Joye

Hi Everyone,

I decided to plan a last minute trip to Costa Rica and I am not sure exactly what to do. I was thinking I'd like to see some rain forests, maybe a volcano and do some fun snorkeling. I am going to fly into San Jose and will be in Costa Rica for about 7 days. I was thinking of going Northwest to Monteverde and then over to a beach on the Pacific coast. Any recommendations of itinerary would be very much helpful as I am a novice to this part of the world.
Thanks!
Joye

Jim_Boo

Isla Tortuga is excellent for snorkeling you can go there by boat from Puntarenas or Montezuma. I saw more fish there then in Bocas del Toro, Panama.

papagayo

If you plan on spending a great deal of time on the North Pacific Coast I would fly into Liberia instead of San Jose. Tamarindo, Samara, Playa Hermosa are all great beach towns.

volcanogirl

If you want to see a volcano, you might check out the Arenal area and do a split between there and a Pacific beach. Arenal and Manuel Antonio is probably the most common first-timer itinerary.

shillmac

Arenal and MA good choices as Volcanogirl mentioned.

It would save you a little drive/transfer time if you could fly into SJO, go to Arenal for 3 nights. Transfer to one of the northern beaches mentioned by Papagayo, and fly out of Liberia.

2.5 hours SJO to Arenal
4 hours Arenal to Playa Hermosa (for example)
30 min. Playa Hermosa to LIR

If you can go for 7 days, visit 2 locations and only log 7 hours on the road, that pretty good!

Manuel Antonio from Arenal is about 5-6 hours (depending on stops). MA back to SJO is 3 hours. So you'd be in the car about 4 hours longer.
No big deal really.

We especially like Playa Flamingo/Playa Potrero area, although development is rampant. It can't take away from those sunsets, though!