Low Prices to See Sea Turtles in Costa Rica

It’s one of my most vivid travel memories: sitting in the sand on a Costa Rican beach in the moonlight watching as huge leatherback turtles hauled themselves out of the sea. Lumbering up to dry sand, they cleared out a hollow with their flippers, settled in and then, in a trancelike state, deposited their eggs. In less than 90 minutes they camouflaged the nest with sand and worked their way back to the sea, leaving a trail that looked as if a tractor had carved it.

On this Pacific Coast beach, called Playa Grande, at Parque Nacional Marino Las Baulas de Guanacaste, up to 100 of the creatures, which average 800 pounds, deposit their eggs each night during the nesting season, from October through March. It is now easier for young budget-minded travelers to take in this natural spectacle because a Costa Rican youth hostel has opened in the village of Tamarindo, just south of Playa Grande. Tours leave from Tamarindo.

Tamarindo stretches a mile along the Pacific Coast, and the Hostelling International facility at El Milagro Hotel, 011-506-653-0042, fax 011-506-653-0050, www.elmilagro.com, is close to the town center.

It can accommodate up to 85 people in 30 hillside bungalows. The rate is $85 per night for a two-bed bungalow, $18 per bed per night for Hostelling International members. The hostel has a pool, gardens and a restaurant; rooms have private bathrooms, hot water and air-conditioning or fans. Reservations are required.

You can reach Tamarindo by bus from San Jose in about six hours. The Costa Rican Youth Hostel Assn. has 13 hostels near key areas throughout the country. Several new hostels were added recently: El Ancla in Naranjo Beach, La Laguna del Lagarto Lodge in San Carlos and Cabinas San Isidro in Puntarenas Beach.

For details on all Costa Rica HI hostels log on to www.hicr.org. For HI membership information, contact the association, 1434 2nd St., Santa Monica, CA 90401; (310) 393- 3413, www.hiayh.org.

If you are traveling solo in Europe on your first budget backpacking adventure, consider using the Busabout hop-on-hop-off bus geared to backpackers and student-style travelers. This year Bus- about will link 66 cities in 14 countries through Oct. 31. Students, teachers and travelers under 26 with international identification get discounted rates.

Busabout isn’t as flexible and its service isn’t as frequent as a rail pass. Busabout stops are serviced at least every second day. And you won’t meet as many local residents as you would using mass transportation. But novice travelers will get more guidance with Busabout, because each bus has a guide to help with advice and information and to take reservations for accommodations along the routes. You’ll also get dropped off and picked up at selected hostels, eliminating worries about landing in a foreign city and trying a hostel.

Your family can contact you through Busabout’s London office, which can check where you last used its service and then send an e-mail to the coach on which you are traveling. Travelers can begin and end at any point along the route.

Busabout has two types of passes. A Flexi Pass offers a set number of days of travel within a limited time period--such as six days within one month for $259 ($229 for students, youth and teachers) or 20 days within three months for $729 ($659 for students, youth and teachers).

Consecutive Passes offer unlimited travel from two weeks, which costs $269, or $239 for students, youth and teachers, to a full season, costing $1,069 or $959. Both passes cost slightly less if you start traveling before May 15. Return transportation from London is an additional $60. You can also add visits to the Greek Islands; Corfu, Greece; Ibiza, Spain; and Corsica, France; or Morocco and Croatia.

For more information, call (800) 664-4046, www.busabout.com. Busabout brochures also are available from travel agencies.

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Lucy Izon is a Toronto-based freelance travel writer and author of “Izon’s Backpacker Journal.” Her Internet site is www.izon.com.