SciSyd

My husband and I arrive in CR in less than a week. After reading the postings we are thinking of changing our itinerary from: La Fortuna, Monteverde, Manuel Antonio to one without Monteverde and starting with Sarapiqui. The rafting and are sound great. Any suggestions on transportation (we are taking interbus everywhere else)? How about lodging? I've read great things about Hacienda Pozo Azul and La Quinta. Other suggestions also welcome!

shillmac

Never been to Monteverde (hoping to go sometime--hasn't been on our list of priorities!), but love the Sarapiqui region. Haven't been on the river except for a Jungle Cruise, but one of our best memories here is of one of the guys who operates these cruise boats showing us a tiny nest with baby hummingbirds in it in a tree near the river. . .priceless! Have a great time!

marion2

For me this is a no brainer. Read my thread titled Report on Our Two Weeks in Costa Rica. We stayed at Centro Neotropico de SarapiquiS for 3 nights and loved it. Their website is www.sarapiquis.org. and it does not do the hotel justice. (Read my comments to them on their site) If you book, be sure to book the deluxe accommodations (only $8 more than standard and a real treat). We are not bird watchers but the variety of birds that we saw daily from the terrace outside our room was both amazing and entertaining. The hotel dining room open air and delightful and the food, served buffet style for the 3 daily meals was tasty and very plentiful. Breakfast was $5 and lunch and dinner $10.I don't know if it was our timing or what, but we practically had the hotel to ourselves. We did the canopy/horseback riding and the white water with Hacienda Pozo Azul (check their website hadiendapozoazul.com) and they were terrific. We were the only ones on both activities. Couldn't find nicer guides anywhere and we had great fun both days. Do not miss the guided tour into Tirimbina Biological Reserve which begins on the hotel grounds. It was excellent and, once again, just us. We enjoyed it much more than the tour at Monteverde Cloud Forest. The fact that it was not over run by tourists made a big difference. The road to Sarapiqui is good (Costa Rican style)and scenic and the road to Monteverde is scenic and the road from ____.
If you haven't booked Arenal yet, I strongly recommend a chalet at Arenal Lodge.
Enjoy your vacation.

RufusTFirefly

A no brainer for me, too. We love and much prefer the Monteverde area. It wasn't at all over run by tourists when we were there. I guess it depends on your personality and interests.

Suzie2

I have spent quite a bit of time in Monteverde and have stayed in the Sarapiqui area several times. I like both but Monteverde is obviously not a place everyone likes. It could be I like it because I have spent more time there and have really gotten to know it. Neither is the Sarapiqui area because of the added humidity associated with the Caribbean slope. This is real rainforest so do be prepared. Last year we had rain, this year we didn't. I had been to the Caribbean slope a couple of times and finally talked my husband into it last year. He is now in love with it. We returned again this year and if we don't go to Panama next year, we will go back again. La Quinta and the Center for Neotropical studies are off the same main road. Not too far from each other. The nice thing about the Center is that you can just walk out your door and hike in Tirimbina. I'm not sure what the fee is or even if there is one if you are staying there but there was one when we were just visiting it last year. There were no guests at that time. Pozo Azul sounds like fun. We tend to shy away from "tour" things and spend most of our time in the woods hiking. A guide in Tirimbina would be a good idea.

SciSyd

Thanks for all of the suggestions! I have mixed feelings about the fact that our hotel (Cloud Forest Lodge) in Monteverde has a no cancellation policy so, rather than throw out $140, we'll head off to Monteverde. Makes me think we may need to come back for other adventures tho! How wonderful to have so many fantastic choices!!!!

puckett

Make sure you do the Selventura Canopy tour. 2 1/2 hours long and 19 platforms. This made monteverde well worth going to.

Suzie2

Selvatura is the newer canopy tour area. I have heard good things about it. Hopefully, it will be the last. Monteverde/Santa Elena doesn't need anything more! I was told years ago that the roads didn't get paved because the people up in Santa Elena etc. wanted to keep tourism down. It is not working.

RufusTFirefly

We did the Selvatura canopy tour and bridges in January. It was great fun, and beautiful. We didn't experience any huge crowds of tourists.

Jolene

Was in Monteverde last week and loved it. We (2adults 2teens) also went on the Selvatura Canopy Tour and visited their hummingbird gardens while waiting for the tour, had a great time! Don't miss the ice cream at the cheese factory it was the best ever! www.selvatura.com