erinnq

Two weeks in January 08. Kids are 8 and 6. Flying in/out of SJO.
Prelim Itinerary:
3 nights Arenal
2 nights Monteverde
7-8 nights beach:
North (Sugar Beach or Playa Hermosa?) or Nicoya Peninsula (Montezuma recommended) or near Jaco (Punta Leon) or MA (found a villa on VRBO that overlooks the ocean)....very confused on what to do.
1 night in SJO before we fly out the next day.
Also confused on whether to rent a 4WD (freedom) or take transportation (won't get lost)...
Please set us in the right direction

cvand3

A touch of real culture is available through Desafio Adventure Company, no age limits, while you are in Arenal area. The only guarantee to see exotic wildlife, and a chance to feed the animals and everything. They are great with transportation too, but a rent a car definately will give you freedom, just depends on how far you will be from town in hotels, etc. Cano Negro or a Safari float may be other nice options with the kids. Desafio can help you with any of them, but be sure to go with them, they have 15 years experience, no one else in the area can match that, nor their safety record.

cmerrell

Hi erinnq,

Costa Rica is wonderful! I bet your family will love it.

First the driving question: It really comes down to personal preference. There are some challenging roads (the route to Monteverde comes to mind). You also definitely want to drive cautiously and defensively. We opted to rent a 4WD and really enjoyed the flexibility it provided. Costa Rica is not known for it's terrific road signage, but aside from a few wrong turns here and there, we never got seriously lost. If you enjoy driving as a general rule, I would go for it.

Of the locations you have listed, I have only visited Arenal and Manuel Antonio. Both have a lot to offer; gorgeous scenery, fun activities, lots of hotels and restaurants to choose from, etc...

Jaco generally does not get glowing reviews here; many feel its a bit seedy, although I admit I have not been. With kids, I think MA is an excellent choice with the national park and beautiful beaches. I wish I could help with the beaches in Nicoya and Guanacaste, but I haven't been there. With 7-8 nights you could easily visit a couple of beach locations if you wanted to.

The international airport is in the town of Alajuela, so you don't have to stay in San Jose proper unless you want to. A couple of recommended hotels close to the airport are Las Orquideas and Hotel Villa Bonita. If you are willing to spend a bit more and be a little farther out from the airport, Peace Lodge (with its beautiful waterfall gardens) or Vista del Valle are popular choices to soak in the last evening of gorgeous CR vistas before heading home.

volcanogirl

Hi, erinng - cmerrell and I always think alike! I think you're family would definitely enjoy a night or two at the Peace Lodge. It's about an hour from the San Jose airport; we just got back this week and loved it. It has an aviary, ranarium (frogs), serpentarium, butterfly house, and a hummingbird garden where you can handfeed the hummingbirds. Also has 5 beautiful waterfalls on the property that you can hike to. It's close to Poas volcano - if you get there early in the day, and it's not too foggy, you can check it out

We loved Arenal too. Personally I might want to add another day there and stay less time at the beach. Manuel Antonio does have a lot to offer a family - the kids would love the beach inside the park and seeing all the animals, but 7-8 nights there would be too long for me. The villa sounds nice - is it on the main hill? If so, be aware that most of those place don't have direct beach access. We had to hike about 20 minutes downhill to get to our beach in MA. Just something to check on.

As for driving, I have no sense of direction, and my husband gets stressed out driving, so we always just hire a driver. It makes things easy for us. If you have a sense of adventure and like to drive, I think you'd be great - except maybe to Monteverde like cmerrell mentioned - I've heard that drive is a little challenging.

bamababe

erinng, we were in MA with our 3 kids ( 8,9, &12)for 8 nights. It was too long for me. The beach is great and the park is nice but after 5 days it gets a little old. We went on a zipline with Canopy Safari. It was ok but if you don't like to repel DON"T do it! My 8 yo didn't like it but the other 2 didn't mind. I would wait and do the zip in Arenal.

We also rented a "villa".( I would ask to have references before you commit. Sometimes pictures don't exactly tell the whole story!) It was close to everything. We walked to eat, grocery, etc. We didn't have a car but didn't miss it. I think this is a good choice for families.

We stayed at Los Lagos in Arenal. We all enjoyed it very much. They have a great pool with a slide. My kids loved it so much we spent a whole day there. You can also zipline right there. It's pretty cool-- you'll be eating at the restaurant and people will zip by. I wish we had waited and done it there instead of MA.
We had a driver this time but we have driven other times we were there. It just depends on how comfortable you are with unfamiliar areas.

We stayed at Orquideas Inn and liked it. I would recommend it but... after seeing Peace Lodge i think this is where we will stay next time. I didn't see much of it but i loved what i did see. La Paz waterfalls next to it would make it worth the extra few minutes to the airport.

cvand3

As for beaches, Samara is always my favorite, great for the little ones, safe and fun. We also recently went to a Hotel called El Arco de Noe hidden in a totally under developped town at Coyote beach. Great place for kids, quiet and nice people, also near a great swimming hole inlet off the beach...my kids loved it, and we found awesome shells to bring home, even whole sand dollars. Just don't foret the sunscreen!!!!

tully

I would say Manuel Antonio would be nice to add to your trip, but I think 7-8 nights may be a tad too much imho. If you're going to make the trek to Monteverde, I'd throw in an extra night there and I do agree with the others that Peace Lodge is well worth the time (and expense!) for 1-2 nights.

Driving is just a personal choice, it's very doable and will give you the option of stopping/leaving as you like; I've always just used transfers myself such as interbus or private drivers - you can't go too wrong with whatever you choose.

erinnq

Thanks for the advice:

This is what I am now thinking:

Day 1: Arrive SJO - rent car and drive to Arenal. Staying at Los Lagos, Montana del Fuego or Arenal Paraiso ....for 3 nights. Want a good view. Hot Springs and maybe a horseback ride?
Anything else for kids ages 8 and 6?

Day 4: Drive to Monteverde...start early I guess! Stay at El Establo or Bel Mar for 2 nights? Zip line?

Day 6: Drive to Puentarenas and take ferry to Nicoya and stay 4 nights at Yang Ylang. Chill out.

Day 10: Drive to Manuel Antonio and stay at Hotel Villas el Parque for 4 nights? Best things to do?

Day 14: Drive to SJO and stay near the airport becuase the flight leaves at 6am.

Too much for two weeks?

volcanogirl

In Arenal, I would try to take the Cano Negro tour. It's a boat ride where you will see tons of wildlife - monkeys, caimans, birds, etc.

In Manuel Antonio, I'd go to the beach inside the park and then hike the park to see wildlife.