travelbaba

Thanks to the great travel tips from fodorites , our first trip to CR 2 years ago was awesome. We mainly stuck to OSA and BDC.

We are going back for a second time in February. We want to see different places. We have 6 full days.

Interested in birds, ecoresorts, jungle experience.

Does rancho naturalisata or savegre lodge for 3 days followed by either totuguero or arenal seem reasonable ?

Any recommendations / inputs welcome.

Thanks a lot
TB

car_free_traveler

Some of the best birding I had last January was in the Sarapiqui area, despite a solid three days of rain. I stayed 2 nights at La Selva Biological Station (primo for birding, particularly because of preservation of multiple habitats, partly because of good guides, presence of lots of birders keeping their eyes open), 2 nights in Posada Andrea Cristina in town (owners are birders). Also had some good birding in Punta Uva area (Gandoca-Manzanillo reserve). Maybe not really an eco-resort as in some of the Osa locations, but enjoyed waking up early every day to lots of birds there in the jungle, and also swimming at the lovely Punta Uva beach.

These two locations were fairly easy access from San Jose.
I didn't visit Arenal or Tortuguero so can't compare.

qwovadis

costaricexpeditions.com Tortuga Lodge

tabacon.com my fav for free best hot springs

or lostiguanaresort.com

maybe some fondavela.com hotelbelmar.net at

monteverdeinfo.com for some cloud forest

Quetzal birding... Have fun,

qwovadis

costaricaexpeditions.com/Lodging/tortugalodge

Incredible seting...

colibri

I'm assuming you are a birder since these are two of the top birding lodges in the country. Have been to both and thoroughly enjoyed them, very different since Savegre in much higher in the cloud forest of San Gerardo de Dota - excellent place to spot quetzals, volcano, magnificent, scintillant, mountain gem and green violet ear hummingbirds, nice hiking trails along the river, can be quite chilly at night due to altitude.

Rancho N. is much lower so you will get mid-altitude birds. Hummingbirds swarm the feeders at the lodge and it's magical to go to the stream in late afternoon to watch them bathing, flitting in and out of the water. Staff there is wonderful, excellent birding guides, food was great.

I did an 8 night stay - 2 Savegre, 2 Rancho N. and 3 Selva Verde in Sarapiqui - all very different experiences. Selva Verde will give you the Caribbean lowlands jungle experience - lots of frogs, howlers, iguanas, sloths and toucans on the lodge grounds, plus loads of birds.

I personally love Tortuguero more than Arenal since I'm not an adventure or thrill seeker - did the zipline once, enough. At Tortuguero I stay at Laguna Lodge and book with Modesto and Fran Watson who run Riverboat Francesca - awesome guides! You will see tons of wildlife with them.

Enjoy your trip!

RAC

Arenal is not great for jungle/birding/ecoresorts. Only one lodge--the Arenal Observatory Lodge--really qualifies for that kind of experience (it's an awesome option, though, so if you they have availability certainly you should book a stay there). Arenal is mostly a big tourist area with ziplines/adventure activities and hot springs.

For birds/wildlife/ecotourism/jungle the Sarapiqui area (La Selva, Selva Verde etc) is a much better option. Monkeys, toucans etc everywhere. Great ecotourism options and very reasonably priced ecolodges in the rainforest--and right on the way from San Jose to Tortuguero.

Rancho Naturalista would be a better fit for that direction. Savegre would be better if you head to Hacienda Baru, Osa Peninsula, or Carara/Tarcoles areas for birding.

volcanogirl

If you do end up going to Arenal, we had a great birding day by hiring our own guide for a morning. We got up really early and went out about 5 minutes from the Lost Iguana near the lake and saw tons of birds, including toucans. Our guide kept a written list for us, and the entire page was full after a couple of hours. Also saw an anteater, sloth, howler monkeys, and even a wild peccary. I wouldn't go there specifically for birding, but the area is great with the waterfall, natural hot springs, volcano, etc. The Cano Negro tour is great for spotting water birds. Desafio and Sunset Tours are both good companies in the area. Would be nice combined with one of your birding areas. We loved Tortuguero too, but the highlight for us was seeing the turtles, and you won't be there during turtle season. There are beautiful canals, so you wouldn't do much hiking, but would be out in boats to spot most of the wildlife. Tortuga Lodge is wonderful if it's in your budget.

travelbaba

Thanks guys. So we could do
3 nights in selva verde followed by 3 nights in tortuguero. Is tortuguero still interesting in feb without the turtles ? Also What else can we do in sarapiqui area other than birding ?

Other option is
2 nights savegre, 1 night el toucanet followed by 3 nights in torto or Arenal.

