Need to fill 2 nights for our itinerary. Going to S.J, Arenal, Mont., MA - Where else?
 

We were considering Tortuguero, but I think I'll look for another location in order to save some money. Where else would you suggest we spend 2 more nights? Right now, we're planning on:
- 2 nights at Ville Del Valle
- 3 nights at Arenal at Paraiso or Arenal Springs Resort;
-2 nights at Fonda Vela in Monteverde
-4 nights in Manuel Antonio at either Costa Verde II or Casa Nicolas
-1 night at Hotel Don Carlos
Should I add another location and if so, where? Or should I add another 2 nights to the places we're already going to?
Thanks much!
CArrie

Carrie, I wanted to make a few suggestions to your other post about the turtles. But I simply did not have any advice for that other than Tortuguero.

But now that you have asked! I am more than willing to talk.!! LOL.

First I truly enjoyed Tortuguero, it is so unique. I think you and your Mom would enjoy it also.

However, you could easily add time in the SJ area and do trips to Poas Volcano (very different than Arenal, here you can hike up to the crater and look in), La Paz Waterfall Gardens amazing for its butterflies and hummingbirds and 5 waterfalls (BTW: LP has beautifully engineered trails for more easy access, I feel your Mom (and you!) would much enjoy here), also you could take a tour of the Orosi Valley with stops at the ruins and the church in Cartago, with another stop at Lankester Gardens, onto Orosi and the Cachi Lake and Dam, having lunch overlooking the lake. This was a very interesting day. And several other choices such as the towns of Sarchi and Grecia. For you - you could add a white water rafting day!

Other than those you may want to look at one of these for a couple of days. These two areas are on our too do list and always get good reviews.
www.laquintasarapiqui.com
www.savegre.co.cr

You are going to have a great trip!

Thank you so much for the great suggestions. I'll check into those options. I may reconsider and go to Tortuguero, but this 14 night adventure is adding up fast.
Thanks again!
Carrie

You definitely need to add 1 night to Monteverde. The difficulty of the road to and from Monteverde makes 3 nights a necessary minimum for full enjoyment of Monteverde. Beautiful Monteverde Cloud forest just cries out for you to slow down and soak in the experience. Also don't know when you're going but in June it rained every afternoon at MONTEverde so it was great to have 3 nights, giving us 2 whole mornings to enjoy nature before it started raining. We used rainy times for shopping and relaxing and eating.

We loved Monteverde so much we are planning to return. Manuel antonio...once was enough for Manuel Antonio. Arenal is great, lots to do. Have fun.

If you are a beach person, I would suggest a drive down the pacific coast to Playa Flamingo ..... beautiful soft white sand beaches (hard to find in most of CR) a beautiful boat harbor, great restaurants (Maria's especially) and spectacular views. Personally, I think 4 nights at Manuel Antonio maybe too much, and 3 nights at Arenal Springs Resort should be just about right, but you could do 2 (depending on weather ... we were there for 2 nights, one at Smithsonian observatory and one at Arenal Springs and due to foggy/rainy type weather was never able to see volcano activity). But what the heck, your going to have a great time just being in CR.

Thanks for the information. I'll check into the Flamingo area. I'm a beach person, but my mom prefers to be on the go.
Carrie

Further south of Flamingo is Tamarindo. Go to www.visittamrindo.com for the chamber of commerce's website - click on activities and lodging. You could relax at Hotel Capitan Suizo (that is where we 50 yr. olds and two young adult children stayed six nights in the end of May and LOVED IT) and your mom could walk the 8 minute walk on the beach to the town and shop. At night I wouldn't recommend anyone to walk alone anywhere in Costa Rica (or the USA!!) but in the day, we never felt threatened - I let my 18 yr.old son go to the surf area (Hotel Diria) on his own. At Capitan Suizo there is a great pool/openbar/restaraunt right next to the beach, hammocks in the trees in the sand and then the sunning beach. This is a swimming beach, look at low tide to see where the rocks are so you can avoid them when swimming. There are horses across the st. from the lobby and I think they are the hotel's. The town has numerous restaraunts, some very nice, some on the beach that are just picnic tables, etc. yet their food is awesome. Snorkel tour by Mandingo Sail was great but you do ride a boat out to another area and this was rough. Have fun wherever you go.

