Flying into Liberia - Need Itinerary advice.
 

This will be our first trip to CR. We are planning to stay for 8 days in Nov. We will be flying into Liberia and heading directly to Tamarindo for 4-5 nights for some relaxation in the sun and some shorter day trips. We also wanted to visit either Monteverde or Arenal for 2-3 nights. Does anyone have any recommendations on which is the better option. Also, should we rent a car in Liberia and drive to the location? If anyone has taken the drive from Tamarindo to either location, how would the drive be? Or, should we make Tamarindo our base and take a day trip to Monteverde or Arenal? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Both Monteverde and Arenal are way too far for day trips. I would pick 1 and either drive or take one of the shuttles. I would allow 4-4 1/2 hrs to either place. As far as traffic (vehicular, cattle are another problem LOL), that is not a bad area to drive in. The roads can be pretty rough going up to Monteverde and around the mountain to Arenal. Which one you go to would depend more on your likes as far as what you want to see or do rather than mine. I like both places.

You might want to think about Rincon de la Viejo Volcano while in Tamarindo. It is about 2 -2 1-2hrs to get there but if you leave early you can have a pretty full day there. Keep in mind that it gets dark around 6pm so you would want to be back in Tamarindo by then.

We just returned from a week in CR. We flew into Liberia and stayed in Playa Grande, very near Tamarindo (one beach to the north). The trip from the airport to P.Grande/Tamarindo is only about an hour during the daylight. If you land during the day you could just pick up your car in Liberia and head straight out to the beach. We landed in the evening and used Ecotrans to shuttle us to P.Grande. Then we picked up our rental car the next day in Tamarindo (through Mapache). The rental car desks were all closed at 6:30 pm and we didn't want to do the drive for the first time in the dark, the roads can be quite rough. Depending on how much activity you like, I would recommend Playa Grande to anyone. It is quieter then Tamarindo (but only 30 mins by car or 45 mins. by foot on the beach), less crowded and truly spectacular. It will also be turtle nesting season (they just started coming up on the beach last week). We stayed at the Hotel Las Tortugas and I can't say enough good things about the place. The staff was fabulous, food was great, everything was perfect! I think you could make the Tamarindo area your home base. We did go to Rincon De La Vieja for a brief day hike, but did not go to Arenal or Monteverde. Have heard both are fabulous though. We enjoyed Rincon and it's only about 1 hour from Liberia, so 2 hours from Tamarindo. Hope this helps.

Thank you both for your useful information. I think that I am going to spend 3 nights in Tamarindo, then head to Arenal for 2 nights and head back to the beach for our last 2 remaining nights, maybe to Playa Grande - thanks Jessie and Ardie514 for the advice.

i also just got back from a week in CR. (i posted my report a minute ago). i don't think you need a car in tamarindo. you could take a shuttle from the airport to tamarindo and then either rent a car for the days you go to arenal/monteverde or take another shuttle. we rented a car for the whole 8 days but i think we would have been fine in tamarindo/playa langosta without one till we headed to arenal.
sueno del mar in playa langosta (one beach to the south) was perfect. small, homey, welcoming -- not to mention incredible breakfasts. and it's also a turtle nesting beach, though we left wednesday and apparently missed them =(
we picked arenal over monteverde because you can do plenty in arenal, then have the bonus of watching the volcano from your room at night. pretty cool.

Greenroster - thanks for the trip report. I think that I am going to take your advice and pick-up a car in Tamarindo to drive to Arenal versus having the car the entire time. I read on your trip report that you had some issue regarding insurance and AMEX. Could you let me know what I should be aware of in this regard, because I was planning on using my AMEX as well to cover most of the insurance on the car.

berrios: have amex (and any other cards you plan to use -- amex isn't widely accepted there) send you their contract regarding insurance of rental cars. the kinds they won't insure include "full-sized sport utility vehicles, including but not limited to chevrolet/gmc suburban, tahoe and yukon, ford expedition, lincoln navigator, toyota land cruiser, lexus lx450, range rover or full-sized ford bronco." compact suvs, including ford explorer, jeep grand cherokee, nissan pathfinder, toyota 4runner, chevrolet blazer, isuzu trooper and rodeo are covered when driven on paved roads.
we knew all this before we got there, and we got a nissan terrano (never seen one in the states -- might be the same as a nissan murano) and thought amex would cover it, but when avis called amex, they said they wouldn't. but visa did. all this to say: get those contracts to find out what will and won't be covered. and if your cards won't cover it, you just have to pay the daily CDW (collision/damage waiver) insurance, which i think was $20/day. i recommend getting an suv because the roads are rough.
also, call your credit card companies and tell them the dates you'll be in CR. this should keep your card(s) from being declined.

Greenrooster - Thanks again. One more question, I was checking on internet car rental sites for locations in Tamarindo, but none seem to have that location. Do I have to call them?

YES ARENAL IS THE PLACE TO GO MONTEVERDE IS NICE BUT NOT MUCH TO DO WE DROVE TO ARENAL ALOT BETTER DRIVE THAN MONTEVERDE ENJOY YOU TRIP

Tamarindo has a pretty decent website. Perhaps you could find car rental contact information there.

we rented in liberia -- i have no idea about agencies in tamarindo. shillmac is right about http://tamarindobeach.net/index.html. they also have a lively message board.

greenrooster: amex coverage clarification....the amex car rental damage insurance plan states that it does not cover losses "off road operation of the vehicle."

I called amex earlier this month (I plan to waive CDW using amex for rental in Liberia in November) and asked them to qualify "off road."

We discussed road conditions in Costa Rica ad nausem, and I was assured that, as long as the road is a designated and mapped primary or secondary road, paved or unpaved, amex will cover losses incurred on that road.

I got the amex rep's name to back it up.

strata: wise move getting the rep's name. we never had need or desire to go the least bit off road. but the insurance is coming in handy, since avis discovered a mystery scratch. apparently it got swiped by the valet or in the hotel valet lot our last night there. sigh.

a funny note on insurance: one couple was 24 hours late getting to our b&b because they had taken the coastal route and tried to cross a chest-high river. they got stuck, had to bail out, put the luggage on the roof and walk 2 miles to borrow someone's phone. their insurance isn't covering it.

We experienced an unusual phenomenon while using AMEX in CR this month. Can anybody on this forum explain why we were not once asked to provide ID?
Everyhwere in the US, we are asked for ID in conjunction with AMEX card. Curious . . .

I think I recall seeing an Alamo and maybe a Budget car rental office in Tamarindo. Also, in the Diria they have a desk for Hola! car rental. We rented our car through centralamerica.com, and they used Mapache rental car company. They are based in San Jose, but will drop off and pick up the car in Tamarindo or Liberia. Great service and got a great deal on a Toyota Rav 4 during green season.