kdh

Hello!!

My boyfriend and I are going to CR October/November. We are moderately active couple in our 30's (I will spend my 30th birthday in CR!). I would love some feedback and advice on this intinerary.
(Especially regarding transportation/driving times).
Can anyone give me some ideas on where to eat in Manuel Antonio area for my 30th birthday dinner? something very nice with good food and views?

Sunday: Red Eye from SFO
Monday: 730AM arrive; shuttle to Las Orquideas Inn
Tuesday: AM Pacuare WW rafting over night
Wednesday: Pacuare WW rafting, return Las Orquideas Inn PM
Thursday: get rental car, drive to Tabacon (3 hours?? from Orquideas?)
Friday: Tabacon/Arenal, maybe canopy/hiking
Saturday: Leave Tabacon drive to Manuel Antonio, Costa Verde (i am very nervous about the time on this one, could it take longer than 7 hours?) We are not fast drivers.
Sunday: Manuel Antonio/Costa Verde; My birthday!!
Monday: Manuel Antonio/Costa Verde
Tuesday: Manuel Antonio/Costa Verde
Wednesday: Leave MA return to Las Orquideas Inn (3.5 hours??)
Thursday: fly home AM

Is the drive from Tabacon to MA realistic in on day? should we stay in Jaco first? I was thinking Villas Caletes......

Any advice would help!!
Thanks!! Karen

shillmac

Your itinerary is fine. You can get from Arenal to MA in about 6 hours. Definitely do-able in a day! It's a nice drive. I'd recommend Karola's (I think that is how it is spelled) in Manuel Antonio. Very good food, reasonable, nice view (but we were there at night!).

Orquideas to Tabacon (Arenal) is about 3 hours. Congratulations, happy birthday, and have fun!

kdh

Thanks shillmac! I just read a review of Karola's. sounds great!

Regarding going from the Orquideas Inn to the Tabacon and the Tabacon to Manuel Antonio, Is there any routes/roads that you recommend avoiding? I would prefer, the safe route, even if it's slower. Is there any cool towns or areas on the way that we should stop?

Do you know what time it usually starts raining in MA? after 12noon? 3pm? I have heard you can set your watches to it, it's very regular or is this just wrong info? (this is regarding very last few days of October). We just want to plan when we leave so we are not driving in rain all the way there.

Thanks for the info!!
Karen

shillmac

There aren't any roads I would tell you to avoid between these locations. They are all equally interesting! From Las Orquideas to Tabacon, there are a couple of ways you could go, depending on how much time you want to spend. Buy yourself a Berndston & Berndston laminated map at Barnes & Noble if you can. It will be VERY helpful (and more reliable than the maps they give you at the rental agencies).

Orquideas-Tabacon through Grecia, Sarchi, Naranjo, Zarcero:
From your hotel you will be able to get right on this road. It isn't the shortest, but the towns along the way are wonderful to explore. They all have lovely churches (some quite different); Sarchi is known for furniture making and artisans. Great place to look around and shop for souvenirs; Zarcero has a beautiful topiary garden in front of the church--and a great mountain climate with pine trees! This route is so pretty, and the towns are a nice bonus as well as a good way to glimpse Costa Rican culture. This route would take you a few hours more, but if you can spare the time, you would definitely enjoy your stops! To me, these are DON'T MISS places!

The more direct route is to get onto the Interamerican highway (they will draw you a detailed map at Orquideas), head west to the San Ramon exit, then north up to Tabacon. This is pretty much a straight shot without all the neat little towns to check out, but it will take you through the Los Angeles Cloud Forest, and you will find yourselves driving through the clouds! You will arrive first in La Fortuna (interesting, also), then turn left to Arenal & Tabacon.

From there to Manuel Antonio, the 6 hour route would be back the way you came through San Ramon (another reason for taking the longer route to Tabacon through the little towns is so you won't be backtracking on the same road going to and coming from San Ramon). Here, the easiest thing to do is head west out of San Ramon on the Interamerican to Puntarenas, then south to Manuel Antonio. I'm not sure, but I think you can also drive back a short distance toward San Jose, then head south toward Atenas, where you will turn right to go to Orotina and on to Manuel Antonio. We haven't tried this from San Ramon (never have driven directly from Arenal to Manuel Antonio), but the map is clear. The hotel people will be able to advise you also. We have gone from San Jose to MA on this road, and it goes over some passes with great vistas, a very nice drive.

If you want a LONG route to Manuel Antonio, you can come west around Lake Arenal to Las Canas, then south to Puntarenas and on to MA. It would give you the opportunity to drive around the lake, but it would definitely add a couple of hours to your day! Not sure it would be worth it to you. Besides the lake, there isn't that much, and this would be the worst of any of the roads.