Personaly - I wouldn't recommend Tamirindo for anything other then a 1/2 day visit .... it is not a very far drive from Flamingo. We subscribe to the TICO Times - the CR - newspaper, and they have been having a problem with crime in Tamirindo. It seemed dry, dirty and is mostly visited by surfers ... and there really wasn't a "deal" to be found. It was nice sitting at the open air bar on the beach .... watching the ocean and horses, but we didn't spend more then 2 maybe 3 hours in town. Flamingo seemed much more lush, tropical, clean and there is plenty to do there. I could go on and on. But to spend a couple of nights I think Flamingo is the way to go. Check out TripAdvisor or Flamingo Mariner Inn at http://www.costaricauncovered.com/travel_Costa_Rica.htm. Have Fun!

Playa Flamingo is in the middle of the " Gold Coast " area of Costa Rica .... The area the huge resorts chose to build in because of the promise of more days of sunshine . The first "big" hotels were built here . This area can get as dry and scrubby as Tamarindo to the south . Beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder , everyone has a picture in their minds eye what you think things will look like , so just peek at as many online photos as you can find ( and read lots of info. ) so you can determine for yourself if a certain place is for you .

Take a peek at Playa Nosara .... A bit of a snowbird haven . Lotsa sunshine , still stays green and lush , no hotels upon hotels .... Frommers describes each town in it's overviews very well .

You all are just so helpful! I think we'll end up staying with our basic itinerary. Seems to me that two nights here or there is rushing things a bit too much. If We did 3 nights in SJ, 3 in Arenal, 3 in Montev., 4 in MA, and 1 in SJ, then our trip is made. I'm even looking at staying at Tulemar in MA because they have the private beach and shuttles around the property. That would be great for my mom and I can easily see staying 4 nights there with those services. But I'll still check out Playa Nosara. I'm also a bit concerned if we'll have enough to do in Monteverde for 3 nights.
Thanks much!!!
Carrie

I think that's a better idea .... Rushing about too much is a little stressful . Tulemar is a lovely property . Although someone wrote here recently there was some construction going on . ?? Sadly , this is happening a lot here . The beach is a very tropical , palm lined , small , grey sand beach . From this beach you can kayak over to the very pretty white Biesanz Beach . ( you can see it from Tulemars Beach .... Make sure you go to the park though . The 2 main beaches " inside " the park are very beautiful . The big , busy , public beach is full of character , a great place to buy trinkets for those at home . The public beach is Playa Espadilla ( or "beach 1" ) Playa Espadilla Sur is the first beach as you enter the park and also known as "beach 2" . Playa Manuel Antonio is the 2nd beach inside the park and is also known as "beach 3" or Playa Blanca . Watch your belongings at Beach 3 as the monkeys will steal your lunch , so will the racoons . You can pop on a local bus to take you to the park for about .23 cents , it passes every 1/2 hour and a stop will be close to Tulemar . Just look for people standing by the road or look for a faded painted line on the road . Hailing a taxi roadside will cost you about 3.00 from the hotel to park .

Carrie, wonderful plan! I truly believe by adding those two nights to SJ and Monteverde, you have a perfect plan.

As for enough to do in Monteverde, if you think about it, you only have 2 days and I certainly believe you can fill these. Having two days also affords you the opportunity to break up your hiking, don't miss the hummingbirds, butterflies, the co-op where locals sale their wares, the Monteverde coffee is delicious and you can only purchase it in Monteverde, some unusual shops are along the way, as well as an art gallery. So yes, you can fill these days. Plus there are a few high adventure activities that you may want to try. Plus a lot more. AND 3 nights allows you the time to recover from that interesting, beautiful, bumpy trip!

MA - the public beach also has some interesting restaurants, with tasty inexpensive food. Plus we really enjoyed sitting at some of these, enjoying a cold drink and simply gazing and people watching.

You have a relaxed pace planned, which will give you an excellent sampling of CR. ENJOY!

PS - While at Arenal, if you enjoy waterfalls, do take the time to hike down the La Fortuna Waterfall, it is very nice. However, the trail is cut into the side of the mountain and a bit strenuous, it may be a bit much for your mom, but she can view it from the top.