Saftey In Limon Costa Rica

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One of our ports on our April cruise is Limon Costa Rica. I have recently read some horror stories about passengers getting shot, robbed, and hasseld there. Can anyone shed any light on this? There are some wonderful tours that we want to take, but we are apprehensive after what we read. Thanks Bob & Debi

[fantavet]

What you are "hearing" is what I call the "plane crash theory".

 

Your local news show doesn't open with all the planes that landed safely. Only if a plane crashed does it get mentioned.

 

Or more for this forum....cruise ships and norovirus. Don't hear about all the great trips without problems on the news.

 

I've never been to Limon, but I would treat it the same as a first time visit to any American city. Be street smart and be aware because you are in unfamiliar territory.

 

There are good and bad sections of Boston, Chicago, New York. Can't imagine Limon would be any different. Carnival has been going there for years and I heard of that one incident.

 

There are no guarantees in life, but I bet you still get on plane despite all of those crashes :)

 

Have a great trip!

[kitty9]

Personally, I would stick with the ship's tours in places like that. You are assured of a little more security when with a ship's tour. How do you know, when going with a local, that they aren't in on any mayhem? It could be that the driver is hooked up with the robbers and take you to a place where you're going to get robbed. I've been to Costa Rica at least 4 times, and I've always taken the ship's tours, and knock on wood, have never had a problem.

[fantavet]

Kitty is right, I forgot to mention to stick with the ship tours if you have any doubts.

[nybumpkin]

We were aboard Carnival Liberty two weeks ago when the most recent incident took place. I'd agree with the airplane analogy; there were numerous excursions, both cruise line-sponsored and independent, that Liberty's passengers took that day without incident. We were on a ship-sponsored excursion that was a lot of fun; others we knew had a great time on independent excursions (which we took in Costa Maya and Colon, equally with no problem). We limited our shopping in both Limon and Colon to the pier area, again with no problems; I felt more hassled in the pre-planned "village" area at Costa Maya. My own recommendation is that you do your research ahead of time; while there are many ports where you can just walk off the ship and find something to do, these ports require more planning. If you're looking at independent tours, check to see whether they have any required licenses and insurance. Read reviews over on the "Ports of Call" board. But at any rate, I wouldn't just stay on the ship; you're missing some great experiences if you do that.

[parody]

USA Today says "Don't Fear Costa Rica". Read the article here.

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What you are "hearing" is what I call the "plane crash theory".

 

Your local news show doesn't open with all the planes that landed safely. Only if a plane crashed does it get mentioned.

 

Or more for this forum....cruise ships and norovirus. Don't hear about all the great trips without problems on the news.

 

I've never been to Limon, but I would treat it the same as a first time visit to any American city. Be street smart and be aware because you are in unfamiliar territory.

 

There are good and bad sections of Boston, Chicago, New York. Can't imagine Limon would be any different. Carnival has been going there for years and I heard of that one incident.

 

There are no guarantees in life, but I bet you still get on plane despite all of those crashes :)

 

Have a great trip!

Thanks for your imput. we really did not want to miss this country. i think that we are going to take either the rail-road, or aerial tram tours. We have 5 Parrots and we would love to see their cousins in the wild. Sincerely Bob & Debi

[Sue L]

I am going in 19 days, and I can't wait. I live right outside NYC and maybe that affects my point of view but the fact that this happened doesn't bother me at all.

 

Both of these incidents the people involved were in areas they shouldn't have been. The shooting the guy and his son wanted to go to some store, not in a great area. The other incident with the tour van again they were taken into a bad neighborhood and even though they were on a private excursion the guide had to know that it wasn't a good area and should have never taken them there.

 

If you didn't go to any ports that had problems then you would need to take Miami, Jamaica, New Orleans, NY and many others off your list.

 

As I said before I live near NYC and 2 incidents thats an average afternoon here!

[mrralga]

We were on Charlie Soto's tour right around the time of the robbery incident that was thwarted by the ex-military guy.

 

Neither my wife nor I felt unsafe or insecure at any time during the tour. In fact it was a great tour and both the operators and residents that we encountered were friendly and very interested in us having the best experience possible.

 

The bus was modern and comfortable, the zip line tour was in a safe location with well trained staff and quality equipment and facilities. The tour was run professionally and on time.

 

We would not hesitate to take visit this area again and Charlie's tour operation is top notch.

 

Rick and Gerri

[louwoz]

We also booked our Costa Rica tour through Charlie Soto in February. I never felt uncomfortable in any of the places we visited. (including a local grocery store where we purchased coffee) You can visit his website at http://www.okeydokeytours.com/ Rely on the recommedations of the other cruisers on this board and I'm sure you'll be just fine. How many crimes are committed in Miami every day? Does that mean the cruise ships shouldn't leave from there?

[Budwheat]

Sometimes it just has to feel right...DW and I were there on 2/11/07 and we went right into the town, with that little park on the right. At the end of that park, just to the right, was a great little restaurant with outdoor seating, and the food was exceptional. We then went on into the town to the pretty filthy "old market", but as we got more than three blocks away from the port, it started to feel a little less safe. We had a super time, and I hope you will, too.

 

We did a ship-booked tour to the Tata-whatever canal, and the bananna farm. Great tour, classy and money well spent!;)

[Signal Mtn]

:D We did the a2 tour with Charlie on 3-21. It was great. We always felt safe. The zipline was a blast! My kids are 11 & 14, the zipline was the best part of their 8 day Liberty cruise. We will do it again with Charlie, when we return to Costa Rica. :)

[robinpow]

I just returned from there last week, after spending 5 days there. NO problem! Went all over the county, everyone was friendly. As to the crime... it's hard to find a town in the U.S. that doesn't have muggings.

 

Of course I wasn't on a cruise, but did hire a local driver, and did my own tour. (no fixed packages)

 

Go enjoy, and simply pack your common sense.