Hi,

We will be traveling to Costa Rica over Christmas this year with the kids ages 12 and 10 along with my in-laws. This will be our 4 time, the kids second and the in-laws first time to CR. We have set the following agenda:

1 night SJ
2 nights Manual Antonio
4 nights Mal Pais
3 nights Samara
1 night Libera
3 nights Arenal
1 night SJ

I have a few questions that I hope I can get some help with:

1) I know 4 nights in Mal Pais sounds like too much but we took the kids there last year and they love the place. My question is besides the beach what else can we do around Mal Pais as we will have a car?

2) This will be our first visit to Samara and I am wondering what tours, hikes, etc would be good?

3) How is the Rincon de la vieja national park? We have to stay in Liberia as we could not find a room by any of the parks.

4) While we have been to Arenal 3 times all we have done is visit the hot springs as we have usually stayed only 2 nights. This time we would like to explore more of the area? Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Jim

In Arenal, you can do the Skytrek/Ziplines, go to the Hanging Bridges, go to Tabacon or Ecotermales, and best of all Cano Negro to see all the wildlife. We also spent a lot of time watching the lava flow from the volcano - that's really amazing if you stay somewhere where the flow is viewable - hard to predict where it will be by then though since it changes.

We ate at a couple of good restaurants - El Novillo has good steaks, and La Choza de Laurel has rotisserie chicken and casados. There's also a waterfall in the area - we didn't make it there but I would like to next time.

Definitely you should try to do the Cano Negro tour at Arenal. Also, you might enjoy La Fortuna falls.

While at Malpais (good thing you have a car for this area, as you know!), drive over to Cabuya. I hear the short cut from Malpais is in much better condition these days and will save you a lot of time. Please double check that. At Cabuya is Cabo Blanco Reserve, great for wildlife viewing and hiking. It's a go early sort of deal and the hike over to the beach is a couple of hours one way and fairly strenuous. You'll want to rest there a couple of hours before starting back, so 8:00 or 9:00 a.m. is a good starting time. There are a few facilities on the beach end of the hike. You can also do a shorter loop.

Montezuma itself is interesting and the falls are fun. I think all of you would enjoy that.

I'm not much of a Samara fan, so can't comment on that part of your destination. Playa Carillo nearby is very nice. Someday I'm gonna get back down there and check out Nosara.

One night in Liberia. . .hmmm. You checked the nearby beach towns (Playa Hermosa, Ocotal, Cocos del Playa, etc) and all the hotels in those towns are booked? I'm not sure what you meant by not finding a room at any of "the parks". Check Villas del Sueno in Playa Hermosa. This would be a much better choice for you than Liberia itself.

If it were my itinerary, I'd stay at that group of beaches instead of Samara and do a daytrip to the Rincon de la Vieja. Yes, it is nice there, and I think you'd all enjoy it. And you wouldn't be moving around so much. Just my 2 cents, though!

Have a great time--no doubt you will! It will be fun to show the in-laws around, won't it?!

Happy travels!

Hi,

Thank you for the great reply.

Yeah, I am torn about going to Samara as Playa Hermosa might be a better choice as we could stay 4 nights and not stay in Libera for 1 night. My comment on the room was for the lodge's around the Rincon de la vieja park as everything was full as we needed 2 rooms. The ones we did find had a minimum stay of 3-5 nights. Well, thanks again and I'll check the towns you listed.

Jim

Hi Jim,

Do you have your rooms booked in Manuel Antonio yet? We were in MA over Christmas in 2005 and most hotels had a 4 or 5 night minimum.

Good luck with your plans, they sound great!!! We loved CR!!

You know...you have a great itinerary...a lot of driving...but during that time of the year you are going to encounter a lot of dusty roads...You can drive from Samara to Arenal...is not that long...stop at Canas to a short visit to Los Pumas Sanctuary!! no way 4 night at mal Pais are to many...I can live there if I can!!

Cano Negro in Arenal...is a must!!

We will see here...I spend my holidays at the beach...in Guanacaste!!

R.A luis

Just buckle up and enjoy the ride in paradise!!

100% costarican and proud of it!!

We adored Samara. Don't miss Playa Carrillo, which is the next beach over and about 7km away. We took the long way and walked the road to Carrillo, but you can also walk right up the beach...there is a path which is a huge shortcut (and where we saw our first monkey of our trip). Take lots of water and snacks as there are no restaurants/bars/vendors at Carrillo. One of the best beaches I have EVER been to.

For MalPais, as Shillmac said, definitely take the Cabuya road to Montezuma. Great drive! You might want to spend a day at Curu refuge and Isla Tortuga if you didn't do that before. You drive back past Tambor to go to Curu. Lots of animals and really beautiful. Have fun!

Hi surfexec--hope all is well with you. Off to CR Thursday. . .

Hi Shillmac! Lucky you! I hear the rains have started and the dust is gone...It should be very green right now. Have a great time as always and I look forward to reading about your adventures when you get back! Pura Vida!!!

jski - I'm just beginning to research Mal Pais. Can you tell me a little more about it and what your kids loved so much about it? I'm thinking about taking my 10 year old daughter there on our next trip.

Thanks!

Sorry for the late reply.

Regarding Malpais the kids really liked the beach, surf camp and the people as it was so laid back and fun. We spent most of the time at the beach trying to surf and the kids learned to skim board. Anyway, I don't know what else to say except the beach and people made it a very fun trip.