We'll be in Arenal and MA in June. Are there any night hikes/tours that anyone would recommend? I've heard about volcano hikes and also "night critter spotting" hikes but haven't run across any details.

Also, my list of recommendations for dining is growing (thanks to all the CR experts) but I have questions about dining times - do places get crowded? If so, should we aim for a certain time to avoid crowds - when? Coming from a touristy town we know better than to try for dinner at 6 at local favorites but will we encounter the same in Arenal (La Fortuna) or MA?

www.desafiocostarica.com best tours..

7PM works best for me crowdwise...

In Manuel Antonio, go out before the sun goes down. Most of the restaurants have beautiful views of the sun setting over the water. We never had problems with crowding in either place. You're going in rainy season, so you should be fine. We did a volcano hike in Arenal, but honestly I didn't love it. It was kind of rainy when we did it so that may have influenced my opinion, and we didn't get as close as I thought we would. We had a great view of the volcano from our balcony at our hotel. We did our night hike in Montverde and loved it, but I see you're not going there. Hope someone else can help you with that. You might check with your hotels. They usually book all that stuff for you.

You'll be traveling in the green season, so I doubt that crowds will be an issue for most things you want to do (dinner, activities, etc...).

I'd second VG's recommendation of checking with your hotel for night hike options. We didn't actually do that in either of those places, but I think it would be fun!

I also live in Florida (although not in a horribly touristy area). I've been to many of the South and Central Florida 'hot spots', and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by how laid back CR is; even a place like MA that's one of the more heavily visited locations in the country. We visited in early December before the peak tourist season started up, and although we certainly ran into other travelers everywhere we went, we never had to wait in lines or deal with crowded conditions at any of the sites or attractions we visited.

I'm so happy to hear that we won't be dealing with lines and crowds. We'll certainly book our tours but look forward to rolling at our own pace. And, volcanogirl, we will make sure to be at a MA restaurant (Ronnie's is on my list) before sunset. Lobster, sangria and sunset - sounds like a perfect combination!

I'll check with AOL (we'll be staying there for three nights while in Arenal) regarding night hikes. At some point I ran across night tours that pointed out cool creatures like frogs, insects, etc. It sounded unique (though I am a bit creeped out about the possibility of walking through spider webs). Not sure where it was (forgot to add that to my trip "cheat sheet") but hopefully we'll get a chance to view some nocturnal wildlife. We'll pack the headlamps just in case!

Ronnie's - yum, yum! Night tours are popular in Monteverde and the Osa. I haven't heard much about them in Arenal or MA. They're fun - we saw an agouti, a sloth, a coati, a tarantula, a fox, a porcupine, lots of insects, and a tiny snake. I chickened out of doing one my first two trips, and when I finally did it, I loved it.

Though I've never done it, in Manuel Antonio you could investigate doing the Damas mangrove tour at night -- sounds pretty cool. I believe people often see anteaters and other interesting nocturnal creatures. You can check out the blog of Juan Brenes, one of the more popular guides in MA: http://juanbrenes.blogspot.com/

Also in MA, across the street from Si Como No, is the Fincas Naturales Wildlife Refuge. Again, we didn't do it, but they offer a night hike through their grounds. A lot less involved and less expensive than the Damas tour: http://www.wildliferefugecr.com/

One place to put on your list of food options for MA would be Cafe Milagro. It's a cute, casual little cafe that serves sandwiches, desserts, and yummy blended coffee drinks. It's a great place to stop if you're looking for a quick bite.

plumboy's night tour suggestions sound good. I didn't know you could do a Damas tour at night. Filing that away for future reference...

Plumboy, thanks for the links. I checked them out and both seem to offer some good nocturnal adventures - the refuge mentions lots of different frogs - cool! Juan's site also had a waterfall tour that looked like a blast. Has anyone been on that?

Volcanogirl, your night hike sounded awesome - exactly what we'd be looking for. Too bad we won't be in either of those locations (there's always next time)!

Cmerrell, I've added Cafe Milagro to my cheat sheet. The coffee drinks will make my teen daughter very happy - will help feed her Starbucks habit. I'll be checking out desserts!

We had espresso shakes at Cafe Milagro that were really good. Definitely good for the Starbucks fix!

When you go to Cafe Milagro, make sure to sit in the back garden. I'm sure this was a fluke, but we saw a sloth up in a tree and an armadillo in the bushes while sitting back there -- all within a few minutes of each other. It was weird!