CR Itinerary for Trip in May - Any comments???
 

Hello all. Thanks for your answers to my many posts and all the suggestions you have provided. Please let me know if you have any comments or feedback on the trip plans I have lined up in May. I'm still holding off on my plane reservations in the hope that the rates might drop, but I'll probably book in the next week or so.

Day 1 - Fly into SJO by Noon and travel to Monteverde with Wilson; stay at Monteverde Rustic Lodge for 2 nights; probably have dinner in town of Santa Elena
Day 2 – Zip line, hanging bridges, Hummingbird Garden, etc - not sure yet if this will be in Santa Elena or Monteverde
Day 3 – Possible coffee tour in the morning; Jeep boat jeep to Arenal in the afternoon; stay at Hotel Silencio del Campo for 3 nights; possibly have dinner at AOL
Day 4 - Arenal - Cano Negro tour; dinner in La Fortuna
Day 5 - Arenal Volcano, possibly Eco Termales in the evening including dinner
Day 6 - Leave early afternoon with Wilson to return to San Jose area to spend the night prior to our flight to Osa; current plans are to stay at Margarita de La Garita B & B but no reservations have been made
Day 7 - Flight to Osa for 3 nights at Bosque del Cabo probably on Sansa
Day 8 – Hike trails and beach
Day 9 – Horse back riding
Day 10 – Return flight to SJ area to spend the night again at Margarita’s
Day 11 – Noonish flight home

I look forward to your comments! I guess it's now time to start asking about dining. :-)

Do not eat at AOL it was our worst meal in CR !! We were a family of 6 and we all agreed our meals were AWFUL!! (Probably our only bad meal in CR)

Thanks CRtravels...I have heard the food is not the best but I thought it would be an easy way to possibly see some lava. I heard there's a bridge that people hangout to watch for lave, but we won't have a car and I'm sure a taxi would cost too much to just sit while we wait.

Any ideas from this board on catching the lava at night. We are staying on the dormant side.

Sounds like a wonderful trip! I can tell you've done your homework. I assume you want to dine at AOL for some nighttime lava view, which could actually be a nice evening just don't expect great food as previous poster said AOL is notorious for bad food.

Deb we posted at the same time...there is a nighttime lava hike you can do.

hip,
That would be great...how strenuous is it. I tend to be a clutz and recently sprained my foot when I slipped on some ice. It's not up to par yet.

Also, who does the hike and would they provide transportation or would I need to take a taxi somewhere to hook up with the tour.

I've done so much homework that DH winces when I get home from work and get right on the computer. He's had to put up with many late dinners in the last month! Just wish we could stay longer, but DH has limited vacation time.

Deb: the best thing to do is just wait to see how the weather is. If the volcano top is cloudless, then go for it. You will probably at least see some red hot rocks coming down the mountainside, if it is clear. We had no such luck. Poured rain the whole 3 days, and only got a few glimpes of hot rocks at about midnight one night.

The food at AOL was just OK, but you are not there for the food.

We did a lava tour with Sunset Tours, and they picked us up and dropped us back off; they took us out to the bridge area. I'd recommend doing a night hike in Monteverde; we did one at Hidden Valley that was really fun. The waterfall hike in Arenal/La Fortuna is also great.

Michelle and vg,
I'm trying to line up my options and I keep reminding myself that I don't need to have everything planned in advance.

I guess a night hike in Monteverde might work. Unless we are really delayed in customs/immigration, I would think we will arrive by 6 PM...what time does the night hike with Hidden Valley start. What is the format of the Sunset lava tour and how long does it last? I think I heard the waterfall hike at La Fortuna is pretty strenuous. Is that true? I think I have the endurance for a hike of medium difficulty, but I always worry about my footing since I recently sprained my right ankle and several years ago broke my left foot!!!

I'm not sure of the exact starting time for the night hike, but I'm thinking it was around 5:30. We saw a sloth, fox, raccoon, porcupine, birds, agouti, coati, tarantula, tiny snake, and a lot of cool insects. It really was a lot of fun; we were in a fun group when we did it. The walk down on the waterfall hike was pretty easy, but I think most people were pausing for a breath on the way up. I actually did the entire thing with a sprained ankle because I sprained it the morning we went and I was still determined to go. But I have what you might call a "determined" personality - lol. There's a little set of steps off on the left hand side that lead down to a crystal clear river area where you can swim. The falls are beautiful. The whole thing is pretty organized. I was expecting it to be sort of out in the country/natural, etc. but there's a big parking lot and entry building where you pay your fee, a gift shop, etc. The trail isn't dirt, has steps, hand rails, etc. It's pretty well maintained.

