I am in the preliminary stages of planning a trip for our family to CR next summer. I am thinking of visiting Bosque del Cabo, Manuel Antonio, Arenal, and Monteverde. My husband is an avid jogger, and he goes a little nuts if he doesn't get in his daily 5+ miles. Will there be safe places for him to jog? The roads sound a little crazy, and the talk of large cats and snakes sound a little scary for a runner.

Also, it sounds like a lot of the regular CR visitors on this forum who go in the summer pick July. Is there any benefit to that month over June?

Thanks for your help!

I have to say in my four trips to Costa Rica I have never seen anyone jog! I think most people are happy with the exercise they get doing active pursuits such as hiking, rafting, etc. But to answer your question, you could certainly jog the trails at Bosque del Cabo, you have to look for big cats and snakes aren't too prevalent on the trails either. At Arenal that's tougher, maybe your hotel will have trails or if you stayed at Los Lagos you could run the road that goes to all of the rooms. Very steep slope too, it would be a workout! At Manuel Antonio the road isn't safe to jog on but if you stayed at Tulemar the road down to the beach and back would be quite a workout if you did it a few times in a row!

Monica, thanks for your suggestions. I am not a runner, but evidently he needs that runner's high in addition to the other activities we will do. Any other runners out there with suggestions?

I definitely agree you could run at BdC; in Arenal, Lost Iguana is a big property with lots of trails you could run on. We stayed at Fonda Vela in Monteverde, it had some pretty extensive grounds as well. In MA, I'd probably just run on the beach in the national park.

Thanks a lot, Volcanogirl! I thought the beach at MA was rather short. Is that not right? BTW I have enjoyed reading your trip report. It has been helpful in my plans.

Actually, in Manuel Antonio, people are more likely to jog on the public beach - not on the beach in the park. It is not that small. And if one goes early enough it is not crowded at all.

I know you didn't ask - but of you find yourself in San Jose, Sabana Park is where a lot of Ticos jog.

raquel

At BdC, once you get past the first little hill, the road from the Casa Miramar turnoff up to the Carate road turnoff is mostly flat and I guess you could jog that, it's 1.5 km each way. Note I mean flat as in no hills but not flat as in level as it is a hardpacked dirt/rocks road.

My first experience in walking (not even jogging) on the road in MA resulted being deposited on my rear, I can't imagine trying to run that winding, hilly and most definitely mossy road.

There is so much hiking available though in CR I would think it would suffice for a vacation.

The hiking will certainly suffice for me, but we have done a lot of hiking vacations, and my husband always runs in addition. One of my concerns at BdC is the jaguars. I know mt. lions go after runners; are jaguars the same? Are there any warnings there about the cats?

The puma spottings are so rare & far between I really wouldn't consider it. People are hiking all those areas as well.

Yeah, personally I'd be more worried about annoying the animal watchers as you scared off all of the wildlife with the noise you made jogging than seeing, let alone being attacked by, a jaguar or mountain lion.

digby, I was talking to a tour guide in Monteverde; she's been giving night hikes for several years and has only seen a big cat one time - she said everyone stood around and snapped pictures of it. She said they don't attack humans there and that they'll usually see you long before you see them and that they like to avoid human contact. She said there's never been a CR case of someone being attacked, not sure if that's valid or not, but it's not really something people worry about. I think they have enough to eat without trying to eat us.

I would LOVE to see a jaguar or puma in Costa Rica! Unfortunately, (as others have said) they don't usually care to be seen and tend to avoid contact with people.

I find it hard to imagine running at BdC. Most of the trails have stairs and steep sections, and can be a bit muddy/slippery if it's rained recently. As tully notes, the main drive might work okay, but it's not paved. If your husband is into trail running, he'll probably love it! If he's more used to running around the neighborhood at home, this may not be entirely what he's looking for.

I definitely would not recommend running the main roads in MA or Arenal; too narrow and winding with too much traffic! Your hotel grounds might provide enough of an opportunity for him...

I'm sure he'll find a way to make it work. And even if conditions are not always optimal for running, there's plenty of physical activity to had through other arenas.

Thanks everyone for your help! He does like trail running, so maybe that will work. Glad to hear the big cats don't seem to be a problem.

I agree strongly with cmerrell about not jogging at BdC. You could easily go back and forth from the bar/pool to the pond end of the tropical garden a few times, with steps on both sides of the suspension bridge, but other areas look like ankle busters to me. There are not just steps but roots across the path and other difficulties. The close-in part of the driveway has fist-sized stones in it. We heard the cry of a jaguar paralleling us on the driveway. (Recorded the sound on a compact camera and compared it to jauguar recordings when we got back.) I think twisting an ankle is more likely than a big cat attack. The public beach at MA would be ideal.

It's too hot and humid to jog in Costa Rica!

We live in Cincinnati. There's no way CR could be as hot or humid!!