Has anybody seen an arribada? How did you plan it? Did you find a way (other than the moon) to figure out when one would happen in advance?

Here's our itinerary, subject to change at any minute based on when the turtles are in the mood. Any advice? Too Much? What should we cut out?

Day 1. arrive transfer to Peace Lodge
2. Waterfalls hike day/ hotel Peace Lodge
3. White water rafting near Peace lodge/ then drive to Arenal Observatory Lodge before dark.
4. Tabacon Hot Springs/ Arenal Observatory Lodge
5. Hanging bridge watch/ drive to Rincon (still haven't found a nice place to stay.)
6. Hike the lower part of Rincon/ hotel?
7. Drive to Nosara for the night/ hotel?
8. Nosara if there are turtles/if not Manuel Antonio
9. Manuel Antonio /hotel-near airport
10. leave

I've seen a 'small' arribada at Ostional. I say 'small' becasue you could walk 10 feet or so between turtles!
It was not planned. My husband had been surfing there for a few days and then one day he was told by a local that the beach would be closed to swimming and surfers for the next few days because of the coming arribada.
I guess you know the best time is during the Last Quarter Moon Phase, but you may not know that the best times are between the months of July-Nov., however, turtles come to this beach to lay eggs every month of the year. Chances are, if you time your vacation for the Last Quarter moon, you will see turtles. Maybe not hundreds, but some.

Maybe I am reading this wrong? But - 2 nights Peace Lodge, 2 night Observatory lodge, 2 nights Rincon, 1 night Nosara, 1 night MA, 1 night SJ.

Have you checked with Peace Lodge to see what time your rafting would be back at the lodge? I believe you would need to do this the day before on your full day. Arenal is about a 3 hour drive.

Nosara is a long drive just for 1 night. And MA is a long way from Nosara, close to an all day trip. Looks like to me that you are going to be doing alot of driving and very little else.

Typically 3 locations in 10 days is about all you want to plan to really enjoy your experiences.

We just saw an arribada at Playa Ostional in early August, and it was a wonderful experience. We caught the tail end of the arribada so we only saw 20 or 30 turtles, but we were able to get close to them to see them lay their eggs. Our guide, who was excellent, told us that the best months for viewing ridley turtles at Ostional are October and November (different months for the other turtle species).

If you do decide to go see the arribada, you might want to consider staying the night in Ostional because there are three rivers to cross between Nosara and Ostional, which I wouldn't want to do in the dark. I would suggest arriving around 4:30 or 5 p.m. so that you can take some pictures (no photography is allowed at night). Then, I would get dinner in town and return around 7 or 8 to see the full flotilla of turtles arrive.

I don't have my guidebooks with me, but I recall that the Let's Go guide to Costa Rica has the contact info of a scientist in Ostional who can give you updates on the turtles.

Hope that helps!

By the way, feel free to e-mail me if you want to see pictures of the turtles: [email protected]

You guys are so helpful!! For the turtle viewers, do you think you need a guide? If so, is there one you like?

As for the schedule advice, I think we'll probably cut out Manuel Antonio and we'll just stay in Ostinal 2 nights. Now we're looking at...

1.arrive/hotel san jose
2.drive to Ostinal/hotel ostinal
3.nosara/hotel ostinal
4.drive to rincon/hotel rincon-advice?
5.hike to hornillas/hotel rincon
6.drive to Arenal/hotel Arenal Observatory or Lost Iguana
7.Arenal/hotel Arenal
8.drive to Peace Lodge/hotel PL
9.hotel peace lodge
10. drive to san jose/hotel san jose
leave early am

Actually, I thought we were required to go in with a guide during the arribada, but I may be wrong. They have guides at the ranger station where you buy the entrance fee to the beach. Our guide only spoke in Spanish, but we saw an American guide there, too, who obviously spoke English.

Do you have your flights booked yet? Only ask because Peace Lodge is only just an hour away from SJO. And some hotels in SJ will take you that long. If you have a really early morning flight I would consider a hotel very near to SJO. Orchideas Inn is 15 mins. Hampton Inn across the street from SJO. Other suggestions are out there if you need them.

My husband and I did not go with a guide. We drove to Ostional for an early dinner, thought we'd go see the turtles when it got dark. Went up to a restaurant on a hill overlooking the beach as saw many, many people on the beach. So we asked the guy at the restaurant if the turtles were already there and he says, "Si!" So, we drove back down to the beach, paid our small entry free, declined a guide and just walked along the beach by ourselves, watching the turtles come in from the water, lay eggs, and return to the sea. As it was just before sunset, we got some great pictures too! Then when it got dark we went back to the restaurant for dinner. An excellent evening!

before you went to dinner, how did you know the turtles would be on the beach?
was it amazing or just kinda interesting.

would you say it's worth planning our trip around?

Just got back from 10 days in CR. We did not overnight at Rincon, but went there for a day trip from the fiesta premier. We had a jeep and drove.Took about an hour. Stopped at the Hotel Hacienda Guachepelin and did a 1 hour horseback rike to one of the waterfalls.Looked lile a decent place to stay and they run lot of adventure tours from the hacienda(rappelling,canopy tour, thermal mud baths, horseback riding)
We then left to continue the drive to rincon NP. Did the Las Pailas hike around the mud pots and fumaroles and found it very interesting.While there we met a german tourist who hiked to the summit of Rincon. He said it took 9 hours and was quite dangerous in spots, so I'm glad we chose the hike we did. Hope this gives you some insight into this area of CR. Have fun!

ljv,

Was Rincon just interesting or great? I have no desire to hike to the summit, just too far, but the bottom sounds pretty amazing. I'm wondering though if it's just so so and not worth the long trip. My hubby doesn't really want to go.

Thanks all for the great advice. I spoke to somebody in CR who said they are having about two arribadas a month right now. Wow.

utah,
My husband is a surfer, and had been surfing Ostional for a couple days. As he was leaving one day to go backj to Nosara, someone told him the beach would be closed to surfers for the next week or so, due to the turtles arrival. That's how we knew they were coming.
For us, it was a very beautiful, exciting experience...not just 'kinda interesting'. How many chances might you have to see wild turtles come to lay eggs?!!