I recently had the pleasure of renting Villa Toucan at Bahia Pez Vela and would highly recommend it. My friends and I loved the resort's secluded beach (we were the only people on the beach for most of our stay), the gorgeous views, the friendly wildlife and the exceedingly helpful resort staff. It was the first time in Costa Rica for our entire group, and we took advantage of the location to take days trips arranged by the staff to Rincon de la Vieja (for a canopy tour, horseback ride, hotsprings and mudbath) and to Nicaragua, in addition to many blissful days exploring nearby towns and enjoying the resort. The villa itself was wonderful and full of amenities (including a much needed washer/dryer), and we were pleasantly surprised by how convenient anything else we could imagine was to the resort (dining, grocery shopping, nightlife, post office, etc.). And the owners couldn't have been better to rent from -- they answered all of our questions and then some.

Nice quiet condo-Resort with own private black-sand beach. Never saw more than 3 other people on beach the entire stay. Nice snorkeling right on beach. Go to the left near rocks for best views. If you rent a car, the condos up top have wonderful views. If walking, stay in condos closer to beach. Great security, night and day! Nice restaurant near lower pool and beach. Upper and lowers condos have different pools. Stayed in upper section right next to infinity pool. Hardly anyone using it so seemed like our private pool. Three bedroom condos are wonderful and clean. Cesar, in reception, made our vacation!! He arranged snorkeling trip, canopy tours, rafting, horseback riding, river cruise and Monteverde guide/tour. He took care of everything and arranges a driver if you don't want to tackle the roads. Just give him a day notice and he will set your activities up. We travel a lot and have never seen anyone take care of a visitor like Cesar!! Coco is about 10 minutes away and has a lot of shops and a great supermarket (Super Mercado) with coffee shop across the street. Go another 6 miles to Hermosa and have dinner at Gingers, a great Tapas resturant. Take a day trip down coast to Flamingo Beach, Tamirindo Beach and on to National Park Beach. On way back, have dinner at one of many good resturants in Tamirindo. Food prices are moderate everywhere. Don't forget about the 23% tax/gratuity you'll pay for everything in Costa Rica. Tipping isn't expected but is appreciated, especially guides, boat Captains, etc. Be careful on roads, especially at night. Potholes are numerous on back roads and folks walk in roads at all hours. Beautiful country and people. Wish we could have stayed longer.

We chose Playa Ocotol because it was supposed to quite. It was and it was fun. The community is quite, and great. The beach is really small, bit of corals (won't advice bare foot in the water as few spots), but it was good.

Tons of pools, personal pools as well as common pools. We didn't stay at the 1 or 2 bedroom, rather we booked the in-law suite. It was small, but had all the amenities including mini fridge.

I found that to better to have cars in the community. The community on a hill. It would be a nice (strenuous) hike to get to the restaurant (particularly when you return because you would have walk up the steep roads/pathways). Also, having a car helps you get out of the resort into neighboring areas. There are grocery stores and other less expensive places to eat once you drive (2 miles) to Playa Ocotol neighborhood.

Nightlife is not bad. Some really good seafood restaurants. Good for vegetarians as well.

The resort community is generally quite, and very few people in there. We had fun there. Things to note: The resort's beach is about 100 yards. They have 2 hammocks on the beach (watch for the stupid sprinklers right under the hammocks!).

My family & 2 friends stayed at Bahia Pez Vela from January 2-8, 2010. Our 3 bedroom villa was perfect for 6 people and a great location, just down from the office. It was an easy walk to the beach (black sand, it's true) and the restaurant on the property - Pappagallo Pura Vida. All of the staff was great that we encountered!! We booked 3, day long excursions through BPV with Costa Rica Unique. Jose, our guide was great , as was Edwin, our guide in Nicaragua!! My twenty something daughters loved the marine life in the volcanic rock tidal pools and the howler monkeys that came out each day @ dawn & dusk. It was also very secure- with guards that roamed the property. What a beautiful escape from the frigid temps in VA!!! 90 degress in the daytime. We will definitely return again.