This will be my husband's and my first trip to Costa Rica. We'd love to see a variety of locations so I've put together a tentative itinerary. We're thinking we'll take Interbus transfers between locations. We're looking to relax, lay on the beach, see some wildlife. We don't plan on doing too many organized tours or activities, mostly exploring the parks and beaches and enjoying the culture. Are we cramming too many locations in? Comments please!

Day 1- arrive 9:30pm San Jose
Day 2- travel to Samara
Day 3- Samara
Day 4- Samara
Day 5- travel to Arenal
Day 6- Arenal
Day 7- travel to Manuel Antonio
Day 8- MA
Day 9- MA
Day 10- travel to San Jose
Day 11- depart

3 places for 10 days is just about right! Looks like a good itinerary to me. Have fun

Looks great. I am not sure what time your flight departs San Jose but-
consider a flight from MA to San Jose. The flights are about $40 and 45 min. This might give you an "extra day" to enjoy the beaches/wildlife of MA instead of a 3-4 hour van ride and a night in a San Jose hotel. Day 10 could say - kick it at the park instead of travel back to SJ.
As far as Arenal goes if you stay in (near)Fortuna I would avoid the higher priced hotels. Tabacon had awful food and an amusement park disneylike feel. The springs are open to the public and the tour buses start arriving early afternoon. Expect screaming kids .
Some of the budget hostels in Fortuna looked interesting with more choices of food and more exposure to Tico culture. Granted - a volcano view room is nice but when the weather is clear you can see the volcano from almost anywhere. After a week in a volcano room at the Tabacon the best lava we saw was on the road to town in a cab. (We stopped- the locals seem to enjoy the lava as much as the gringos).
We found Interbus to be very clean and safe- just expensive compared to the public bus. Between cheap cabs, Interbus, Sansa and Nature Air we have never missed having a car .

This sounds like a good itinerary. The flight back to San Jose from MA is a good idea but you can only do it on the same day if you have a good window of time between your domestic and international flight (3-4 hours, so that if something happens with the flight you still can get a transfer to SJ). Let us know if you need hotel recommendations.

Thanks for the feedback. Our flight leaves at 9am so unfortunately I doubt it would work to fly back to San Jose. As for hotels- I was thinking Arenal Paraiso (budget room), La Colina in Manuel Antonio in their Ocean View Suites. Do you think that no A/C would be an issue at Arenal?

We are stuck on Samara- Las Brisas sounds nice, but they don't have rooms with A/C available- do you think that would be crucial? My husband seems to always be hot so I would worry about that. Seems like there are some other budget options but not a lot of reviews...We'd like to be around 70 dollars a night or so, but are flexible. We're also open to any beach town that is quieter and less touristy than Tamarindo in place of Samara...

Arenal tends to be a cool side and we never felt the need for A/C there. Just the opposite, we wore our long pants and long sleeve tops in that area. As to Samara, we only passed through the town so are not that familiar with hotels there but I think you would enjoy the town itself. It is definitely not as busy or touristy as Tamarindo. Check out Villas Samara (I believe it was recommended on this board) or there is a new place called Villas Kalimba - not sure about the prices though. Enjoy your trip!

I too am planning a trip to Costa Rica in the next few months and noticed that you had planned to stay at Arenal Paraiso in Jaco. I was thinking of staying at the same place when a travel agent told me strongly to avoid that place and avoid Jaco. Another friend said Jaco is very seedy and not a good beach, so you might want to stay in MA instead. The travel agent wanted to book us at La Mariposa Hotel, which is supposedly one of the nicest places there ($130/night). Hotel California at $70/night in MA might be a good bet, several tour companies book there. Good luck!

dcmalia : Did the travel agent say specifically why to avoid AP and Jaco, as you stated in your message here?

If you haven't done so already, read brandonmichael's COSTA RICAN ADVENTURE >>> http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34528527

I've stayed at Tabacon Resort; convenient if you're planning to hang out and soak in the hot springs. But as already mentioned, it gets busy w/ daytrippers during afternoons & early evening. If you want an excellent view for "volcano watching", then staying at Arenal Paraiso (or the Montana De Fuego or Los Lagos) offers a better location for seeing any action.

Also, for your first night/last night in San Jose, consider Orquideas Inn -- http://www.orquideasinn.com/or other places in Alajuela. Alajuela is closer to airport & can be more convenient rather than staying in city of San Jose itself.

Jaco is a surfer party town.
The Arenal Paraiso is a very nice place. Can't imagine why anyone would say to avoid it unless your travel agent has ties to another hotel that they recommended instead.

Agreed, avoid Jaco but Arenal Paraiso is a decent place to stay. Not luxury, but the view of the volcano can't be beat. I personally would spend three nights at Arenal and two at MA, but that's only my opinion.

We spent 3 nights at Arenal & 4 nights at MA in August, and thought that was perfect. Although an extra night in Arenal would have been nice, too. We loved Arenal Paraiso. Grounds are beautiful, our deluxe bungalow was spacious and clean & we enjoyed the porch. Had great views of the lava.

