Our hotel reservations have been made, but need to address whether we should drive or fly between locations, especially for our visit to Manuel Antonio.

A family member tends to get car sick easily, and I read that the road down to Manuel Antonio is full of turns. If we do fly, what is the best way to purchase tickets? We are going the week of Easter, so I know it will be very busy.

Day 1
Fly into San Jose, staying at the Finca Rosa Blanca.

Day 2
Coffee tour and horseback riding at Finca Rosa Blanca.

Day 3
Drive to Arenal, staying at the Lost Iguana.

Day 4
Sunset Tours 1 day combo which includes hanging bridges,La Fortuna falls,volcano hike & Tabacon hot springs.

Day 5
Sky Tram & Trek

Day 6
Drive back down to Alajuela, staying at the Orquideas Inn.

Day 7
Pacuare one day rafting tour with Rio Tropicales

Day 8
Drive or fly down to Manuel Antonio, staying at Tulemar Villas

Day 9
Beach Day!

Day 10
Manuel Antonio park tour

Day 11
Full day off shore fishing charter

Day 12
Drive or fly back to Alajuela, staying at the Doubletree Cariari.

Day 13
Complimentary shuttle to the airport and fly home.

One thing I would recommend is that, on the drive from Arenal to Alajuela, you hit Poas and Sarchi.

You'll hit some twists and turns on the way to Arenal as well. The scenery is gorgeous, but that would be little consolation to someone who gets car sick!

The 2 domestic air carriers in Costa Rica are Sansa:

www.flysansa.com

and NatureAir:

http://www.natureair.com/

You can book online yourself or have a travel agent help you. I remember last year that the Sansa flights couldn't be scheduled <i>really</i> far in advance. Their schedules didn't extend more than about 4 or 5 months as I recall... You might want to contact Pat Hewitt who posts here pretty frequently. He helped me arrange my trip last year and has helped other posters here as well. He knows the ins and outs of making arrangements in Costa Rica.

http://www.lovecostarica.com

I like RAC's idea of driving up to Arenal one way (San Ramon and Le Tigre) and returning the other route. . both are good roads. Zarcero is my favorite little down on the way down. The route I am thinking of on your return to Orquideas goes through San Carlos and Zarcero as well as easy access to Sarchi, Grecia, etc. Poas doesn't fit into that route as easily but unless you can get there very early in the a.m. you aren't likely to see the crater. Perhaps you could get over there from Finca Rosa Blanca?

Honestly, I don't remember the road to Manuel Antonio being any more curvy than many others, including Arenal. Particularly if you stay on the Interamerican, although that route may take a bit longer. Can he or she get along with Dramamine okay?

The road to Arenal was pretty twisty with ups and downs; I never get car sick, but I felt very queasy on our first trip. On our second trip, I took Dramamine and was fine.

Sounds like I better stock up on the Dramamine! It will probably be needed on the fishing charter too.