Si Como No Resort, Manuel Antonio 

This resort and its companion national park are both places that I have a lot of mixed emotions about. The park reminds me of the beloved Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the states, partly in Tennessee where I lived. I loved the huge variety of nature in that park and going there, but hated the enormous crowds and excessive commercialism surrounding the park, which some have called “Being Loved to death!” Manuel Antonio NP is similar. Inside the park it is a nature jewel with so much to see and photograph, if you can put up with the crowds. Then outside the park it is a nightmare of bumper to bumper traffic, bigger crowds of people, and tacky commercialism just like in Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, TN and Cherokee, NC around the Great Smoky Mountain Park.

Now if you are going to such a crowded natural wonder, you need a place to escape in quiet solitude and nature. And Si Como No Resort is one of those places, normally. But with most Costa Ricans taking their vacation Christmas Week, it will always be fully booked, every room! And that is what I found that Christmas of 2018. Thus not as peaceful as I had hoped and even though I tried to make the best of it and use the hotel’s private trails and nature reserve, and do one tour to an off-shore island, I still had to eat in the restaurants and they were always packed with slow service, but still very expensive. So I left after a week of that feeling that it was overpriced with poor service, even though I knew it was there busiest week of the year. So please realize that I’m not giving this resort a reflection of their best because of when I was there. But to see that they offer, possibly more than any other hotel there, see their website: Si Como No Resort.

The Pacific Ocean seen from Si Como No.

Would you go there again?

Maybe. See my summary above and dislikes below. Just not at Christmas!

Likes

  • See my gallery of wonderful nature photos as my main like! 🙂
  • The hotel is beautiful and my ocean view room had great sunsets.
  • My one tour away from the hotel & park to Damas Island was great!
  • The room was nice and the food good even though service was slow with a packed house every night.
  • I really like the national park, even though too crowded.
  • The hotel’s private nature reserve with hiking trail & butterfly garden is something probably no other hotel there has. So that was great and surprisingly it was not crowded! But I guess these young Ticos there on Christmas Holiday preferred parasailing and swimming over nature hikes! 🙂

Dislikes

  • The slow service with a packed house every night for what I considered overpriced food. Maybe not the place to go for Christmas but rather during the low season! 🙂 If I go again, it will be in low season! 🙂

Si Como No BIRDS Slideshow . . .

  • Great Egret
  • Stripe-throated Hermit
  • Yellow-throated Toucan
  • Yellow-crowned Night-Heron juvenile
  • Common Black Hawk
  • Spotted Sandpiper
  • Green Heron
  • Lesser Nighthawk
  • Tricolored Heron
  • Whimbrel

Nature & Other Activities

  • Unlimited nature photography possibilities with the park, beaches with monkey-filled trees, hotel grounds and its private nature preserve, trails & butterfly garden!
  • One of many possible tours was to Damas Island Estuary birding by boat which I thoroughly enjoyed.
  • The hotel’s Night Hike on their reserve trail was excellent!
  • Of course as a major resort they offer “Family and Adult Pool, Cala Spa, Private Movie Theater, Restaurants, live entertainment and more.”
  • Plus “Cooking, yoga and dance classes exploring the flavors, wellness and culture of Costa Rica.”
  • “There is something for every adventurer, including watersports, national park and mangrove tours, and the cultural experience with the Santa Juana Rural Mountain Adventure.”
  • Read more on their Experiences Page.

Si Como No NATURE Slideshow . . .

  • Common Morpho
  • Orchid
  • Flower
  • Rusty-tipped Page
  • Flower
  • C.A. Agouti
  • Cane Toad
  • Three-toed Sloth
  • White-faced Capuchin Monkeys
  • White-tailed Deer Fawn
  • Black Spiny-tailed Iguana

Rooms & Food

  • The room was very nice and the food very good even though food service was slow with a packed house every night.
Inside my room with ocean view.

Getting There

  • Driving from Atenas it is 139 km or a 2 hours & 40 min drive.
  • Public Bus – there is a direct bus from Atenas to Manuel Antonio with a few stops along the way at 3 1/2 hours. Not bad! Go to: https://thebusschedule.com/cr/
  • I Fly Sansa to the Quepos Airport in about 20 minutes. The hotel will arrange your transfer or you can take a taxi. Quepos in next door to Manuel Antonio, so it is close.
A young couple Parasailing as seen from my room.

My Trip Gallery

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My Photo Book

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¡Pura Vida!

Sunset from my room.