Travel in Costa Rica in August

Arenal and MA are terrific destinations, but you are going late enough into the rainy season that you could potentially be in for a pretty wet time.

Here's a link to rainfall patterns in CR (scroll your mouse around on the map to see the annual trends):

http://costa-rica-guide.com/Weather/WeatherMap.html

Guanacaste, the Nicoya Peninsula, and the Caribbean coast will be your best bets for drier weather conditions in August. You might want to think about switching MA out for one of these other locales for your beach time. With weather you never know for sure so you might be fine in MA, but the typical patterns would indicate a fair amount of rain in the month of August...

Also, one day/night in Arenal would really be short changing that area. There's a ton of things to do in the area and by the time you factor in driving, you'll really only have an afternoon there if you stick with your current plan. Arenal is easily worth 3 to 4 nights in it's own right.

Hope this helps. Good luck with your plans!

Good suggestions above...

Did this last August

Rained a lot...

www.hotelcapitansuizo.com had less rain

you need more than 1 day at www.arenal.net

it would be cheaper to stay at www.tabacon.com

visit www.thespringscostarica.com...

Have fun,

If we scrap going to MA area, where else would be a good place to see wildlife? My kids are very geared up to see monkeys, slots, etc. and we've heard the best place to go is the MA area.

Selva Verde would be a nice place for you and your kids, lots of animals there though in August it could be pretty wet. If your flight lands early enough you could hit the road and have 3 nights in Arenal, 4 nights in MA and a last night near the airport.

We are really struggling with whether we should go to Manuel Antonio or Nicoya area (e.g. Mal Pais) after going to Arenal. We would like some beach time, but have heard a lot of mixed reviews about rains in august. Help!

It's a tough call! Weather is just so hard to predict.

Monkeys and sloths are found all over Costa Rica. It is true that they are particularly easy to find in MA, but they do also range up into the Nicoya peninsula, and I've also seen both around Arenal (as well as coatis, tayras, and tons of cool birds). The Cano Negro daytrip out of Arenal usually provides a good chance at seeing wildlife, but you really would need to extend your stay to more than one night in Arenal (which is highly recommended for a number of reasons...). Wherever you decide to go, I recommend at least one guided tour to help locate some animals. Guides will have a good feel for how to track them down for you and the kids. Most hotels have a tour desk where you can conveniently line things up.

Make sure you take some raingear with you regardless of where you choose to stay and plan to have a great time!

Thanks for the advice.
We will extend our stay in Arenal - not sure what hotel. We need a family friendly place that has rooms that accommodate 5 people. Prefer not to spend too much money (tabacon seems expensive and they don't have rooms for 5).
I think we will still go to MA. Cross our fingers for good weather.

We will keep our fingers crossed for you. Take along some cards or other easy-to-pack games for the kids should rain strike. The most typical weather patterns in CR are clear mornings and showers in the afternoon/evening. If this holds true, you should be able to get some good activities in each day before the storm clouds roll in.

Maybe contact Los Lagos in Arenal to see if they can accommodate your family. That hotel seems to be particularly popular with young families and has fun things like a water slide, butterfly house, frog house, etc...

http://www.hotelloslagos.com/index.shtml

I haven't stayed there personally, but lots of people on the forum have. It's not going to be as fancy as Tabacon, but by most accounts is a perfectly nice place to stay...

I would recommend Los Lagos for your Arenal hotel. Our kids loved it. The rooms are very basic, but the grounds are great and it's not expensive at all. I think you'd enjoy it! They have waterslides, they're own hot springs (not as extensive as tabacon, but still springs) on site horseback riding and zip lines (for a fee) and the grounds are very well kept. We'd go back there in a second!

Also, if you do go to MA, we stayed at Tulemar, in the Mot Mot Villa and really loved it as well.

You're sure to see a lot of monkeys there!

Hi Patandlisa,
I know it is impossible to predict the weather, but we did go to Costa Rica in August in 2004, and we had great weather. It would rain every day around 4:00pm like clockwork for 30 - 60 minutes, and that was it. The rain did not stop us from doing anything we wanted to do. We went to MA, Arenal, Poas & San Jose.

