jayne1973

We are going on our first trip to Costa Rica in late July. I've been reading the CR posts here for a few days and am ready to ask some questions. We will fly into San Jose and want to head directly to the Arenal area. We have eight days and are considering staying in two different areas while we are there. We don't plan to rent a car. Questions:
1. How many days in Arenal?
2. If you chose another area to stay for a few days, where would it be?
3. Are ATMS plentiful, and if so, where are they? If not, what's the best strategy for changing money?
4. Do you need to drink bottled water all the time? Where do you get it? I drink a lot of water and know I will want even more in that humid climate.
5. How expensive are private drivers? What are alternatives that are safe, easy and reliable?

Thanks a million for any and all help!

volcanogirl

Most people do Arenal combined with Manuel Antonio for their first trip. I would do an even split between the two. If you have an early flight out, you might have to spend your last night near SJO. If you go to popular tourist areas like that you don't have to drink bottled water. The only time we've ever had to do that was on the Osa because it's so isolated. We've had several trips and have never gotten sick from food or water like we have in Mexico. For an ideas of costs, we've paid $120 to go from SJO to Arenal and $180 to go from Arenal to MA. Interbus is a popular alternative that's more affordable. They have a good website.

indianapearl

My husband and I spent five weeks in CR in spring of 2004 --- two weeks in the Manual Antonio area, two weeks in Nicoya, and about a week in Arenal-Monteverde. We rented a car in San Jose, so were able to come and go as we pleased. Public transportation is not good in the part of CR you will visit. You might reconsider that as an option. If you're staying in hotels, they may be able to provide you with drivers. You will also be there doing the rainy season, so the roads may be muddy.

We stayed in condos for the first four weeks and did our own shopping and cooking for many of our meals. ATMs at that time were hard to find --- long drives to towns big enough to have a bank. Some places are open only on alternate days, so check before you head out.

We stayed at Tabacon Resort while in the Arenal area for 3-4 days and enjoyed it a great deal --- pools of water heated by the volcano to different temperatures and waterfalls to sit under for a warm water massage. At night we could watch the molten lava slithering down the mountainside while we dined.

Since you will be nearby, I'd recommend Monteverde. It's cool and moist, the only remaining habitat of the resplendent quetzal. It was settled by Alabama Quakers in the 1950's. We stayed at a lovely place called Fonda Vela, peaceful and quiet. The town of Santa Elena nearby has zip lines over the rain forest so you can get a bird's eye view of the ecosystem.

Although CR says it's water is potable, we never drank water from the tap. We never do, even in Europe. Bottled water can be purchased in little markets in the various towns. If you're staying in a hotel, I'm sure they'll sell it to you at a higher price than the little markets.

Costa Rica is a beautiful country and the people are very pleasant. The government has done much to preserve its natural resources. I hope you enjoy your trip. Pura vida!

volcanogirl

Jayne, I forgot to mention that we love the Lost Iguana in Arenal; it's a beautiful hotel with wonderful volcano views and lush landscaping. For a more affordable place, Silencio del Campo gets good reviews. Not sure what your budget would be...

jayne1973

Thanks, volcanogirl and indianapearl. I will look up Manual Antonio and Monteverde.

Do you arrange transporation ahead of time through your hotel or on your own? How do you pay for it? I read on one Website that U.S. money is widely accepted, but I'd like to have a plan.

volcanogirl

We stayed at Fonda Vela in Monteverde also. Monteverde is a good spot for bird watchers; we saw some pretty quetzals there. It can also get quite cool there. We wore sweatshirts and fleece jackets in the evenings.

We booked the drivers when we booked the hotels; you just tell them you need a driver from city A to city B and ask how much they would charge. It's really convenient to go that route; the driver will be waiting for you at the airport carrying a sign with your name on it. Also you can set your own pickup times. Interbus requires you to be a little more flexible, but lots of people use it and love it. Within towns, taxis are usually pretty easy to get - just have the hotel or restaurant call for you, and they'll show up pretty quickly.

As far as paying, the hotel usually just charges for our drivers along with our hotel bill on our credit card; we have had drivers that preferred cash, so we've also done that. U.S. dollars have always been accepted everywhere we've gone. We've never exchanged our money.

allison04

I agree that Interbus is easy and convenient. I've been to CR twice, using a combination of renting a car and Interbus each time. I'd also recommend a combination of Arenal (seeing the lave coming down the volcano is amazing!) and Manuel Antonio (pretty beaches and lots of monkeys and other wildlife).

However, I've been to these 2 places and Monteverde in the rainy season, and I wouldn't go back to Monteverde in the rainy season--although it was beautiful, it was just too rainy and muddy the whole time we were there. In Arenal and Manuel Antonio, the rain didn't stop us from doing much (it sort of rains for a while and then stops). I don't want to knock MV, because it's amazing, but I'd choose to go there another time of year.

We drank bottled water most of the time but weren't super careful (we drank things with ice in them, etc.) and we were fine.

