NEED ADVICE!!

1. I am planning on driving from San Jose in the morning to TABACON. How long is that drive? I plan to stay there one night - so what should I do (I anticipate I will be there around 10:am).

2 The next morning I will get up early and drive to Tamarindo to stay at the Sueno del Mar. What route should I take and how long will it take??

3. The next day I need to plan an activity from Sueno del Mar - any ideas?

4. The following afternoon I retun to San Jose via SANSA.

I plan to rent a car in san jose and drop it off in Tamarindo - any suggestions on the rental company?

If you think I am crazy for doing all of this - let me know. I cannot extend my stay. This will be my first time in CR and want to see both jungle/volcano and the beach.

So you will have one night at Arenal and 2 nights in Tamarindo? Crazy but doable as long as you don't mind spending a lot of time moving from place to place.

The drive from SJ to Arenal is 3 hours - go through San Ramon and La Tigra which is the quickest route.

From Arenal to Tamarindo it is about 4+ hours, depending on the weather. You need to go around Lake Arenal to Tilaran (the road is rather poor and full of potholes) then from Tilaran to Canas. In Canas, turn right onto the Panamerican Hwy and go to Liberia where you turn left to go to the beach areas. Follow the signs for Tamarindo and the hotels there.

What kind of activity are you looking for in Tamarindo?

Good luck! Even 3 days is better than none at all. . .we did this once--to the Caribbean Coast. Had a great, albeit short, time! Check out Dollar Rental--we've had good luck with them.

Thanks for the directions and time. I suppose 7+ hours of driving is not that bad - besides, I will get to see a lot of CR!

I heard reports that Arenal's flow has changed - do you know what side it is flowing on now? Any thoughts on a tour company for a sunset hike to the volcano with the hot-springs included?

I Tamarindo, my wife wants to do a horseback ride on the beach. I heard that a portion of the beach may now be closed to horses? Do you know anything about this? Any recommendation on the
horseback tour provider?

Any comments are a HUGE help! Thanks!

Two hotel/resorts with perfect views of the current lava flow lines are Arenal Paraiso and Montana de Feugo. We stayed at the Arenal Paraiso and had 2 great nights of volcano viewing--from our bed.

We asked the hotel staff to wake us up if Arenal started to put on a show. They sent a guy at about 1 AM to knock on our door--it was so amazing that it was an almost surrealistic experience. After watching for a couple of hours, I started to doze off. I would doze a while, then wake up when Arenal rumbled especially loudly and see the lava flowing and the glow shooting up from the crater. Fantastic. We had 2 perfect nights.

We aren't into hot spring experiences, but the hotel arranged all sorts of tours and guided walks. We did a twilight walk to the volcano (of course you don't actually get to the volcano) one evening and the Cano Negro daytrip one day.