Need a little help....
 

I've read numerous travel itineries from everyone..can't figure how to do this one.
My husband and I are planning our first trip to CR in Oct. We are coming in/out of SJ. Want to go to Arenal and Monteverde and then on to Tamarindo area. No real connection between Arenal and Monteverde. Read about horseback (no thanks). Taxi/boat/taxi or just taxi. Any ideas?

I would arrive in SJ and then take a charter flight to Tamarindo.

If you want to rent your own car you can do the Arenal to Tamarindo route on the way back to SJ, but I wouldn't recommend it because you could get lost and the roads are in poor condition, thus causing your time on the road to be longer.

You can charter back to San Jose and from there go to Arenal or Monteverde via shuttle, which I think is less than 3-4 hours.

Flying to Tamarindo is a good idea and many prefer to do that, thus saving a little time.

On the other hand, there are some crazy folks like us who love the road (challenges and all) because it is very scenic. Since we like having a car, it has never made sense for us to spend the additional $240 round trip for airfare for 2 people.

If you choose to drive the entire trip yourselves, I'd suggest Arenal first (very simple to get there from SJO--2.5 hr.), then Monteverde, then Tamarindo, and, finally, back to San Jose.

If you don't want to drive in and out of Monteverde, you could arrange a 2-3 day trip to Monteverde from San Jose. Then, when you return to San Jose, rent a car and take yourselves to Arenal, then on to Tamarindo. Arenal to Tamarindo is about 4 hours, and Tamarindo to SJO is about 5 hours. This saves you the rough driving in and out of Monteverde. A lot is dependent on how much time you have. If you are looking at only one week, you really should consider choosing only 2 locations--or else take fides' advice and save some time by flying.

If you don't want to do any driving at all, and don't choose to fly, you can take Interbus between every single location. You can get by without a car in all three places quite easily. Taxis are available and inexpensive should you need one.

Thanks for the responses. Have decided not to rent a car. Interbus does no go between Arenal and Monteverde (unless I am reading the schedule wrong). Could you do a taxi between arenal and Monteverde? Also, trying to decide which would be better to go to first.

You're right. Your hotel can arrange a jeep/boat/jeep transfer from one to the other. My suggestion would be to put Monteverde in the middle. But you could certainly do Monteverde first. Logistically, don't think it will make a big difference--just whatever your preference.

Mary,

My family and I are doing the exact same itinerary in November, except we are flying into San Jose and flying out of the new interational airport in Liberia - about 1 hr away from Tamarindo. We are planning to use a private taxi from San Jose to Arenal - $99 for the four of us hotel-hotel. After a day in Arenal we are planning to do the taxi-boat-horse adventure to Monteverde. From my reading it sounds like if you don't want to do the horseback riding, the taxi-boat-taxi is a great option. It is supposed to be a very scenic ride across the lake, and the whole trip only takes 3 hours. This web site http://www.arenal.net/tour/monteverde.htm has good descriptions of all the options. From Monteverde we are planning to take another private taxi to Tamarindo. I think this trip also costs $99 for up to five people.

Good luck!