South of Puntarenas, on the final leg to Manuel Antonio, you will come to the Rio Tarcoles. Do stop and see the crocodiles. You won't have a problem finding it. There will be a lot of people looking over the bridge! One of you should stay with the car--this spot is notorious for theft.

That's my long 2 cents worth. So much depends on how much time you have. I think if I wanted to minimize my driving time, but have some great and memorable stops, I'd take the route through the little towns to Arenal, then the shorter route (not around the lake) to Manuel Antonio. This would allow you to see the towns, do a little shopping, enjoy the topiary garden in Zarcero, drive through the cloud forest, and see the crocs!

shillmac

As for the rain, your best bet is to start driving early in the day. October is hard to predict because it is rainier then compared to July or August. We've been to MA twice in July and the rains came later in the afternoon--around 3:00 as you say. I don't think you can take that to the bank, however!

kdh

thanks SO much Shillmac!! We looked at our map this weekend at the routes you suggested.
You have been a great help to me and many on this board!!

TripleSecDelay

Hi kdh -

Maybe a few helpful notes here for your birthday trip.
Just returned from Tabacon and also rafted the Pacuare for $95 per person on the 1-day trip. Both were very nice. $250 seemed excessive for 2-day trip. What prices have you been quoted? On the 1-day, you're constantly moving and will not be able to see any animals. We did see the Blue Morpho and some Egrets, etc. Departure from our hotel in SJ was 5:50 a.m. and midway during our return it was raining on the highway back, so consider a change of clothes. Shuttle to/from, breakfast & lunch included. I tipped our driver and guide. Remember that whatever $$ you hand them means more to them than it does to you and I.

Take your time on the roads, you'll be fine. Ticos pass slower vehicles regularly and most signal their turns (my pet peeve in USA).
We stopped many times and asked pedestrians, cyclists, store owners, for directions. They are all very helpful. There really aren't many individual road signs. There ARE, however, large green signs with white letters and Kilometer distances.

If neither of you read Spanish, consider light research on road sign translations to be comfortable.

1. If you have AAA, Tabacon will honor a 10% discount.
1A. If you unscrew the light bulb near your door, the moths will mostly stay away, so that when you open your room door, they don't follow you in.
1B. If you want a standard room (which is quite acceptable) the 600 bldg is their newest and you can see the volcano from outside your room door, looking over the top of the next bldg. From the 100 building, you have a straight shot. Also, from the Palenque bar and from the end of the "L" of the buffet dining area upstairs. Ask you waiter if this is important to you.
1C. We saw the Jesus Christ lizards at the one shallow pool near 4 blue-tiled concrete chaise lounge chairs. The lizard actually ran across the water!! It was the coolest thing!!
1D. There is a 10% service charge added to everything in CR and a 13% gov't tax. Your itemized bill upon checkout at Tabacon will remind you of this. We tipped the staff members that provided 5-star service at this 4-star resort.
1E. You may not like the Safari Raft Float excursion from Tabacon as it is kinda raw. Nowhere near 4-star. Negative 1-star. You'll want mud boots for this one.
1E. For $5.00 per 30 minutes, you can use a wireless notebook computer in the lobby area. This was great for research and keeping in contact with family.
1F. Please use sunscreen, even when cloudy. Somebody in our group had a sunburn from one day of forgetting. Then, had a hot lava rock massage a day later. Yikes!!
2. In our experience during the first nine days of September, you CAN set your watch to the rain. It is weather, after all, so please do not be disappointed for inaccuracies, but we saw rain daily from 2:30 to 7:30, give or take ...
3. Having said that, our clothes did not dry in our room at Tabacon, and we anticipated this, so we brought large sized ziploc bags (they owe me a referral royalty by now) so that we could pack and move on w/o our wet clothes affecting our dry clothes.
3A. If you have waterproof and breatheable technical clothing, that is best for outdoors. Breatheable.
4. You might try using the hair dryer in your room to dry a few clothes if you do not use the laundry service (which has time limits for pickup and return).
5. We flew Red Eye on TACA from SFO to San Jose and our seat assignment were changed at 11:00 p.m. or so at the SFO counter. Our reserved window seats over the wing (extra legroom, but not reclining seat) were given to somebody else. My re-assigned aisle seat back became a handrail for everyone walking the aisle and this woke me every time!! Red eye became stink eye.
6. Welcome to San Salvador International Humidity Airport. The plane is A/C, the airport is not. If you have a stopover in El Salvador be prepared for the immediate "weather change" upon exiting the plane.
7. If you book an excursion, please wake early and go at 5:30am or 6:00am, whenever the earliest is available. The afternoon departures for horseback, hiking, rafting, biking, canopy tour, will put you in the rain. Not a bad thing if you're prepared. It's actually nice to be in the hot springs when it rains.
8. If you go to SkyTrek / SkyTram canopy tour, don't pay more than $45 total per person, and if you can get $40, you've done well. It is a short drive (40 minutes?) from Tabacon.
Road signs are well marked here.
8A. We ate at Linda Vista restaurant on the way to SkyTrek. Nice view of the lake and the volcano. We had this place to ourselves during our meal. Fermin's family owns it and they are all great people. Very gracious. Road signs are well-marked here.
9. At certain times, the two bars outside at Tabacon have 2 for 1 cocktails if you order two of the SAME drink. We liked the BBC and the crazy monkey or coco loco.
10. For $15 per person, you can visit another hot springs location ON the same main road around the volcano called Baldi Termae. They have restaurant, massage, beverages, and 9(?) pools of varying temps and sizes. Not a 4-star resort like Tabacon, but worth it for us. My spouse and I (30s also) had the entire place to ourselves from 2:30 until about 6:00 p.m. I thanked him for "renting out the whole place just for me". ;-)
11. Bring your favorite CDs for the rental car, and be sure to request one with a CD player and automatic. My feet are also on vacation and don't want to be shifting gears.
12. For the canopy tour, bring your favorite bug repellant.
13. For the Pacuare river, bring a $10 waterproof camera - we gave ours to a kayaker who accompanied our raft - for pictures. Without giving away the secret, there are several waterfalls and one in particular for which you want a camera. Ask your guide to give you advance notice. You could also put your regular camera in a ziploc or a dry bag and have better quality pix. I didn't take my $1,000 camera on the river and wished I had - in a drybag with silica gel packets.
13. Rite in the Rain is a brand of waterproof paper notepads that were totally valuable on all our trips in CR. I also used a pressurized pen (some say Space Pen) that allows for consistent writing quality at any angle, and in the rain.
14. When we travel, we take our 2-way radios for a little more warm n fuzzy feeling when separated on the resort grounds. Same thing we use at ski resorts or camping.

