Bargain Season at Tropical All-Inclusive Resort Hotels

Thanks to the slump that usually affects our tropical neighbors (Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America) in September and October, tour operators and all-inclusive resort hotels will again offer a large array of cheap seven-night vacations in sunny, exotic locations.

* Costa Rica: If you book from a company called Your Travel Service, (888) 877-9131, www.yourtravelservice.com, you’ll spend seven nights in a country more and more Americans are visiting. You’ll start with five nights (including all meals and drinks) at the well-located five-story Best Western Jaco Beach Resort, near Manuel Antonio National Park. Your stay there will be preceded and followed by one night in the capital, San Jose, at the Best Western Irazu Hotel and Casino (10 minutes from town, with breakfast only).

This combination of stays, which includes transportation between the two cities, is ideal for people who want to obtain a broader picture of life in Central America than the view from a beach chair. Including midweek flights, from Sept. 1 through October, this package costs $890 from Los Angeles; single supplement is $450.

For eight days of loafing amid the greenery of the Allegro Papagayo, stacked above Manzanillo Beach on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, you can use Capricorn Leisure, (800) 426-6544, www.capricorn.net. From September through October it will take you there from California for $933 per person, double occupancy. Singles pay about $380 more, and everyone gets the usual inclusions: round-trip air fare, a room for a week, three meals daily, drinks, sports and entertainment.

* Dominican Republic: Seven-night air-and-land packages to the Amhsa Estrella del Mar in Cabarete, Dominican Republic, include meals, drinks, hotel taxes, tips and lodging.

Nonmotorized water sports are included, so you can try your hand at windsurfing; Cabarete is considered one of the world’s best beaches for the sport.

The 164-room resort is about 2- years old and has air-conditioning, cable TV, phones and balconies. Based on midweek round-trip air fare September through October, the price is $1,194 from Los Angeles, per person, double occupancy. Call TourScan at (203) 655-8091 or go to www.tourscan.com.

* Puerto Vallarta: A seven-night all-inclusive vacation at the Viva Vallarta in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, is $614 per person, double occupancy from Los Angeles.

The package, from Caradonna Caribbean Tours, (800) 328-2288, www.caradonna.com, includes air fare, accommodations, food, drinks, sports, nightly entertainment, a kids’ program and hotel taxes and tips.

The Viva is a 355-room structure offering direct access to beaches; it has three restaurants, rooms with air-conditioning, satellite TV, and free sports, including windsurfing, archery, kayaking and introductory scuba lessons.

The rate is available from Sept. 1 to Dec. 12.