Kaneez

Hello all. My family of five (husband/wife; children ages 13,8, 6) are travelling for the first time to CR in April for 10 nights. Through research and help from fellow Fodorites, we are visiting the following places: Arenal (5 nights); Monte Verde (2) Manual Antonio (2), last night in SJO before flying back out to the US.

Now that we have the hotels down, I am focusing on activities - and am suffering a bit of a sticker shock. I have three questions, outlined below, and would appreciate whatever tips any/all of you may give us. We would like to get the essence of quintessential CR and the following activities surface in my research:

QUESTION(S): We are in Arenal for 5 nights - the first two spent at AOL, where we will do the hanging bridges on our own. The other three we are at the Nayara. During that time, we would like to do the following excursions: canyoning with Pure Trek. They have quoted a price of USD98 per person. (1) That seems to be pricey - is that a price increase due to The Bachelor being filmed with them or is that what I should expect for this kind of adventure tour? (2) Fellow Fodorites have commented that the afternoon tours seem to be a bit rushed since the morning tours appeared to have gone over (they have two tours - one at 7 a.m., the other at noon - we cannot get to the 7 a.m. since I will not be able to motivate my children to get ready at that hour). Anyone experienced this?

QUESTION: The other two activities in Arenal appear to be Cano Negro (USD 63 per person) and White Water Rafting (USD65 per person). Recommended? Price comparision?

FINAL QUESTION ... We were planning to do a zipline in MonteVerde... where have people experienced the better ziplines? If in Arenal, over Monte Verde - then we can skip the white water rafting and do zipline in Arenal (esp since we have more time there than in MV).

We were intending to just relax on the beach in our final two days in Manual Antonio (staying at the Posada Jungle)...

Any/all comments/thoughts/suggestions/constructive criticism welcome

BAJJ

If you are interested in Cano Negro, it will be cheaper to go with a private guide. Erick Guzman is highly recommended (see reviews on Tripadvisor CR forum) and will just charge you a flat fee for his services (it's $70, I believe) and then you pay $50 to rent the boat once inside Cano Negro. If you don't have a rental car, then there would be an additional expense for transportation. Here is his website and he's pretty responsive with emails. We hope to use him in June for both Hanging Bridges and Cano Negro.

http://www.tarabatours.com/

SiteC_er

Sky Trek zip line in Arenal is awesome. I would encourage you to get a guide at the hanging bridges. We didn't and wish we had. It's a fun walk but the guides know where all the animals hide. Our kids loved the horseback ride to LaFortuna Waterfall. The only bummer was the short amount of time at the falls (approx 75 minutes). I would suggest going even if you don't do the horse back tour. Very pretty and the kids loved swimming around a waterfall. Enjoy!

volcanogirl

We love the Cano Negro tour and use Sunset Tours - love them. Is your 6-year old going to be okay without a bathroom on the boat? I don't know if that might be too long of a day for him/her. If you go, I'd recommend bringing your own binoculars. We used Rios Tropicales for rafting - very fun and very safety conscious too. You'll have to check with them regarding age requirements. Agree with SiteC about hiring a guide at the Hanging Bridges; I wish we had done that too. You can zipline in either Monteverde or Arenal - most popular is Sky Trek in Arenal and Selvatura in Monteverde, but you could check out Los Lagos for something smaller. Be sure to go to the natural hot springs while you're in the Arenal area; your kids would love that. Tabacon has a water slide, and Eco Termales is smaller with a local charm to it.

volcanogirl

Desafio also offers a canyoneering tour; I think it's $90 per person - haven't tried it yet, but it would save you a little bit.

mlgb

If you are at AOL take the free morning walk and the guide will point out all the same wildlife you'll see at the hanging bridges. AOL has some small bridges of their own, you'll get an understanding of why the wildlife viewing can be limited. As an alternative to the bridges at Arenal do the horseback riding offered by AOL at $7 per hour.

ShellD

AOL offers a guided tour to the Hanging Bridges - definitely get the guide. Without it your kids will be bored and you probably won't see much wildlife at all. Also the guide will be sure to tell you what you are seeing. As another post mentioned, take the free hike at AOL while you're there. It's nice and you go down to their waterfall - the kids will like that a lot.

The 6 year old won't be able to do the Sky Trek zip lines - they don't make exceptions and I wouldn't be comfortable with my 6 year old on their zip lines - way too high and fast. But if the 6 year old wants to do zip lines - Los Lagos has a nice zip line that allows younger kids. They are still pretty adventurous! There are actually more platforms than Sky Trek, they're just not as high. The younger kids will go tandem with a guide.

I'd skip Cano Negro with the young kids - too long of a day. Do the Mangrove tour in Manual Antonio instead. It's actually very similar. Only it's not a full day - most of Cano Negro is spent driving to and from, and that's a long day for a 6 and 8 yr old. There are better ways to spend the day in Arenal with kids.

You also may not be able to do the white water rafting with the younger kids. From what I remember when we went when my kids were 5 and 7, they couldn't do the rafting trips.

However there are so many other things to do in the arenal area - you won't run out of things to do! We've been there 3 times, twice with the kids and haven't done the same things twice.

hsmithcr

There are a bazillion tour organizers in La Fortuna. If I were you, I would just spend a little time walking around town once you are there rather than make all your arrangements ahead of time. Many of them will have "specials" that you would only get if you arrive in person.

Kaneez

Some great tips - especially about Cano Negro/Mangrove. Thank you. I may do the canyoning reservation ahead of time (and bite the bullet on the price with Pure Trek) since I dont want to crimp on the safety aspects, but the other stuff I will leave until we get there. Also, we are staying at the Nayara, which seems to have beautiful grounds, pool, etc and I may just let the kids have some downtime there.

ShellD

I agree with the idea of downtime. I'm a planner...I like to always be on the go on our trips. My kids - they'd pick time at the pool over anything, anytime. Not they don't love the activities, but they can't wait to get back and hang out at the pool. I tink you can even wait on the Pure Trek until you get there. Also, you aren't going to know about the weather until you're there - most of these tours won't be booked,even if you wait until the day before to book them. We've learned that the weather can be pretty unpredictable and if you can't get a refund because of bad weather- it may be best to wait to book.