Beachfront Penthouse Bahia Encantata in Jaco

Great Views and More!

y2uk (Nicholasville, KY, USA)
Review submitted: July 26, 2011   Date of arrival: July 15, 2011

Great views of the ocean from the living room, both bedrooms, all three balconies, and the rooftop terrace! Spacious condo with good beds and good sized washer and dryer (although the dryer tripped the breaker so we didn't use it.) The condo staff is very friendly and helpful. You can also book tours at the desk and be picked up/dropped off at the condo for about $5 more than the same tours in town. 24/7 security which appeared to be the norm in Costa Rica.

Just a block away from downtown Jaco. Easy walking distance to good restaurants like the Coffee Shop, Wishbone, Pappas & Burgers, and our favorite, Pili Pili which serves a great Filet Mignon meal for about $20-$23 bucks. Lots of shops also in walking distance. Costa Rica's Walmart (called Mas X Menos) was at the end of the strip. You can get by just fine with only cash, only speaking English and not renting a car.

Manual Antonio and the Poaz volcano were nice. Our cruise to Tortuga Island was great!

The beach by the condo was kinda rocky, sudsy, and had huge waves. Manual Antonio has nice beaches but they are crowed, and the town itself wasn't as appealing as Jaco. Tortuga Island had a gorgeous beach but you have to take a tour (worth it) to get there.

There is a bar right next to this condo which plays very loud music Thursday - Friday night which makes it hard to sleep. This is why I only give this place 4 stars out of 5. Although this appeared to be a theme with the other condos and hotels in Costa Rica as they don't appear to have any zoning laws. This probably couldn't have been avoided by staying elsewhere. Bahia Encantada appeared to be by far the best place to stay in the area.

We rented a car but shouldn't have. By the time we paid extra for a GPS, mandatory insurance (full coverage at $20 extra a day is recommended since driving over here can be an adventure in itself), 4 wheel drive (at times, the roads are in bad condition with huge potholes, and very rough), plus we had to upgrade to a full size Toyota Rav 4 to get automatic transmission. Gas stations are few and far apart (although they do pump your gas for you.) This wound up costing about $675 for a week plus a tank of gas. It would have been cheaper to take the condo taxi $100 each way to / from the airport, and taken tours whenever we wanted to leave Jaco. Plus I read in the Bahia Encantada welcome packet that Mas X Menos will deliver if your groceries are $30 or more.

Overall a great experience!

Recommended for: adventure seekers, sight seeing, tourists without a car, romantic getaway

Do you find this review helpful?   Yes   No

Helpful votes: 3 / 3