We are not the zip lining adventure types, more nature, jungle birding, decent food and shelter

Thanks a lot
TB

volcanogirl

Most of the lodges in Tortuguero aren't know for their food. A lot of them put you into tour groups and you tour and eat buffet with your group. That's why we picked Tortuga Lodge because you can tour on your own, and their food is excellent. It's pricier though. Laguna Lodge, Mawamba Lodge, and Turtle Beach Lodge are popular too and more affordable. If you like being out on a boat and going up and down canals looking for wildlife, then you'd like Tortuguero. We really liked it. Some of the lodges also have kayaks you can take out. Kind of freaked me out because there are crocs in the water, but a lot of people do it. You can't swim at the beach, but the wildlife was plentiful - lots of water birds, toucans, caimans, monkeys, crocs, turtles in season, and we even saw an otter. Lots of blue morphos too. There's not much to the town and unless you stay in the town itself, you'd have to get there by boat. It's basically a little town with canals all around it, and most of the lodges along the water. Most people stay at their lodge for the duration. We hung out at the pool, did a canal tour, and did a turtle tour. Two nights is about right for that area.

RAC

Sarapiqui offers ecotours such as La Tirimbina's famous chocolate tour, the night time Bat tour, daytime wildlife hikes, night hikes, rafting (the main river rafted by Arenal folks is the . . . Sarapiqui river), boat tours, plantation tours, Heliconia Island botanical gardens, Centrio NeoTropical SarapiquiS has an indigenous museum, medicinal garden, and archaeological excavation site, etc. Also ziplines and horseback riding if you're into that kind of thing.

Plus the birds.

travelbaba

Thanks folks.

The logistics of travel to/from Tortuguero seem dauting. Perhaps we should just fly there from San Jose, after our trip to San Gerardo de Dota. (Savegre and El Toucanet).

I'm assuming we can still explore the canals and jungles in Tortuguero even if we fly there.

Thanks
TB.

volcanogirl

We boated in and flew out. If you can, it's really worth boating one way to see all the wildlife in the canals. The trip was wonderful with blue morphos flying all around us. Tortuga Lodge surprised us with a picnic on the side of the river - a great vacation memory for us.

travelbaba

Hello folks,

We are thinking of skipping Tortuguero.

How does this itnerary sound ? The lodges are booking out, need to make reservations sooner.

Arrive in SJO at 11:30AM.
1st and 2nd night - Savegre
Day 3 - Taxi to Selva Verde (Is this going to be too long ?)
3rd / 4th night - Selva Verde.
5th day - flight to manuel antonio.
5th and 6th night - MA.
7th day - Fly back to SJO in the PM and catch return flight back to US.

Main interests - birds, wildlife, jungle. Beach is bonus, but not required.

Thanks a lot
TB.

RAC

With that itinerary, Rancho Naturalista near Turrialba makes a lot more sense.

A relatively easy loop would be Rancho Naturalista, Sarapiqui, Tortuguero.

travelbaba

Hi RAC, How long is it from Rancho to Sarapiqui ? isnt Sarapiqui sorth of San Jose and Rancho to the East and Tortu even more to the east ?

Any idea of drive / cab times ?

Thanks

travelbaba

Also, is the drive from Savegre to Manuel Antonio 1:45 mins ?
Google Maps shows that the drive from San Gerardo via Dominical (south) and up nort to Manuel Antonio is around 1 hour and 45 mins.

If so, it may be better for us to drive there, stay for a couple of nights.

Thanks
TB

mlgb

My notes are that it is approx 2 hours from Savegre Lodge to the intersection with the coast hwy in Dominical (under normal conditions), and a bit under an hour between Dominical and Manuel Antonio.

Be sure to stop at one of the fruit stands between San Isidro and Dominical.

Also it's a good idea to get an early start from San Gerardo de Dota to beat some of the trucks. I might add another night there so that you have two full days plus arrival and departure.

jdp867

We are also going to Manuel Antonio in January. If you search under jdp867, you'll see some recent posts about places to stay. We ultimately chose Arenas del Mar. The folks in this forum were very helpful, so you might check out those posts.

RAC

It's about 2 hours maybe 2.5 from Rancho Naturalista to the Sarapiqui area. You have to drive east from San Jose to get to Sarapiqui.

Cattail

Not to muddy the waters, but you can easily be picked up and returned to/from San Jose on a tour with the Watsons, the best Tortuguero tour guides IMO. Their boat is called "The Francesca". We stayed at Laguna Lodge a few years ago, and it was very good. It was an easy trip, not daunting at all. Worth a Google.

Arenal is fantastic ("but, yes, rather touristy"), and The Cano Negro trip offers as much, if not more, wildlife than Tortuguero.

Sarapiqui was one of our very favorite spots for birds and other wildlife in three trips. Perhaps second to The Osa.

Savagre Lodge used to be a simple lodge in the cloud forest. It looks as though it's undergone a bit of a transformation since we visited a few years ago,with a spa and fancier lodging and dining. We loved this place! The hummingbirds alone - ahh!

You simply can't go wrong.