Owner's Choices around the San Ramon Area

Owner's Choices and Recommendations

Restaurants

Tio Charly, Naranjo, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Our favorite Tico restaurant. Truly delicious food. For more information, visit their Facebook page.

Soda El Rio, Palmares, Alajuela, Costa Rica
An amazing restaurant that serves homemade typical food. For more information, visit their Facebook page. Or check them out on Foursquare for directions and location.

Olga's Place, Santiago, San Ramón, Alajuela, Costa Rica.
Olga and Joe have a super restaurant, and having run similar establishments in the United States. For more information, visit their Facebook page. Or check them out on Foursquare for directions and location

Rincon de Poeta, San Ramón, Alajuela, Costa Rica
We love the casados and fresh seafood at Rincon de Poeta. Located on the main road into San Ramon a couple of blocks before the church.

The large restaurant/bar is set off the street with three palapa umbrella covered tables in a private alleyway and has secure parking. It's not too noisy, plays good music and is perfect for everyone from 20-somethings to families. For more information, visit their Facebook page. Or check them out on Foursquare for directions and location.

Local Coffee Tours

Espiritu Santo Coffee Plantation Tour, Naranjo, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Espíritu Santo Coffee Tour represents our most remarkable and pure coffee tradition and history in Costa Rica.

They are surrounded by 640 acres of a prime coffee plantation, where the secrets of a real coffee cup are carefully held. You can visit the Espiritu Santo website for more information about tours and location.

Doka Coffee Estate, Sabanilla, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Doka Estate coffee is one of Costa Ricas highest quality coffees. It is located on the slopes of the Poas Volcano and offers a great day tour as well as one of our favorite coffees. You can also find them on Foursquare for directions and location.

Nature Parks and Gardens

Bosque Nuboso El Cocora Butterfly Gardens, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Located only 6.5 miles from our house and in the heart of a cloud forest, this nature park offers easy hiking circuits, a hummingbird garden, a butterfly house, a walk on a small lake and a recreational fishery (tilapia) Picnic Area Restoration typical on site. Moons Gift Shop Hours Sunday: 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Ideal for a break, on the road to Arenal Volcano. For more information, visit their Facebook page.

Volcan Poás, Poás, Alajuela, Costa Rica
(From Wikipedia) Poás Volcano National Park, in Spanish Parque Nacional Volcán Poás, is a National Park that covers an area of approximately 16,000 acres (65 km2); the summit is 8,900 feet (2,700 m). One of the attractive features about Poás is that you can get all the way to the edge of the crater. For their location, visit their Foursquare page.

Volcan Arenal, La Fortuna, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Positioned within Costa Rica’s fertile northern lowlands, the Arenal Volcano is an unavoidable presence while traveling within this part of the country. It is tall and imposing and has a reputation that precedes itself. Arenal’s perfectly symmetrical shape makes it a sightseer’s dream, while its abundance of outdoor activities makes it an easy place to check things off your “must-do in Costa Rica” list. For their location, visit their Foursquare page.

We recommend Arenal Observatory Lodge for accommodations while visiting the Volcano and Eco Termales Hot Springs for a more relaxed atmosphere and to get away from the more touristy hot springs.

Car Rental

Dollar Rental Car, Costa Rica
We have always had very good luck with Dollar Rental Car.

They have a fleet of 350 vehicles and all are recent models. There are 4 locations in Costa Rica: In the Main Terminal of the Juan Santamaria International Airport, in San Antonio de Belen (off-airport), in Paseo Colon and in Liberia, Guanacaste. We always use the San Jose Airport branch and they are quick, courteous and have reasonable rates.

Supermarket

Cafe 1820, Costa Rica
1820 Coffee is easily found in most supermercados and is easily one of the most affordable of the local coffees grown in Costa Rica. 1820 is a balanced mixture of Café Oro, which uses coffees coming from the 7 coffee production zones in Costa Rica and is from the high altitude coffees harvested in volcanic soils rich in nutrients, located higher than 1000 meters above sea level.

Real Estate

Do you love the look of our neighborhood? There are currently several houses for sale in our neighborhood. Stay at Villa Hada Escondida and you maybe you'll find your own Costa Rican dream home. For more information please click on the following link to see a YouTube video of our friends' beautiful home. House for sale

Our Top Central Valley Picks

For more ideas and some websites, please visit http://www.sanramon-costarica.com/cultural-recreational-sites.

The Central Valley is our favorite area of Costa Rica. When we're at Villa Hada we love to visit the weekly farmer's market on Fridays and Saturdays in San Ramon near the University of Costa Rica San Ramon campus where you can buy the most amazing fruits and vegetables for a fraction of the price in North American or European markets. We spend a day or two a week shopping or having lunch at Rincon de Poeta in San Ramon, a delightful little city where you'll find anything you could possibly want all around the central plaza and historic church (Iglesia de San Ramon). Our children love the butterfly garden located about 8 miles north on the road to La Fortuna. We often go horseback riding at the stables located just outside the entrance to Hotel Villablanca where the rates are very reasonable and the trails rides are fantastic.

Our house is on the southern edge of the Los Angeles Cloud Forest and the cloud mist that moves through the valley and past our house is indescribably beautiful. We love to hang out and enjoy the mist before it burns off in the morning. The views from our home are outstanding especially from our upstairs balcony where we practice yoga daily. We hike on our own private nature trail at least twice a week to see blue morphos, hummingbirds, tree ferns, epiphytes and bromeliads. During the rainy season, especially September-November, the waterfall is at least two stories high and loud enough that you can hear it from the balcony. We like to go to Las Muses water park just outside San Ramon and over to Sarchi for wooden handicrafts. The Sunday day-long soccer matches in Bajo Zuniga are an excellent way to really act like a local and are great fun for soccer fans! Our house is a terrific place to come home to after day trips throughout the Central Valley. We love Poas and all the little vendors along the road selling strawberries and homemade jam. And when we don't feel like cooking, the pizza at Mi Rancho restaurant by our house is excellent. The manager learned his pizza-making skills in New Jersey!

Our rental house is an hour northwest of the capital, San Jose and Juan Santa Maria International Airport, San Jose (SJO). The second largest district in the province, San Ramon is loaded with services including an excellent hospital, universities, service stations, several supermarkets, many small restaurants and sodas (small restaurants that typical Costa Rican food), and a small modern mall with a three screen multiplex. You can view our rental rates here or view our availability calendar and make a reservation.