Lynn: In answer to your question, to be honest with you, we are still figuring out what to do about transportation. I have talked to people who have rented a car and driven -- some recommend it and some strongly advise against it. Factors to consider seem to be driving in the rainy vs. dry season (by the end of December when you're going I'd guess it should be drier), where you're going (people tell horror stories about roads between Arenal and Monteverde), whether you rent a 4-wheel drive (most recommend it), and whether you speak Spanish (unfortunately, we don't). I have also talked to some folks who have used the bus system and highly recommend it, although I'm having trouble selling my boyfriend on this option because he wants the flexibility of a car at each destination -- even though it sounds like taxi service is widely available. Other options are flying, taking vans or shuttles with other groups, or taking taxis/hiring drivers to drive you from one place to another (which sounds outrageous at first but when you consider that renting a 4WD is about $350/week and hiring a driver varies anywhere between around $50-$80 a day depending on how far you're going, it suddenly seems less crazy -- especially when you figure that you won't have to worry about gas, insurance, etc. One additional advantage of hiring a driver is that they can tell you more about the country and what you're seeing than you would know on your own. Most hotels we have looked into offer to arrange some kind of transportation to/from other parts of the country, for a price.) I think we will probably end up renting a car for at least part of the time. (You may want to check out
http://www.centralamerica.com/cr/tran/dollar.htm just as one example, although there are lots of options.) One thing I've noticed is that flights within CR are not too terribly expensive and I know someone who flew the San Jose-Quepos part of his trip and thought that was a good decision. (CR airline webistes:
http://www.crdirect.com/sansa/rates.htm, and
http://www.crica.com/special/travelair.html.) I also know someone who took the bus between Quepos and San Jose and said it was one of his favorite parts of the whole trip -- inexpensive, easy, and fun because of the other passengers he met. <BR> <BR>I would also be interested to hear what you're planning and any recommendations from other travellers. In terms of our itinerary, we have about two weeks and are thinking about staying two nights at Tabacon near Arenal (
http://www.centralamerica.com/cr/hotel/tabacon.htm), and two nights somewhere near Monteverde -- we are considering the Monteverde Lodge (
http://www.crexped.co.cr/monteverde.html), Hotel Fonda Vela (
http://centralamerica.com/cr/hotel/fondavel), or El Sapo Dorado (
http://www.cool.co.cr/usr/sapodorado/reserv.html). Then we would like to drive down to the Pacific coast. We are thinking about first staying a couple of nights at Villa Caletas (
http://www.centralamerica.com/cr/hotel/caletas.htm) which is near Carara Biological Reserve not far from Jaco (although we don't really plan to spend any time in Jaco because we haven't heard such great things about it). Then we will probably drive down to Manuel Antonio/Quepos for a few days -- we are considering Makanda-by-the-Sea (
http://www.makanda.com/) or Si Como No (
http://www.crica.com/hotels/sicomono.html). We are considering flying down to the Osa Peninsula for a few days at the end of our trip, which seems to be the best option for getting there because it is so remote. The place we are thinking of staying there is Lapa Rios, which looks absolutely amazing (
http://www.centralamerica.com/cr/hotel/laparios.htm). If we need to stay for a night or two in or near San Jose at the beginning or end of our trip, we are thinking of either Hotel Grano de Oro in San Jose (
http://www.centralamerica.com/cr/hotel/granoro.htm) and/or Vista del Valle in Grecia which is closer to the airport (
http://www.centralamerica.com/cr/hotel/vvalle.htm). All of these are places that have been recommended to by others who have been there, although if anyone has contrary opinions about any of them I would certainly be interested in hearing them.