Costa Rica, Guanacaste, Occidental Allegro Papagayo Review

Overall Rating

View from Resort, Bar Staff, Pool - excellent!

Staff speaks little English, Terraced style units make for a hard walk to the Reception

All stayed at the Allegro Papagayo Jan 14th - 21st 2004 Trip Report for Costa Rica. Guanacaste Region. 6 of us traveling together. Husband and myself are 26 & 24 years old. Both sets of parents are around 50 years old. . Via Apple Vacations.
What a beautiful country! I would live there in a heart beat. We had an excellent time.
Day 1 Thursday - Half day costal Fishing with Resort Divers. Arranged prior to arrival via email with owner Viviane. Captain and First Mate - negro picked us up on Black Sand Beach in front of our hotel at 8:30. The resort they are based out of is across the bay. Covered 28 foot boat - no bathroom, equipped with outriggers. Rather uneventful morning. No live bait on board. We fished for live bait - which was caught late in the morning, then trolled for Rooster Fish. No luck. Water was calm in the bay, rougher when towards ocean. Enjoyable way to spend first morning. Staff was pleasant. 4 of us were comfortable on boat.
Day 2 Friday- Local Diving with Resort Divers. Again all arranged prior to arrival in Costa Rica. Again picked us up in front of resort at 8:30. First Dive was not so good, in comparison to the rest of the trip - cant remember the name - vis was 20 feet or so. My parents first Ocean Dive (they got certified in a quarry in Pennsylvania in Sept '03). Dive Master Sergio - was excellent, attentive - reassuring. Second Dive - Monkey Head. Excellent - white tipped reef shark, lots of life, large sting ray. Better Vis.
Day 3 Saturday - Upgraded to Catalina Dive. Took 45 minutes to get there. 2 of us went - others stayed at resort pool. Excellent! On way there - we came across 4 humpback whales, attempted to snorkel with them, but they weren't interested. First Catalina Location - great spot for Manta's. Saw 4 or 5. One came very close, other sea life as well - interesting star fish, etc. Second Catalina Dive - kinda drift dive. Went with current - boat followed over head. Again Sergio with Resort Divers was excellent.
Day 4 - Sunday - Local Dives. All 4 of us went. Excellent Day. 1st Dive Spot -2 Lagerhead Turtles,2 White tipped Reef Sharks, abundance of sea life. 2nd Dive Spot - Monkey Head - excellent again. On surface interval we saw a HUGE manta glide out of the water. He stayed relatively shallow under boat. My mom snorkeled with him, as did others from another dive boat nearby. We descended for dive - and saw him 2 more times overhead. Huge and graceful. GREAT! More turtles, etc. Great diving day, calm water .
In evening we grabbed a taxi - to head for Playa Hermosa. 45 min drive from hotel. $50 for 4 of us round trip. They stick around the area and wait for you while you do whatever. We wanted to watch the NFL game. On Saturday we contacted Mike Mills via cell - owner of Puesta Del Sol at Playa Hermosa, to ensure game would be on. Nice set up with 4 ft screen & projector. Food was excellent - minimal cost - Burgers & Fish nuggets were $5.00. Local Beer - Imperial, minimal cost as well. Good way to spend evening and visit another location - besides the resort.
Day 5 - Day Trip with Ricardo Vargas - private tour operator. Excellent! Arranged prior to arrival via email & internet. Visited Rincon de la Vieja - semi active volcano. About 1 hour 30 minute drive to private resort location. I think it was spelled Bolinquen. Beautiful! We had resort to ourselves - no real guests. 1st we did the Canopy tour - 11 platforms. 800 feet in the air. So much fun! Very safe. Lunch at the resort - excellent beef (raised in area). They we headed over to the natural Spa. Suana, mud treatment, then different temperature pools of water to relax in. Wonderful - and completely private. Ricardo was very attentive speaks perfect English, very nice. We stopped at souviner shops on the way back to the hotel. We left at 8:30 am, and returned around 5:30 pm. Wonderful day - I would do it again in a heartbeat.
Day 6 Tuesday - Palo Verde River Float with Ricardo Vargas. Excellent again! 1 hour 45 minute drive to river location - in Air Conditioned Taxi - there were 10 of us that went from the Hotel. Wonderful day. We saw : Howler Monkeys, False Coral Snake, White Faced Monkeys, White Ibis - many other birds, 15 Crocodiles, long nosed bats, turtles, Iguana's tons of wildlife. Would do it again in a second. The boat held about 15 people, came with a local guide and motor. Local guide spotted a lot of things we missed. We stopped for local lunch on way back to hotel with group. Enough can't be said about Ricardo Vargas and his wife Lupita - they are running an excellent operation. Much better than Swiss Travel Mega tours with 75 or 100 people. Very personalized.

Hotel: Built on Hill Side - terrace style. We were in building 4 - hard walk back to room in evenings. Shuttles run around the hotel every couple of minutes. Hard walk for older persons, or those with join problems. Food in Main dining area was buffet style. Prompt seating - good attention from wait staff - being that it was peak tourist season for them. Drinks were excellent. Swim up bar in pool was great. Black sand beach - was okay. Good for sea shells, and morning walks. Staff didn't speak very much English - be prepared with Spanish basics. Steak Restaurant - full service. Make reservations as soon as you arrive in Hotel. Only seats 30 persons per night. Better cuts of steak, fish etc. great service. Dress here is a little more upscale, than the rest of the resort which is very casual.

Liberia Airport - very small, 35 minutes from resort. Delta is flying in there, in addition to Canadian Skyy Service, an Apple Charters. Lots of construction when we arrived.