If I only do 1 thing while in Costa Rica it should be...

one more addition to my non-negotiable list is anything that involves me sleeping out doors, and yes, a tent is out doors. roughing it for me is no starbucks. Thanks.

Why Santa Ana? Why not near one or more of the "attractions?"

You might head up to Arenal or to MA for you entire 4 days rather than staying in Santa Ana. That's a very short period of time and you could just plant yourself and enjoy yourselves.

I do not think the zip line tours are as exciting as they make them out to be imo. If you scared of heights it may really sacre you! YOu go from platform to platform - some are very long and higher than others.

MA Park is nice, but can be very crowded. It was not terribly memorable for me.

Volcan Paos is much more desirable. There are several tours from hotels in San Jose. It is a lot of walking/hiking.
The Peace Lodge is a great place to visit. La Paz Water Falls Gardens in amazing - nearby! There is a butterfly garden, hummingbirds, etc... Again, lots of walking.

Kinkazote- We ended up in Santa Ana as a part of the package offered & when I checked out trip advisor the hotel got great reviews, so I think I'm stuck with my decision at this point. Does anyone know how long the ride is to San Jose, or better yet the MA Park, Volcan Paos, or the zip line tours?

Getting to MA and back in one day could be a killer of a day. If you go by land, you'd probably spend about 8 hours just traveling (3 1/2 to 4 hours in each direction). You *could* look into flying there and back in one day -- in theory possible -- but maybe not advisable. It starts getting light at around 5ish in the morning and dark around 5:30ish in the afternoon, something like that.

If you're stuck with Santa Anna, maybe just stick to Poas and surrounding areas. The problem, I hear, with that is that by the time you get to Poas, there's a very good chance it'd be socked in by clouds, and you wouldn't actually get to see it. Maybe there are ways around this?

There's also the Braulio Carrillo National Park -- not far from San Jose.

Puzzling why you would not want to stay near Arenal and MA.

Overnite or full day tour www.arenal.net www.tabacon.com

www.costaricauncovered.com/day-tours/tabacon-cascades.php

There's nothing wrong with Santa Ana. It's a nice area and you can easily enjoy yourselves from there. One of the things that I think you would enjoy is a visit to Turu-Bari park. It is probably close to 2 hours from where you will be staying (maybe just a little less), but has gotten terrific reviews. We've not been there yet.

Turu-Bari is actually off the highway that goes to Manuel Antonio, but from Santa Ana, you could go through the country to Cuidad Colon, Puriscal, on toward Orotina, etc. It has the Superman zipline there which could be fun! I'm afraid of heights also, but the ziplines are pretty cool.

On another day, catch a taxi to Orquideas Inn and let their Wady Tours take you out and about. Leaving Santa Ana by 6:00 (it's early rise, early bed there anyway), you could hook up with Wady Tours by 6:30 and they'll take you all over the place. Arrange this ahead of time.

They'll take you on the real ziplines (several cables), up to Arenal to the volcano and hot springs, little towns along the way, literally all over the place. Some friends of ours, mother and daughter, she 63, daughter 25, did this one year and they returned from their day higher than kites--exhilarated by all the fun.

You can fill up as many days as you'd like with Wady Tours. They can take you east and south of San Jose to Irazu Volcano, Orosi Valley, you have a gadzillion options. There is LOTS to see in the central valley around San Jose. And then there is San Jose itself, well worth a day or half day of museums, markets, etc.

You'll have a fabulous time!

Not to mention, you can go white water rafting one day on one of the best ww rivers in the world--Rio Pacuare; you're well located for this, although you'd need to taxi to a hotel in San Jose for pickup (15 min). You'd both enjoy this, I think.

Lots to do for you--enjoy!

www.riostropicales.com (white water)
www.turubari.com
http://www.orquideasinn.com/ (information about their tour group, Wady)

Thanks, shillmac, I will consider that, but I'm also weighing the option of changing hotels since my son has his heart set on the volan poas and manuel antonio park. I can cancel my hotel with a small penalty until tonight. I was thinking of staying in San Jose my first night because we will be arriving late and taking an early flight to Quepos then drive to MA. I'm still trying to work out the details and also wondering if people consider the short plane rides there to be safe.

windycity--just curious if you were able to get your son's passport yesterday?

