First timers to Costa Rica
 

My husband and I are thinking of two weeks in Costa Rica in early December. We are independent travelers in our late 60s, and although this will be our first time to Costa Rica, we have spent a lot of time in Mexico, and I traveled throughout Guatemala (many years ago). We have also taken month-and-longer visits to Europe and parts of Asia, so we are used to making our own arrangements. We are both active, but I am recovering from a partial tear to my achilles tendon, so long hikes in steep terrain will probably not be a great idea. I can easily do more level hikes of up to four miles right now - hopefully by December I will be a bit further along in the healing process.

We are pretty sure we would like to spend our second week near Manuel Antonio Park - and have found many options for accommodations. Right now I'm leaning toward renting an Airbnb home. This would mean we would likely rent a car when we arrive by air in San Jose and then drive ourselves to destinations we wish to visit. We're looking forward to being in the park, as well as enjoying some beach time.

What about our first week in Costa Rica? Any suggestions for five or six days somewhere a little different from the planned second week? Easy to drive to, and interesting, but not completely roughing it. Hotel or home rental - either is good. We're not zip-line or party types, so somewhere to relax and enjoy nature is what we're hoping for. Waterfalls or other beaches sound great. Does renting a car make sense for this trip?

Any pointers or suggestions are most welcome. Thank you!

The Arenal area is one of our favorites and has tons to do. There's a beautiful waterfall hike in La Fortuna. You can also do nice hikes at the Mistico Hanging Bridges and the Arenal Observatory Lodge. There are gorgeous natural hot springs you can visit like Tabacon or Eco Termales. Desafio has some nice tours - the Cano Negro boat tour to see wildlife and the Penas Blancas safari float. The Bogarin Trail owned by a local family is a great place to see sloths, poison dart and red-eyed tree frogs, caimans, and some nice birds. We like the Arenal Observatory Lodge in the Arenal area and Tulemar Bungalows in Manuel Antonio. You have time to add a third destination if it interests you; Monteverde is nice if you like birding and hiking and want to enjoy the cloud forest.

I like the Arenal area too - for all the reasons volcanogirl mentioned. And the Manuel Antonio/Arenal combination seems to be a popular choice for people. We have some good friends who went to both places on their trip and really enjoyed it. They felt like it was a pretty straight forward combo and gave them a good variety of things to see and do.

When we went to Arenal, we stayed at the Arenal Observatory Lodge and really liked it. They have trails right there on site and some pretty nice grounds. On of my favorite things was sitting out on the observation deck next to the restaurant and watching the birds. The volcano is *right* there and you also have a view down to the lake to the west, so it is a great place to watch the sunset.

Me too; we really enjoyed the observation deck there and the free guided hike that they have every morning.

The guided walk in the morning at AOL was really good - it exceeded my expectations. And the hike is pretty easy - there are some elevation changes, but nothing very steep, so should be fine for you scdreamer. There were several kids on our guided hike and they all did great, and you know if there's anything too steep or challenging, and least a couple kids would have been whining - LOL.

Thank you for all the ideas and suggestions - here's what we've decided to do. More ideas for unfilled days are definitely welcome - and nothing is set in stone, as hotel cancellations and/or changes can be arranged.

Day
1. Arrive at SJO in late evening - free shuttle to Adventure Inn airport hotel.
2. Shuttle back to airport to pick up rental car. Drive to La Fortuna - check in to Paradise Hot Springs Thermal Resort. (any interesting stops along the way?)
3. La Fortuna -Explore Arenal area - maybe a gentle hike?
4. La Fortuna - Thinking of driving an hour east to Chilamate to go on the class 2&3 rafting trip on the lower section of the Sarapiqui River with Desafio Adventures. Not sure what the river levels will be depending on the rainy season that should just be ending.
5. Drive west to Tamarindo - staying at Jardin del Eden Boutique Hotel near the beach.
6. Tamarindo - Beach, explore the town. Relax
7. Tamarindo - Possibly go out on a catamaran for snorkeling.
8. Tamarindo - suggestions for activities welcome - otherwise wander around, drive up and down the coast to other towns and beaches, beach-time near hotel, pool time, relax.
9. Drive to Manuel Antonio area - Check in to Si Como No Resort.
10. Manuel Antonio Park - explore, gentle hikes, beach.
11. Manuel Antonio - maybe a boat tour on the river. Kayaking?
12. Manuel Antonio
13. Manuel Antonio
14. Manuel Antonio
15. Drive back to San Jose - drop car at airport, shuttle to Adventure Inn for overnight before flying out early the next morning. (anything interesting along the way or when we get to SJ?)
16. Fly home

We've rafted the Sarapiqui with Desafio, and it was a lot of fun; they'll come pick you up at your hotel and drop you off afterwards if you want.

In MA, we used Manuel Antonio Expeditions for a guided tour of the national park - lots of wildlife there, and for the Damas mangrove boat tour - good place to see monkeys; some even boarded our boat. MAE does not feed the wildlife, but some other operators do. Which river are you referring to for a boat tour? Most of the boat tours I know of are either sailing on the ocean or going through mangroves.

I guess I was referring to the mangroves. I'm still just looking at the possibilities. Thanks for that info - I will check out the Damas tour.

On Day 2 - picking up the rental car, most (all?) rental offices are off airport, so rather than going back to the airport, you might want to see if the shuttle can take you to directly to the rental office - or just get a taxi. Or, someone from the car rental office may be able to come pick you up at your hotel. We rented from Vamos, and after we dropped our car off, they took us over to our hotel. For the drive up to La Fortuna, since you'll have your luggage in the car, I wouldn't make any sightseeing stops - theft from rental cars is kind of common, so you don't really want to leave the car when it has a lot of stuff in it. I'd just go straight to La Fortuna. Maybe just a stop at a restaurant for lunch or something - there are plenty of sodas (small, family-owned restaurants) where you can see your car.

On Day 4 - The drive to Serapiqui is pretty easy and much quicker than we thought, so I think it is a nice day trip. And that is a beautiful area, and a nice contrast to La Fortuna. We did a boat trip on the river at Puerto Viejo de Serapiqi - we saw lots of birds and animals from the boat. I don't know anything about the rafting, it looks fun. This will mean only a day and a half in La Fortuna though, so it's a trade off.

We did a boat trip on the Sarapiqui river too from Selva Verde - saw a big croc, monkeys, some cool birds; we really enjoyed it.