Costa Rica Itinerary-one week. Guanacaste? Arenal?
 

Hi - my husband and I are booked to fly in/out of Liberia at the beginning of December and I'm wondering a couple things. Is it doable to see Arenal and spend some time at the beach? Was thinking we'd fly in, rent a car and head to Arenal then drive over to either the Hyatt Andaz Papagayo or the JW Marriott. Or, should we just do day trips from the beach?

Any thoughts on either property? Any suggestions on where to stay near Arenal?

Thanks in advance!

We've stayed in the Arenal area a few times. I really like Nayara, The Springs Resort and Spa, and the Lost Iguana. Silencio del Campo is another popular one. Day trips are not very convenient in CR since things are so far apart.

Volcanogirl - Do you think 3 nights in Arenal and 4 at the beach is a good way to divide up the time?

Yes, I think that's a nice split. The Arenal area has tons to do, so I think three or four nights there is nice. You'll lose some time to travel time. Some of the things we've done include ziplining at Sky Trek, rafting with Rio Tropicales, doing the Cano Negro tour with Sunset Tours or Desafio, hiking at the volcano, Hanging Bridges, and waterfall, the Proyecto Asis animal rescue center, tubing at The Springs, the Penas Blancas river float, visiting the natural hot springs like Eco Termales and Tabacon, and waterfall rappelling with La Roca/Sunset Tours. You won't run out of things to do. You're smart to go early in December; it gets really busy and more expensive over the holiday.

bpesta, you need to budget 5 to 6 hours to travel between Guanacaste and Fortuna, could be longer if you make a couple of stops for activities and lunch. It should be considered part of the adventure.

If you are going to be in the Papagayo area where Andaz is located most activities, besides watersports, will be at least 1 to 2 hours drive so a good idea will be to schedule your adventure stuff in arenal/fortuna and then use the beach to relax, maybe come straight from the airport to Fortuna and then end with the beach and the closer ride to the Liberia airport.