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In Costa Rica, Salsa Lizano is used on justabout everything! And once you've tried it, you just can't get enough ofit.You will find it much cheaper at the grocery stores than you do at the airport shops.
Suprisingly, there are a lot of gift shop in Tortuguero. Being such a secluded and small village, it suprised me to find 4 or 5 well furnished stores. It's not the place to find good bargain. Or that special unique local pieces. But a few unique find could be worth a detour if you're not on a boat touring the park or fishing or walking the beach or climbing the mountain or... My point: do the shopping somewhere else and enjoy your stay here.
This little paradisiac city seems to exists only to enriched the visit to the national park. Little restaurants and cafe, street vendors, colors and sounds of the pacific coast. Aside from getting water bottles, juices and fruits from street vendors, you can also get (and for a really good price) nice handcrafts, arts, souvenirs and pareo. if you see something you like, get it.
Over in Quepos, gift shops are everywhere. Well organised, well furnished, they proposed a great variety of quality and prices over a good choices of items. Woodcraft, papers, music, kitchen utensiles, jewelry, postcards, sculptures...The city size allows a great deal of various shops too, from library and hardware store to fishing supply and pharmacy. With some stores, you get real good price over souvenirs and craft. Others specialized in quality and rareness.
Pastor Diaz, the main street crossing through the city of Jaco, abounds in little shops. With regards to the surfer spirit of the city, you'll easilly find: hats, swimsuit, surf equipment, flip-flop, little memorabilia. With some shopping around, you'll also find woodcraft, local arts and painting. This is the place for a new bikini or beer hat. Average. No real deal, but no obvious overcharge either.
Again, not exactly a "shopping tip". but I didn't know where to place this. Many of the shops have a free Tourist Guide boooklet that lists motels, restaurants, nightlife, stores, etc. by area. It's spiral bound, and nice to have with you. It also has some useful maps.It's about 150 pages of useful information and ads, and can be of some help. FREE!
There's no particular shop., though there are many all over Costa Rica This is just a shopping tip to let you know there are many different laminated wildlife and floral guides that are relatively inexpensive. They're nice to carry with, as they're actually a type of fold-out card with names and brief descriptions of animals and vegetation in the area. They're quite handy when you spot a bird or reptile you're not familiar with. It's where I found the name for the attached picture! Most are between $8- $15
In LaFortuna, there was plenty of shopping. Many small shopd and interesting items. Also in Sarchi, there were large shops with the general tourist items, but also some lovely handmade and handpainted items as well. San Jose had some nice artwork and ceramics Wooden items such as bowls, bread plates, etc. We were quite taken with the wooden puzzle boxes and feather art. Some of the jewelry is quite nice, but you need to do some looking to see what is well- made Depending on the wood you purchase, anywhere from $8.00-$60.00 The puzzle boxes averaged about $12.00 and feather art about the same.
Everywhere we saw virtually the exact same items for sale, so our advice would be to wait to purchase your gifts for your last day. We are still ordering coffee through the mail from Cafe Britt -- we became that spoiled by the quality. Also their salsa sauce, Linzano, is outstanding. We're on our last bottle and I'm looking to purchase more over the Internet.We also bought a wonderful mask in San Jose from a lovely shop near the Gold Muesum. Coffee, Linzano salsa, hand carved items -- and forgo the brand new ox cart wheels and purchase one of the older, used, ones. Our only regret is that we didn't bring one of the ox cart wheels home.
When I leave a country I like to take home a bottle of the local fire water as a souvenir, a good typical Costa Rican spirit is this locally produced rum. 0.7 litres will cost you US$20.00 from a shop/supermarket but I'd advise you to get it from a duty free shop in the airport where it costs just half that.
Hotel AmaTierra Provincia de Puntarenas
191 Opinions
Grano De Oro Hotel San José
2 Reviews and 495 Opinions I arrived at Hotel De Oro on December 28, 2008 at lunch with 3 other friends. We decided to have...
Hilton Papagayo Costa Rica Resort & Spa Provincia de Guanacaste
864 Opinions
Reviews and photos of Costa Rica attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Costa Rica sightseeing.
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Q: Can anyone recommend something, moderately priced, w/ pool & a/c?
A: Banana Azul is wonderful. You should wait until September and October for the best weather there. Samasati is also very nice, a wellness center.
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