Driving from Arenal to MA
 

Driving with a guide from Arenal to MA. How is the trip? Any recommendations for activities on the way to break up the trip? Traveling with 2 kids (7 and 9 years)
Thanks

It took us about 5 hours - fun to stop at the Rio Tarcoles Bridge to see the big crocs. We saw about 15 of them down below. I think the kids would enjoy it.

Our guide recommends stopping for a Tarcoles River trip (about 2 hours) Have you been ? Not sure if it is worth the time? Thinking of Cano Negro tour when in Arenal, seems similar? Any thoughts?

My opinion would be to just stop to see the crocs at the bridge and move along. It's a long ride, but adding a 2 hour boat ride will just make it longer with a 7 and 9 year old. My kids were about that age when we did the drive with a guide and it took much longer than 5 hours. We stopped for lunch, which was around an hour. We stopped at the Tarcoles Bridge, add another 30 minutes or so for seeing the crocs and bathroom break. Then my daughter mentioned ice cream and we stopped for ice cream....etc. By the time we got to MA, we just wanted to get to our hotel and settle in. I think if we would have stopped for a 2 hour river trip it would have been much too long.

I'd recommend doing the mangrove tour after you're already in MA instead. Our kids kept themselves busy with books, their DS games and the driver had a DVD player in the van and we brought DVD's. The ride was fine for them.

We love the Cano Negro tour, so I'd probably just stick with that. Agree with Shell that when we were on the road, we really just wanted to get there, and the short stop was a nice way to break up the trip with a bathroom break and quick snack.