1st time to Costa Rica any suggestions?
 

Hello, all. My brother and I came across a couple of cheap tickets to C.R. So, we bought them. This is a spur of the moment trip. We will arrive in San Jose on a Wed. morning and depart from San Jose on Mon evening. This gives us around 6 days. Any suggestions on what we should see during this time? We are both active and adventurous. Not looking to party too much. Any help and recommendations for tour guides, car rental vs bus or driver, hotels and restaurants will greatly be appreciated. Thanks so much.

We did this exact same thing last April on our first trip to CR -- bought tickets on the spur of the moment -- Wednesday to Monday. It actually only gives you four full days, not counting the travel days. I found this a difficult amount of time -- not really enough (for us) to go to two locations -- though others will certainly disagree. Just depends on how much you want to move around. You could also look into taking internal flights to save time.

We just decided to go to Manuel Antonio for the entire 5 nights. This was a great choice for us -- allowed us to relax a bit and get to know the area, but you might be able to do a three/two split between two places.

What time are your flights? This might determine whether or not you have to spend your first and/or last night closer to SJO.

Oops, sorry, I just reread your post. I see you get in in the morning and leave in the evening -- so you should be able to avoid spending a night near the airport unless you just want to.

You could do the usual split between Manuel Antonio and Arenal, or Arenal and Puerto Viejo, or just spend all five nights in one of those locales.

We have spoken about a split b/n Arenal and Manuel Antonio. Maybe a guided tour of the volcano & the repelling adventure? Not sure yet. I ordered Fodor's C.R. travel guide, but I will not receive it until next week. Not sure what there is to see in Manuel Antonio. A friend told me the beach has become over developed and abit touristy. Any activities you can recommend in the area and maybe a hotel or two. I can only sit on a beach for short periods of time before I become extremely bored. Will transportation be readily available, or is a car rental easier? Thanks

www.desafiocostarica.com

great adventure around Arenal

www.hotelsilenciodelcampo.com

www.manuelantoniopark.com

www.laposadajungle.com

plenty of adventure there also..

www.mapcr.com

www.tricolorcarrental.com

best for freedom flexibility...

We love Arenal; it's a great place with lots to do with the active volcano, natural hot springs like Eco Termales, waterfall, ziplines like SkyTrek, and the Cano Negro tour is great for viewing wildlife. In MA, we did a snorkel tour which I wouldn't really recommend. Finca Valmy horseback riding is popular, as is the Damas mangrove tour. Definitely hire a guide for a tour of the park to see wildlife, and bring your bathing suit - the prettiest beach is inside the park. Remember the park is closed on Mondays.

Cano Negro is a long way for not much wildlife...at least in April '09 when we were there. Don't expect flocks of birds..just one here and there. Monkey sightings are fun.
And....don't waste time sending even one postcard. Probably it would never make it to the US. Mine didn't despite being mailed in several different places, with typed labels and correct postage. Have a wonderful trip. Great country.

Arenal/MA is a good split for your time in CR as others have mentioned. VG already gave you a good rundown on some of the activities in each place.

It's easy to get around in MA without a car. The area is quite compact and there are buses and taxis readily available. Arenal is more spread out and we liked having a car there. That said, you can get taxis and most of the tours that you might take will pick you up at your hotel for a small additional fee.

I will have to respectfully disagree with anngray about Cano Negro. Most posters here have nothing but rave reviews about that tour, and the wildlife sightings are usually terrific. Of course, you can't get animals to appear on cue and it sounds like she didn't end up seeing much which is definitely a bummer! I understand her perspective but <i>most</i> of the time it's a pretty good bet for wildlife viewing...

I completely disagree about Cano Negro too. We've done it twice and can't wait to do it again. We saw capuchins, sloths, howlers, even a baby albino howler which was really amazing, more birds than we could count, bats, caimans. Most people give it great reviews. We used Sunset Tours, and they had great guides. Usually the wildlife sightings are wonderful. We loved it because we didn't see much in Arenal, although we really enjoyed it there. I'd recommend a morning tour for best viewing.

We saw quite a variety of wildlife on the Cano Negro tour, plus it was a very nice day trip. Suggest you go for it!

Hello, all. Thanks for the replies. I used the link above from qwovadis to book a rental car. We have also decided on the hotels, AOL for Arenal and La Mansion Inn for Manuel Antonio. We have narrowed it down to Cano Negro, hiking, and Sky Trek and EcoTermales (VG) in Arenal, and river rafting, Damas Mangrove kayak tour, and hiking in Manuel Antonio. Do we need to book the tours in advance, or should we wait until we arrive at the hotels? Also, any restaurants you might recommend? Thanks again.

We did the Cano Negro trip and whereas I sure wouldn't say I was disappointed, we didn't see THAT much either. Of course the fact that we spent the first part of our trip at Bosque del Cabo where wildlife really is everywhere may have tainted our view. But with such a short time, I wouldn't prioritize it.

Oh, and just wait to book the tours when you arrive. It is no problem to do it the day before you want to go (like when you check in, book the tour then).

We booked Eco Termales ahead because they limit entry to 100 people, and we've met people who couldn't get in during their stay. I think you'd be okay to book everything else there.

You make a valid point Monica. Cano Negro was the first place in CR where we saw sloths and monkeys and being a huge wildlife enthusiast, I was thrilled! Now if I had gone there right after the Osa, I personally would still have enjoyed CN (because it's just inherently the type of thing I really like to do), but it might have lost a little bit of it's impressiveness because of all the animals I would already have seen.

What it will have over MA (if that's where kerouac goes first), is more of an isolated, wild feel. MA is great, but the animals are a lot more acclimated to human presence. We saw more wildlife at CN than on the Damas tour, but saw more in MA park than at CN... I enjoyed all of the tours regardless. :-)

c, we had the same experience. We were in Arenal for several days and didn't see much wildlife, and Cano Negro was the first place we saw a sloth and capuchins. Our whole boat was running around and pointing, "Monkeys!" I liked the proximity of wildlife in MA park, but the animals just don't seem natural or wild to me. They seem like they want to steal your lunch, and they know how to open the bag. I completely agree that the Osa is hard to beat - best wildlife we've ever seen, jaw dropping, and amazing.