jilkovina

We are actually going next June so I am in early stages of planning.We will be in Costa Rica 2 weeks.It will be 7 of us.Me,husband,my parents,my seven years old and 16 years old and mother in law who is 73 years old .I called Tricolor and we will be renting Suzuki XL7(hope this will be good).I know that,we want to do Arenal 3 or 4 nites,Pacuare river(only bravest from the group),something for couple days between Osa and San Jose- Uvita or MA or stay close to CHirrippo.I am not decided yet.At Osa we are stayng at casadosrios.com does somebody have any experience? We are from Florida so we like mountains.And half of the group is from Czech republic,without any English knowlage.Any suggestions?

jilkovina

shillmac?

shillmac

Hi! I'm not sure what you are asking! Your plan sounds good. Arenal always a good choice; the Osa, too, of course. The XL-7 will be good for your group, but no room for luggage! Just a little space in the back. . .
Do you have a plan for that? We rented a Suzuki APV one year (more like a van) when there were 6 of us traveling together and it had a little more room. Tricolor has those as well. Just a thought.

I'd suggest Arenal first, central Pacific (MA/Dominical/Uvita) always a good choice for a couple of days, especially doing all that driving.

I'm not familiar with your Osa accomodations.

Although we've traveled the Interamerican near Chirripo many times, have yet to see more than a slight glimpse of it. Clouds generally cover that area and much of the time everything on either side of the highway is just whiteout. It would be nice if someone in your group knew a few Spanish phrases. English not all that important!

Perhaps at the end of your trip, you could spend a couple of days in San Jose and raft the Pacuare. Your group could split. If you stayed at the Hotel Don Carlos

www.doncarloshotel.com

they have an excellent tour desk and everyone could go out on the excursion of their choice for a wonderful day. For the less adventurous I'd recommend the Highlights of Costa Rica tour. You can see all the tours offered on the hotel website.

3 nights Arenal
3 nights MA
4 nights Osa
2 nights San Jose

Extra nights wherever you need them. . .first night may need to be in San Jose (or near airport in Alajuela) depending on arrival time. . .

Hope this helps. If you come up with more specific questions, you will get a variety of answers--all good ones!
Good luck!

shillmac

I should say that in that Suzuki APV, there were actually 7 of us, one being a toddler in a child's seat. We also packed very light, so no one had more than a decent sized piece of luggage. There was a LOT of room in the floor behind the driver in that first row of seats. We kept some of the luggage there. The rest went behind the last row of seats.

jilkovina

Good advise about Suzuki APV.Just not sure if they have that at 4W drive.Would you rent GP navigation?

shillmac

I don't know either, but it was what we drove on the Interamerican down to San Isidro, over to Dominical, and up to Manuel Antonio on that very rough road. Had no problems at all. Seems like it WAS 4 wheel drive, but not sure. My husband probably remembers--I'll ask.