Windycity etc., much better to figure out what you want to do and find a central hotel. You can spend a lot of time (and money) on transportation to places that you really choose to see.

cgenster-- No, pehaps I wasn't clear. My appointment was actually for Monday, mid-day, but after someone on this forum mentioned the Detroit office I called the cust service number to see if I could book a same day appointment (Detroit is not that long of a drive for me) and I was told that it was for Michigan residents only, however, there had been a cancellation for Monday morning @ 9:30 in Chicago. The woman pretty much assured me that with an appointment that early (and proof of travel & other necessary docs)I should be able to get it that day or worse case the next day. I will be sure to let you know how it goes.

Kinkazote- That's the best advice yet. I'm getting so overwhelmed with trying to coordinate it all. I have finally come to the conclusion that we wont be able to take in all that I mentioned in such a short time. Since our flight arrives so late (8:30pm) and many are advising that it's not safe to travel at night, I'm leaning more towards staying in Santa Ana the first night and heading to Monteverde for a few days and spending our last night at volan poas since everything I read says that it's best at night. I'm still not sure, but it looks like this might involve several hotel rooms; 1 night Santa Ana, 1 night Monteverde, 1 night at Poas.Any thoughts? Does this sound too ambitious? I'm hoping it won't be too terribly expensive.

Hi windycity,

If you do decide to stay in Santa Ana, shillmac's suggestion of contacting Wady Tours at the Orchideas Inn is a good one. We did a few things with them on our last visit (2007) and they did a great job. Shillmac's always got lots of great suggestions (and lots of CR experience to draw from)!

Your other plan of basing yourself in MA has a lot of merit as well. You'll see lots of wildlife and have the beautiful beaches around the national park to enjoy. Do keep in mind that the park is closed on Mondays and plan accordingly.

Also do consider that Volcan Poas is about an hour-ish north of San Jose. MA is ~3-3.5 hours SW of San Jose. With only 4 days, you'll have to carefully plan out the logistics of doing both.

You might want to do something along these lines:

-Stay in Alajuela (where the international airport is located) on your first night.

-Get an early start the next morning and plan to be at Poas when the park opens (early morning is usually best for viewing the crater before the clouds roll in for the day...).

-Take an afternoon flight to Quepos to begin your MA adventure

-Plan accordingly for your flight back home (you might need to stay near the airport on your final night in CR as well, depending on your international flight time)

4 days is a really quick trip, but I wouldn't hesitate to do it. Have a great time!

You could also consider just skipping MA for this trip if time is too tight.

Why not just head north from San Jose, maybe to the Sarapiqui area? You could stop off at Poas on the way there or back. In the Sarapiqui/La Virgen area, there are a couple of interesting looking (and affordable!) rainforesty lodges -- Selve Verde, Tirimbina, Centro Neotropico. Just an area I've looked at as an alternative to further away locales. Supposedly a pretty cool animal refuge not far from there in Aguas Zarcas.

Or, alternatively, it seems possible just to head to La Fortuna/Volcan Arenal -- maybe? Three nights there seems doable.

Not that you need even MORE options though! Just depends on how much you want to be on the go.

windycity--I think it is probably better that you are going to Chicago. We live in Michigan and so does the secretary who I was referring to in the other post. She had to go to Chicago, not Detroit to get her passport.

Thanks to everybody here I've finally mapped out a mini-vacation that seems very doable. We are staying at the Trapp Family Inn our first night and heading out early morning to La Fortuna/ Arenal area and we will be there for the duration. My only remaining challenge is the passport.

windycitymoxie~~~ you MUST do the zipline. It was the highlight of my 2 week trip to CR. I would have done it daily, it was that much fun. Nothing to be scared about. Also, the hanging bridges near Arenal are okay...a bit crowded, though. We took the OAT tour and were in other areas and enjoyed those bridges much more. And, be sure to go whitewater rafting....so exciting....this was a fantastic trip! If you are in Manuel Antonio Park...be sure to allow time to go swimming, but watch out for the monkeys as they will climb down from the trees and 'steal' your backpack!! Enjoy!