Need help with itinerary
 

Hi all ...

This forum is so helpful! 4 of us are planning to go to CR for the first time in February. We're looking for being in the jungle, snorkeling, relaxing on the beach, seeing animals, some contact with local folks and culture - work on our poor Spanish with people we meet - all in 2 weeks or less! We definitely prefer rustic over resort. Possible itinerary:

Arenal 2 or 3 nights - stay at Arenal Paraiso - river float, hike to waterfall, evening at the Tabacon?

Nosara 2 or 3 nights - mainly to try to see the turtles - at least the hatching babies - and to hang out on the beach - maybe rent bikes to explore the area - snorkel in tide pools. Hope to stay at Lagarta Lodge

Montezuma 2 nights - more hiking and beach -snorkel trip to Isla tortuga, probaby stay at an inexpensive place on the beach - Pension Lucy?

Hacienda Baru in Dominical 3 nights - I was seeing this as a poor man's Osa Penininsula - I love the kind of
actities they offer - tree platforms, camping in the rainforest, a slower paced canopy tour, etc. Are you
familiar with it? Or do we need to get to the Osa Peninsula no matter what?

Pacuare River trip - I was thinking about 1 day but I see the 2 day trip highly recommended on this site. Do you have to be in San Jose as a starting point for these for these tours?

San Jose for a night or 2 - Jade Museum, Mercado Central (we love city markets!) Stay at Hotel Don Carlos?

Transportation - local buses are part of the experience in other places we've gone, but La Fortuna to Nosara might be a long haul. We could rent a car for all or part. I've read about taking a boats out of Montezuma, so ideally I could see traveling by
small boat from Nosara to Montezuma and then from there to Dominical also by boat.

Sorry this is so long - any help is much appreciated.

Hacienda Baru or Villas Rio Mar are both good choices for Dominical. I ran into some people while down on the Osa who liked Villas Rio Mar so much that they were cutting their trip on the Osa short and going back.
Arenal Paraiso is a good choice.
Regarding the Pacuare and whether you need to stay in San Jose. Most people do just get picked up from a hotel in the San Jose area. Most of the companies that I have been with stop in Cartago for breakfast and then go on to Turrialba to put into the river.
If you like city markets you will love Mercado Central. It definitely will attack all of your senses.
Hotel Don Carlos is a very popular hotel. If you do stay there be sure to ask for a quiet room. There are some rooms that are just horribly noisy. They have a great gift shop and a nice little cafe with a coffee bar, delicious deserts, and decent light meals. If you want to do any day trips out of San Jose they have a great tour desk. They will keep your luggage for you while you are rafting if you decide to do the overnight trip.

Thanks for your help, Suzie. It is reassuring to hear from someone with experience in Costa Rica. Have you been to Nosara? Did you like it? What about Montezuma? I'm wondering if it will be too American for me and not so costa Rican. Thanks again.

We were in Nosara for five days in July. This was our third trip to Costa Rica. Drove from San Jose to Nosara, then drove down to the Osa and stayed at Bosque del Cabo for five nights, Manuel Antonio for three and back to San Jose. Nosara is not very built up and has a beautiful beach. I think you would want a car there, though because things are spread out, unless you are happy to stay put in one place. We stayed at Casa Romantica, liked it very very much. Short walk to gorgeous beach. Stayed one night at Villas Rio Mar on way back from Osa. Did not like it at all. Room was small, supposed to have hot water only the next morning when I told them there was none they tolld me they forgot to turn it on.Restaurant seemed overpriced, food was very mediocre, drink had not liquor.I was very disappointed. In Nosara go to La Dolce Vita. Also La Mariposa has great fresh tuna. Have fun

Sorry to hear your visit to Rios Mar was a disappointment. From several other reports that I have read, one other person mentioned that the rooms were small but all enjoyed their stay otherwise. Could have just been a bad time of year to go?

I think I'd skip Montezuma if I were you. It's kind of like an American hippy hangout and because of the ferry issue (ferries can take a long time to come and if there are too many cars you won't get on the first one and you could easily lose an entire day in the journey) it's not worth the trouble in my opinion. If you do head out that way, though, we really liked the Curu wildlife refuge. You can read our trip journal at http://www.markandmonica.com/Travel/costa_rica.htm

Regarding Villas Rio Mar, I don't think our stay there had anything to do with the time of year although the almost deserted restaurant (only one other couple there the one night we were there) could have been to the off season. I just did not think the service was very good, example was when I mentioned upon check out that there was no hot water in the room the desk clerk said to me (rather unfriendly) that I still had to pay for the room. I never asked for a discount or not to pay for the room, I just wanted them to know so they could fix it before the next person stayed there. In the restaurant the wait staff was more interested in chatting with each other than waiting on customers. It does have a lovely pool but the outside patios of the rooms are not that private.If we ever returned to Dominical I think I would explore other hotels, including Hacienda Baru.

We're thinking about going to Cabo Blanco rather than Montezuma. It sounds isolated and beautiful. One place to stay might be thatched cabins at Hotel El Ancla de Ora. Is anyone out there familiar with this area? Thanks for all the help.