Costa Rica

Hello fellow travelers,

My wife and I are planning our anniversary trip and decided to visit Costa Rica. We have a total of 10 days from Early to Mid June of 2025 and would like to see as much as possible

As much as I would love to see the entire country, I understand that 10 days is just not enough, because there are so many interesting places in such a small country. I have spent the last few days watching YouTube videos about the best places in the country and have made a list of interesting places grouped according to regions

We are from Los Angeles, We have plenty of dry weather and beaches in LA. That’s why we may not visit the Guanacaste peninsula in the north west because I understand it’s a dryer region known more for beaches, surfing etc, even though it does have other attractions

We would like at least a couple of days of beach time relaxation but from what I understand the other regions, notably the southern pacific coast has plenty of beautiful beaches as well, for example Manuel Antonio state park and a few others (please recommend)

We are more interested in seeing things that Costa Rica is known for. For example, rainforests, cloud forests, exotic wildlife, private guided wildlife tour, adventuring and activities such as horseback riding, zip lining, snorkeling, ATVs, catamaran sunset and/or dinner boat tour, maybe even fishing, and anything else you can suggest

We will be landing at the Capitol city San Jose in early June. From there, we’re considering doing the following, but I’m very open to suggestions and changes. I also need to figure out how many days to spend in each region to balance out the 10 days and see as much as possible without spending too much or too little time in each region. We also don’t want to be rushing too much as we do want to enjoy our trip, rather than scrambling all the time. I’m thinking 3 to 4 regions will be the maximum we can visit in 10 days, spending 2 to 3 days in each region staying at a different hotel/base for each region

We land early in the morning at San Jose, YouTube videos recommended not spending too much time in the city, although I wouldn’t mind checking out the central market and trying out a few local foods before we get our rental car and hit the road. Our return flight to Los Angeles 10 days later leaves at midnight so we can also enjoy the city on our last day when we return to the capital

Day 1, 2 and 3: spend a couple morning hours exploring the city, then get the rental car and drive to La Fortuna / Arenal volcano area where we can stay maybe 3 days and do the following activities

Arenal & LA Fortuna areas
Arenal Volcano national park
Canopy tour & mistico hanging bridges
La fortuna waterfall
Tabacon hot spring resort with River
Ecotermales hot springs
Free River hot springs off road side
Salto rope swing
White water rafting
Rio Celeste
Arbol de La paz June 1989 (largest tree)

Days 4 and 5: drive from La fortuna to Monteverde cloud forest area where we can spend a couple of days doing the following activities

Monteverde cloud forest areas
Monteverde $25
or
Santa Elena $18 (denser forest, less crowded)
Take a guide if you want to see more animals
You’ll see more animals with night tour
Zip line tour 100% aventura
Catarata del Toro waterfall

Days 6 ,7,8,9 and 10
Drive to the pacific coast and spend the rest of our trip visiting/doing the following places/activities until the day of our flight, and then driving back to the Capitol San Jose for our midnight flight to Los Angeles. I feel like we will be stretched out the dentist on the last five days traveling south down the pacific coast because there is so much to do and everything I listed is not at the same place so I will probably need to choose the best ones and or choose them based off location. Also some of them for example Osa peninsula/corcovado national park may require multiple days…

The coast / Manuel Antonio / Southern regions

Isla tortuga north of Jaco, gulf of Nicoya
Tarcoles River bridge crocodile viewpoint north of Jaco
Playa herradura next to Jaco
Jaco
Playa Hermosa near Jaco, not for swimming
Quepos / Manuel Antonio national park
La Playita small secluded beach in MA
La Selva trail in MA less crowded
Playa Biesanz (snorkel and swim)
Playa Espadilla
Alturas wildlife sanctuary in Dominical
Nauyaca waterfall
Playa Hermosa south near Uvita swim low tide
Uvita (whale tail sand bar beach and park)
Catamaran cruise & snorkeling
Cano island
Ojochal town as base for Corcovado
Osa peninsula (south) most bio diverse area
Corcovado national park, golfo dulce

The activities I have listed above are what I have found so far for the three regions I listed. We would also love to visit the Caribbean coast and a couple of other regions but realistically, I don’t know if we will have enough time, I would like to also see if not on this trip then I will visit them the next trip,

San Jose
Centro market
Irazu volcano
La paz wildlife refuge
Catarata vuelta del canon

