Costa Rica

Quoting greatgrandmaR

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.

My apologies, you are very knowledgeable and Im asking much of you. I appreciate you!

I wish I had the time to also visit the Caribbean and guanacaste

Also if I said I was not worried about missing the 8am domestic flight, I would be a liar. I do need a back up plan. If I miss the flight I will need to take the next flight which is at 12pm. Since we last spoke I decided to book a private fishing tour (haven’t reserved or paid yet) but if I miss my flight it will be too late for that tour because I’ll arrive at 1pm instead of 9am and they might not return my deposit. If I don’t put a deposit but make it to my 8am flight, there is a chance someone else will book the tour and I won’t be able to. I guess I could find something else to do that day, worst case scenario.

im also concerned about the weather in the south in early July. If it rains hard, it’ll disturb my fishing, snorkeling, and hiking plans. I know you can’t predict the weather but can you tell me what you think June 7 to 10 will be like at Drakes Bay / Corcovado area?

I do feel like I’m cutting Manuel Antonio short in order to make it to Monteverde but I don’t want to cut out Monteverde either need at least 1 full day there

I haven’t booked my plane ticket yet so I might just add 1 more day to make a total of 12 days that way I’ll have time to visit all the regions i listed and do more of the activities . If i do that, where and how should I spend the extra time in your opinion? The truth is my work might not allow that so it’s not a guarantee I can do it, but I want to!

Today I re wrote my itinerary and fine tuned it. I know you’ve already read a lot of my writing but if you don’t mind, take a look and tell me what you think it’ll be like if I add one more day to make it 12 total and I want to hear how you would use that extra day… at Manuel Antonio? I agree it’s a beautiful place. How should I spend the extra time there? Or should I spend it elsewhere

NEW ITINERARY UPDATED 3/17/25

Day 1, 2, 3, 4 - Drake Bay - June 7 land in SJO 5:30am, get on 8am domestic flight to Drake Bay, arriving 9am, check in hotel, no plans this day maybe go on a daytime fishing tour then do something else at night (open to suggestions) June 8 get on boat to Sirena/Corcovado for wildlife hiking tour, spend the night there. June 9 more hiking in Corcovado then return to Drake Bay around 2pm, that night maybe do nocturnal wildlife tour (open to suggestions) June 10 (our anniversary day) get on boat to Cano island for snorkeling tour, return to Drake bay around 2pm, check out of Drake bay hotel, get on boat to Sierpe and arrive around 4:00 PM where we pickup a rental 4x4 SUV and drive to Manuel Antonio park

Day 4, 5, 6 - Manuel Antonio - June 10 arrive hopefully around 6pm before dark, check in hotel. That evening have a romantic dinner, celebrate our anniversary, walk on the beach or nature and sleep early, wake up early for tomorrows M.A. park tour. June 11 do a full tour of Manuel Antonio park, hiking and also relaxing beach time, then watch the sunset with drinks, then maybe some night life or night time mangrove boat tour or nocturnal wildlife walk.

June 12 - check out of Manuel Antonio hotel, but before heading to Monteverde, visit one or a couple of the following places: one hour drive South there is Nauyaca waterfalls, which looks beautiful, they offer horseback rides up to the waterfalls and back down instead of hiking, (one hour each way) it starts at 9am and ends at 1:30pm, it includes Lunch on the way down. Total cost $80 PP. From Nauyaca it’s 4 hours drive to Monteverde which means I’ll get there about 6 pm (sunset) because I will stop for 30 minutes to view Tarcoles bridge crocodiles on the way to Monteverde. This plan should work but is cutting it close if there are delays on the road. I would prefer not to drive unfamiliar roads at night but I’m not too concerned, it won’t be my first experience of the sort and I’m an experienced driver

Other than Nauyaca there are less interesting places in the Manuel Antonio region: to the South there is Uvita, Playa Hermosa, Uvita waterfall (natural water slide) to the North there is Beisanz beach, Quepos, Playa Hermosa, Jaco, and Playa Herradura. Of all the places I listed above, there are only a few that I’m most excited to see: Nauyaca waterfalls and Tarcoles river crocodile bridge. The other places don’t seem as special and/or they seem redundant compared to everything else on my 11 day itinerary. Most likely I won’t visit these places unless I have time to spare and they’re recommended

Day 6, 7, 8 - Monteverde - June 12 check in Monteverde hotel, freshen up, dinner, maybe a nocturnal cloud forest tour. June 13 visit Santa Elena cloud forest with a private guide, then do a zipline tour either at 100% Aventura, Selvatura, or Treetopia (open to suggestions) no plans in the evening (open to suggestions).
June 14 check out of Monteverde hotel. Maybe do a short activity before driving to La Fortuna / Arenal, maybe a coffee and/or chocolate tour