We also stayed at La Colina in an ocean view suite & really enjoyed our stay there. I think it is a great place for the money. It's not necessary to spend a lot of money on hotels, IMO. We had a beautiful view of the Pacific. The breakfast is delicious, too. It is not a buffet; you choose from 5 meals on the menu, which is a nice change from buffets. The grounds are pretty, the staff is nice & we enjoyed the swim-up bar. Their restaurant also serves great dinners.

We stayed in Las Brisas in the middle of the dry season (February) and the lack of A/C was not an issue. The rooms are cooled by the breezes off the ocean.(Hey, you think that's where they got the name from?) However, we were in the higher building which gets a more direct breeze. The lowere cabinas, although at beach level, are somewhat blocked by vegetation and the restaurant/bar. The down side of the upper building is climbing the stairs to your room. If you are truly looking to simply veg out on the beach, you might also look at the next town south of Playa Samara, which is Playa Carillo. It has the most beautiful beach in the area, but virtually nothing else. If you want isolation, this is the place.

Hi dreamathers! Your flight leaves too early to take the quick flight over to SJ so unfortunately the Sansa or NatureAir option is not doable (but a great idea if it could have worked out!) LaColina is a great place in M.A. and a good value. The restaurant is one of our favorites also and has wonderful food(as KWOO stated!) Hopefully Chef Stefen will still be "on board" when you are here in M.A. His paella is absolutely fantastic. Additionally LaColina has live music on Thurs. and Saturdays which makes for a fun evening. When are you traveling to CR? Safe travels and repost or email w/ further questions!

Lisa in M.A.

If you can get a villa at Villas Kalimba in Samara, it sounds like your best bet. I would NOT recommend Villas Playa Samara--it was too pricey and didn't include breakfast. They charged us per person about $50 each per day, so $150 for a one bedroom villa for ourselves and our daughter. We didn't need the kitchenette, so that part was a waste. It was out of town, necessitating drving in for any meals we didn't eat on the property. Very few of their villas are ocean-view. It is one of the few places we have stayed in Costa Rica where we were not impressed with the service at the front desk or in the restaurant.
All around negative vibes (not to mention lots of small children in the pool leaving undesirable "debris" in their wake!!

Another thumbs up on Arenal Paraiso. AC not a requirement, but you might enjoy the deluxe bungalows, although there isn't a huge difference.

No one (I don't think) has mentioned it, but it seems to me that you are doing some unnecessary backtracking. Have you considered SJ to Arenal, Arenal to Samara, Samara to Manuel Antonio, then back to SJ? There would be a little less travel time, I believe.

dcmalia,
I am a little confused regarding your statement of advice to avoid "Arenal Paraiso in Jaco". Perhaps I am missing something and there is a hotel in Jaco called Arenal Paraiso (but I don't think so)! Arenal Paraiso Hotel is near Vulcan Arenal, and Jaco is a beach town to the south--popular with Tico kids on weekends. Wasn't particularly impressed with Jaco, but loved Arenal Paraiso.

As stated by Shillmac, I was also questioning your route. I agree with her that San Jose to Arenal, Arenal to Samara, Samara to Manuel Antonio, then back to San Jose might be better in terms of travel.
Another beach area that is in between Samara and Playa Carillo in terms of 'touristy' is Playa Nosara.
I have to agree to avoid Jaco. It's just not very pretty and is jam packed with a younger party crowd, and everything that goes with it.

Thanks everyone! I guess we were thinking to go to Samara first to split up the beach times. But maybe it does make more sense to do Arenal first- better than spending more time in the car.

I'm looking at a hotel in Carrillo- Hotel Esperanza. Only $50 a night, taxes included with breakfast. Sounds nice- I'm just wondering if it's easy enough to get a taxi to go into Samara for food, entertainment, etc.

Or are we better off just doing Arenal for 3 nights and Manuel Antonio for 5?

I have a feeling that no amount of time will ever be enough to enjoy this country!

My bad, mixed up of two different hotels with VERY similar sounding name ...

Arenal Paraiso is in Arenal, and I?ve heard good things about it.
http://www.arenalparaiso.com/english/main.htm

Arenal Pacifico is located in Jaco. This is the one the travel agent told me to avoid.
http://centralamerica.com/cr/hotel/arenalpacifico.htm

I had asked the travel agent to book us at Arenal Pacifico because it was on the beach and I was trying to find a good priced place. She responded that I should stay in MA because it?s "soooo much better than Jaco or Arenal Pacifico," then proceeded to suggest that we stay in La Mariposa, which is too expensive for me ($110/night), so I dumped her and we are now doing Tamarindo.

Aside from her comments, a friend who was in CR recently said they spent a few days in Jaco and found it to be very seedy, full of prostitutes and not that great of a beach.

Hope this clears things up ...

And if anyone can recommend places to stay in Tamarindo, that?s what I?m currently looking at ... Thanks!!