Help with itinerary please!
 

My husband and I are planning a visit to Manuel Antonio, Arenal, and the Peace Lodge in March for spring break. I have already made reservations at all my hotels, but after buying a map I'm worried that perhaps I didn't plan the best route/itinerary. This is what we have now:

Day 2-5: Arenal
Day 6-9: MA
Day 9-10: Peace Lodge/La Paz

I haven't booked plane tickets yet because I wasn't sure whether I should use SJO as my primary airport or try a combination of flying into Liberia and out of SJ. Regardless, it seems to me that the drive from MA to La Paz will be LONG, and we won't get to spend much time at the Peace Lodge before we have to drive to the airport the following day.

What do you think of this itinerary? Should I switch MA and Arenal? And how likely is it that I can change my hotel reservations now?

Thanks!

If you could flip MA & Arenal it might work out a little better, but even kept the same it shouldn't be too bad. If you leave early from MA, like 7am, you could still be at PL by 11 or noon at the latest, so that would still give you lots of time to explore. For those places, I would fly into & out of SJO myself. PL is about 1:15 from the airport give or take, MA approx 3 hours and Arenal about 2.5, so none are too too far. It wouldn't hurt to ask the hotels, as you're not looking to cancel, just switch dates.

I agree--it wouldn't hurt to check, but March is such a busy time I'm afraid you'll run into some new snags. I wouldn't worry about it as following Tully's advice you will have plenty of time to enjoy Peace Lodge. You could even leave MA a bit earlier if you wanted. You will have been there 3 nights which is plenty. What time is your departure flight?

Right now I'm looking at departures from SJO at 1 pm. I wanted something later, but it seems I'll have to pay upwards of $1K per person for that.

Yeah, that's a bummer. Always the case during those busier times. Which is practially always these days!

Are you driving? You'll need to turn your car in by 10:00 at the latest to get you to the airport with 2.5 hours or so to spare before departure. Probably plenty, but at some times (never know when) that would be cutting it close.

That means you'd need to leave Peace Lodge by 8:30 to return (allowing 30 min or so in case of wrong turn or stopping for clarification).

You'll be okay with your Peace Lodge reservation if you get there by 11:00 or so the day before. Plenty of time to enjoy the grounds. Maybe not as much time as you'd like to enjoy the wonderful accomodation AND the grounds, but you can do it another time and stay TWO nights! :)

I kept my itinerary - thanks very much for your opinions, shillmac and tully. One last question though: we fly into Liberia for 1 night before heading to Arenal the next day. Is it worth it to stay the night in Playa Hermosa or just stay somewhere closer to the airport? (We get into Liberia at 6:45.)

At that hour, I'd just stay in Liberia. You'll be tired as well and I assume you will want an early start the next a.m.

I'm curious as to why you are flying into Liberia. The road from Lir to Arenal is pretty rough in places (around the lake) and about 30-45 minutes longer than out of SJO. It isn't a BAD road, just not in as good condition as the road from SJO to Arenal.

You will get to see a different area of the country, however, so that's never a bad thing! We did that same thing back in 2002--flew into Liberia and headed to Arenal. We were ending our trip at the beach and had picked up a fare of $169 through Worry Free Vacations. Those fares don't come along anymore! :(

Enjoy your trip--you guys will have a great time.