Caribbean
Punta Uva beach
Puerto viejo
Cahuita national park

Guanacaste / Tamarindo
Playa conchal
Playa Manzanillo
Playa Samara (turtles)
Rio Negro hot springs
Isla tortuga gulf of Nicoya

Other questions

Any recommendations for a rental car? I was told to get some thing with all wheel drive or 4 x 4, because the roads in Costa Rica are known to be rough, especially when it rains. I found a company recommended by a YouTuber called “car_rentals_costa_rica_and_USA” on Instagram and WhatsApp, the owners name is Jairo. Apparently Costa Rica is known for adding on insurance, taxes and fees when you show up. after calling you a lower price online, but Jairos rates are no surprises it includes the listed charges and he works with Alamo. I was quoted about $55 per day for a small/mid SUV (Suzuki Vitata) automatic 4x4 with basic insurance coverage. (Full coverage costs more) it was also recommended to use WAZE app to navigate instead of google maps, please advise

Please see attached screenshots of the route We are considering taking and the rental car

Also we are open to stopping at any interesting places while driving at any point in the country. I took a look at the route and noticed a few places so far that may be worth stopping on the way to our destinations, including these

Catarata Del Toro (waterfall) on the way to La Fortuna

Tarcoles crodocile viewing bridge on the way to Jaco

Any advice on where to stay? What type of hotel is the best option or maybe AirBnB? We will be eating mostly at restraints I’m assuming, and maybe snacks and to go food while traveling or while in nature. We don’t need all inclusive hotels that would be a waste of money I think

Please excuse the very long post, I know it’s a lot so thank you for taking the time to read it, we are hoping to get some solid advice on how to make this the best trip possible because this may be a once in a lifetime trip and we don’t want to have any regrets on how we planned and executed our trip. We are very very grateful to the good people here who take the time to help us. We’re looking forward to your responses. Thank you very much.

Alen

I've been to Costa Rica three times, in 1995 and twice in 2023. I don't think you should be as concerned as you seem to be about whether you might not be having the perfect Costa Rica experience. Someone who is doing as much research as you is very unlikely to have a bad experience, and there is no way to ensure that you will achieve the ideal combination of activities and destinations. Just take your best shot based on your own knowledge of what you enjoy. Someone else may tell you to go somewhere they loved, but there is no guarantee you will enjoy it as much as they did or more than a place you chose for yourself.

Costa Rica is extremely packed with interesting towns, adrenalin activities, wildlife, and natural sights. You don't need to race around the country to have a great ten day experience. You can't "do" Costa Rica in ten days. As far as rental cars go, we just used the usual aggregator sites to find the best deal and things worked out fine. A four wheel drive is optimal. The rental car companies are pretty reasonable and just have a plan for whether or not you will purchase their insurance.

I do like San Jose and we enjoyed the central market and Parque Central and the surrounding blocks. There is also the Calle 33 restaurant/nightlife street in Barrio Escalante. Lots of tourists don't care about the local life and culture but we found it very appealing.

Fortuna and Arenal is a great start. Everything is very optimized towards tourism. We stayed at Arenal Observatory Lodge which was pretty awesome with hiking trails. There's tons of stuff to do.

Monteverde likewise very optimized for tourism. We did Sky Adventures - there was a combination with ziplining, canopy walk, tree climbing. Plenty of hikes. Don't expect to see lots of large animals anywhere - it's mostly birds and monkeys and coatis in CR.

We've also been to the Chilamate area and Parco Tortuguero.

In 1995 I went sailfishing out of Quepos and I stayed in Puerto Viejo.

Bottom line is you really can't go wrong unless you are very careless choosing your accommodations and activities. Airbnb isn't much use outside of San Jose - use booking.com or something similar and try to find places that are rated at least 9/10 and have at least 10 reviews. There are lots of really cool, unusual accommodations in CR if you like that kind of experience. We stayed in some crazy domes outside of Poás Volcano National Park for example.

Coincidentally I have been writing up our trips to CR is 2023 and I'm about halfway through the first, if you want to take a look. The links cover San Jose, Fortuna, Arenal. I am working on Monteverde now.

Relax, you will have a great time.