Sounds like a great trip! Happy Birthday!!

Latitude9Lisa

Karen: I posted on the Frommers site for you but not sure if you can still access it. If not, let me know and I'll repost here. Safe travels!

Lisa

kdh

TripleSecDelay,
any tips on the Pacure? Who did you go with? Did you see the lodges? this will be my second WW rafting trip (was a I or II river, very mellow). No, we have seen $250 and $259 with taxes included.
a old friend who used to guide trips said we had to do the 2 day trip.
great Arenal tips!! lots of good idea like the plastic bags, pen/paper (where do you buy?)...
have you written a trip report? I cannot see to find it if you did. I would love to find out about your trip!

Lisa, thanks!! yes, all of the resturant ideas are great. Which has the best view? Do you live in MA year round?

Latitude9Lisa

Karen: Yes, we're in M.A. fulltime =)!!As far as the very best view, it would have to be LaMariposa. I'm just starting to see some feedback on their restaurant on this site which is positive but personally I've not tried them. It gets dark early here (5:30 pm) so any time you eat after that, you won't have much of a view. Of the restaurants I posted about, MarLuna has the best view. MarLuna is not fancy but the food is excellent! It's very funky looking (in and out) but therein lies the charm. Sunspot (at Makanda) also has very good ocean views and the service, atmosphere etc. is top notch as it is a "resort". Repost or email if you'd like more info!

Lisa

TripleSecDelay

For kdh:

Rafting Company : I'm having a difficult time referring you to our river guide / company because it was the only one we've had exposure to here - so I don't have a comparison and somebody else on Fodors may have more depth to add.

Legal disclaimer talk aside, we had a great time with Jonathan Quesada from Costa Sol Rafting - arranged by Gray Line Tours. Class II, III, IV rapids and photos by others surely have been published. Beautiful.

Guide : Not only is Jonathan a bilingual Tico with a good sense of humor, but he has been to VA, CA, OR and has rafted some of the same stretches of the American River in CA that I have and we both knew the names of the individual rapids there (satan's cesspool, guidelauncher, etc). We all were warm 'n' fuzzy immediately.

The company is completely professional. Owned / Operated by a father & son team who joined us on this particular Sunday in their individual kayaks. They took pictures for us and for the other couple on the raft, using each of our disposable water cameras. The developed film shows angles and compositions impossible from inside the raft. Very nice.

Lodges : We drifted past the lodges and bungalows which were built with materials brought in by boat, as there are no roads to access. That's the story we were told. <<< Maybe another Fodorite could please dive in at this point and share their lodge experience. >>>

Notepads : brand name (Rite in the Rain) were purchased online from Campmor.com. When the paper gets wet, the drops bead up like on a waxed car. The edges of the paper, I believe, are the area where moisture enters, as mine did that familiar wet-paper-wrinkle and then dried flat. No smears or runny ink!!

