Hi! Traveling to Costa Rica on July 13 and have 12 days (excluding to/from CR travel). There are so many options! Need advice, so I can clarify our itinerary.

(A little helpful [?] info): We are travelers who tend to shy away from heavily touristed hot spots. Obviously, CR is a tourist destination. What I mean is within that, we like to venture out and find places with local charm and offerings. We plan to spend most of our time hiking, adventuring and, OK, hopefully getting some amazing outdoor massages. Any recs for those?)

I have three types of questions:

1. I think there's time to hit three regions in 12 days. Osa Peninsula/Corcovado NP is a must. How much time would you spend? And would you make it a point to have one night in Puerto Jimenez? Second, is Arenal. Third is up for grabs. Looking for a spot that is must-see, but isn't super super touristy. Osa is more our speed, but I really want to see and do the exciting things in Arenal. Third spot could be built around an incredible, must-do activity.

Seems that Monteverde and Arenal are somewhat similar and doing just Arenal will be satisfying.

2. Any excellent recommendations for lodging or restaurants for vegetarians?

3. Is everything cool with the local puddle-jumper airplanes? We may take one or two. Is it OK during the rainy season or do those flights tend to get grounded?

Thanks in advance for any advice that comes my way. Cheers!

The Osa and Arenal are two of our favorite areas. What about Tortuguero for off the beaten path? It's a neat canal based environment. Tortuga Lodge is wonderful with great food and great service, and they let us tour and eat on our own vs. being put into an assigned group to eat with. You would be there during turtle egg laying season so that would be an awesome tour to do. Bosque del Cabo on the Osa is amazing. For Arenal, we love the Lost Iguana. Nayara is also nice, but LI feel more jungly and less touristy since it's on the edge of town next to the lake and the Hanging Bridges. We've taken Sansa several times during the rainy season. It's located right next to SJO so more convenient for us than Nature Air.

Make that feels.

Thanks, Volcanogirl.

I've noticed you are an advocate for LI. It does look like a nice place. And the hanging bridges are on my list! I've thought about Tortuguero, but wasn't sure because our time in CR seems pretty short, once you calculate the travel times and the offerings in each spot. I will check it out more. Appreciate it.

Tortuguero is worth about two nights stay. There's tons of wildlife when you tour the canals, and then the turtle hike is done at night. When we stayed at LI, they sold half price tickets to the Hanging Bridges at the front desk, so you might check on that if you're interested. The views from LI are amazing, and I love their balconies. I'd also suggest going to Eco Termales - a small, locally owned charming natural hot spring - nice for the evening.

Is it walkable from LI to the main part of La Fortuna town (proper)? I was eyeing ET, too! Thanks. Do you live in CR?

No, no way it's walkable. It's away from town, so big grounds and more wildlife, birds, etc. If you stay there, you'd either take a taxi or want to have a car. We don't live there, but we try to go once a year. Things in that area are very spread out. Nayara is closer to town, but we missed all the trails and big property that LI offers when we stayed there. LI also has a spa. I believe Nayara does too. I see some massages in your future. Tabacon is a more touristy elaborate hot springs. It was crowded for us, but they're supposed to have a wonderful spa.

We are considering La Leona on Osa. Have you heard anything about it. Also, probably no Tabacon; not into doing a super resort on this trip. Thank you, though!

One more question: Is Osa/Corcovado and Manuel Antonio similar? And Drake, too? Also other spots that have been recommended.

No, the Osa and Manuel Antonio are not similar. The Osa is sort of wild and untamed, lots of great hiking and wildlife. Most people stay at a lodge and eat most of their meals there. Manuel Antonio has a lot of tourists and the wildlife is very used to people. The monkeys can open bags of potato chips there, and there are tons of restaurant choices and a beautiful beach inside the park. If you want to get away from it all, MA is not for you, although it is nice. I wasn't suggesting Tabacon to stay, just the spa because it gets raves, but we've never tried it.

Thank you so much for all of the helpful advice. And for taking the time to answer my incessant questions!

You're welcome, olive - ask away!

Incredible, must-do activity could imply rafting the Pacuare, but that's obviously not for everyone.

RAC, we would love to do that. Unfortunately, my husband has some physical limitations right now. Sad to have to cross that off the list.

Volcanogirl... I started another post about this, too. I was going to leave the last third of the itinerary unbooked and see where we end up. Have you done this?

No, I'm too much of a super planner for that - lol, but I think you'd be fine to do it. You're not going at a super busy time. I like to book specific hotels, rooms, views, and all that. If you aren't picky then go for it.

La Leona is a great, fun choice. Nice tents and close to the park entry. Here is a link to my trip report http://www.fodors.com/community/mexi...ip-mayjune.cfm and photos http://www.fodors.com/community/mexi...bo-xandari.cfm from a couple years ago. July you should be fine winging it, but keep in mind places on the Osa are remote and sometimes tricky to get to. So I'd at least give a call to make sure room is available before heading out.

thanks, tully. i will check out your report. i'm going to book the osa part, for sure. and also arenal. after that, i might leave it open.

Not trying to "muddy the waters" but since you have chosen two places with tropical humid forests why not look at a highland area for your third choice? I think you would find the cooler temperatures of the mountains a welcome break from the heat of Arenal and the Osa.Logistically, Monteverde would be a good choice but there are plenty of other areas to look at- San Gerardo and Copey de Dota, Wilson botanical gardens near San Vito, and the Los Angeles cloud forest reserve all offer plenty of hiking,wildlife, and very few tourists. Even though Arenal and Monteverde are close together they are vastly different in climate, flora and fauna.

I always agree with RTJ