lm1025

Hi, Just looking for feedback.We'll be going April break with 15yr old. We will be driving from San Jose to Arenal to Monteverde to Manuel Antonio.I'm looking for information on Tilajari Resort & Montana Hotel. Anyone stay at these places? Also my son wants to do the canopy tour. We can do it at Monteverde,Arenal or Manuel Antonio. I want to use a good tour operator.Recommendations for white water rafting? Can we only go to hot springs at Tabacon Lodge? Thanks for any input.lm1025

airwayvz

We did the canopy tour in MA through canopy safari (www.canopysafari.com). They are very safety oriented, and your son will have a BLAST.

lehschu

We just returned from CR and had a great trip. The canopy tour that we went on is in La Fortuna/Arenal. It was huge. just built 6 months ago and fantastic. It is call the sky trek/sky walk. You take a tram to the top then there are 8 zip lines to the bottom. The longest is 1/2 mile. The view is the best of the volcano/rainforest and Lake Arenal. It took me a day to get over the adrenalin rush. Manuel Antonio is great. We were there when they had a 6.4 earthquake. That in itself was excitement. We stayed at the Costa Verde and were really happy. Went on 2 different rivers white water rafting which was great. Beam me back scotty. any further [email protected]

tully

I'll 2nd canopy safari in MA, I had a great time with them. The 1st rappel is a little scary but the zip lines aren't, just a huge rush. I bet he'll love it.

jquentzel

Which rivers did you raft on from Manuel Antonio? Were they 1/2 day or full and what class rapids?

shillmac

You'll love Tilajari Resort--it doesn't get much mention on Fodors, but it is a great place with a well deserved reputation. We stayed there the first time we were in the Arenal area. Read about it in the guide book, thought it sounded great, and we certainly didn't regret our decision. We drove over to Arenal (and other places) during the day.

danmin

WE JUST GOT BACK FROM C.R. ON SUNDAY. SOME THINGS YOU MUST LOOK INTo!!!! WHILE IN ARENAL TRY TO STAY AT THE LOST IGUANA RESORT. THIS WAS ONE OF THE NICEST HOTEL'S THAT I HAVE EVER STAYED AND I HAVE TRAVELED ALOT. THE ROOMS WHERE HUGE! WE EVEN HAD A HOT TUB OUT ON OUR BALCONY. AND THE VIEW OF THE VALCANO WAS PERFECT. AND THE FOOD WAS WONDERFUL. AND IT IS WALKING DISTANCE TO THE HANGING BRIDGES WHICH WAS BEAUTIFUL.
WE DID THE SKYWALK, WHICH IS NEW AND ONLY ABOUT 10 MIN FROM THE HOTEL. IT WAS ALOT OF FUN. ALSO, WE LEARNED A LITTLE TIP ABOUT THE HOT SPRINGS, GO DIRECTLY ACCROSS THE STREET FROM TABACON AND THEIR IS ANOTHER PLACE THAT OFFERS THE HOT SPRINGS AND IT IS ONLY $8 AND IT WAS VERY NICE. TABACON WAS $29 AND VERY CROWDED.
IN M.A. WE STAYED AT TABACON ( WAY OVER RATED!!) ONE THING THAT WE REALLY ENJOYED WHILE WE WE THERE WAS HORSE BACK RIDING. WWW.VALMYTOURS.COM
THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN. WE RODE THE HORSES UP AND DOWN THE MOUNTAINS DOWN LONG STREAMS THAT LEAD TO A WATERFALL THAT WE ABLE TO PLAY IN. AND THEN WE WENT BACK TO THE OWNERS HOME WHERE THEY COOK LUNCH FOR ALL OF US.....IT WAS SO GOOD AND THEIR HOME WAS VERY NICE. THIS IS A MUST DO!!!!

fehgeddaboudit

danmin, your post is the online equivalent of chewing with your mouth open. Some people say "shouting".

swigswig

I just reruened from CR and you must get to the Pacuare for river rafting. Class 3 and 4 and out of this world. Go with Rios Tropicales (95 p/per and worth every cent). Take binos for the bords in Arenal.

Trippie

Hi, Im
We went last spring and stayed in MA for 9 days. As some of the other posts say I agree with Canopy Safari tour. They were alot of fun and I felt very safe with the 6 kids I had with me. My niece and daughter were only six years at the time.
Iguana Tours were also great and very friendly. We rafted the all day tour on the Savegre river. The river was somewhat tame but again great for my kids. By the way both tours had great meals afterwards.
TRIP

TripleSecDelay

Went to all the hot springs there. Recommend Baldi Termae hot springs. It's on the same road (as tabacon) that rounds the base of the volcano. Not as chi-chi as Tabacon. At $15 it is half the price, but still a nice place. I don't recommend going to the places that don't have such amenities as a restaurant, full restrooms, lockers, etc.

We rafted Pacuare, paid $95 per person, which included breakfast and lunch afterward. Well worth it when a person considers how far we were driven from SJ hotel and back. Would have easily been that much just for a taxi.

Canopy Tour : Try to make it to the largest and the newest ones for best experiences. There are some really small or short canopy tours - - if a person doesn't know the difference, they might be momentarily happy - - until they later learn that there are better experiences to be had.

ALSO : use the search function here to find more answers to your questions - they've all been posted before. All the recommended equipment / items you'll want to bring are listed.