Quarters

This will be the first trip to CR for my husband and me. We're planning to go in May 2008 (I like to plan ahead!) We're both fairly active, will be 27 years old, and we are looking for adventure mixed with relaxation.

Day 1: Arrive in SJO at 8 p.m., stay in an inexpensive hotel in Alajuela
Day 2: Rent a car and drive to La Fortuna. Check into a hotel, TBD.
Day 3 and Day 4: La Fortuna
Day 5: Leave early for SJO and return car. Fly to Puerto Jimenez (probably Sansa, sine we'd already be at that airport). Check into Bosque del Cabo.
Day 6 and Day 7: Bosque del Cabo
Day 8: Leave BdC midday, fly back to SJO and stay in an inexpensive hotel overnight.
Day 9: Leave EARLY to fly back to the U.S.

Any suggestions to improve this itinerary or make it more efficient? Our travel days are flexible, but we're on a tight budget. Do we really need to rent a car for La Fortuna, or should I look into transfers? Also, I'd prefer not to have a night in San Jose on each end, but it looks like I'd save $300 by booking flights that arrive late and leave early (which more than covers the extra night).

volcanogirl

Is there any way you can fly in earlier and head straight to Arenal your first day? That's what I would do personally, but you'll have to see what the flight cost is and if it's worth it to you. San Jose on both ends of a trip would not appeal to me when there's so much to see and do outside the area.

Regarding renting a car in La Fortuna, most people do rent a car. We happened to be staying at a hotel (Lost Iguana) that had free shuttle service into town around dinnertime, so we just used that and caught cabs back; cabs ran us about $15. Do you have plans to go to Cano Negro while in Arenal/La Fortuna? I really recommend it - it's a fun trip!

Quarters

Thanks for the advice. The earliest flight I could find was a lot more expensive and still only got us there at 2:30 p.m. - probably too late to do the drive to Arenal.

Would the Cano Negro tour be exciting enough for my husband? I'm afraid the car ride/boat ride might be too boring for a full-day tour.

volcanogirl

Well, you know, I had the same worries about my husband. He's a sports guy, 32 - never really into nature, but he loved Cano Negro. He turned into the chief animal spotter for our boat!

The day entails the shuttle ride to the boat, then getting on the boat and going down the river for a few hours - you'll see howler monkeys, sloths, all kinds of birds, capuchin white face monkeys, etc. It was the first time we saw any of these animals, so pretty exciting to see them in their natural environment. Part way down the river, Sunset Tours pulls over to a little palapa (with restroom) they have built on the side of the river, and you have a tico lunch of arroz con pollo, black beans, fresh pico de gallo, plaintains, fresh pineapple, etc. Then back on the boat for more spotting. You can get up and walk around the boat, and we met a lot of great people - I guess only you can judge if your husband would like that sort of thing, but my husband loved it. It's still one of our favorite vacation memories.

Quarters

The Cano Negro trip sounds great. I'll have to see if we can fit it in. My husband really wants to do the PureTrek canyoning, so I'm working around that.

volcanogirl

He would probably like the SkyTrek ziplines too; Arenal has a lot to offer.

At BdC, you can swim with wild dolphins. They tow you behind the boat and they swim all around you. He'd probably enjoy that too.

MRand

Quarters - by all accounts I've read, PureTrek is a solid, safe outfit. However, in the interest of full disclosure, you and your husband should read the article "Five vacationers who died were rappelling waterfalls" from the July 10, 2007 edition A.M. Costa Rica:

www.amcostarica.com/071007.htm

A terrible tragedy. I asked several of our guides about this, and they said it involved an unlicensed company away from the La Fortuna area doing this at a site where waterfall rappelling is not normally done, but unfortunately I could learn no other details.

Quarters

I had read about the dolphin trip and it sounds really neat - any idea how much it costs?

MRand, how sad! I think we'll be very careful what outfit we take tours with in CR.

hipvirgochick

The dolphin trip is sort of expensive and best to combine it with the Wildlife Sanctuary because the boat ride in itself is $120, plus roundtrip transport from BDC to Puerto Jimenez, plus tips, etc. When we got to BDC we met a couple and shared the cost with them. We did the dolphin swim first (includes snorkeling, but not super) and then the boat took us to the Sanctuary. Afterwards, we had a late lunch in town instead of having BDC make up a boxed lunch. The dolphin swim was great, a huge pod of 100 (really not sure the number, but a lot) and you go under the water with goggles so you can see them all around you. The Sanctuary is wonderful and we plan on going there again next year. It's a $20 donation/pp.

Also, the cost of all the tours are on the BDC website.