Good luck planning, and have a great time!

jayne1973

Great information...here's another question:
Is Monteverde a possibility as a day trip from Arenal?

colibri

Jayne,

No, MV is at least 2 1/2 - 3 hours each way if you do the boat-jeep-boat transfer, 4 hours or so driving. MV is wonderful, but deserves at least 2-3 nights on its own.

There is so much to do in Arenal, don't waste your time trying to do a day trip to MV. Do make sure you go to Eco Termales, Cano Negro, Hanging Bridges at Arenal. Sky Trek is considered one of the best ziplines in the country.

Don't know your budget but Arenal Paraiso is very nice with reasonable rates, has its own hot springs and zipline.

jayne1973

OK-- scratch the day trip to MV. indianapearl, I looked at Fonda Vela--nice and reasonably priced.

volcano girl, I did see Lost Iguana and it's beautiful, although a little high for a room with a king bed, which would be nice for a couple. ($225 plus tax.)

I got a great rate quote for Arenal Observatory Lodge, but after researching am worried it would be a drag without a car, trying to get into town for tours. Any suggestions on whether to find another place closer to Fortuna that still has decent volcano views?


Hubby suggested splitting the trip three ways between Arenal, Monteverde and Manuel Antonio. Is that too much running around?

Decisions, decisions...thnks so much for your input.

volcanogirl

It would be too much running around for me. I'd pick Arenal plus one other location. Monteverde if you want cool temps and birding or MA if you want hot temps with beach time.

Lost Iguana was running a special when I booked it - go me! AOL is a long bumpy ride from town, but the volcano views are supposed to be wonderful. Did you check out Silencio del Campo?

hipvirgochick

There are a lot of places around the volcano with volcano views, the difference with AOL and Lost Iguana is that you have chance of lava views. We've stayed at a couple different places and highly recommend Silencio del Campo. The bungalows are really nice, the grounds are beautiful and they have their own hot springs. Plus they are locally owned and convenient location for tours. One thing that doesn't get mentioned much, that I really enjoyed outsdide of the regular adventure tours is the cultural tour with Desafio. It's nice to include that with all the other adrenaline/adventure things for some balance. Plenty to do in the area for 3-4 night easily.

Agree to skip Monteverde as a day trip, too much travel time. But, MA could be a good choice for you or another beach location. Interbus is a good way to get from place to place if you don't have a car.

I would spend 3-4 nights in each location and then depending on when your flight leaves maybe last night near SJO. The ATM's might not be plentiful, but I would just always ask a taxi to make a stop when I needed one if there wasn't one obvious, and it was never a problem. I've always been fine drinking tap water, but I have an iron stomach. ;-)

jayne1973

Yes, I did check that out and it looks nice and pretty reasonable. It seems much closer to town, too...

volcanogirl

Yes, not sure how important a lava view is to you, but if you just want a volcano view, there are plenty of places with that. Check out the map at www.arenal.net.

RAC

The other major benefit of the AOL is the fabulous wildlife and hiking. Crazy numbers of exotic birds, and you never know what you'll see on the trails--we saw a jaguarundi and a kinkajou.

indianapearl

Manual Antonio is very touristy. Depending on your philosophy, you may or may not like it. Do you want to do beaches? We very much enjoyed the Nicoya area. I think there is much more development since we were there.

jayne1973

Yes, we would like to spend the last part of the trip at a beach. Seems there are plenty of beaches and we did consider staying somewhere near the Liberia area so we could catch a flight back to San Jose and save time on our last day. I'd rather not have to spend the last night in San Jose if possible.

You guys are really helping me get a handle on things. Thanks!

CRnewbies

Hi Jayne-
We are going to CR for our first time in 6 DAYS!!!! we are so psyched! We are both teachers and so we did TONS and TONS of research. I felt like I was volcano girls friend by the time I was done reading all of her recs. We decided to go to Arenal (AOL) for 2 nights and then we are heading to Samara on the Nicoya peninsula. We chose AOL over lsot iguana simply for the fact of how close to the volcano it is. We figured if we were going to be that close to a live volcanow..we wanted to feel it rumble. We made all our travel arrangements through interbus and reservations online. Being the rainy season, we didn't want to be the ones driving on those roads. Everything has (so far) been incredibly easy! interbus is taking us from the the airport to arenal then to samara then back to the sanjose for one relaxing night at Xandari (thanks Volcanogirl...she always recommends that place!) we return at the end of june and we will be happy to let you know how it was...if you are intereted.

jayne1973

Heck yes I would be interested, CRnewbies! I am leaning toward AOL lodge at this point as well. I will look into Xandari...

acdana

Hi, I am heading to Costa Rica with my family on July 15th for two weeks. I was wondering if anyone had any experience with Las Lagos hotel in Arenal? It looked like it would be a lot of fun for the kids, but I don't see anyone mentioning it on this forum.

Also can you tell me if you used Malaria meds before during and after? My pediatrician is recommending it.

Thanks