We have finally come up with an itinerary for our June trip. Just need some reassurance on some of it! Here it is:
- Nighttime arrival, stay in Alajuela (1 night-Pura Vida Hotel)
-Rent car, head to La Paz Waterfall Gardens on way to Arenal
-Arenal (3 nights-Silencio Del Campo) Hanging bridges, Tabacon, hiking
-Head to Mal Pais **** I am still confused on a route!! Need guidance from anyone who has made this journey. I know its a tough one. We were even thinking about somehow flying there but would we have to drive back to SJ? Would we even be able to fly with a surfboard? We would then need to rent another car in Tambor for the rest of our trip. Too much hassle??
-Mal Pais (3 nights- Tropico Latino) Relax, surf, yoga
-Playa Hermosa near Jaco (2 nights- Hermosa Bungalows) This part is for my boyfriend to surf! I need some suggestions for what I can do!! These waves are too big for me! We may do a canopy tour here.
-Manuel Antonio (2 nights- Issimo Suites) Hike in park, possibly Dumas Island tour.
Any input on driving and tour suggestions would be so helpful!! The only part of CR that we have already visited is MA (and Jaco just for a day). I am still trying to decide on a car rental company. I am leaning towards Dollar. Again, any experiences will be helpful!
Thanks for reading!

Skip Manual Antonio. Go to Osa Penninsula instead. La Paloma Lodge.

Yes, you can fly with surfboard but will have to pay for extra weight (anything over 20 lbs of luggage).

Drive from Pura Vida Hotel to Arenal was very doable - nice, smooth road. There are three roads to take, we took the longer, more interesting one and it took us about three hours.

Stayed at Montana del Fuego and loved it. Old school and simple but clean and dead center in front of the volcano. Swim up pool bar and jacuzzi. Spa massages are okay, but not great. Save your money. Hanging bridges are very cool. Tabacon very relaxing.

We got up early and drove back to San Jose for our flight to Tamarindo. No problems. So you could easily fly to Mal Pais.

Canopy tours are very fun.

Used Tri-colores car rental last time and they were very nice, but the brakes were very low. This time I booked through Tierra Verde Costa Rica. Don't forget you can ask for special pick up or drop off requests and usually the Ticos will happily do it, with a reasonable charge. For example, they're delivering the rental car to us at 1:30 in the high country after we finish rafting the Pacuare. (This is fun, I highly recommend the Pacuare with Rios Tropicales.

My girlfriend and I just last night returned from our weeklong trip to Costa Rica, including 3 nights at Hotel el Silencio del Campo. It was an absolutely charming place. All the cabins (cabinas) have views of the volcano (clouds permitting, of course), as does the pool. We never saw lava because of the clouds (although we heard the rumbling!), but it should be in view of the hotel. The family that runs the place and their staff are incredibly welcoming and friendly, and they'll be able to recommend the best activities (they directed us to an awesome canopy tour over the waterfall outside La Fortuna with the company Arenal Mundo Aventura). Gardens galore. The restaurant is very good, and the free breakfast is so big that we couldn't finish it! The rooms are very big, and very clean. Just a great place.

Although we didn't see the lava, we inquired about the best place to view it. Currently, as of mid-March 2007, Hotel Montana del Fuego is dead-center. If before going to bed you ask the staff of any hotel in the area (including Silencio), they'll wake you in the middle of the night if the volcano clears, and you can either observe the lava from your hotel or quickly drive to the big roadside pullout in front of Montana del Fuego to catch a glimpse.

We did some hiking on the trails around the Arenal Observatory Lodge. To get there, you take an 8-km long dirt/rock road, full of potholes, that is the epitome of Costa Rican roads. It's 2,000 colones per person to enter, and worth it. First, the observation deck and restaurant have breathtaking views of the volcano and Lake Arenal. They give you a hiking map when you pay, and we did two of them: the Old Lava, and the Catarata/Waterfall. Both have very steep sections, but if you're in decent shape they will take only half the amount of time as listed. The Old Lava just takes you through forest down to a stream -- nothing too spectacular, but we saw a few little lizards scampering around. The Catarata hike is very cool, down to a waterfall where the adventurous can swim in the output pool. If you take the whole loop, you'll come across a hanging bridge to some farmland. Post-hiking, grab a beer at the restaurant and enjoy the view with other travelers. The folks at our hotel also suggested hiking at the El Silencio Private Reserve (no relation to the hotel), and the Arenal National Park. We ran out of time, but both are on the way to the Arenal Observatory Lodge.

As for hot springs, we intended to visit two of them for comparison's sake, but only made it to one: Eco Thermales. It's run by the same family who owns Silencio del Campo, and I think you get a discount rate as a guest of Silencio. The only drawback to Eco Thermales is a lack of a volcano view from the pools -- you can see Arenal only from the parking lot. But there is no crowd because they limit the amount of guests (make reservations beforehand!), the dinner is delicious, the pools are extremely relaxing, and the bar serves up great drinks. From what we heard about Tabacon Hot Springs from other travelers, it is very touristy and busy. If that's the case, then we would prefer view-less Eco Thermales as a great place to chill out after an active day.

The drive bewteen Alajuela and Arenal has one very long mountainy stretch, so be prepared for a lot of downshifting (if you have a stick shift) and some very crazy driving by the Ticos. The center line is merely a suggestion, and if you drive a half-kilometer per hour too slow, they'll ride your tail and then pass you at any opportunity they'll get. You'll have to do some passing of trucks, too, which makes you feel like you're part of the action.

La Fortuna has an airport, and I'm pretty sure both Sansa Air and Nature Air fly in and out of there. Check out their websites to be sure. We flew Sansa from Alajuela to Tamarindo for the first leg of our trip, and I saw signs saying that surfboards have to be 6'9" or under.

Finally, we rented with Tricolor, and were very happy although I too noticed that the parking brake needed to be yanked a little harder than normal. They don't have an office in Tamarindo, but they were happy to drop a car off for us there at "no charge." Why the quote marks? The $45 charge came at the back end, for dropping off in a different location (Alajuela). But $45 is way cheaper than flying, so it wasn't a big deal to us.

Happy travels!

krbr17 thanks for the info about Arenal. How long did it take you to do the hikes at Arenal Observatory Lodge? Did to go to the hot springs in the evening and stay for dinner? Any idea if the hike at El Silencio is open to everyone, not just tour groups?

Hi sms73-

I think we were up at the Arenal Observatory Lodge for a total of 4 hours (including the drives on the dirt roads). I'd say the Old Lava hike took us 30-45 minutes roundtrip, and the Cataratas hike 1-1.5 hours roundtrip, including a nice long time just looking at the waterfall and feeling the mist on our faces. The rest of the time we spent walking the grounds of the lodge, hanging out on the deck looking at the volcano and lake, and eating a post-hike snack and enjoying a beer. Like I said above, well worth the 2,000 colones ($4) per person.

Yes, we made reservations for the 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. time slot at Eco Thermales, and purchased the dinner. The dinner was excellent: fresh fruit, fresh salad, juice, rice, beans, your choice of chicken in a delicious sauce or steak in a delicious sauce (we got one of each and shared), and rice pudding for dessert. Yum!

I don't know about the El Silencio hike, but I'm pretty sure individuals are welcome since the folks at our hotel recommended we go there.