Hi
Just back from three weeks in CR - and if there was one place we would have pulled from the itinerary it was MA.
I know many people find much there to enjoy - but this is my take on it - some people will disagree with the sentiments below, I'm sure.
I should also stress that we were there between Christmas and New Year, so it was far busier than in lower season.
The scale of the development here is quite huge - and while some places in CR have tried to adopt an eco-aware approach to life, many of the places in MA seem to have gone the opposite way - as many lightbulbs as possible hanging from chandeliers and blazing as long as possible.
Likewise, some places feel that the sounds of the jungle - the insects and monkeys, sea and birds - are music in there own right. Several of the places in MA disagree and feel the need to drown it out with loud background music. We were staying at Costa Verde ii and the bar across the road was audible from our rooms.
Even the music is not loud enough to drown out the sound of trucks and cars lumbering up the hill though, and the combination of music, road-traffic, and the loud people in the room next to us made MA less than peaceful. CVii's approach of mosquito netted walls and no glass seems beautiful until you hear the sounds of MA intruding.
We got to the park by 7.30am each morning; within an hour there is a queue and by 10am this was long, hot and messy. We appreciate that this was worse than normal due to the season.
There are a significant number of guides outside the park; some are probably good, some less so. Ours fell in to the latter bracket; English was great on the rehearsed bits, but ask any questions off the script and the holes really showed up.
IN practice walking along, and stopping when you see a large group of other people is the easiest way to find things here. Within 5 minutes of stopping to look at anything, at least one or more groups will have coalesced around you.
Some animals are still easily spotted here - we saw sloths, part of a boa, monkeys, lizards, racoons. Monkeys are still easily spotted, not least because people still insist on feeding them - despite all the signs saying not to. But then most of the signs got disregarded - the no smoking on the beach, no alcohol, and so on. By 11am the park was noisy, crowded, and it's a good time to leave. Unfortunately there's not really a longer trail or strategy for getting away from the crowds - except go at a different time of year and/or go early.
Outside the park there's a veritable feast of vendors selling various levels of beach tat - the traffic jam turning around at the beach is impressive and you can play "spot the squished iguana" as you walk back up the hill.
Personally, think that the Park authorities REALLY need to decide if this is a nature reserve or a beach resort because at the moment it seems to vere heavily towards the latter. We left here and went on (eventually) to the Osa which was more natural.
On balance if you like your beaches and creature comforts, like a more lively place and can cope with the amount of damage that the over-development is wreaking, you'll do fine here. Otherwise it's really worth thinking of going elsewhere....
MZ
