Hi All,

We are traveling to CR in December. Our itinerary looks like this:

1. San Jose to Arenal (2 nights)
2. Arenal to Guanacaste ( 5 nights)
3. Guanacaste to Turrubari ( 3 nights)
4. Return back

What activities do you recommend for #3? I am also thinking of skipping Arenal and substituting it with Poas. Any suggestions?

I would not skip Arenal. Many of the best tours leave from that area. (Caño Negro, Caves, Volcano, Mt Biking etc)

I suggest staying 3-4 days in Guanacaste. I enjoyed myself in Guanacaste and it is beautiful, but there are more activities in other areas.

Have you considered Monteverde?

I would not drop Arenal for Poas. These two volcanoes are very different.

The Arenal area offers many many activities to choose from, simply hiking, waterfalls, river trips, ziplining, hanging bridges, horseback riding, etc. You can spend several days here.

Poas on the other hand is a very nice day trip from the SJ area. Get there early if you can, before the cloud cover. You can actually hike up to the top of Poas and peer over into the crater.

Whereas Arenal is very active shooting red hot rocks that tumble down the sides, quite a site!

It's probably not a question of either/or. You can do a half-day trip to POas when either coming in or going out of the airport. It's gorgeous but not much to do except look at it. THen go on to enjoy a few days around Arenal where you can do lots of hiking, biking, etc. as other posters have said. We did both on our trip last year and are so glad we did!

I did a tour that took me to the top of Poas Volcano, La Paz Waterfalls, and a boat ride on Sarapiqui. It was a full day tour. You can break this out into 2 days of activities if you wish.

Arenal is where more things are happening and where most tours leave from. I suggest at least 3 nights in Arenal/La Fortuna/San Carlos Area.

Have a fun trip.

I would definitly stick with Arenal... check out the hotsprings for sure. I love the Gunacaste area. Take an afternoon and check out the little town of CoCo, a great place to suvenier shop and get a real feel of the area culture. Also check out some of the quaint little bars/restaurants and water activities in Playa Hermosa. I haven't been to Turrubari, and really am not sure of where it is. I'm sure whatever you end up doing you'll have fun!