orangetravelcat

where would you go? Have never been. We are in our 60's and not interested in adventure like white water rafting or ziplining, but would love to see the birds and animals. Assume we would fly into San Jose.

sweet_polly

I think the Manuel Antonio area would be great for you. Lots of quaint, boutique-style hotels are perched on hilltops overlooking the jungle and ocean (I stayed at Si Como No last time, and it was lovely). The wildlife and the beaches at the park are incredible, and there are plenty of good restaurants in the area. It's quieter, cleaner, and more relaxing that other areas I've visited (Jaco and Tamarindo).

hipvirgochick

Would you prefer to be somewhere fairly isolated, with great birding and wildlife or somewhere you can enjoy those to an extent but also have access to restaurants and shopping?

cmerrell

Sweet_polly's recommendation of MA is generally a very good one for first time visitors to CR. You'll have the national park with it's plentiful wildlife and beautiful beaches right there. Plus you'll have lots of good choices for places to eat and places to stay, as SP mentions.

The only drawback to MA is that the wildlife there is pretty habituated to people. Too many people have fed the animals, so they've lost some of their natural wariness. It's still a great place to visit, imo, but it's not the same experience you'd get if you visited a more 'off-the-beaten-path' location (which is what Hip is getting at).

If you want something more isolated and less impacted by human presence, there are a number of excellent lodges down on the Osa Peninsula. You'll be more immersed in nature there, but won't have access to the variety of restaurants and shopping that you would have in a place like MA. Just depends on what you're most interested in...

And of course, these are only two possible options for Costa Rica. The country is chock full of all sorts of incredible locations worthy of a visit. I'm getting ready for trip #3 and have still only scratched the surface!

volcanogirl

I agree with the other posters. If you want someplace easy and fairly Americanized with a lot of restaurant choices and a nice beach, pick Manuel Antonio. You'll see wildlife here, but not entirely natural like c. mentioned.

If you want jaw dropping wildlife and a beautiful property that's a little wilder, go to the Osa. Bosque del Cabo is very popular on this board.

halemu

kIn addition to MA - which is good - we strongly suggest you consider Tortuguero - a bit harder to get to, and on the opposite coast from MA, but well worth it for the wildlife, ncl turtles at the right time of year.

hop_along

I have no idea how common a problem this might be, but on our recent visit to Manuel Antonio I was quite disappointed to find (without warning, after paying the entrance fee) that most of the trails were closed for maintenance, and our walks were confined to the gravel road used by park vehicles. We had no access to the lookout points or to more than one of the beaches. Presumably the maintenance was necessary but this was still a most unfortunate experience, and it would have been nice to at least have been informed in advance. We felt quite taken advantage of, under the circumstances, and our eagerly awaited visit to this park was much less enjoyable than we expected. I was tempted to demand a refund, but the money wasn't really the main issue anyway so just shrugged it off. Later the same day, back at the Byblos swimming pool, I was doing some mild complaining and all of a sudden the howler monkeys started throwing feces at us. Their aim was much too good. So you have to take the bad with the bad, I guess.

orangetravelcat

I'll google the places you've mentioned to get some ideas. We don't care about shoppping but a choice of restaurants would be nice. Also, we would definitely want a room with air conditioning. Jaw dropping wildlife definitely sounds wonderful.

volcanogirl

If you want air conditioning, then skip the Osa; it's sort of off the grid. MA sounds like the place for you - lots of good restaurants with sunset views over the water.

JoyceL

I recommend the Arenal area. I recently visited there and loved it: beautiful flowers, wildlife, etc. There are many choices for guided nature hikes, or just walking around on your own.

volcanogirl

Arenal is our favorite spot, but you don't always see a lot of wildlife there like you do in the other places. We did see it when we went out with guides, but it's not as obvious as in the other spots. Joyce, where did you guys see wildlife - any good spottings?

orangetravelcat

I'm thinking we could extend the trip, if we go, to have 7 days, in which case I could go to both Arenal and MA, couldn't I? (I have to look at a map to see where these places are in relation to each other).

My husband's 65th birthday is in Feb. and I would like to plan a wonderful trip to celebrate.

cmerrell

We actually saw tayras every day at our hotel in Arenal, VG. Lot's of people have never seen a tayra, so we felt pretty fortunate. They would show up each day and scale the bird feeders to steal the bananas! We also saw coatis at our hotel and heard (but never saw) howlers. That said, it wasn't like being at BdC with it's abundance of wildlife sightings.

MA sounds like a good choice for you, orangetravelcat. If you feel up to splitting your time between 2 locations, lot's of people pair MA with Arenal, which is a terrific itinerary if you have 5 full days in CR (<i>not</i> including travel days...).

The Osa Peninsula is one of the most amazing places I've ever been, but as VG says, not a place where you'll find A/C. Most lodges down there have to make their own electricity and producing enough for A/C is a bit of a stretch.

MichelleY

Dear OTC: With 7 days, you could do both Arenal and MA. Read old trip reports to get an idea of what each place has to offer. We are in our 50's and enjoyed MA for the views and easy access to a variety of restaurants. We also visited Arenal, but left a day early due to heavy rains & cold. We did, though, see the hot rocks coming off the volcano. So cool!! We also zip-lined. Very fun and we are not particularly fit. Fun and not difficult.

Good luck,

MY

volcanogirl

Definitely do a MA/Arenal split. We did that for our first trip, and it was great to see two different parts of the country. Volcano plus beach is a good combo.

cm, we saw a tayra too! I had no idea what it was, but we looked on our photo i.d. cards and found it. It was really cool. We heard monkeys around but never spotted them in Arenal, just on the Cano Negro tour. The one day we went out with a guide he spotted an anteater, howlers, toucans, and a peccary - we couldn't believe our luck - more than we had seen in days.

MarinaKVillatoro

Hi,
Yeah, I totally agree with 7 days, you can really sink your teeth into Costa Rica
You can arrive to San Jose, either spend the night if you get in late, or go directly to Arenal.

Here I'd spend 2-3 nights, your best bet would be in a hotel with hot springs. The activities for the day can be:
Hanging Bridges
Sky tram or canopy tour
I would also recommend a Cano Negro day tour. here you are guaranteed to see wildlife in their pristine setting, it's a bus and boat tour. Truly fantastic.

After here you can take a shuttle to Manuel Antonio beach area.

Here you can do:
National Park Tour
Canopy tour
One day rafting tour
And I would recommend a pleasant sunset tour with snorkeling.

Then you can either return to San Jose the night before, but if your flight leaves afternoon, you can get an early shuttle directly from MA to the airport.

Hope this helps,
Marina K. Villatoro
http://travelexperta.com

hipvirgochick

Agree that Arenal and MA would be a good split for you for 7 days. Arenal, 3-4 nights, MA 3-4 nights. There are some great tours that aren't geared toward adrenaline in Arenal such as the cultural tour with Desafio, Cano Negro, hanging bridges, horseback to falls. Since you said no rafting, in MA you might like sailing or kayaking, Damas mangrove, Finca Valmy horseback, Nat'l Park guided hike, Rainmaker, etc. If you spend a night near the airport there are combo tours such as Poas/Doka Coffee, Grecia/Sarchi, etc.

orangetravelcat

CR sounds wonderful. But I think I'll have to rethink the idea of going there. Right now Mr OTC is in the hospital with chest pain, and I don't think going someplace that doesnt have first rate medical care would be a good idea.

volcanogirl

Hope he feels better soon!

cmerrell

I hope you'll be able to get to the bottom of the problem soon and that it's nothing serious!