sssteve

My wife and I have started planning a visit to Costa Rica about 1 year from now. We are planning on going in February, and we will have about 7 or 8 nights. The dates are still flexible. This visit will be combined with a couple of other activities (far from Costa Rica), so the exact length is flexible, but not too flexible.

My question regards bases - which and how many.
We are mature travelers, and generally travel independently. We are not interested in beaches (we live right on the sun drenched Mediterranean), and we are not into diving, snorkeling or extreme sports. We do like nature, light hiking, and local culture (and good restaurants, if there are any).

I have read and studied, and decided on the places that we would like to visit. I think there are too many for the amount of time we have, so my question is this:
Which places should be eliminated, and which should we use as bases?

Here are the areas that most interest us:
Arenal, Monteverde, Parque Nacional Tortuguero, Manuel Antonio National Park.

We will be flying into and out of San Jose.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

MichelleY

Your available days also depend on arrival/departure times and if you will need to spend a night or two near the airport. With that amount of time, pick 2 places. Definitely Arenal area. Manuel Antonio works well for first timers going in/out of SJ. Haven't been to Monteverde, so can't say. Same with Tortuguero.

sssteve

Thanks Michelle.

I have seen that there are day trips available from San Jose to visit Tortuguero. Has anybody done this? Is it a reasonable way to visit Tortuguero?

Also, is there anybody out there with an opinion as to whether we should (or can) visit both Monteverde and Manuel Antonio?

MichelleY

If you do a trip to Tortuguero, you should at least spend 1 night. 2 are better since it takes along time to get there, unless you fly in.

I think with your time frame, you need to choose MV or MA to enjoy both properly. Time consuming to get most places in Costa Rica.

volcanogirl

I would not do a day trip to Tortuguero. It will take too long to get there, and you won't have time to enjoy it. Better to go back in season when the turtles are laying their eggs. We spent two night like Michelle mentioned, and that's about the right amount of time there.

The Arenal area is our favorite. We've stayed at several hotels there and enjoyed them all, but if you want light hiking and to see wildlife, I'd stay at the Arenal Observatory Lodge. We saw monkeys, toucans, and coatis from our Smithsonian room there. There's also good hiking at the waterfall, Hanging Bridges, and the volcano. The Cano Negro tour to see wildlife is great, and for something closer, the Penas Blancas river float. Don't miss the natural hot springs like Tabacon and Eco Termales.


I'd pair it with Monteverde since they also have nice hiking there, and you can see the cloud forest. Hike in the reserve with a guide to see quetzals, and do the Hidden Valley night hike. The biggest draw of Manuel Antonio is the beach, and it sounds like that's not a priority for you. We stayed at Fonda Vela in Monteverde.

sssteve

Thanks VG,

When is turtle hatching season?

volcanogirl

For the kind that we saw, egg laying and nesting run from late July through October. We went in early July and did manage to see some, but the numbers are better a little bit later.

sssteve

Thanks volcanogirl:

I have added a night, so now it's 8 nights, which translates to 7.5 full days, not including travel days.

How about this plan?

2 nights in San Jose - one at the beginning and one at the end.
Between the overnights in SJ, we will do:
2 nights in Tortuguero
2 nights in Arenal
2 nights in Montverde

How does the above plan sound?

volcanogirl

I wouldn't stay in San Jose at all unless you have to due to your flight times. For the most part, it's not a very attractive city - lots of razor wire and fast food spots, traffic. The real beauty of CR lies outside the city. If you can add those days to the Arenal area I would. We usually stay about 4 nights in the area when we go.

sssteve

I know about San Jose. The overnights are as you suspected, only due to flights. Don't have exact flights right now, but we will arrive after a looooong flight(s) from home and an overnight close to the airport will be necessary.
Is there a suitable place near the airport, but in a nicer location than SJ?

Although we won't be flying home and the flight out of CR will not be so long (flying to the states), the location for the last night depends on the departure flight time. However, for safety's sake, it will be best to be near the airport the night before.

volcanogirl

To me, it's too much moving around. I would give up Tortuguero. Do you have your heart set on going there even though it's not turtle season? It takes a long time to get there. I would give up your Tortuguero time and add it on to your Arenal stay.

Xandari is a beautiful place to stay that's fairly close to the airport but outside the city. If you just want something convenient, there's a Holiday Inn, Marriott, Adventure Inn. If you like a city hotel, Grano de Oro is great and has an excellent restaurant. I also really like the Toucan Rescue Ranch.

sssteve

I'm not married to any particular place, but Tortuguero sounds really interesting. It's not the turtles which interest me.

I understand what you are telling me. I give travel advice to lots of people, usually on the Europe forum. In fact, I usually tell other posters not to try to do too much, and not spend too much time traveling.
On the other hand, this is our first visit to Costa Rica, and most likely the last as well.

As for skipping Tortuguero and adding a day to Arenal, I will give that some serious thought. I will also consider adding another day to our visit to CR. I have plenty of time left for "thinking and planning".

volcanogirl

The Cano Negro tour in the Arenal area is very very similar to what you would experience in Tortuguero riding around in the canals to spot wildlife. Most people with your time frame only go to two locations, so four locations is quite a bit. Really up to you if you think you'll be able to relax and enjoy it. I'm a go go traveler that really packs things in in a vacation, but that would be too much for me. How were you planning to get to Tortuguero? If you flew in and out that would save you some time, but boating in on the river is the best way to see all the wildlife. You can't drive there. Adding days to your trip is another good option.

sssteve

I am aware of the limitations regarding reaching Tortuguero. I was planning to book with a tour company for a private (or small) tour to get there, but hadn't gotten into the details yet. Still deciding on the overall plan.
On the other hand, if Arenal offers a similar experience, that would definitely be a better idea. Then, the plan would be: 3-4 days in Arenal, and 2-3 days in Monteverde and no Tortuguero.

Thanks a lot.

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

MinnBeef

Just got back from 9 days in CR 3 weeks ago. I spent the first 1/2 in Arenal (LOVED IT!) and the second 1/2 in Manuel Antonio (meh!) Like VG, I stayed at the Arenal Observatory Lodge and, while it's isolated from La Fortuna, the hiking and wildlife spotting are outstanding. They have a free morning hike at 8:30 each day and I also signed up for the late afternoon 1968 Lava hike. The Waterfall hike is also easy and very doable on your own. Eco Termales hot springs was very nice, reachable by the Lodge's low cost shuttle, and if you go in the morning session like I did, you may have the entire place all to yourself. And while I gather that ziplining is probably not your thing, the ziplining with Sky Adventures (not far from the Lodge) is a memory that will stay with me for the rest of my life!

sssteve

Thanks for the report, Minnbeef.
Ziplining is definitely on the schedule. We're not kids, but we are in good shape.

Volcanogirl - how many times have you been to Costa Rica, or do you live there?

volcanogirl

Agree with Minn, Sky Trek is fantastic. Beautiful lake and volcano views. I've lost track regarding how many times we've visited Costa Rica - maybe 9 or 10? We've visited the Arenal area several times; that's the one area we keep going back to.

MinnBeef

Yes, you HAVE to use Sky Adventures! I did the full day adventure with rainforest hike, hanging bridge and ziplining. Was only $108 for the day and they did an outstanding job.

MichelleY

We did Sky Trek....in the rain . But then we had lunch and spent the afternoon at Eco Termales. Warmed up nicely

sssteve

That's amazing. Yesterday, in my web research, I found Sky Trek and Sky Adventures. Both now bookmarked for "further study".