60th Birthday Celebration
 

My husband and I plan to travel to Costa Rica for 9 days in the middle of March, 2009. We would like to have a moderatley active trip, with some relaxation, and we would like to visit Arenal, Monteverde, and Manual Antonio We would also like to have our plans prearranged, so that all is in order when we arrive. Do you recommend that we join a tour group, and, if so, what are some recommendations for reputable tour groups? If we do not go with a tour group, who do you recommend to help us with hotels, transportation, event planning, etc.? I assume that a reputable travel agent would be in the postition to make recommendations to us and to make the arrangements. Finally, if we do this through a travel agent, i would appreciate your recommendations about hotels, transportation, things to see and do. Thanks.

teer, what a great birthday trip!

My suggestion would be to contact Pat Hewitt at www.lovecostarica.com
and tell him what type of accomodation you are looking for in each area. My suggestion would be to stay away from a prearranged tour group. . .but that's just me.

He can get it booked for you and then you can plan what you'd like to do each place. No need to think about activities until everything is booked. Rest assured, there is PLENTY to do in all 3 places. Enough to make you want to go back for more! :)

Pat will be quite familiar with hotel choices in each area, and will know exactly how to match you up with the ideal place. Mid March tends to be a busy time, so you'll probably want to secure your accomodations fairly quickly. . .

I second the motion for Pat Hewitt; he plans a lot of trips for people on this board and is a frequent poster. We did a combo of Arenal and MA for our first trip, and got to see Monteverde on our most recent trip. You can also gain a lot of information just by using these boards; we've planned all of our vacations without signing up for a tour group just because we like to do our own thing and go and do exactly what we'd like to do.

We have traveled to Costa Rica 2 times with Overseas Adventure Travel - OAT, and have loved the trips. In case you don't know about them, their trips are geared to older, active adults and there are never more than 16 in a group. Since we discovered them a few years ago, we never travel with anyone else. We have always had excellent guides. In Costa Rica we have stayed in beautiful, remote lodges in the rain forest. Their Natural Parks tour goes to the places that you mentioned wanting to see. Their web site is oattravel.com. You can use my referral number of 907685 to save $50 per person on your trip. Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

teer, if you're not interested in driving yourselves, we've always hired private drivers through our hotels and have had great luck doing so. Also to go from Arenal to Monteverde, you can do Jeep Boat Jeep through Desafio and save a lot of time on the roads. The roads in Arenal are in great shape; in Monteverde however, it's pretty bumpy and unpaved. We loved the Lost Iguana in Arenal/La Fortuna and Fonda Vela in Monteverde has some nice junior suites.