Pens : Some people use the brand name Space Pen. I bought a "pressurized pen" from a regular chain grocery store at home.

Trip Report : I have a wordy report that is being condensed now. Joking: I'm certain Fodors would have to charge us for web hosting the elephant that has become our journal. If you want an advance version, I can send to an email address that you provide. Photos, also.

kdh

Hello everyone,

I needs some help on inserting maybe another leg to our trip. My boyfriend thinks maybe we should "stop" in Montezuma on the way to Manuel Antonio from Arenal? Can someone tell me the drive times/routes from

Arneal/Tabacon to Montezuma
Montezuma to Manuel Antonio

We would be in Arenal/Tabacon for 2 nights, Montezuma for 2 nights and Manuel Antonio for 2 nights. How rushed is this?
What does everyone think of Montezuma? and what is the nicest place to stay there? (with A/C)

TripleSecDelay,
would love to read trip report: [email protected].

shillmac

Arenal to Montezuma would be about 6 hours, Montezuma to Manuel Antonio another 5 hours. Because you will need to arrive at the ferry landing in Puntarenas (from Arenal) about 30 minutes to get in line (shouldn't be all that crowded this time of year), that could add a little more time to your Arenal-Montezuma leg.

It's certainly do-able. The question you will need to ask yourselves is if you will feel rushed at each location. If you leave Arenal at a reasonably early time in the a.m., you should be in Montezuma by 2:00-3:00. It will be dark by 5:45. This day will be almost completely used for travel. You'll have 1 day in Montezuma.

Leaving Montezuma fairly early, you should arrive in Manuel Antonio (you'll want to stop at the Rio Tarcoles to look at the crocs, so add another 20 min) about 2:00. If you stop for lunch, add a bit more time. Again, you'll have a full day in MA.

One way to look at it is that you could enjoy the nightlife a little your first night (in both places), then hit the highlights of each location (Montezuma and MA) on your full day. That would be Montezuma Falls and the national park at MA probably, plus whatever else you can work in--hopefully some down time!

Another way to look at it is that you are eating up an extra day of vacation by adding an additional travel time, but you'll see more of the country--we never consider our driving time a waste! It's a "cultural" experience
AND IT REALLY IS!

Montezuma is a cool place, and the nearby Cabo Blanco Reserve is worth your time. You could do it in the morning and the falls in the afternoon if you have the stamina! Cabo Blanco gives you a choice of the short loop or the longer one which hikes over a ridge and down to the beach. It's strenuous!

I'm just goofy enough that I'd probably try the same thing! No insult intended

kdh

thanks SO much shillmac,

you are a lifesaver!

i have heard Montezuma is a "rave" town. I have heard its a hippie town too (which is fine we are from san francisco). However, a huge rave-party scene with lots of 22 year olds would not be fun.
could you tell me your take on the town?

shillmac

You're very welcome! You won't be disappointed in Montezuma. It is a nice sized town with some good restaurants, shops, etc. We didn't stay there (stayed at MalPais) so can't advise hotels, but a couple have been given good reviews repeatedly on this board. You'll hear from someone else on that!

We are 50 and felt quite comfortable. There is a good mix of people (and ages) and we enjoyed walking around town. Loved the falls and even hiked (or rather drug ourselves up the steep side of the wall using roots) to the second falls. The pool at the base is very cool and refreshing. We were there in March when it was dry, hot, and dusty. I'd love to see the area during the rainy season. You'll like it. . .and so did Jimmy Buffet

shillmac

Looking back at your itinerary (and perhaps this has already been mentioned--I didn't reread all of the posts), but you could easily add another day somewhere if you did 1 day of white water rather than 2.

I'm sure 2 days is fantastic with the overnight, but it is the same amount of rafting, only without the down time at the lodge. Just a thought in case you'd like to add a day at Montezuma or Manuel Antonio.

And if you DO drop that extra day of white water, this information might be helpful:

Since you are spending time at MA and your itinerary there includes a Monday, you should know that the park is closed on Monday (and your tour of the park should be in the a.m.). You'll want to be sure and plan so that your full day in Manuel Antonio is NOT on Monday! Likewise, Cabo Blanco near Montezuma is closed on Monday and Tuesday both (if memory serves). An a.m. tour is best here as well. So, if you could arrive in Montezuma on Friday, you could hike Cabo Blanco on Saturday, drive to Manuel Antonio on Sunday (or Monday, if you'd prefer the extra day in Montezuma), do the park on Tuesday, and then drive back to Las Orquideas on Wednesday?

If you keep the white water 2 day trip, that should put you into Montezuma on Saturday and you could do Cabo Blanco on Sunday--then Manuel Antonio Parque Nacional on Tuesday (or Wednesday a.m.)

By now you may be thoroughly confused. Hope it makes some kind of sense!