OK...I'm trying to decide on a place to stay in the San Jose area for one night before traveling to Osa and another night prior to our flight home.

I think I have my choices narrowed to two places, but I'm looking for feedback. I got both of these places off this board, but don't seem to remember any specific feedback.

There are only two of us on an anniversary trip. We haven't decided whether to fly to Osa via Nature Air or Sansa, but we will be flying out of SJO to return home.

Margarita's Airport B & B (also known as Margarita de La Garita B & B)- closer to SJO
Casa Bella Rita - I think this is closer to Pavas, but it doesn't seem too far from SJO

Any advice?

I'd select the hotel closest to the airport you'll be using. La Garita for Sansa, Cassa Bella Rita for Nature Air.

Regarding food at AOL, we didn't think it was terrible, would describe it as just OK.

I can't give restaurant recommendations as the group with which I toured provided our meals, but I found the food somewhat disappointing. It consisted of mainly rice and beans, fried plantains and fresh fruit. Not much protein, which proved to be a problem as I was traveling with 23 teenagers who were ALWAYS hungry!!! The food seemed bland to me as well; I'm not sure what I was expecting, but what I got wasn't it. The fresh fruit is amazing; the coffee is the best ever; and the ice cream was wonderful.
We did the zipline in Monteverde and LOVED it. Enjoy your trip!

We have had some very good food in CR, but you kind of have to know where to go. Don Rufino in La Fortuna is excellent if you have a chance to go back. Lots of good fresh seafood in Manuel Antonio.

Well I was hoping to get more feedback regarding our itinerary. I don't know if it's so good that no one has comments :-) or if I'm boring everyone :-) :-)

I'm still lacking reservations in the San Jose area mid trip (prior to the flight to Osa) and the night before our departure home. I'm also still gambling on flights and have made no reservations for either the flights to/from CR or the flight to/from Osa. Can't decide on Nature Air or Sansa...the cost for the flights I'm interested in end up with an identical cost. So I guess the proximity to our lodging is the biggest factor.

Based on feedback on this forum, it sounds like I should wait to make tour/excursion reservations until I get there so I can take weather into account. Is that a bad idea? There is so much I want to see that I feel like I need to have a pretty good plan so as not to waste any valuable time being wishy washy with our plans.

Any feedback?

deb - I think your itinerary looks pretty well planned out and probably why no one is suggesting otherwise. ;-) I like Orquideas Inn for stays near SJO, have also stayed at Adventure Inn, Hotel Villa Bonita very close to SJO and Don Carlos in the city. Thinking about trying Casa Bella Rita and/or Hotel Pura Vida next trip, but will also return to Orquideas most likely.

I would think about booking your flights soon if you have specific days/times you want.

We liked Grano de Oro for a city hotel and Xandari for something outside the city. Hear good things about Casa Bella Rita but haven't tried it yet.

OK...so we really want to do a Cano Negro trip from Arenal. Our lodge uses several different tour operators. Does anyone have any preferences? These are the options.

Canoa Aventura
Sunset tours
Desafío Adventure Company

The cost for this activity is $55 per person with Canoa Av. and $63 with either Sunset or Desafio.

Our experience with Sunset was outstanding. I'm guessing they are all very comparable. Desafio gets high marks in everything it seems.

Your itinerary looks well thought out. I prefer Nature Air to Sansa, but Sansa certainly is more convenient to SJO. You can always stay at Casa Bella Rita, fly down there on Nature Air, and return on Sansa, spending your last night in La Garita. See which YOU prefer, Nature Air or Sansa!

One of the reasons we like Nature Air is that we can pay our exit tax there and have that bit of final paperwork over with. That's what I usually do while we are waiting to board. It's convenient. And I think it would be fun to try both hotels.

shillmac,
I had similar thoughts. And I can't remember which direction had the big difference, but one way the price on Nature Air was more expensive based on the flights we wanted. My driver said he will charge $15 extra to take us from Arenal to Casa Bella Rita. I need to look again.

So did you do the Cano Negro trip with Sunset or was it a different tour.

We've used Sunset Tours for Cano Negro several times - really like them, but I don't think you can go wrong with the others.

We went with Sunset. It's an excellent tour, I'm sure, with any of the tour groups. They all have strong reputations.

Sunset seems to be more well known and always gets great reviews. We went with Canoa Aventura and loved every minute. Great guide and the boat driver was awesome at spotting as well. I think any of those 3 would be good.

