We went to Costa Rica in August 2004, & we rented a car & my husband and daughter took turns driving. The signage at the time wasn't that great (not sure if it is better now) so you do have to pay attention & we did make a few wrong turns, but we figured it out & had some laughs. You do have to be careful driving over the mountains. And we did NOT drive over the mountains at night. We like having the freedom of a rental car instead of depending on bus or shuttle schedules.

We stayed at La Colina in Quepos (near Manuel Antonio), then drove to Arenal & stayed at Arenal Paraiso, then spent one night near Poas at Poas Volcano Lodge, & spent our last 2 nights at Orquideas Inn near San Jose. I am quite sure ours was a 10-day trip. I think we stayed 3 nights MA, 3 nights Arenal, one night Poas, & 2 nights Orquideas. The drive from MA to Arenal took all day but the scenery was beautiful & we made stops for lunch, bathroom breaks, etc.

Hope this helps.

If you're adventurous, rent a car and drive it; if you just want to sit back and relax and enjoy the views, hire a private driver. We book them through our hotels when we reserve them.

Thanks so much for the responses!

You definitely have enough time to see each place. You could rent a car, get one with a GPS and if you have a concierge at any of the hotels you can ask them to help you with directions. You can also take a private van from each location, which is nice because then you can make as many stops as you like. Another option would be the shared buses with either Interbus or Greyline. There are also short domestic flights through Nature Air.

In the Arenal area some other kid-friendly hotel options are the Lost Iguana and The Springs. Also in Arenal, definitely go to the hot springs at Tabacon even if you don't stay there, Sky Trek Adventures is an amazing and very fun - but high and fast - zipline. They also have a tram and sky bridge for those that don't want to participate in the zipline aspect. Pure Trek Canyoning is great as well.

In Manuel Antonio your kids will love the Si Como No hotel, waterslides - plus they have one of the best breakfast buffets in the area. For activities in MA I recommend going to white water rafting with Amigos Del Rio, they do an amazing job, the guides are great and your kids would enjoy the trip. Canopy Safari is a good kid-friendly option for ziplining, they also have a serpentarium and butterfly garden.

Enjoy your Costa Rica adventure!

Just a heads up that that can be a really rainy time for a lot of areas of CR. I'd recommend packing some books, DVDs, etc. in case you get some rain. I probably wouldn't do Interbus for a family of 4. You'd end up paying pretty close to what you'd pay for a private driver since Interbus charges per person. In Manuel Antonio, we were able to walk to a lot of places because things are close together; the Arenal area is much more spread out. I think Si Como No has a shuttle to the beach, but double check me on that.