Dear All,

This forum is by far the best I have found on the web, so i hope you will be able to give me some advice!

We are planning our trip to Costa Rica from August, 31st to September 11th and are thinking about some great destinations that will be also suitable with the weather.
1 - San Jose- just night stop - Hotel to recommend?
2 Arenal + hot springs. Do you have a good hotel to recommend or things to do there at that time of the year?
3-4 Jeep Boat Jeep to Monteverde. Has anyone ever done the Cafe Monteverde Coffee Tour, or could you give me some tips on the best activites? Any good hotel?
5-6 Rio Pacuare with rios Tropicales. Any experience with them?
7-8 Tortuguero, any good hotel to recommend?

I would love to spend some R&R time also. Do you think that going to Montezuma or any beach around will be worth early September?
What about the park Manuel Antonio as i know there are beaches, or Montezuma?
What do you think of those two considering the weather?

Thank you in advance for all your answers.
Eva

We were also thinking of using the Interbus or Grayline for our transportation instead of a car. What do you think?

Thank you!!!
Eva

If you want to stay in the city in San Jose, we really liked Grano de Oro; they have a very nice restaurant on site and great service. If you want to travel about an hour from the airport, we loved the Peace Lodge, but you'd have to stay there a full day to get the full effect; they have 5 beautiful waterfalls that you can hike to.

In Arenal, we really loved the Lost Iguana. Tabacon has very pretty hot springs (kind of pricey though), and you can do ziplines at SkyTrek, go to the Hanging Bridges, and best of all, go to Cano Negro to view the wildlife.

There's a pretty beach inside Manuel Antonio National Park, as well as lots of wildlife - the area is pretty developed with lots of hotels and restaurants sitting up on the hill with ocean views. We stayed at a place called Mango Moon there.

I think you'll get some rain if you're going in September. We went in July and got afternoon showers each day.

Hi, Eva - we hired private drivers, but Interbus does get good reviews. I'm sure other folks will chime in for you.

Thank you for all your helpful answers!

Interbus is a good way to go. We haven't used Grayline, but have heard they are less reliable (I don't know first hand though).

Hopefully you are staying more than one night in Arenal? It looks that way in your OP. There's enough there to do for at least 3 nights.

What style of accomodations are you looking for?

Hi Eva,

You've got some terrific locations listed for your itinerary, but its looking pretty rushed to me. You are probably okay with 2 nights each for Tortuguero and the Rio Pacuare (depending on where they fit in the itinerary) but places like Arenal, Monteverde and MA really deserve at least 3 nights. Otherwise, you'll spend most of your vacation just getting from point A to point B, and won't have ample time to soak in the wonderful ambiance that is Costa Rica!

We stayed at the Arenal Lodge in Arenal, Hotel California in Manuel Antonio. Both are good value; clean and comfortable with nice included breakfast, but neither is particularly fancy. We also spent one 'splurge' night at the Peace Lodge which we loved! Some think it's a bit over the top, but I got a kick out of the faux fireplace, waterfall shower, private hot tub on our balcony, and the various other amenities. Plus the grounds and waterfalls that vgirl mentioned are gorgeous!

Both Interbus and Grayline have gotten good reviews here. More people seem to use Interbus for whatever reason. Also, I've seen several good reviews on Rios Tropicales for white water rafting.

Hope this helps...