Help/thoughts on my 2 week itinerary in CR???
 

Here's what I've got planned for our 2 weeks in Costa Rica. It's me and my girlfriend's first time so I'm sure there are some things I may be overlooking. Any help you guys could provide would be much appreciated!!!

July 1- Arrive in San Jose at 1 PM. Check into hotel, sight see, etc.
July 2- Raft the Pacuare and then head to Puerto Viejo
July 3- Jaguar Rescue Center in PV, relax
July 4- Relax in PV (beaches)
July 5-Interbus to San Jose, sight see
July 6- Meet up with a college friend in San Jose
July 7-Flight to Quepos, Check into Hotel near Manuel Antonio
July 8-Tour Manuel Antonio, Relax
July 9-Flight to Arenal, Check into Hotel, Hike and Hot Springs
July 10-Water Taxi to Monteverde, Hang out
July 11-Ziplining in Monteverde
July 12-Interbus to Liberia, Rent Car and drive down to Samara/Carrillo
July 13-Samara/Carillo
July 14-Find a beach city on the Nicoya Coast and stay 2 nights (HELP!)
July 15-Find a beach city on the Nicoya Coast and stay 2 nights (HELP!)
July 16-Fly out of Liberia

Congrats on your trip.

Couple of thoughts

Usually find my cheapest flights RT SJO(San Jose)

on Sprit.com usually can fly first class for the

price of coach on the others.

Save a ton on xport renting a car servicecarrental.com

hotelcapitansuizo.com my fav on Nicoya coast

weather2travel.com CR climte guides expect rain in Aug

Happy Planning,

JMO, but I'd cut out either Arenal (only 1 night) or Monteverde (only 2 nights). I'd look into the travel times between sites so you know how much you'll be spending in transit instead of at your location.

Arenal is definitely worth about three nights. I'd expand your time there and look at eliminating one of your locations.

agree with above. really no sense in flying to arenal and heading to monteverde the next day. lots to do in arenal i'd stay 3 nights there. I'd add a night in MA too. Too many short stays combined with the distance your traveling. do you already have open jaw tickets because those can be quite expensive. round trip to SJO always cheaper for me than LIB.

Definitely too much! Cut out something. Look here for travel times and distances www.yourtravelmap.com

Rafting trip to Caribbean Coast
Caribbean Coast to Arenal
Arenal to Monteverde

Then: pick a beach - either Manuel Antonio or Samara. If you want to do both, go Samara first and then Manuel Antonio.

Spend no less than two nights in each location - preferably three.

I think you are not spending long enough in each place considering the travel time, you will be so sick of travelling and not enough time to explore where you are going to. I would spend at least 2-3 nights in each place so you will have to cut out something. I have actually been to all of the places you're going except Samarillo (Wowzers!) and loved them all. We stayed 5 nights in PV. We stayed 2 nights in Arenal. Monteverde is a must-see to me and we spent 2 nights there (but only 1 full day). I would recommend the Selvetura zipline and it is within an easy walk to the Santa Elena cloud forest which was an amazing "heavenly" experience in the clouds.

We stayed at Malpais (near Santa Teresa) on the Nicoya Peninsula. I highly recommend Blue Jay Lodge iti was an open air bungalow on the side of a hill.