Solid advice, thank you friend. I’ll definitely check out the Parque Central and Calle 33 at the beginning and/or end of our trip. I would like to experience local life and culture

the observatory lodge looks stunning and we’ll definitely be hiking thanks for the suggestion

I just looked up sky adventures and it looks great I like that they have a lift that takes you up. I was also looking at “100% aventura” have you tried that one? I wonder if they also have lifts…Apparently they have the longest zip line in Latin America over 5,000 feet. Unfortunately I don’t have time to try them all so I’ll have to pick one. They also have hanging bridges in La Fortuna area so I’ll need to decide in which region to do hanging bridges, but most likely I’ll do zip lining in Monteverde seems like that region has the best zip lining

I was looking at Parco Tortuguero but I don’t think we’ll have time to visit the Caribbean coast, I would have loved to, maybe on our next trip

Thanks for your article links I’ll definitely read these today and let you know what I think

Since I posted the original thread, I started creating an itinerary using all the locations and activities I listed in my first post. Would you mind taking a look and telling me what you think?

The Plan

Day 1 (First week of June) Land in San Jose 5:30am, leave airport by 8am or sooner, explore the city for a couple of hours, explore central market try a few foods then start driving to La Fortuna, arrive at La fortuna between 12:00 and 13:00. Check in hotel and unpack by 14:00. 4 hours Sunlight left in the day, can do Salto rope swing and any hot springs, or Arenal horseback riding, or Mistico hanging bridge canopy tour. End day enjoying evening activities

Day 2 - Do a full day guided tour or self guided multiple tours. Option A: all day guided tour of La fortuna waterfall, Arenal volcano hiking, indigenous village and hotel hot springs. Option B: do the same or other activities ourselves without a guided group tour. End day enjoying evening activities

Day 3 - River rafting, Rio Celeste trail and Arbor La Paz (largest tree in CR), hot springs, horseback riding, hanging bridges tour, salto rope swing. End day enjoying evening activities

Day 4- Check out of La fortuna and drive to Monteverde, check in hotel, 100% Aventura zipline tour, chocolate tour, hanging bridges, night time wildlife tour. End day enjoying evening activities

Day 5- Santa Elena cloud forest guided tour, 100% Aventura zip line tour, chocolate tour, hanging bridges, night time wildlife tour. End day enjoying evening activities

Day 6 Check out of Monteverde, start driving towards the pacific coast. Optional: Take a boat ride from Jaco area to isla tortuga for snorkeling and beach fun (may skip this as not enough time) . Drive to Jaco, stopping at Tarcoles bridge to view Crocodiles. Then stop at Herradura beach for swimming and beach fun. Then stop at Jaco for lunch and explore the town. Then head to Manuel Antonio and check in hotel. Check in should be around 15:00 with only a few hours left in the day, can do one of the following: La Playita small secluded beach in MA, La Selva trail in MA less crowded, Playa Biesanz (snorkel and swim), Playa Espadilla (swim OK with caution) End day enjoying evening activities

Day 7 Explore Manuel Antonio park well known areas and also do the following if enough time: Kayaking, fishing, La Playita small secluded beach in MA, La Selva trail in MA less crowded, Playa Biesanz (snorkel and swim), Playa Espadilla (swim OK with caution)
3 Days in Manuel Antonio: The BEST Manuel Antonio Itinerary End day enjoying evening activities

Day 8 Check out of Manuel Antonio, head South and visit some of the following places en route to Drake Bay: Alturas wildlife sanctuary in Dominical, Nauyaca waterfall, Playa Hermosa south near Uvita (swim low tide), Uvita whale tail sand bar beach and park, Uvita waterfall natural water slide into pond. Arrive at Sierpe before 3:30pm, park car, take 3:30pm boat from Sierpe to Drakes Bay arriving 5:00pm. Check in hotel. End day enjoying evening activities

Day 9 Get on 7:30am boat tour to Cano island for snorkeling, 5 hour tour should be back at drakes bay by 1:00pm. Maybe do some daytime beach activities then try “Nativos Corcovado Night Hike in DrakeBay”

Day 10 Check out of Drakes Bay Hotel, get on 6:00am boat to Corcovado national park. Walk & tour to wildlife station. Check in at Sirena overnight ranger station, drop off bags. Enjoy afternoon wildlife tours. Lights out 8:00pm

Day 11 - Do a morning and afternoon wildlife tour then leave the park at 1:00pm via boat, arriving at Drakes Bay at 2:30. Then Take 2:30 boat from Drakes Bay to Sierpe arriving at 4:00pm. Get in the rental car and drive to San Jose, arriving around 8:00pm. Return rental car and go to airport by 10:30pm in time for 12:50am (June 18) flight

