costarica.bookit.com good deals booking on tabacon.com others
I really like Tabacon best free hot springs if you stay there.
Volcano is always active just not erupting(today,it varies)
Couple of years since I have stayed there. hotelvillacaletas.com best coastal hotel within an hour from the airport. issimosuites.com or costaverde.com or arenasdelmar.com based on budget for MA. tripadvisor.com/members/natureguide Juan Brenes
best guide you will have a brilliant time with him.
mapache.com servicecarrental.com for economy freedom flexibility orgood drivers like odysseytourscr.com Al Diego for xport but more $$$.

Have fun!

Congrats on finishing your MBAs!

9 days dwindles to possibly 7 days after flight-time is figured in, less even if you consider travel to each destination. You are wise to choose no more than two destinations.

It's difficult for anyone to advise you where to go without knowing more about your preferences. Arenal is, however, a wonderful choice. I think that most folks greatly enjoy it whether lava is flowing or not, just that the choice of lodging becomes a little less important. The volcano, when it decides to emerge, is spectacular, and there's a ton to do in the area.

Travel time between destinations can be deceptive, and depends as much upon the condition of the road as mileage.

The Arenal area is kind of like Disneyland right now. The main attraction (active volcano) that everything touristy was built around is quiet (do NOT expect activity other than smoke from the top; there is no geological indication that that any eruption is imminent) but there are still MANY things to see and do in the area(albeit most for a hefty fee; zipline, hanging bridge hike, hot springs, river rafting, even cave tours an hour or so away) and it's a very scenic area. So, not a "waste of time" just because you don't see lava (make sure you check out the views early in day, if it's been overcast). (BTW, if you can find a deal, most love Lost Iguana, and it is in a wonderful location. You could always ask them.)
Monte Verde has the cloud forest, but a similar (hanging bridge, ziplines) experience can be found in Arenal. However, it is also a beautiful area. The drive from Fortuna (arenal) to Monte Verde is gorgeous; however, it is a long drive (map distances mean nothing in CR compared to what you're used to), and parts are extremely rough; you will want 4WD.
Manual Antonio for me was overcrowded, frankly. Nice beach, if you want to pay $10 pp/day (but Tulemar Bungalows has a lovely private beach). Easy to get around, lots of restaurants, but lots of people.
If you want beach time, another hour farther south of Quepos/Manual Antonio (Uvita) will provide long expanses of beach with bath-warm water and no people. There are other threads about that here.

Arenal is a great place to go; we've been there several times and try to go every year. Tons to do there including the ziplines, rafting, Cano Negro Tour, Penas Blancas river float, hiking at the gorgeous waterfall and Hanging Bridges, and the natural hot springs like Tabacon or Eco Termales. I'd definitely still go there if you enjoy hiking and adventure activities. It is really cool to see the lava, but most people go for the activities. Nayara and the Lost Iguana are two other nice places to stay. The drive to Monteverde is long and on a bumpy road. Like mentioned above, it's very hard to judge distances on a map. Monteverde was rainy and chilly for us. MA is a nice place to go if you want beach time and easy access to fairly tame wildlife. Lots of hotel and restaurant choices there.

Wow... thank you all for such great inputs. Arenal is a definite YES for us after reading all of your posts.

@Qwovadis: Thanks for all the links, will look it up shortly.
@Cattail: Thank you for the wishes, and no - 9 days is the time we stay there, which means I am leaving for Costa Rica on the 20th and will leave for bac home on the 1st morning.
@Sylvia3 and Volcanogirl: Lava or no Lava - Arenal it is!

Both, my husband and I, enjoy adventures. I am leaning towards starting off with Arenal for the first 3 nights and then heading to MA for 2 nights. But since we have more time on hand... what are the other places you suggest we visit? Can I add one more place? If yes, what are your recommendations?

PS: I am all smiling after reading what you guys have to say

I would suggest you drive a little further south to Dominical. We loved it there. Small town with a few hotels and restaurants and a great vibe. We did a river tubing trip on our own that ended in town which was great. Not an advertised trip but the guys at the rafting shop will rent the tubes and take you up river. You float back to your car. We also drove down to Sierpe and rented a private boat and guide to tout the mangroves. It was about $50 for two people. Also, we went tilapia fishing at Tilapias El Pavon which is a few miles south of Uvita. For $7 each you can catch your tilapia which they will cook and serve you for lunch. They also have a beautiful waterfall nearby that is all included in the price. We also did an ultra lite flight one day. Pricey but worth it if you're into that. The canopy tour in Uvita is one of the best we've done in Costa Rica. Long runs and a Tarzan swing.

Hope this helps.

