Itinerary order?
 

Which itinerary order should we do?
1) San Jose, Arenal, Playa Flamingo, Monteverde, Manuel Antonio and San Jose
or
2) San Jose, Arenal, Monteverde, Playa Flamingo, Manuel Antonio and San Jose.

If we did itinerary #2, how would we get from Playa Flamingo to Manuel Antonio. Would we go over the bridge? How long would the drive be from Playa Flamingo and Manuel Antonio?

Melissa, I think #2 is the best option. SJO-Arenal-Monteverde-Flamingo-Manuel Antonio-SJO (even could be reversed).

Playa Flamingo to Manuel Antonio, yes, you would go over the Friendship Bridge across the Rio Tempisque. It would take you about 5 hours, more if you stop for lunch. Also you'll want to allow time for crocodile viewing at the Rio Tarcoles! Watch your car and stuff. . . thefts have been reported there for ages. We've never seen anything suspicious, really, but we take turns and one of us stays in the car with our stuff.

You think it only takes about 5 hours without stopping to go from Playa Flamingo to Manuel Antonio? I thought it would take alot longer. How long does it take to go from Arenal to Monteverde and Monteverde to Playa Flamingo?

You may have this on another thread, but could you please give me an idea of how many days you're talking about? Total, and at each location? We're trying to plan a trip, too, but just starting and trying to learn from all these great posts.

We are planning a 14 night/15 day trip to Costa Rica.
Day 1: San Jose-sleep
Day 2: Go to Tortuguero on a 2 day/1 night-Sleep in Tortuguero
Day 3: San Jose-sleep
Day 4-6: Drive to Arenal-Sleep 3 nights
Day 7-9: drive to Monteverde-sleep 3 nights
Day 10-11:drive to Playa Flamingo-Sleep 2 nights
Day 12-14: drive to Manuel Antonio-sleep 3 nights
Day 15: Fly back

Still trying to decide if 3 nights is too much for Monteverde. Any suggestions.

Yes, maybe cut down on Monteverde, give yourself 1 or 2 free days, and just wing it a bit. Its easy to overplan then wish you had saved time for something you run across during the trip. Good luck and have fun!

Yes, Melissa, I do think it is about 5 hours to MA from Flamingo. It's been about 3 years since we drove it, but we've driven all the parts of it (if you know what I mean) several times. Always depends on traffic, road condition, etc. Haven't done Arenal to Monteverde.

Monteverde to Manuel Antonio would take about 4 hours, I think. We've done all those parts as well, just not in one trip. Takes a little over an hour to get back to the highway from Monteverde, then about an hour or an hour and a half down to Puntarenas. From there you are about 1.5 hour from Manuel Antonio.

I agree with dnc11 that you might wish you had a more leisurely pace. We are the world's worst at hopping from one place to another occasionally; invariably we wish we'd had more time. But then, we enjoy "the hopping" as well! :)