I am planning a trip for my family of 6 to CR from Dec 28 to Jan 8, 2 adults and 4 teenage children. I am trying to decide between 3 nights in either Arenal or Monteverde (or split and do both?) then going onto either Tamarindo beach to stay at a villa for a week. Or should I book a villa in MA for a week. We are all very adventuresome and love to be busy but also love to go to the beach.

Couple things to consider....if you can only give up 3 nights for either Arenal or Monteverde - I would do Arenal, plenty there to keep you & your kids occupied. Not really possible to do both places in 3 days (well, I guess it's possible but not very pleasant). Just me personally, I wouldn't spend a week in Tamarindo, but then again I wouldn't stay in Tamarindo at all - questionable water quality, too much development etc. MA is pretty well developed as well, but does at least have nice beaches and a great park, with a wide variety of hotels & restaurants to choose from. One big factor is your timing - at this date you may have to work around what you can get, many many places for that time period may well be booked up. I would start sending out emails now to see about availability, that may decide part of your trip for you. Good luck!

Thank you for the heads up on Tamarindo. I am open to any other suggests other than MA or the Nicoya pennisula. I did hear back from one villa for the Mal Pais area, what do you think of this location? I thought booking 6 months ahead was loads of time, I am learning quickly.

Was in Mal Pais/Santa Teresa last month. Have mixed feelings about it but I'd probably go back as well. It does have a beautiful beach, very popular with surfers, though if you walk for a while you can usually find little coves or where the rocks are to swim. Plenty to choose from as far as places to stay, restuarants, grocery stores etc. I found it a lot less lush than places further south but if you're looking for beach time it's a nice place. I'd definitely get a car if you stay in this area, as things are spread out. The downside is that if you want to see a lot of wildlife, the best place to go would be to Cabo Blanco park which is a 45 minute drive away, whereas MA's park is very close to all the hotels. Yes, the last 2 weeks of Dec can book up very fast in advance, as well as New Years Eve, so I'd start making inquiries now.

For our first trip, we did a split between Arenal and Manuel Antonio; it's probably the most common combo for first time visitors. Arenal is awesome - volcano, hanging bridges, natural hot springs, ziplines, and my favorite the Cano Negro tour. MA is nice if you don't mind development - great national park full of wildlife, beautiful beach inside the park, and horseback riding, mangrove tours, and tons of good restaurant choices and fresh seafood.

Usually 2 nights Arenal.net 1 night Monteverdeinfo.com and then
head down to Manuealantoniopark.com
for rain forest beautiful beach experience.No offence to Tamarindo
fans but find the beaches browner
water rougher much less wildlife and
scenic beauty compared to MA.

Have done Tabacon.com awesome or Volcano lodge or Lost Iguana in
Arenal,Belmar or Sapo Dorado Lodge
in Monteverde.Villa Teca or La Mariposa in MA.Villa Caletas makes
a nice intermediate stop on your
way back up to SJO.

Do rent a car if you can you will enjoy the flexibility and freedom.

You are going in high holiday season book quickly.

Have fun,

Manuelantoniopark.com sorry link dyslexic.

CK -
There is no shortage of options - that's for sure. We're traveling in a few weeks and our 5 kids range in age from 10-17. We're also into adventure and beach so we decided that the Arenal/MA split would work out best. We'll be in Arenal for 3 nights, followed by MA for 5 nights.

Arenal will give you plenty of adventure and common tours include canopy tour, lots of hiking (Arenal Volcano, La Fortuna Waterfalls, hanging bridges), white water rafting, Cano Negro, etc. In MA, you can definitely mellow out for a few days and hang at the beach, or even do a few tours there as well.

With 10 days, it may seem like you have plenty of time to visit 3 places, but you have to add travel time in there - time to get to Arenal, time to get to MA (or wherever), time on the roads getting to your tours, etc, etc.

Have fun planning!