Costa Rica Honeymoon Planning
Hi everyone!
My fiancee and I are getting married this August and are planning a honeymoon in Costa Rica in December and are looking for input and advice on how best to plan! (Mostly looking for booking advice but open to specific hotel/activity suggestions too)
For context, We've both been to Costa Rica separately in the past:
I went in high school on a family trip, Travel agent booked, all-inclusive resort in Guanacaste, did a couple day excursions like snorkeling, hiking, ziplining, etc. it was fantastic. (Flew in and out of Liberia)
She went in college as part of a biology class, they traveled around the country staying more at rustic lodges and really got to explore more of Southern Costa Rica from San Jose to Monte Verde and down to the Osa Peninsula. It was also fantastic! (Flew in and out of San Jose)
For our honeymoon, we're looking to combine the best of both worlds. We're looking at around 10-12 days, thinking the first half somewhere in the jungle/mountains enjoying wildlife, hotsprings, etc. and the second half down on the beach at a nicer resort (all-inclusive would be great but not required).
We're not sure the best way to go about booking this and getting the best bang for our buck. I've looked at a couple "tour sites" like costaricaexperts and their packages look nice, but they're all around 7-9 days, and are a little pricey (considering I don't think the prices include flights). We're open to booking everything ourselves to save money, I've booked international travel before through Expedia and it went fine, but it was just to one hotel. I think we're primarily concerned with coordinating rides to/from airport and between the two hotels and any activities we plan since there's some long distances to cover in Costa Rica.
For reference, I'd say we're looking for "deluxe-ish" accommodations, not quite luxury, but nice enough to feel special for our honeymoon! Our MAX budget would be about $10,000 total, (meaning if we used some sort of service that took care of all the planning/transit we could pay that up front if the only other expenses would be tips while we're there) if going the "book it ourselves" route, we'd want that to be quite a bit lower, maybe $8,000 total to account for paying for activities/travel once there.
Any insights or advice are much appreciated!