Itinerary - How does this sound?
 

Hi Everyone!

We have 13 days for our 10th anniversary and have decided to split the time between Costa Rica and Panama. I am in the beginning phases of planning this trip but this is what I'm thinking:

Costa Rica - Arenal
Costa Rica - Manuel Antonio
Costa Rica - San Jose/Orosi Valley
Panama - Bocas del Toro
Panama - El Valle


We have to spend one day in San Jose to catch the bus the next day to Changuinola to get to Bocas del Toro. We're not really interested in the Panama Canal so have opted to leave that off.

We are in our 30s and 40s and have already traveled to Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. We're fairly adventurous and don't mind moving around (obviously).

I've read some posts where people have said they spent a few days on Bocas del Toro and that it was too long. Can anyone tell me why this might be?

Also, we would like to get from Bocas del Toro to El Valle. What is the best way to do this. Seems we will either have to fly into Panama City or get to David and bus it from there.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for all the time you all put into answering our questions so we can have a wonderful experience!

Bocas way out of your way long bus ride boat ride to get there but would
fly from there to PTY for El Valle.

www.bocastesoroescondido.com

nice place to stay for Bocas.

Better for me to do www.ticabus.com

Osa maybe www.zancudo.com on your

way down pickup Boquete El Valle

to PC...would be less circuitous

flow better areas not as dodgy as

Bocas for me...

Thank you so much for your reply! We were actually thinking Osa but thought it would be too much of a hassle but maybe not???

Are we really missing anything by not going to Bocas? We would like to have some beach/snorkeling down time to just look out at the wonderfully blue ocean. Is there anywhere on the Pacific side along our route to do that? What about the Pearl Islands?

I'm really taking into serious account your suggestion of staying along the Pacific route.

Hi again!

I'm planning this trip around Arenal, Osa and Bocas. One thing we really want as part of this trip is beautiful beaches with awesome swimming and playing in the water.

Do you think the beaches are better on the Osa Peninsula or in Bocas? I really don't want to travel us around to multiple spots if each destination isn't decidedly different.

Are Arenal, Osa and Bocas unique enough to feel like a new adventure?

I was thinking of this itinerary:

2 nights in san jose, arrival night and a day of whitewater rafting.

2 nights in arenal

4 nights Osa Peninsula

4 nights Bocas

Is this still too many places to see in 12 days? I was thinking we could cut out Arenal and just do Osa and Bocas.

Any advice here? :)

We enjoyed Bocas for 4 nights, and we usually don't stay many places that long. The snorkeling was good, coral beautiful. It was very laid back, and we enjoyed exploring over on Bastimiente and Bocas island as well as Cayanero where we stayed.

How many days to stay at each place depends a lot on what one likes to do. The Osa is very good for wildlife viewing if you stay someplace like Bosque del Cabo with all their trails. At least 3 nights there. We also liked Iguana Lodge and used our time there to do the Animal Sanctuary tour and to kayak.

Arenal, in my opinion, needs at least 3 nights. 4 would not be too many. Lots to do there.