Beach/Volcano 8 night itinerary
 

Hello! We want to go to Arenal and see the volcano and cloud forest-at least 3 nights. We have 5 nights for a different area and prefer a beach/snorkel/adventure are. Suggestions? We want nice lodging for this part of the trip and not too much driving.

Thanks!

The Manuel Antonio area is really popular. We did a combo Arenal/MA trip last year. MA is a big national park that is full of wildlife; there's also beaches within the park that you can go to. We stayed at Mango Moon in the King Upper Balcony Suite - very nice. There's also a beach here, but it involves a 20-minute hike down hill. Very few hotels in this area are built near the beach; most are clustered up on the hill with the beach down below.

This year, we went to Bosque del Cabo on the Osa Peninsula. Great place if you'd like adventure - monkeys, scarlet macaws, toucans, dolphins, hiking - it's a little more wild and harder to get to, but it's amazing. You would have to fly here on either Nature Air or Sansa; driving there would be very difficult and take hours.

As far as the not too much driving, Arenal is not near the beach, so getting there will involve some driving, or at least some riding if you'd like to hire a private driver. We did not find the snorkeling to be very good - there was a lot of sediment in the water that made it hard to see, but we enjoyed the sailing aspect of the trip.

You could get a private transfer or use interbus or fly and do the Arenal/Manuel Antonio split. You won't need a car in MA and there are many nice places to choose from. It's a very popular place so can get busy at times, but plenty to do though I wouldn't say the snorkeling in CR rates too much. What is your budget?

Hi. Thanks. Our budget is flexible. We like value but don't mind paying for a splurge. Thank you again.

In Arenal I've stayed at Arenal Paraiso, pretty decent rates and nice place. Silencio del Campo also gets good reviews here.

In MA I like Costa Verde, great views if you stay in the studio plus rooms, also nice to have 2 restaurants right on site.

Depending on what you're looking for there are plenty of activities in both places to keep you plenty busy.

Forgot to mention, in Arenal, we loved staying at Lost Iguana - nice volcano view and set outside of town in the lush hillside; our room had a great jacuzzi on the balcony.

MA is awesome, you could fly from Arenal on Nature Air to MA via SJ. We did Arenal-SJ-Jaco-MA-Tamarindo due to our Liberia flights. We had a great time in Tam, not as nice as MA though.

Have fun!

Just like Tully, last year we stayed at Arenal Paraiso and then took the Interbus shuttle to Manuel Antonio. Stayed at Costa Verde. We really liked both hotels, great views and not so expensive.

We always took the bus from Costa verde down the hill to the beach and the bars and restaurants there.