Yes, go south of MA; Dominical (more for surfing; check our Rio Mar, http://www.villasriomar.com/) or even a tad farther south to Uvita (both pretty close). Great for terrific beaches, and it's a pretty easy drive from there to the village of Sierpe for (organized and not) tours of the mangroves, and if it's reopened, they say in June, Cano Island for a snorkel tour. You can also leave Sierpe for a day hike of Cocovado National Park.
I second El Pavon for a lovely lunch; we went there between meals the first time, and they smiled and waved us through to view the beautiful cascade. Lots of good beer, and other food if you're not a tilapia fan!
Cristal Ballena (http://www.cristal-ballena.com/cb_en_acommod.htm) is a great location and reasonable; lots of places in the Ballena N.P. area.
And, if you want long stretches of warm water and deserted beach...

Awesome... will look into the options suggested.

On a different note, what is best way to get from one place to another in CR? Interbus (which I have read about on a few blogs), rent a car, hire a private driver/car, taxis? I know each one of them is an experience, but my preference would be to commute economical and spend on the activities, food, and hotel (if I am spending too much time there). Having said that, I don't want to be ruin my trip by traveling cheap and feeling miserable... if you know what I mean!!

Also... I am a vegetarian and my husband is not. Will food be a challenge? Thanks in advance for being so helpful

Depends on what you want to do; if you plan on taking a lot of sidetrips for tours, visiting several locations, taking excursions from those locations, I think a rental car is your best best for convenience AND cost. Driving from Arenal to the (southern) Pacific coast is relatively easy, and the roads are fine. You could get an inexpensive sedan (we've had very good luck with Solid and Europcar) and as long as you have a major credit card (and bring evidence of the cc coverage), your CLW will be covered. So, it will be rental cost plus ~10/day mandatory insurance. (We like to be on own own schedule, not at the whims of buses or other drivers/methods.) BTW, the cost for 16 days in Jan-Feb for a 4WD for us was ~500; the cost for a sedan would have been much less.

We use private drivers that we book through our hotels to get from town to town and taxis once we're in town. A lot of people like to drive themselves; if you're adventurous go for it. A private driver lets you sit back and enjoy the ride, and they can act as a tour guide of sorts pointing out things along the way, good places to stop, etc. Interbus is more affordable if you're willing to operate on someone else's schedule. To give you an idea of costs, a private driver going from SJO to La Fortuna will run around $130-140 or so.

p.s. $476 with Solid, 4WD Suzuki Jimney, supplemental liability included in that price.

Costa Rica is big on rice and beans, plantains, salads, etc. I don't think food will be an issue for you.

For most tours that you do, they'll pick you up at your hotel and drop you back off.

We did our first CR trip in January. We normally rent cars, but decided to go for the private driver for the long legs and used taxis and buses locally (Manual Antonio had a very convenient and cheap bus system). We used Wilson Rojas (wilson_elsy@yahoo.com) as our driver. He is also very helpful with excursions, restaurants, and even hotels. We ended up staying at Lost Iguana in Arenal. It's a lovely place. In MA, we stayed in Tulemar (with the private beach) which was also very nice. Our last night we spent near the airport at Casa Bella Rita, B&B which was also great and very inexpensive.

Hi everyone and thank you so much for the great inputs.
Sorry... I have been a little out of loop... really busy at work, but I have to nail this down this weekend.

So based on the inputs, here's my tentative plan:
3 nights in Arenal (reach noon, leave morning)
2 nights in Dominical (reach afternoon, leave morning)
3 nights in MA (reach noon, leave morning)
1 night in Casa Bella Rita (reach afternoon, leave morning)

Does it make sense? Am I including too many places? Should we spend more/less time at a place?

Once I figure out how much time I am spending in a city, I can plan the hotels and other logistics.

I think it sounds nice. I've been to grad school so I know the relief you must feel! Have not been to Dominical, but it gets consistently good reviews. It was very MBAish of you to make a spreadsheet!

Sounds nice, but I'd really recommend the Dominical (Uvita) area longer than MA. (Dominical is a surfers' beach, but beaches a tiny bit farther south down the road are tranquil and awesome.) We saw more monkeys in the Uvita area than in MA, and frankly, MA was way overcrowded for our tastes. But Ballena National Park, the Playa Ventanas, and other stretches of almost deserted beach (one named Hermosa, like several others in CR) would be my choice if I had to pick tomorrow.

MBAish... hee hee... that makes me **blush**. It is, and I donno another way to plan

Since MA and Dominical are so close by, we may switch a night, and for the most part we should be good. So back to my spreadsheet and as I am doing that will ping you for any other questions?

