will resemble jail cells more than a hotel room. Then their is the price to take into account. Many of the really nice hotels are really expensive, but with one exception, Casa Alfi Hotel.

The real selling point in Casa Alfi Hotel is its location. The hotel is located on a side street just a few minutes walk from a popular plaza near the Theatro National - National Theater. Being located on the side street is nice because it helps keep the rooms quite. Most of the noise from traffic and people on the main road don’t quite make it to the hotel. If you have ever stayed in a hotel in San Jose, you know how noisy they can be. At Casa Alfie, even the rooms right on the road are fairly quiet at all hours of night. The road is also as safe as a road can be in San Jose. It is lit up nicely and not that far from where the cab will drop you off.

As far as the rooms and the hotel goes, they are nice for San Jose. Its not Holiday Inn or Marriot, but they aren’t trying to appeal to that crowd. The rooms are spacious, clean, and comfortable. The decor and feel of the hotel is much like that of any other basic hotel in Costa Rica. Rooms have satellite TV, 10 cents a minute for international calls, and hot water. The hotel is very safe, but does not offer any secure in room lockers. Rates for the rooms include breakfast. The breakfast usually consists of sliced fruit, coffee, juice, eggs, toast, rice and beans, cereal, and other assorted breakfast foods.

The staff here is exceptionally friendly and willing to go the extra mile to help you out. If you are looking for a nice place to spend a few days in the city, I highly recommend Casa Alfi Hotel. For just a little more than a private room in a hostel would cost, you get all the luxuries of a private hotel room and free breakfast!

Please be aware that the information below about bringing dogs to Costa Rica is from my own personal experience. Im not sure if we legally or technically did everything we needed to do to bring dogs from the US to Costa Rica, but what we did do worked.

We spent hours calling embassies, talking to the USDA, and getting information from the airline. This is the information we acquired and I hope it helps answer your question about bringing your dogs to Costa Rica.

Airlines

Every airline has different rules and cost about flying with pets. So your best bet is to get as much information from your airline as possible. I suggest that you look up as much information on the airlines website as possible. Once you have done this, I would call the airline to confirm this information.

Once you have your tickets, call the airline back and double check that your flight allows dogs to be checked as baggage. You will also want to double check the crate size restrictions. Some of the extra large kennels wont fit in all planes.

It is also a good idea to call the airline and let them know you will be bring a dog as checked baggage or in the cabin. Many planes have limited room for dogs and this room is on a first come first serve basis.

• Delta Pet Travel Information
• American Airlines Pet Information
• AirTran Pet Information
• US Airways Pet Information

Kennels

When looking at crate/kennels at you local pet store, its very easy to find ones that are airline friendly. Most will say somewhere on the information booklet that the crate is airline friendly. Some of the requirements for airline kennels include:

• Ventilation on both sides and the back
• A ¾ inch lip around the kennel that can be used for lifting
• Contain some type of bedding, either shredded paper or towels, to absorb any “accidents.”
• Not collapsible
• The dog must be able to stand up and turn around in the kennel
• Not be made entirely of welded mesh, wire mesh, wicker, cardboard or collapsible materials.
• Display feeding instructions and food, if applicable. These instructions should be affixed to the top of the kennel, along with shipper and consignee information.

Health Requirements

Finding out what paperwork you need to bring your dog in Costa Rica is a bit overwhelming. Different airlines and embassy sites say different things. many of which seem to contradict each other. Based on my experience, the only things you need to bring your dog from the US to Costa Rica is a certificate of good health and proof of 1 year rabies vaccination.

Any USDA certified vet will have and know how to fill out the certificate for of good health. If they dont, find another one, this is the most important form.

As for the rabies certificate, they say that the certificate must be at least 30 days old before entering the country. My dog had their 1 year rabies shout about a week before we left, but it had a 3 year shot about a year ago. Costa Rica says they don’t honor the 3 year shot, but I didn’t seem to have any problem.

Questions

I know from experience how nice it would be to have someone to answer your questions on this topic, so I am here to help. Feel free to email me or leave a comment with your question about traveling with pets. I will do my best to answer the question based on my personal experience. If I don’t know the answer, I will ask others here in Costa Rica who have traveled with pets.