Hey all!

We'll be heading down to Costa Rica (1st visit) in about a week and we're looking for a little help with our itinerary.

We've got the middle of our trip planned out, but the ends are a little fuzzy. Any suggestions are very helpful!! We're early thirties and like to get out and do, rather than sit back and relax.

We arrive at 10am on day 1. Our planned trip/tour has a pick-up in San Jose on day 3 in the AM.

Is it too ambitious to travel to Arenal the first day, spend the day and night there, and then head back to at the end of day 2 to stay the night in SJ??

If so, any ideas of what we should get in with the first two days getting us back to SJ for day 3 in the AM??

Also, for the second half of the trip we'll be spending some time around Puerto Viejo on the Carribean Coast. Planning on 2-3 days here. Then we have 2-3 days before our flight leaves??

Any ideas????????????

thanks!

Arenal really deserves more time than that; we spent 4 days there and loved it. For just a couple of days, I'd look at booking the Peace Lodge - their waterfall hike is amazing - or I'd do a river rafting trip on the Pacuare.

Agree with vgirl -- Unless you absolutely can't visit CR without seeing a glimpse of the volcano (and there are no guarantees of that) I'd save it for another time. There are just so many things to do and see in the area, which is the reall attraction for a lot of people.

I think the rafting trip is a great idea if you want to do something active.

For Puerto Viejo I could also spend several days, but that's probably because of the experience we had. We just met so many great people and loved it there. The food was great, inexpensive. Nice beaches, lots of places to wander and many hotels within walking distance to town. Returning in March.

You could do your rafting from San Jose to Puerto Viejo. Or, if you're not interested in rafting you could also do a 2 night trip to Bocas del Toro. Some people did that from PV and had a great time.

Thanks so much for the input! I was worried about rushing Arenal.

We are doing a tour on day 3 that will include rafting the Pacuare. Very excited about that trip. It will leave us off in Cahuita, and we're planning to head from there to Puerto Viejo to spend about 3 days playing in the area.

My big question is what to do with the two days before we leave on the tour and the three days after we're leave Puerto Viejo.

Any recommendations?

The two days before you leave for you tour you could check out La Paz waterfall gardens, Doka coffee estate, Poas volcano. There are tours you can take or do it yourself if you have a car. There's also a 4 in 1 tour that shillmac recommends, but I can't remember the name of it so hopefully she'll chime in tomorrow. You could plant yourself in San Jose for a couple days at somehwer like Don Carlos, or near SJO at a B & B like Hotel Villa Bonita or maybe Orchideas Inn and take a couple day trips.

After you leave PV you could do the Bocas del Toro trip, or possibly visit a lodge in Sarapaqui for birding and hiking if that interest you?

I think that the best way to manage your time is to stay close to SJ if you must return there.

Grecia is a really quaint town in the highlands about 45min from San Jose. There is a nice B&B Grecia I stayed at. The town is near Poaz Volcano which I also recommend going to see.

http://www.anywherecostarica.com/nat...as-volcano.htm

I think if you really want to go to Arenal you should check it out after Puerto Limon. It will be a nice way to make your way back through the caribbean lowlands before going back to SJ.

http://www.anywherecostarica.com/map...a-rica-map.htm

As you can see on the map, instead of following the 32 back to SJ, you detour on the #4 through Sarapiqui on to Arenal.

Best of luck to ya!

You could easily just head right into San Jose (Hotel Don Carlos as hvc mentioned) and do the Highlights Tour on Day 2. It is excellent.

www.ecoscapetours.com

Juan Carlos in the hotel tour office can arrange for you. On your arrival afternoon, see some of the sights within walking distance of the hotel (Gold Museum, Teatro Nacional and the Plaza de la Cultura across the street, Mercado Central, etc).

When you leave Puerto Viejo, you might enjoy coming back through Siquerres, down to Turrialba area, and staying at Casa Turire for at least one night. It's a lovely hotel in that area, very relaxing and pretty property. On your final full day, take your time getting back to San Jose area. Visit the Orosi Valley, Irazu Volcano, Lankester Gardens, just a few of the highlights of that area. C.A.T.I.E. is an excellent stop as well, near Turrialba. Last night near the airport, such as Hotel Villa Bonita or Orquideas Inn.

Hope this helps a bit!

Thanks! This is all helpful!

I think we'll be staying close to San Jose the first two days as you all recommended, maybe staying in Alajuela. Should be good to get our bearings and explore the cities nearby.

Then on the latter part of the trip we may go by Arenal via Sarapiqui. We'll have already spent a few days in Turrialba, Irazu and Orosi Valley in the middle of our trip.

The Ecoscape tour sounds like a great see-it-all-in-a-day tour. Seeing as how that's the time we have, it may work out just right.

Thanks again! Can't wait to get down there.

Rather than rushing Puerto Viejo, I would recommend staying there for your last 3 days as well. We stayed there last year for 2 weeks and used it as a base point and did tons stuff from there. We did a zip line tour as well as a repelling tour. You can also easily drive into Manzanillo, then hike when the road ends. It is gorgeous hike. Cahuita isn't far from PV as well, and while we didn't make it there last time, we plan to our next trip. The great thing about staying there is that after your activities are done, you have awesome beaches, and a lot of great restaurants as well. Have a great trip!!

I tend to agree with Anita in that Arenal is just so cool you won't get to experience much of it in that short amount of time--or Puerto Viejo area. The southern Caribbean really does offer some hidden gems, especially in the backcountry areas near Bri-Bri. Staying there longer and exploring more fully might be just the thing!

Took some time last night and this morning to look at Puerto Viejo, and we've decided to hang out there longer. Found some fun stuff I didn't realize was there. Thanks for the advice!

Good for you--have a great trip!

Excellent choice! We spent 4 nights in PV last May and hated to leave. Would have loved to have a few more nights.