I am planning my very first trip to CR. I've put a lot of research into my itinerary and I'd love to get a little feedback on it. My wife and I are making all of our own arrangements. We do not plan on renting a vehicle. The trip will take place probably the end of November, next year.

Day 1

Arrive in San Jose. Shuttle to Orquideas Inn in Alajuela. Bus trip to Sarchi.

Day 2

Take a bus from Alajuela to Hotel Punta Leona. Side trip to Carara Bio Reserve.

Day 3

Take Hotel Punta Leona's tour to Manuel Antonio.

Day 4

Hotel Punta Leona, spend some time at the beach.

Day 5

Bus to La Fortuna. Staying at Los Lagos Resort. Possibly take in a Canopy tour.

Day 6

Los Lagos Resort. Take a side trip to Vernada Caverns.

Day 7

Los Lagos Resort. See La Fortuna Waterfall and the Hot Springs.

Day 8,9

Bus to Puerto Viejo. Staying at Shawandha Lodge for time on the beach.

Day 10

Back to Orquideas Inn for last night before departure.

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions on this board!

You can skip Punta Leona and go straight to Manuel Antonio. Why Los Lagos at Arenal, plenty of nicer places in the area.

Goulash -
Thank you for your responses. Price has been a big factor in our hotel choices. However, I've also heard good things about Los Lagos from the Frommers message board. Are there similarly priced hotels around Arenal and/or Manuel Antonio that you would recommend over our choices? We are on a budget, but we don't want to skimp on quality, either.
Thanks, again.

I forgot to add the websites for our hotels. Here they are:

http://www.hotelpuntaleona.com/

http://www.hotelloslagos.com/

http://www.shawandhalodge.com/index-eng.htm

http://www.orquideasinn.com

Please feel free to comment!

My girlfriend and I just got back from Costa Rica a little over a week ago .(Dec 1st) We spent some time in the Arenal area as well as Manuel Antonio.

We stayed at the Hotel Plinio in MA. It was a little close to the road. Unfortunately the hotel was there first, bad luck. Anyway the food was amazing. If you are going out for dinner I recommend it.

I don't know if it is necessary to take the MA tour from your hotel. We took the bus to the park (passes every 30 minutes) and then hired one of the guides outside the park for $20 each. They were great and there were only 4 of us with the guide. So depending on how many people are taking the tour you may want to go on your own.

Also we stayed at Los Lagos and the resort was beautiful. The restaurant was nothing special but decent. The cabins were nice, clean and quiet. We could see the volcano erupting from outside our room. You can see it from the inside but it's better to go for a walk where it's darker. The pool was very warm too, very relaxing.

If you have any questions e-mail me at [email protected].