We went with Canoa Aventura also and had a wonderful time with loads of wildlife spotting. I don't think you can go wrong with any of them.

OK...I think I like the sound of Canoa Aventura for the Cano Negro trip.

Now I need to know what is recommended for ziplining in Arenal. My hotel mentions Mundo Aventura, Ecoglide and Sky Tram & Trek in their tour info.

Any preferences?

We went with Mundo. I believe they're longer lived and started up by local family, but Sky Trek gets more press. We had a lot of fun from the tractor ride to the falls overlook to the horseback at the end. The longest line is something like 780 meters!

Sky Trek is the one that gets the raves for the longest, highest lines, but they all get pretty good reviews.

Nature Air also has double, rather than single engines, I believe, and a much better environmental record.

I liked Sunset tours for our recent Cano Negro trip; great guide and driver, small group. Their Vernado cave tour was a bit disappointing, as it was treated more as an adventure than a nature tour. Great fun, mind you, but not much detail, even mis-information.

I too like the Orquideas Inn. More for their grounds and friendly staff than their so-so rooms. Just very laid back and relaxing with loads of birds and flowers.

Our Sunset Tours Cano Negro trip was really wonderful. The boat driver really had eagle eyes and so it was basically like we had two spotters. I love how they get everyone involved in the spotting and let you walk around to all sides of the boat. Also like the stop at the Iguanas Restaurant to take pics of the huge iguanas in the trees there. The boat is nice and covered, and they provide a cooler of cold drinks - I'm addicted to those little mango ones, always the first thing I go for.

Cat, what do you mean Nature Air has a better environmental record? In what way?

For those of you who have done the Cano Negro tour, how many people were in your group total?

I've also read that Canoa Aventura is the only operator that actually goes into the wildlife refuge and the others cruise the river outside of the refuge. Is this true and how important is it to enter the refuge?

I'd also like to hear more about Nature Air vs Sansa's environmental record.

Thanks!

Our groups have probably averaged around 10 people or so, but I'm sure it varies by season, etc. We went up and down the Rio Frio; we saw a lot of wildlife including capuchins, howlers, and spider monkeys, sloths, caimans, and a lot of birds. We've done in the refuge and outside - couldn't really tell a difference other than that the refuge had a sign marking it. The animals are just all over the place. We've always been in rainy season though.

I like Sansa for the sheer convenience of their location right next to SJO.

Patty, there were 6 of us on our Sunset Cano Negro tour a week or two ago. We were the only ones on the cave tour. Not sure about your refuge question. It seemed as if we went as far as we could outside green season; even walked around a bit to look at shorebirds.

Nature Air uses biodeisel fuel for its ground transportation,funds environmental programs to school kids, and tries to be carbon neutral through land preservation and restoration. Whether these are marketing tactics or the company genuinely cares about the land isn't clear, but who cares, as long as there's a positive effect! I haven't heard the same about Sansa.

Volcanogirl and Cattail, thanks to you both! Cattail, did you just stay at Tirimbina recently? That's another area we're interested in. Will you be posting a trip report?

Cat, interesting about the Venado Cave tour; that's always kind of interested me, but it doesn't sound all that great the way you described it.

You're welcome, Patty - have fun!

With Canoa they take you up as far as the Nicaraguan border (a barb wire fence). :-) We got out there and wandered a bit and took pics of some Tico boys on horses and water buffalo(?).

I'm also interested in Venado caves. What didn't you like about it cattail?

Patty -- Have a great trip! Envious you get to leave before meeeee! ;-)

Hipvirgochick,
I wish I was leaving before you! Alas I don't even have a time frame figure out yet. I just piggybacked onto Deb's thread to ask some questions :)

Oops! Got confused.

Have a great trip Deb! :-)

OK...I want to use the Jeep Boat Jeep transportation between Monteverde and Arenal, but I can't seem to find the website I initially looked at.

Who has used this method of transportation and what operators do you suggest?

OH..and one more thing. If we are interested in a Liquid Lava Tour (night time hike) who do you all recommend.

Sorry for all the questions...getting close and don't want to spend valuable time on the trip making last minute decisions. Not that I will book this stuff in advance, but I want to at least have a tentative plan.

Thx again for all the help.

We used Desafio for the Jeep Boat Jeep.

http://www.desafiocostarica.com/inde...120&cat=f#top2

I'd use either Sunset Tours or Desafio for the volcano hike, both good operators in the area.