[ Edit: Edited on 15 Mar 2025, 14:15 GMT by Alkhan ]

I have also been to Costa Rica 3 times and one time was in the summer (green) season. I was also interested primarily in the rain forest There are Twelve rainforest zones in Costa Rica

The first time was February 1996. We landed on Sunday and we went into town and visited the serpentarium (which is no longer in the middle of San Jose). The next day we went to the Jade Museum, the National Theater and the central Market. We also visited a butterfly farm behind the zoo

Tuesday we took a trip through Braillo Carillo National Park to the Caribbean coast. We stayed in Parissima which is close to Torguero. We saw many different birds and wildlife in this area, but there is too much undertow for swimming. This was one of the most wildlife dense areas that we saw.

Back in San Jose on Thursday we got a tiny 4WD car and drove to Arenal by way of Zacario after dinner at the Arenal Lodge, we had a tour and went swimming in the hot springs. Friday we drove to Monte Verde. Saturday we visited the Cloud Forest, the cheese factory and the Children's Rain Forest. Sunday we took a walk behind our hotel and then drove back to San Jose.

Monday we flew to Drakes Bay on the Pacific Coast. Tuesday we had a tour from Drakes Bay to Canos Island, and Wednesday we had a tour to Corcovado NP. We returned to San Jose on Thursday and flew home on Friday.

The second time we were there it was 2008 and we were on a cruise ship. We took an excursion to Tortuguero

The third time (2015) we spent some time in San Jose - touring the city and visiting the new Jade Museum and finally getting to see the Gold Museum. Then we went again to see the Caribbean Rainforest (Tortuguero). When we got back to San jose, we rented a car and drove to Manuel Antonio

The activities I listed for each day are just options / ideas. I understand it’s unrealistic to think I’ll get all of them done and I’ll be exhausted trying. I’ll go home satisfied as long as I wake up early every day, and knock one or two things off the daily bucket list while also taking time to relax and enjoy the trip. I counted the days when we will be very active and the days where we will be doing more relaxing things and it seems balanced. I’m considering transfer days where we’ll be driving for hours and won’t have a full day to do activities as “relax” days too, since there probably won’t be too much physical activity on those days

I’ve been to CR once before with my parents in 2017. All inclusive hotel. I didn’t even leave the hotel, regretfully. I vowed to return and this time see as much as I can. I want this trio to be 60% adventure 40% relaxing or something like that. Will be with my wife this time.

I decided to take your advice about visiting OSA at the end of our trip. one thing I decided to change, I’m going to do the itinerary in reverse. When we land in Costa Rica we’re going to drive straight to OSA pensinsila then work our way up the coast, Monteverde and finally La fortuna. That way we’re not scrambling to make our flight on the last day and also not taking a chance of missing a boat from Drakes Bay to Sierpe plus the 5 to 6 hour drive from Sierpe to San Jose. Instead, our last day we’ll wake up in La Fortuna , spend half the day there, and end up in San Jose around sunset 6pm, enjoy the city for a few hours and head to the airport

im also thinking this will be better because the further south you go the rainier it’s supposed to be and the later in June the deeper into rainy season, so if I start from the south at the beginning in early June, then head north, I might experience less rain? What do you think?

Basically the plan is (open to changes / suggestions ) we added an extra day so total 11 days instead of 10, not counting the flight time

We will skip San Jose. We will sleep on our 6 hour direct flight from Los Angeles so we should arrive somewhat rested. we take off at 11pm and land early morning 5:30am

I am aware we need to hire a guide for for OSA, I’ve been looking at different tour options and I’m considering the 2 day / 1 night trip to Sirena station. They drop us off via boat from drakes bay and bring us back the next day. I’m also going to do the Cano island snorkeling tour so I’ll be staying in drakes bay 2 nights and Corcovado for 1 night (3 nights in OSA total)

I read that the road from Sierpe to Drakes bay has been improved , regular cars can drive it as long as the weather isn’t too rainy because if so it gets muddy? I plan on renting a small or mid 4x4 maybe Suzuki Vitara SUV or Toyota SUV. I’m concerned when we get to Sierpe on day 1, if the weather is dry and I make it to drakes bay via car, what if later it rains and gets muddy and the car gets stuck in DB when I need to drive back to Sierpe. What do you think?