Day 8, 9, 10, & 11 - La Fortuna - June 14 Check in La Fortuna hotel. Depending on the time of the day, do a short activity e.g. Salto rope swing, hot springs, kayaking lake Arenal, or hanging bridges night tour (open to suggestions) June 15 do a full day group tour with shared guide to see La Fortuna waterfall, hike Arenal volcano, visit an indigenous village, and visit a hot spring resort. Another option is to do these activities without a guide (open to suggestions) afterwards maybe hot springs in the evening (open to suggestions) June 16 either do a river rafting tour, or drive to Rio Celeste(only if good weather or else it’s muddy water) for sight seeing swimming and river tubing and also visit the oldest/largest tree in CR. I’m hoping I can do all this in one day without feeling too rushed

June 17 - our final day in Costa Rica but thankfully we have the entire day since our flight is after midnight. San Jose doesn’t interest us too much (open to suggestions) so we will probably spend the morning and early afternoon in Arenal / La Fortuna. Maybe we’ll visit the Mistico hanging bridges, or do another activity we didn’t have time for. Maybe we will use our final day for pure relaxation, hot springs, massages, etc (open to suggestions)

We should leave La Fortuna by 2 or 3 PM so we can get to San Jose by 5 or 6 PM before the Sun goes down. Our car rental guy said we can return the car at 10pm, the office is located 10 minutes from the airport, or we can return it earlier if driving in the city is more of a hassle than a convenience, but in this case we will need transportation to the city and back again to the airport, and we won’t have anywhere to keep our luggage full of clothes while we explore the city. We want to enjoy the city for a few hours before our midnight flight back to Los Angeles

I’ve been researching and planning for almost a week now, changing the itinerary multiple times, but I think it’s getting close to being ready, maybe I’ll make some more changes based on your advice and suggestions, but I’m ready to start reserving hotels, rental car, and activities

I was in Costa Rica in August about 10 years ago. So my knowledge is not really up to date. The green season is from May to November - basically about the same as the hurricane season. June is at the beginning of the season and would usually have less rain than we had in August. On the east coast it rained hard with thunder - usually at night or early in the morning. Sometimes we had some drizzle. On the Pacific coast it didn't rain much at all when we were there.

I stayed in Arenal where we could watch the volcano from our room (it was active then) and on the way up there from San Jose (we were going the other direction than you) we stopped and looked at the topiary in Zacario and also stopped to shop at Sarchi. I also did some shopping in the central market where I bought some hand carved wooden creches. There are shops at Manuel Antonio, but the advantage of Sarchi is that the things are produced there and aren't imported from China or Haiti. Also it will be at the end of your trip so if you buy stuff you won't have to carry it far.

Quoting greatgrandmaR

I was in Costa Rica in August about 10 years ago. So my knowledge is not really up to date. The green season is from May to November - basically about the same as the hurricane season. June is at the beginning of the season and would usually have less rain than we had in August. On the east coast it rained hard with thunder - usually at night or early in the morning. Sometimes we had some drizzle. On the Pacific coast it didn't rain much at all when we were there.

I stayed in Arenal where we could watch the volcano from our room (it was active then) and on the way up there from San Jose (we were going the other direction than you) we stopped and looked at the topiary in Zacario and also stopped to shop at Sarchi. I also did some shopping in the central market where I bought some hand carved wooden creches. There are shops at Manuel Antonio, but the advantage of Sarchi is that the things are produced there and aren't imported from China or Haiti. Also it will be at the end of your trip so if you buy stuff you won't have to carry it far.

hopefully it doesn’t rain too much. I’m hoping that since we are starting our trip in the south and then heading north it will get drier as we head up even though we are getting later into the rainy season. Basically we’re running from the rain haha. I guess it’ll boil down to luck / fate

We will try to also get a hotel with a view of the volcano, please recommend any good places . I didn’t even know about Sarchi. We were going to do some souvenir shopping in San Jose but thanks for your advice. We will stop at Sarchi on our way and buy some locally Made authentic souvenirs. Can you tell me what kind of souvenirs are available at Sarchi? What did you buy? Thank you

Look again at my 1996 visit - I have photos of some of the things I bought. I know I also bought some smaller things like a little thing like an an ocarina

I don't think the volcano is as active now as it was then. we were at the Arenal Lodge. But it was a LONG time ago

[ Edit: Edited on 18 Mar 2025, 12:01 GMT by greatgrandmaR ]