Kathy225

I see that Cano Negro is a highly recommended tour especially on this site. We are on the fence about doing it or not. It seems like a really long day and I am just not sure if it's worth it for us. Here's a brief overview of what we will be doing while in Arenal. We are staying at Lost Iguana for 4 nights. It's for our honeymoon, so we want some adventrue but also some relaxing. While there we want to visit the hanging bridges, ecotermales and do the sky trek zipline. We will also have a couple's massage at Lost Iguana's Spa. So I guess I want to hear people's recommendations about whether or not we should add Cano Negro. Is it going to be too much hustle and bustle? What are the highlight's of this adventure?

Cattail

For wildlife enthusiasts. Cano Negro is numero uno, IMO. It's not exactly adventurous, but you will see exciting things that you have little chance of seeing anywhere else that you mentioned:caiman, crocs, giant iguanas,sloths, monkeys,bats, snakes, beautiful birds, plus a chance to see another side of the country. Three full days should allow you plenty of time.

qwovadis

it is a very long day if you are not into wildlife

might skip it...

www.desafiocostarica.com

consider instead liquid lava tour...

or Rio Celeste hike awesome...

colibri

Ditto Cattail's comments. It is the best place in the Arenal area for wildlife viewing, but if that isn't one of your main interests, you might not enjoy it as much as others do. You would have around a two hour drive each way since Lost Iguana is located away from La Fortuna. It is a very relaxing day - bus ride, boat ride for 2 - 3 hours, followed by lunch, often a stop at the iguana bridge on the way there or home. We enjoyed it and thought it very worthwhile even though we saw more wildlife at Tortuguero.

Kathy225

Wildlife is definitely of interest and it seems like something we would enjoy. Good point about it being relaxing in itself especially when compared to hiking. It seems to make sense to b/c it seems like one activity where the rain won't be too much of a factor b/c the boat is covered. Has anyone ever gone from Lost Iguana to Cano Negro and made it back in time for Eco Termales at the 5:00pm time slot? We won't have our own car so I am also wondering about transportation and see what others have done.

volcanogirl

We loved Cano Negro. We've done it twice, and I would still go back and do it again. We used Sunset Tours, and they were great. On our first trip, we didn't see any wildlife in Arenal. Then we did the Cano Negro cruise, and I'll never forget seeing our first monkeys - capuchins just sitting and swinging in the trees by the river, then howlers, then tiny bats on a tree, then a sloth, great birds, caimans - we loved it. We also had a very fun group of people that helped with the spotting. The boat is nice and covered, and they provide you with cold juice drinks in a cooler - it's one of the most relaxing things we've done in CR. You get back around 3:30, easy enough to do dinner at Eco T. Sunset Tours will come pick you up at the Lost Iguana - that's where we always stay.

Kathy225

Do you suggest we reserve in advance or wait until we get to Arenal? We have already reserved Eco T. so we know which day we would like to do Cano Negro.

sessa

You can wait until you get to Arenal to book. We booked thru our hotel and also went with Sunset Tours in January. The guides were fabulous and made the trip that much more fun. It is not really adventurous as you are sitting on a boat (and I would much rather be doing something active), but you see lots of wildlife as previous posters have said which makes it worth it.

The bus ride is not as long as it sounds - only the last stretch (on the worst road ever) seemed to take forever.

Definitely do SkyTrek and Eco Termales! Hanging Bridges was cool, too, and we saw tons of monkeys walking thru there but that was the only wildlife we saw. You do get great volcano views from there, too.

volcanogirl

Kathy, I booked ahead just because I knew I wanted to do it the second day we were there, and I thought our flight might be delayed. Turns out we didn't get in until after the front desk reception was gone for the day so I wouldn't have been able to book it for the next day - I was glad I had booked ahead. If you want to wait until you get there, I think it would be fine. Some people like to wait to see how the weather will be, etc. If it's rainy, the wildlife can go into hiding.

cmerrell

I guess I don't really have anything earth-shattering to add, except for another vote for Cano Negro.

We also went with Sunset Tours and really enjoyed the experience. I guess if you're still on the fence but would like to see wildlife, you'd need to look at where else (if anywhere) you'll be visiting in Costa Rica. You may have terrific wildlife viewing available elsewhere. We went to Manuel Antonio after Arenal on our first CR visit and saw tons of wildlife there, but I didn't regret the time spent at Cano Negro for one second. It was wonderful!

Kathy225

We will be going to Manuel Antonio afterwards and doing a tour of the park, but other than that we just plan on spending our beach time relaxing. I have yet to hear one negative opinion of Cano Negro, so it's safe to say that you guys have sold me on the idea. Thanks for all your help!

volcanogirl

One thing we really liked about Cano Negro is that the animals are wild and exhibit natural behavior. In MA, they will steal food from you and can open a bag of chips! Kathy, I really think Cano Negro will be fun for you. Be sure to bring your camera; we got some really good wildlife pics there.

cmerrell

Good point, VG. I liked MA, but the animals are more acclimated to people there. This allows for some great photo ops, but they just aren't as wary of people as they should be. The one thing in MA though, that you won't get at Cano Negro, are the squirrel monkeys (I love those little guys!). You'll have a shot at the other 3 species at CN (howlers, capuchins and spiders). You'll also probably see howlers and capuchins in MA...

The two places offer different experiences. It's a good itinerary for first-time visitors to CR. You're in for a great time, Kathy!

volcanogirl

c, we didn't see any squirrel monkeys in MA; I would have loved to! We spotted some on the Osa - they were so cute!

Kathy225

cmerrell - thanks I am really looking forward to it, only 4 months to go, man do I wish it was sooner!

volcanogirl - I know you said that you booked it ahead of time but were you able to book through Lost Iguana? When I made my hotel reservation they had sent me a list of tours from the tour desk and Cano Negro isn't on there.

volcanogirl

Kathy, I booked it through the Sunset Tours website. I think it's www.sunsettourcr.com. They list all the tours and descriptions.

cmerrell

Here's a link to Sunset Tours' site, Kathy: http://www.sunsettourcr.com/

I bet you could also contact Lost Iguana and ask them about it even if it's not on the list they sent you. Most hotels offer it as an option, so maybe it was just an oversight. I see that it <i>is</i> listed as an area attraction on their website under their Activities/Other Popular Side Trips link...

Kathy225

Thanks guys, I'm going to email the tour desk now just to make sure. Otherwise I will book directly with sunset tours.

Kathy225

Ok so I heard back for LI. They can book it will be with adventuras arenal. Does anyone has any feedback on the cano negro tour through them? You have all seemed to recommend sunset tours so I don't know if I should just book with them on my own.

hipvirgochick

Sunset Tours seem to be more widely used here in part due to word of mouth, but we went with Adventuras Arenal and they were excellent. Both the boat driver and guide were great!