anavert

Will be in Costa Rica next week....just found out we'll have 3-4 extra days............I've been to Manuel Antonio and it's probably going to be quite rainy. Any other ideas? Either coast? We can rent a car or not................

RAC

What are your interests? Volcanoes, beaches, wildlife, rafting?

qwovadis

tabacon.com free hot springs volcano rain or shine

hotelcapitansuizo.com Guanacaste for least rain chance

usually rent a car stay flexible 50% "hospitality" discounts

everywhere off season go where the weather is not...

mapache.com servicecarrental.com wild-rider.com

Around flights hotelvillacaletas.com on the coast or

mybeaconescazu.com very nice my favs...

Good luck!

MichelleY

Tortuguero? May catch the tail end of nesting or some hatching of sea turtles?

mlgb

San Gerardo de Dota?

Andrea_loves_travel

We loved the rafting, we went with Exploradores Outdoors. You can do that as a day trip or an overnight trip from San Jose. I think an overnight would be awesome (ie 2 days of rafting), we just did 1 day as transportation from Puerto Viejo to San Jose. Poas Volcano was also cool, but it was a nervous wait hoping the clouds would clear! We took the public bus from downtown San Jose. You could definitely do that time in Arenal instead of staying in San Jose.

volcanogirl

Depends on what you're looking for, but we really love both Arenal and Tortuguero.

anavert

We're interested in photography.....Been to Arenal. How far is Tortuga? Also considering Monterverde.Don't know San Gerardo...tell me more???

volcanogirl

Tortuguero is on the Carib. side. Good time to go because it's the end of turtle season. Lots of wildlife in that area. Mostly travel by canals. We loved the Tortuga Lodge there. Laguna Lodge and Mawamba Lodge are popular too, as is Turtle Beach. Most people have their resorts arrange transportation, and since it's pretty isolated, you usually eat most of your meals at the lodge.


Monteverde is nice if you like cloud forest and a little cooler environment. We liked Fonda Vela there.

mlgb

San Gerardo de Dota is a small settlement in the cloud forest of the Talamancas. There are several good lodges, focus is on birding and trout fishing. This is one of the best places to see the quetzal bird.

colibri

We loved Savegre Mountain Lodge in San Gerardo de Dota - gorgeous cloud forest that caters mainly to birders and hikers. Quetzals are in the trees right outside the cabins, beautiful river and waterfalls, loads of hummingbirds at feeders on the patio, trogons easily spotted. It's 2 hours or so south of San Jose off the Inter American highway.

If you drive, stop off at Paraiso del Quetzal at the 70 km marker - excellent place to photograph fiery-throated hummingbirds.

Tortuguero is also one of our favorite places. I recommend Modesto and Fran Watson who will set up your transportation from San Jose, your lodging (usually Laguna Lodge) and take you on wildlife viewing tours. http://tortuguerocanals.com/ It is just amazing to see how much Modesto can spot!

volcanogirl

col, do you know if the quetzals are there all year long? Or are they seasonal?

colibri

VG - I was at Savegre in early-mid Nov. and there were four males and one female right outside of our cabin, sooooo easy to spot them all day long!

I'm not sure if they are there all year, bet you could e-mail the lodge and ask them. I was at Paraiso del Quetzal in March one year and we saw quetazals also. PdQ is off the Inter-American at the 70 km marker, so maybe less than an hour from Savegre in the cloud forest.

volcanogirl

Thanks, col - I love seeing them.

fortheloveoftravel

oh great! so my suggestions would be going to Monteverde world renowned for its cloud forest, it's absolutely gorgeous!! It's a bit on the chilly side and rainy this time of yr. though today has been sunny and beautiful.
Another idea would be heading to the Caribbean side to puerto viejo and its surrounding beaches, it's quite nice this time of the year when most other parts of the country are in "rainy season". ideally if you could rent a car that would be good so you don't waste your time away on long bus rides.
good luck !

volcanogirl

Does anyone who has been to the San Gerardo de Dota area know anything about Dantica, or has anyone stayed there? Wondering how it compares to Savegre Mountain Lodge.

mlgb

I stopped in and had a look at the gallery/restaurant area in Dantica, but not the rooms. It's very modern posh. I liked the Savegre Mountain lodge that Colibri mentioned, it's more focused on activities. There is a lot of hiking on site. As well as an apparently excellent massage service.

I asked Marino Chacon if the quetzales were there year round, and he said yes, but they will move around the valley depending on which wild avocado trees or other food trees are fruiting at the moment.

He always knows where they are, though!

One thing to be aware of is that it is cold at night. The rooms at Savegre are not that well insulated or heated. I used a metal flask as a hot water bottle, which helped, but be forwarned!

volcanogirl

Thanks, ml - I noticed that Dantica has heaters in the rooms and jacuzzis so that sounded like it might be kind of cozy. Seems like Savegre Mountain Lodge is more popular though. Are they located near each other? From the sound of it, I thought Dantica is at a higher elevation with Savegre being lower in the valley, but not sure. I was reading one post that said when they were there it wasn't quetzal season, so I was trying to figure out what they meant by that. Have definitely heard good things about Marino Chacon.

colibri

VG - I would think Dantica might be a little lower than Savegre since I remember passing it on the road. It looked fairly new and modern, thought it would be nice to check out their art gallery, but we were too busy watching quetzals and hummingbirds at our lodge.

The cabin we had at Savegre was good sized, nice heater for nights or mornings, lots of blankets, great bathtub with stones and candles on the side.

They were building a spa when I was there (11/09).

We had reserved Marino for 1/2 day birding, but he got tied up and we had his cousin, Melvin, who is also an excellent birder.

mlgb

Dantica is higher up on the road from the highway, I drove that several times!

Savegre is near the bottom of the valley.

I was there last November 2010, the spa was open to rave reviews from those in the bar. (There is a very nice bar by the way). I rather enjoyed the food (buffet style always with a trout option and lots of veg and salads).

My room was one of the junior suites and had a fireplace. No heater. Brrr.

I was lucky enough to have the first sunny day after the storm with Marino. Fantastic experience.