Okay, after originally thinking of Riviera Maya, Kauai, Belize and numerous Caribbean islands - (so many places pale after trips to St. John - it is difficult), we (husband, 20-yr old son & I) are closing in on going to CR.

TENTATIVE ITINERARY with QUESTIONS for MID-MARCH:

Flying out of Newark NJ to San Jose

Should we go to Arenal or Manuel Antonio for (several days each - thinking of Arenal Kioro or Lost Iguana & Buena Vista Villas, Costa Verde or Arenas delMar) first? It appears that MA is closer to the airport - will that may be better to do first - less travel time after a long flight)?

We plan on getting a driver or taking a shuttle to transport us from place to place... does that make sense? How much will the transportation be for 3 from airport to Arenal or MA - and from one to the other - and back to the airport be?

I have to say I would love to go to Oso (BDC)-husband & son LOVE birds & wildlife- but it seems so far and difficult to get to- planes going there only take 25 pounds per person??? How does a traveler deal with that restriction???????

I guess Arenal/MA make the most sense for a first trip, RIGHT? And we will still see plenty of wildlife between those 2 places - RIGHT?

THANKS EVERYONE!!

We did Arenal and Manuel Antonio for our first trip. And the Osa and Peace Lodge for our second trip. We thought the Osa was amazing - we saw all 4 kinds of monkeys, many from the front porch of our cabin, also saw coatis, an anteater, wild scarlet macaws, toucans - if you love birds and wildlife, this is one of the best spots on earth you could go. It's not really that difficult to get to - you can fly Sansa or NatureAir and then Bosque del Cabo will pick you up right at the "airport." We loved it. Also loved Arenal because we had volcano views every day which is just amazing, and we loved the Cano Negro tour for seeing more wildlife. We stayed at Lost Iguana and really enjoyed it. Manuel Antonio wasn't our favorite, but I know most people love it - it was too developed for us. If we're going to go to a developed area and go to the beach, we'd go back to Hawaii.

For the weight limit, I thought that was going to be really hard too; I usually bring 50 pounds of luggage and a big rolling suitcase, but I used the weekender convertible bag from ebags.com and fit everything I needed in there, and the bag weighed 21 pounds! Big accomplishment for me!

We went to Arenal first and then to MA during our first trip. We hired private drivers through all our hotels. To give you an idea of costs, it was $120 total for the two of use to go from SJO to Arenal.

We love St. John too. I think trips like that have spoiled us from going to other beach locations. I don't really go to CR for the beach - more for the wildlife, the views, and the amazing people. If you love wildlife, CR will be an amazing trip for you.

You would be surprised at how "easy" it is to get under the 25 lb. limit. I started off by putting some of the heavier stuff (camera & binoculars) in my purse. They weighed me and the purse together but it didn't count towards my 25 lbs. Also, Nature Air has a 30 lb limit. Sansa is 25lbs. Also,reconsider what type of bags you take. We weighed our small rolling suitcases and a couple of them weighed 9 lbs empty! My husband carried a very large duffle bag (with a shoulder strap) that held more than any of our suitcases and it weighed less than 2 lbs by itself. He drug it on the ground in all of the airports since it didn't have wheels. We took 3 internal flights while we were in C.R. --San Jose to Puerto Jimenez; Puerto Jimenez to Quepos (Manuel Antonio);and Quepos to San Jose.

Sansa will also let you bring things on board that don't count toward your weight limit - a purse, umbrella, walking stick, infant food, overcoat, blanket, camera, binoculars, and a laptop - we carried my purse, camera bag, and a bag with magazines/books in it, and they didn't say a word. Also, many of the hotels in CR will let you send your laundry out, so a lot of the folks we met did that and were quite pleased with it - that way you don't need to pack so many clothes.

I like the weekender bags too. Very light and you can fit a lot into them. We had 2 pairs of shoes in each bag and were still under the weight limit. Tanks and shorts don't weigh much!

We also used the shuttle (Interbus) and found it very convenient and comfortable.

The planes are fun and no big deal. Short rides and for us, we thought the ride from the airport to BDC was fun! Dodging potholes and spotting wildlife along the way!

For wildlife, you can't beat BDC and Osa! I replied to your other thread, so I won't repeat myself here.