Thank you and keep the tips, trivia, and advice flowing

Playa Ventanas:
http://www.google.com/search?q=playa+ventanas+beach+costa+rica&hl=en&client=firefox-a&sa=X&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&ei=iXeAT8uwG8XY2QWjyrSbBw&ved=0CD8QsAQ&biw=1105&bih=862

Also ask your lodge owner/whoever is around, how to get to other lovely beaches (such as the one with a path down from a restaurant; you don't have to order a beer on your way, but it's a nice thank you for the parking).

I was at a friend's place for a get together yesterday and we spoke about our trip to Costa Rica. There was a constant mention of Monte Verde for it's Rain forest, zipline tours etc. At this point, Monte Verde is not a part of our tour... are we missing out something? Should we replan or tweak our itinerary? ... yea... a lil confused again!

The Arenal area has amazing ziplining and better weather than Monteverde. I'd only hit up Monteverde if you really have a strong desire to see the cloud forest - cool and misty weather and if you want to do some birding - quetzals are there. I think Monteverde is nice, but having been there once we haven't had a strong desire to go back. Our hotel even had their fireplace going to keep things from getting too chilly. The road to get there is long and bumpy. To me other areas offer more to do and warmer weather, but depends on what you're looking for.

The big 3 for 1st time visits seem to be Arenal, Monteverde, and Manual Antonio.
However, after repeat visits, I'd prefer Uvita south to Osa for beaches, green, mountains, rainforest and scenery, and way northwest (like Flamingo, Conchal)for sheer beach suntime. I wouldn't really want to revisit Manual Antonio, and frankly, Arenal-La Fortuna isn't a big draw for me anymore. So, it's entirely personal preference, and trying to do/see it all will have you dizzy.
Why not save Monteverde for another visit? It's a difficult bumpy road, and although lovely, and has zip, hanging bridge hikes, etc., you might find it very similar to things you can do in Arenal.

Okkk... I'm with you guys. Arenal and MA as our stay locations and we will take these side trips like Dominical, Uvita etc. We eill save Monte Verde for another time.

Is it ok to stay put in MA and take a day trip to smaller locations like Dominical, Uvita etc? That's our plan for now.

We are splitting our stay between Tabacon and El Silencio in Arenal and Issimo in MA. How does it sound thus far???

Now for the transportation bit. based on your inputs, I am getting a private driver/car from SJO to Arenal. Arenal to MA, we will rent a car and take a easy trip down south. to go from place to place within the city, or day drips, we will use local transportation - taxis, buses. This is the tentative plan, but not confirmed. What do you think? Should we change anything?

The drive from SJO to Arenal is easy, and very scenic (esp. if you go through Grecia, etc.); are you getting a driver because of the hour of arrival?
If you have a car, why would you take taxis (let alone bus)on day trips? The car for day trips (to beaches on one side, anything else on the other) will be the smartest choice.

It's a 30 minute drive from MA to Dominical; the main highway is fine for points farther south. Early starts!

One thing I forgot to mention, if you get remotely car sick, take a Dramamine or something similar before hitting the road - lots of up and downs and twists and turns. I've never gotten car sick before, but CR roads make me queasy sometimes.

Thanks guys. I have a not so happy news. I tried making the booking at Issimo suites in MA and I was disappointed by their response. It's all sold out for the dates I want. Can you give me some other economical and good options for MA. I'm ok if it's as expensive and as good as Issimo looked. All others that I am seeing are so expensive or extremely blah...

A few popular spots are Mango Moon, Costa Verde, Si Como No, Villas Nicolas, Posada Jungle Lodge, Arenas del Mar - not sure what your budget is.

Maybe do a quick look for Domenical/Uvita and do the day tripping to MA?
You might check out VRBO for MA:
http://www.vrbo.com/vacation-rentals/central-america/costa-rica/puntarenas/manuel-antonio-area/manuel-antonio
You can also check out other spots (Playa Ballena, for example:
http://www.vrbo.com/245722)

For your night at Casa Bella Rita, Steve will cook you dinner (at a nominal fee). It's worth it. He's a great cook, and there aren't many options in the immediate area without a car. He can cook just about anything. I had read in advance that he makes the best ribs around, so I requested that. They were delicious! We ended up having a family-style meal with Rita & Steve and the other family that was staying there. It was very enjoyable. Staying with Rita and Steve is like staying with old friends.

You could look and see if there is anything open in Manuel Antonio at Tulemar - it has a private beach with kayaks which is great! They might have something open, they have bungalows, and some other great one bedroom properties. Just depends on what your budget is, but they also have a central location in Manuel Antonio http://www4tulemar.com

We are very fond of Tulemar Bungalows. . . love that private beach.

Also, just a side note, Tabacon has a fabulous spa (Tabacon Grand Spa). It would be well worth your time (if you are a spa girl) to spend 2-3 hours there one day. I've had the massage, chocolate scrub, and facial. . .all were delightful. Pricey as heck, but what the heck, it was an awesome afternoon!!!!