Planning a Honeymoon in Costa Rica

If you have looked through any magazines or websites that list the top tropical honeymoon destinations, no doubt you have seen Costa Rica on a number of those lists. There is good reason for this. Costa Rica is an ideal honeymoon location because it has something for everyone. And when I say everyone, I mean every type of budget, personality, and every type of traveler. From relaxing in luxury mountain villas, to all inclusive beach side resorts; Costa Rica truly has it all.

Finding the Best Deals

Because Costa Rica is such a popular tourist destination, it is easy to find all kinds of vacation and flight deals. All it takes a is a little patience, some research, and some money on hand to pounce when you find the right deal.

Budget Honeymoon
Lets start out with some advice for those of you who are on a super tight honeymoon budget. One of the best ways to make your honeymoon dollars go far is to scan the travel deals sites like Travel Zoo and Cheap Travel Scout. These sites regularly advertise awesome deals to locations all over the world, including Costa Rica. It is not uncommon to find a week long vacation package with hotel, international airfare, tours, and food for well under $1,000 per person.

Now, the drawbacks to these types of deals are that they tend to be the most basic rooms at the hotels listed and sometimes they are only available during select dates. If you are lucky, you’ll find a package deal near your wedding date. But, odds are you wont, so you may have to postpone your honeymoon for a few months.

Average Priced Honeymoon
I cant really give you a ballpark figure on what is an average price for a honeymoon in Costa Rica. That all depends on where you go, what type accommodations you want, and many other factors. What I can tell you is that the advice I am about to give you will be several steps up from the budget advice listed above, but wont cost you nearly as much as the luxury advice below.

For the average couple planning a honeymoon, your best bet is to use the major booking sites to research prices for hotels and airfare. Notice I said research and not book. Thats because the direct website for hotels and airlines usually have packages and deals that can’t be found on the major booking sites.

This is especially true for hotels. research hotels to find ones you like that are in your price range and then go check out their official website. Some of the large resorts and smaller private resorts usually have honeymoon specials you find listed elsewhere. Do yourself a favor and don’t book the honeymoon package without checking on what it is first. Some resorts scam you by charging US$200 for a bottle of wine, candles, and some rose petals. The better ones will include things like dinner on the beach, a sunset cruise, in room messages, and more.

Luxury Honeymoons
If you have the money to spend, there are a number of ways to get a luxury honeymoon in Costa Rica. It really just depends on what type of honeymoon you want. Do you want pampered luxury or private vacation?

If you are looking for a luxury private vacation, I suggest looking into renting a house or a villa. There are tons of amazing mansions, beach houses, jungle cottages, and even tree houses that can be rented all over the country. If you want some alone time for you and your spouse without any interruptions, this is the way to go. The only drawbacks to these are that most of them don’t include any type of services like cooking, transportation, or tours, which means you would be responsible for planning that out.

The other route is to stay and an all inclusive resort or a luxury resort and spa. There are a number of these around the country that are great for honeymooning. Just make sure you do your research. Otherwise you might end up at a resort that is a favorite of vacationing families! Read some hotel reviews before you make your reservation. One resort that I would suggest from first hand experience is the Peace Lodge at the La Paz Waterfall Gardens.