I am just asking questions about the first part of our trip(It is taking me a little while to put it all together). We arrive in San Jose at 2 in the afternoon - with thoughts of getting transportation to Volcin Poas to hopefully see the volcano in the evening. The next day planning on doing a highlights full day adventure trip (recommended through this site from someone). Does that sound doable?

Then I plan to go to Arenal and take the little planes to see the tortuguero area and then fly to Manyal Antonio - Is this too much for 8 days?

Laurie, I wouldn't plan on going to see Poas in the evening; Poas is best viewed very early in the morning since clouds/fog roll in as the morning progresses. Early morning is your best bet for viewing.

Hi, Laurie - I meant to add that yes I think it's too much to do Arenal, MA, and Tortuguero. It takes a long time to travel between places, and for only 8 days, I would go with either Arenal and MA or Arenal and Tortuguero, but I don't think you really have time to enjoy all 3. I'd just pick the two that appeal to you most and go with that.

Thank you for the input - Do you think this is still true if I plan on doing the little puddle jumpers in between instead of driving/busing? Someone had recommended this.

Yes, unfortunately I don't think you have time to see all three spots in an 8-day vacation. You could give it a try, but I don't think you'd get a chance to settle in and really enjoy them. We did Arenal and MA for our first trip and took 9 days.

Hi Laurie,

I just gave you some feedback on Arenal on another post (my old trip report that cropped back up...).

VG's given you some good advice here regarding not overdoing things with your 8 days. Even if you fly from destination to destination rather than drive, you have to factor in the time it takes to get to/from the airport, time padding you need to allow to be at the airport before you flight departs, and the fact that most of these little domestic flights originate from San Jose/Alajuela. You'd have to fly from Arenal to San Jose and then to Tortuguero... Any way you look at it, you're going to spend a chunk of your day in-transit and you'd be very rushed to fit 3 different locations into 8 days.

I'd also check to see if your highlights tour includes Poas. I think some of them do. Morning definitely gives you the best shot at viewing the crater. We lucked out and got a good look at it this past December. Very cool!