mot

Planning a trip to CR for 2 weeks, end of January/beginning of February and have the following schematic itinerary (15 nights):
2 nights - Poás Volcano NP area
2 nights - Arenal Volcano NP area (La Fortuna or Nuevo Arenal)
2 nights - Monteverde
1 night - Jacó
5 nights - Manuel Antonio NP area (Quepos)
2 nights - Corcovado NP area
1 night - San José area to get back home

Any comments/feedback always very much appreciated. More specifically, 5 nights in Manuel Antonio too much and 2 nights in Corcovado too little? Should be 4/3? 3/4?

We are an active couple who like to do some hiking and wildlife viewing.

Thanks again for sharing all your knowledge...

volcanogirl

To me, that's a little too much moving around but up to you. Jaco has a reputation for being a party town, so I might skip that. I would do 3 or 4 nights in Manuel Antonio max. unless you really want to spend a lot of time at the beach. I think 5 days there is short changing some other areas. I love the Arenal area, and it has nice hiking at the volcano, Hanging Bridges, and the waterfall. I'd try to do at least three nights there - nice natural hot springs too.

tully

I'd just do 1 night in the Poas area, see the volcano then hit the road to Arenal. Do 3 nights there and then 3 nights in Monteverde. Skip Jaco by all means. Cut MA down to 3 days and add extras to Corcovado, you need extra time there just to get in and out. Where are you entering the park from?

mot

volcanogirl and tully, a lot of food for thought. Thanks a lot.

Tully, regarding Corcovado, I still have to plan better. My idea is to return the car in Quepos and take an internal flight to somewhere close to Osa Peninsula (Puerto Jimenez? Drake bay? Comments welcome).

volcanogirl

We didn't actually go into the park, but we stayed at Bosque del Cabo. You can fly into Puerto Jimenez - Sansa and Nature Air are in country airlines if you want to check them out. We saw tons of wildlife at BdC - all 4 kinds of monkeys, some sloths, scarlet macaws, toucans, agoutis, coatis, and even an anteater. You have a shot at seeing a tapir if you actually go into the park, but we were happy with the wildlife right outside our cabin.