day 1 drive straight to OSA / Sierpe then either take the 4pm boat to Drakes Bay or drive from Sierpe to DB. with our small or mid size 4x4 rental, maybe do a night wildlife tour that evening, then sleep

day 2 wake up early do the Cano island snorkeling tour, returning to DB around 2pm

day 3 wake up early take the overnight tour to Corcovado national park for hiking wildlife exploration and sleep at the Sirena ranger station

day 4 finish our tour in Corcovado and return to DB around 2pm then drive or take the boat to Sierpe and head up the coast towards Manuel Antonio park , check in at a hotel near or in the park. I’m assuming it’ll be around 5pm when I arrive at Manuel Antonio so wont be able to do much else that day?

day 5 do a full day tour of Manuel Antonio park and maybe spend some time relaxing at the beach after hiking in the park

Day 6 maybe enjoy some local beaches in Manuel Antonio area I listed a few interesting places in the area, I would also like to visit Naucaya waterfalls, maybe some other activities like ATV or horseback riding, or I can do horseback riding in Arenal/LF instead of in MA. Maybe check out Alturas wildlife sanctuary if we can get close to animals. We want to leave Manuel Antonio area not long after noon time so we can make it to Monteverde while there is still light out, I understand it’s a 3+ hour drive. I would also like to see anything interesting on the way to MV, for example Tarcoles bridge crocodiles viewpoint. Arrive in Monteverde before dark and check in hotel. Maybe can end the day with a nighttime wildlife tour or just relax

day 7 considering hiking the Santa Elena cloud forest instead of the Monteverde cloud forest, I heard it’s denser forest with less crowds, maybe even do it with a guide so we can see more things. After that I would love to do the 100% Aventura zip lining I heard it’s the longest in Latin America. Maybe end the day with a night time wildlife tour or something else

day 8 check out of Monteverde and head towards La Fortuna or do another activity in Monteverde then go to La fortuna and find something to do like Salto swing or check out Rio Celeste and the biggest tree in CR (Arbor La Paz) or do afternoon horseback riding near volcano

day 9 do the full day tour which takes us to La Fortuna waterfall, Arenal volcano hike, indigenous village experience, and hot springs resort

day 10 spend at least half the day relaxing at a nice hot spring resort like Tabacon, that is if we enjoyed yesterdays hot spring experience. Another option is to do the level 2/3 white water rafting experience it takes you down several kilometers down the river, sounds fun.

Day 11 checking out of La Fortuna , spending half the day in La fortuna area before heading to San Jose arriving sometime before sunset , spending a few hours in the city before flying home at our 1:00 AM flight

im also considering visiting the hanging bridges either in Arenal or Monteverde, if I have time. Is there one you recommend more than the other?

if I decide not to visit Monteverde because it’s similar to Arenal and is redundant, or if I decide to still visit MV but spend 1 less day in La Fortuna, where should I spend the extra day that I will have? Maybe spend that extra day in Manuel Antonio? That would mean spending 3 nights in MA instead of the proposed 2. Maybe I could drive to Rio Celeste if it’s worth it? Unfortunately I heard you can’t swim there but there is a free swimmable part just outside the park. The largest tree is also there. What would you recommend?

there are also some beautiful places like Isla Tortuga which is across the bay from Jaco in Guanacaste. Maybe that could be a good substitute but it could be redundant since I already have snorkeling plans at Cano island near OSA peninsula

below is is a list of places and activities I found interesting based on my research. I tried to mention all these places in my daily itinerary but nothing is set in stone. I’m open to suggestions on which ones to skip and also any new ideas. Thanks for taking the time to read all this and give me your advice and opinions. I appreciate you

Arenal / LA Fortuna area

Arenal Volcano national park

Canopy tour & mistico hanging bridges

Horse back riding

La fortuna waterfall

Tabacon hot spring resort with River

Ecotermales hot springs

Salto rope swing

White water rafting

Rio Celeste

Arbol de La paz June 1989

Monteverde cloud forest areas

Monteverde $25

Santa Elena $18 (denser forest, less crowded)

