It will be 7 of us flying to SJO,arrive 10 AM.Rent car from Tricolor Suzuki XL 7 or from Dollar .Did not decide on rental company yet.Drive to Arenal observatory lodge and stay at Villa at Observatory.Stay for 3 days.Than continue to Dominical from Arenal and we will stay at Shelter from the storm for 3 nites.Than drive to Osa and stay at Bosque del cabo for 7 nights and stay at Villa Blanca.Than drive back through Cerro Mjuerte, may stay at Trogon lodge for overnight and next day at 6 PM flight back home from SJO.The last overnight we will play by ear ,depends on the drive.Do you think it is good itinerary?Any suggestions apprecciated.

Sounds like a good plan. The only part I would question is your last night at Trogon Lodge. It's a great idea, but it will take you most of the day to get there. So you'll not have much time. You need to head back toward SJO by late a.m. to be on the safe side. Driving through San Jose or circumnavigating it can both be challenging and time consuming. Wish you could spend 2 nights at Trogon Lodge. Sounds good, though!

Thanks Shilmac for reply.Do you think I should cut 1 night at Bosque spend only 6 nites at Osa and spend 2 nights at Trogon or Savegre which one is closer to the airport.My huby is nervous about making it to the airport on time.We are leaving around 6PM from SJO.So if we leave early morning from mountains,even if there would be some kind of problems,we should be hopefully fine.

jilkovina...... I don't post a lot because I am not all that good with descriptions. However, I must respond to your itinerary. If you can go to Trogon lodge I urge you to try. We had a long drive from San Jose to Trogon with most of it at night. The road down to the Lodge from the highway was wild. We got checked in, ate a great dinner and off to our very nice and comfortable rooms. When we awoke the next morning I just could not believe how beautiful it was. We signed up for the 6:15 walking tour to see the Resplendent Quetzal and actually saw 7 of them. Shillmac is right about staying two nights at Trogon. It is well worth it, or was to us. It is still a long road back through San Jose to the airport from there.

I've never stayed at Bosque del Cabo more than 4 nights--it's a fabulous place, but I think 6 nights is plenty.

Certainly the San Gerardo de Dota area is worth 2 nights--IF you want to get full enjoyment from your stay there. And it DOES take some effort getting down into that valley.

Trogon Lodge and Savegre are side by side, basically (couple of km between them), so I'd not worry about which is closest to the airport.

We prefer Savegre simply because it's the only one we are familiar with, have stayed 3 times, and they do have one of the best birding guides in Costa Rica--Marino Chacon. First time we were there, I knew nothing about (and cared not much for) birding. Went out on a whim with Marino and have been a birder every since! He's a fantastic guide. Quetzals are absolutely everywhere there--something to see for sure! We think it is a very cozy and comfortable place. Love the hike to the waterfall as well and, well, the entire property. There are some excellent hiking trails.

Enjoy! By the way, you need 2 nights here, but 2 is plenty. You won't be arriving very early in the day from the Osa.

And don't worry about getting to the airport for your 6:00 p.m. flight. How lucky for you it is so late in the day! It's about a 3 hour drive back to San Jose, maybe another 30 min. to the airport. You might have a little trouble getting through town, but you know, the first time we did it, I navigated with the Berndston &
Berndston San Jose city map (flop side of the country map), had familiarized ourselves with it ahead of time, and we made it right on through. You can, too. So, let's say you allow 4-5 hours ahead of the time you need to be AT the airport (3:00 or 3:30 p.m.), you can hang out until about 10:00 a.m. or so at the lodge and be pretty darned safe with your time.

thank you for the info