Help with Itinerary
 

Hi Everyone. Below is my "draft" itinerary...will you be so kind as to offer suggestions?

Arenol & Monteverde-2 days (1 day Arenol & 1 MV)
Manuel Anotinio-3 days
Bosque del Cabo-3 days
I have 9 days total so I have 1 more day somewhere. Maybe Peace Lodge?

I am wondering if I should concentrate more days in 2 areas insead of less days in 3. I know I want to see Arenol & MV...is staying in MA & BDC repetitious? I gather from my research that both areas offer beach & forest so maybe I shouldn't do both on my first trip? Thank you for any advise.

I would definitely choose either Arenal or Monteverde. Neither are really one night destinations in my opinion. You should give Arenal at least 3 nights itself. I would just do that and cut out Monteverde or cut out Manuel Antonio. If you're trying to go to 3 places though I'd skip Peace Lodge this time around.

Please don't try to do 1 night in Arenal, and 1 night in Monteverde, I can't imagine it would be very pleasant. Keep in mind as cities may seem relatively close on a map, in truth the travel between 2 places can't be quite long. Arenal to MA for is example is like 5 hours.

Not sure when you are going so can't say about Peace Lodge, there is no definite re-opening date of yet. You could do 3 nights each at Monteverde, Arenal & BdC, little rushed but decent. Since you want to visit so many areas, I would skip MA in favour of BdC.

P.S. Manuel Antonio and Osa are about as different as you could possibly get. MA is getting built up with many restaurants, hotels and shopping. The beaches are nice, especially within the park and the park itself is beautiful. There are quite a few activities you can do there. Osa is more unspoiled, for nature lovers who are looking for a rainforest experience, not for shopping and restaurant choices and is much less touristy.

When would you be going? It matters a lot for MV and Arenal, a lot for BdC and MA.

I agree with everyone else insomuch that Arenal and Monteverde each deserve at least 2-3 nights--it would be a big mistake to try to do each in one night.

I agree that you're trying to cram in too many locations. I would ditch either Monteverde or Manuel Antonio for this trip.