Take a guide if you want to see more animals

Selvatura Park / Treetopia Park hanging bridges

You’ll see more animals with night tour

Zip line tour 100% aventura

Sky adventures Monteverde

The coast / Manuel Antonio / Southern regions

Isla tortuga north of Jaco, gulf of Nicoya

Tarcoles River bridge crocodile viewpoint north of Jaco

Playa herradura next to Jaco for swimming

Jaco

Playa Hermosa (near Jaco, not for swimming,

Quepos / Manuel Antonio national park

La Playita small secluded beach in MA

La Selva trail in MA less crowded

Playa Biesanz (snorkel and swim)

Playa Espadilla (swim OK with caution)

Alturas wildlife sanctuary in Dominical

Nauyaca waterfall

Playa Hermosa south near Uvita swim low tide

Uvita (whale tail sand bar beach and park)

Uvita waterfall (natural slide into pond)

Drakes Bay

Cano island

Ojochal town as base for Corcovado

Osa peninsula (south) most bio diverse area

Corcovado national park, golfo dulce

Are you going to prioritize adventure or wildlife? Because zip lines and rope swings you won't see much wildlife and a canopy tour should be done early in the morning when it is still quiet.

I didn't think much of the snorkeling - there is much better snorkeling in Belize or Cozumel and probably also Honduras.

Quoting greatgrandmaR

Are you going to prioritize adventure or wildlife? Because zip lines and rope swings you won't see much wildlife and a canopy tour should be done early in the morning when it is still quiet.

I didn't think much of the snorkeling - there is much better snorkeling in Belize or Cozumel and probably also Honduras.

That’s a good question. I think it will be a good balance of both throughout the 11 days we’ll be there, because we will spend 2 days/1 night in Corcovado national park, focused primarily on wildlife and hiking. We will also do at least one night time wildlife tour either at Drakes Bay, Manuel Antonio, Monteverde, or Arenal, whichever promises the most wildlife. As far as Monteverde and Arenal regions, we are considering doing Zipline in Monteverde at “100% Aventura” because I read that they have the longest zip line in Latin America at over 5000 feet, we are considering doing the canopy tour “mistico hanging bridges” in Arenal but there is also “Sky Adventures” in Monteverde which also is reputable. Do you have any opinions on which canopy tour is better and which zipline is better and which night time wildlife tour is better?

as far as snorkeling in Costa Rica it was between Cano Island in OSA Peninsula and Tortuga island in Guanacaste across the bay from Jaco area but based off our current itineraries, Cano Island seems more appropriate since we will be already based in DrakeBay very close to Cano island, and I read Cano has better snorkeling. We’ve been snorkeling in thailands Phi Phi islands which was nice. Other than that we don’t have much snorkeling experience. I also read we can snorkel at Playa Biesanz Manuel Antonio but I’m not sure if a tour is offered or it’s self guided

[ Edit: Edited on 16 Mar 2025, 23:21 GMT by Alkhan ]

If you look at my 1996 trip (which was before digital photos) you can see what the snorkeling was like as well as the other stuff there. https://grandmacostarica.travellerspoint.com/9/

Personally whenever I travel i have a top 3 things for a location and add and drop things as required. so for Canos, we were to do a hike and I decided not to do it and went back and sat on the beach.

Some things have definitely changed - the roads, the location of the Jade museum and the Serpentarium, but the snorkeling is probably about the same.

[ Edit: Edited on 17 Mar 2025, 00:06 GMT by greatgrandmaR ]

Quoting greatgrandmaR

If you look at my 1996 trip (which was before digital photos) you can see what the snorkeling was like as well as the other stuff there. https://grandmacostarica.travellerspoint.com/9/

Personally whenever I travel i have a top 3 things for a location and add and drop things as required. so for Canos, we were to do a hike and I decided not to do it and went back and sat on the beach.

Some things have definitely changed - the roads, the location of the Jade museum and the Serpentarium, but the snorkeling is probably about the same.

I just got done looking at your trip, it looked amazing, I particularly enjoyed that you guys were able to get so close and even touch the spider monkey babies, I hope we can do the same and hopefully not get bit and get sick

The photos of snorkeling looked not too bad but I don’t know too much, definitely the water is not as clear as Thailand. And the water could be worse in June when we go vs February when you went. We could spend that day doing something else in Osa if we decide to skip the Snorkeling , or we could spend that day elsewhere in the country. Any suggestions?

You have to remember that trip was almost 30 years ago.

Both times I really liked the abundant wildlife on the Caribbean coast at Tortuguero. More wildlife and less adventure. I used a TA who was specifically for Costa Rica - he did a better job on the first trip, but maybe he would have a suggestion.