We'll be visiting CR & spending one week at Cordovac La Costa. What are the best things to see based from there? We want to see the turtles, go to Monteverde, Arenal, hang out at the beach,etc. The second week we will head towards MA & looking for a place to stay that is comfortable, clean & fun. We were also thinking of flying to MA to save time. Is it reasonable to try to stay in the Osa region. It looks so jungly & fun. Any help in planning the trip would be great. We're leaning towards buses to get us places after reading some of the driving tales.

Condovac is at Playa Hermosa, right? You would enjoy a day trip to the Rincon de la Vieja north of Liberia. Arenal and Monteverde would be LONG day trips (4 hours each way), and the turtles at Playa Grande are nesting December to March. Corobici river float might be fun--we haven't done it, but have talked to those who have and enjoyed it. You would also enjoy a drive down to the Flamingo-Tamarindo area (about an hour).

Thanks for the help. Maybe we'll spend a night in the Arenal area. We were thinking of flying into Liberia since we are staying in the Guanacaste region. I don't see that many people have done that. We will be close to Playa Hermosa & Liberia is just 16 miles away.
We do enjoy scuba diving, rafting, snorkling & zip lines and really looking forward to the turtles.
Any suggestions of more authentic places to stay in CR. We love the thatch roofs when we stay in Fiji so don't just want a standard hotel. Is driving as hazardous as it sounds? Would be nice to have a car in MA region. We'll be staying a week there as well. We are traveling with another couple. I appreciate your feedback Shillmac

We always enjoy having a car and the freedom to come and go as we please without having to arrange for a driver.

You may want to consider flying into San Jose, spending a couple of nights at Arenal (2.5-3 hour drive from the airport), then driving over to Guanacaste and Playa Hermosa for 3-4 nights. It's about a 4 hour drive.

Manuel Antonio is only about 3 hours from the airport.

If you are wanting to see Arenal and Manuel Antonio both, with Condovac in the mix, I think it would save you some time (and eliminate backtracking) if you were to fly in and out of San Jose.

Manuel Antonio is about 5 hours from the Liberia airport. And Arenal is close to 4 hours from there.

Keep in mind that you may need to stay the first and last nights very near the airport depending on your arrival and departure times.

We'll be staying at Villas del Sueno in Playa Hermosa in July. We've heard very nice things about it, and are looking forward to checking it out. It isn't on the beach, though. Neither is Condovac (up high and overlooking the beach).

As for lodging at Manuel Antonio, we've stayed a couple of places: Si Como No and Hotel California. They were both find, Si Como No especially nice, but perhaps a little too pricey. We are staying at Costa Verde in June, and it, too, comes highly recommended on this board, although there have been a couple of negative reviews lately. You just never know, especially when different people have different experiences AND perceive them in different ways!

You'll hve a great time. Two weeks well spent! Enjoy!

Meant to say fine, not "find"!

Thanks for the info. We will rearrange our schedule & fly into SJ & stay near the volcano & then to Guanacaste region. That will probably be the area we will dive in. We may try to split up our time in the central region in a couple different places. The Osa region intrigues me but not sure if that makes us travel too much. We will be there the last two weeks of March. Is the weather really hot?

Yes, the beaches will be very hot. It's their summer. The central part is always very temperate and seldom gets past the low 80's. Nights are cool.

The Osa would be an excellent choice for you, but I'd save it for another trip. It's worth several days--fascinating area!

I just got back from C.R. and my personal recommendation is to use Nature Air and Sansa as much as you possibly can. This is money well spent and will save you hours if not days. Ground travel here is horrible. It took us over 7 hours to drive from Arenal to Manuel Antonio due to a fallen tree, a runaway trailer from a truck, and construction on a one-lane bridge. This is no way to spend a vacation.

LOL! I guess it's no way to spend a vacation, but if you are really interested in finding out about "life in Costa Rica"--ground travel can be viewed as interesting rather than grueling! I'll agree, however, that occasionally, it is irritating! After literally months of driving around Costa Rica, though, we have found those experiences to be pretty infrequent. Usually, all goes well!