sobehound

So my husband and I are heading for a vacation full of adventure this February 2013 in the northern plains and Pacific Coast. I need help planning excursions as we have 5 days in arenal and 3 in Tamarindo/Guanacaste: here is our itinerary:
1/31: late flight into CR; staying at a B&B in alajuela
-? way to get to arenal, considering a car for a day or possibly a driver (would like to stop at poas volcano if worth it to do)
2/1-7: Nayara will be our home base
-was thinking canyoneering, zip line, night hike, hot springs, cerro chato hike, cano negro tour and white water rafting (any other suggestions or certain outfitters for these; i was thinking desafio for most)
-should I plan to do any of these trips on my own, I am thinking of having a guide only to get the most information out of our experience
2/7-2/10: tamarindo/guanacaste in a B&B:
-? how to get there, heard it is a nice drive but unsure if it would be better to get a driver
-scuba diving (we're both certified), surfing lessons/SUP and a night watch of the turtles nesting (i am obsessed with turtles!), enjoying the beach and relaxation
2/10 head back on a flight on SANSA to SJO and staying in Alajuela again before we head back 2/11

I would love to know if there is anything I am missing, I would love to get the most out of the experience and would mainly like to know suggestions of guides and how to get from place to place. the initial place in alajuela suggested we just take a bus to la fortuna but we do prefer a little more freedom with stopping and sight seeing as we have a whole day to get to NAYARA.

Happy new year and thank you for your input!

volcanogirl

We like Sunset Tours La Roca tour for canyoneering and Sky Trek for ziplining. Eco Termales and Tabacon for hot springs. Sunset Tours for Cano Negro. Desafio is also good; we've used them for several tours including Penas Blancas and the Hanging Bridges. The waterfall hike is nice too, and you can do that on your own. Ros Tropicales is great for rafting. We've stayed at Nayara, and it's very nice. We used their transportation service to go to and from the airport. They had a private driver for us.

sobehound

thank you so much for the input, I think we'll just go with the driver, its about the same cost and we won't have to navigate on our own. I am still wondering about the drive to tamarindo from la fortuna, the people at nayara said it would be an easy drive, is this true?

sobehound

i meant we'll go with a driver for our SJO to la fortuna ride, but what about la fortuna to tamarindo?

sobehound

Just spoke with Desafio and they suggested an adventure connection for rafting. Would it be better to do that the last day on my way from la fortuna to tamarindo or san jose to la fortuna (we have the option of the first day of our trip or the last day in la fortuna

volcanogirl

Just me personally, but I wouldn't want to raft on our first day of arrival. It's usually a long trip, and I'd rather settle in a bit before rafting. What if your flight is delayed coming in? Seems like that could get complicated.

mcc42

My gf and I just spent 10 days in CR at the end of November. We did Arenal/La Fortuna then Tamarindo.
We almost did the Adventure Connection with Desafio, but saw that the rafting was with class 3/4 rapids and being that we had never done it before we opted not to. We instead did a combo tour one of the days that was the canyoneering and rafting on class 2/3 and then booked our travel through interbus. Interbus was not too expensive, and the place they stop to make all connections has a lovely bunch of monkeys and parrots easily photographed.

I also agree with volcanogirl that I would not want to raft upon arrival.