I highly recommend the Finca Valmy horseback riding tour in MA. It was the highlight of our trip!!! You can do a google search to find its website.

Hi Kwoo,

Thanks for the information. It is great to hear that people have good experiences traveling around CR in August. The weather you describe sounds like a regular summer day (and a good one at that) where we live.
I'm curious if you drove everywhere. We are thinking of renting a vehicle, as I imagine hiring drivers to take us from SJ to Arenal to MA and back to SJ would cost a fortune (a lot more than renting a vehicle and driving ourselves). The only concern is the weather and road wash outs.

Hi patandlisa,

Yes, we rented a car for the duration of our trip. We picked it up at the airport but unfortunately, I don't remember what rental agency we used. It might have been Budget. We felt the price was reasonable. My husband and daughter shared the driving. The driving wasn't bad at all. The road from San Jose to MA is windy and over mountains for part of the trip. Once you get over the mountains, it was flat. We did that during the day. You just have to use common sense, don't speed, be patient when behind slow trucks, etc. We also drove from MA to Arenal which took the full day with stops for lunch and picture taking. We saw beautiful scenery along the way. Then we drove from Arenal to Poas, then Poas to Alajeula (near San Jose & the airport). All the roads we traveled were in good condition, just narrow, windy & up and down mountains in some areas. There is a very narrow bridge near Quepos that is in need of repair. Missing wooden planks, that sort of thing. But it is drivable with caution. The bridge is over a narrow stream and low - nothing scary.

We arrived in SJ around 2PM, I think, picked up our car & were in MA by 6PM when it starts to get dark. We drove from destination to destination during the day, and any night time driving we did was only in the area where we were staying.

Hope this helps. We loved the freedom of having our own car.

Well, just to add that we spent a week in MA in Aug ('07) and had a great time. Rain was very predictable (I know that's often not true). Never got above 90F. Would rain about 2pm or so and usually stop by 4pm. Mornings/early afternoons were very sunny and we simply did most outdoor activities in the morning and early afternoon. Very lush and beautiful. And since it was "off" season, few crowds and some great rates on hotels, etc.

Has anyone heard of/stayed at El Silencio del Campo in La Fortuna? We are still looking for cheaper accommodations for our stay around Arenal, and their website looks pretty good...
And how long does it take to do a day trip to Cano Negro? I'm quickly figuring out that we won't have enough time in CR to do all that we want to do!!

El Silencio has gotten a lot of very good reviews on this forum, quite reasonable rates.

You'll leave early AM for Cano Negro and it takes around 2 hours or so to arrive at the town of Los Chiles. Some tours stop for breakfast, most people eat at their hotel before leaving. You are usually out on the water for 3 hours or so, then lunch after the boat brings you back to Los Chiles. A few of the tours will stop at the iguana bridge and restaurant for photos at Muelle.

You should see howler and white faced monkeys, sloths, basilisk lizards, bats, caimans - well worth a day and you will probably return by 4.

Thanks for the info on Cano Negro and El Silencio.

Next question: where's a good place to stay in San Jose? We arrive late in the evening, so think we will have to overnight in SJO before we move on to our next stop. We will also have to stay in SJO the night before we leave as we have an early am departure to come home.
any suggestions? also any recommendations for car rentals would be good.

Orquideas Inn, Bougainvillea, Trapp Family Lodge, Buena Vista, Adventure Inn are all fairly close to the airport in Alajuela.

Tricolor is the only car rental we've ever used and many others on this forum use it, too.

I've stayed at Orquideas Inn twice, and enjoyed it both times. They've got good rates, a nice staff, pretty grounds, etc...

We rented from Europcar on our first trip and Payless on our second. No problems either time. I wouldn't hesitate to book with Tricolor either as it does get lots of great reviews here (and colibri wouldn't steer you wrong ).

I've stayed at El Silencio del Campo and LOVED it. Wonderful place to stay, good location, beautiful, hot springs, local owners are the best.

Orquideas Inn is nice with big pool and jacuzzi, great food, good place to chill first and/or last night.