One more itinerary to check please!
 

We will be in CR for 18 days. We are an active hiking,swimming,scuba diving couple ready to enjoy CR. So here goes
1- Arr SJ
2-4 Leave on 3 day tour of Tortuguero
4- fly back from Tortuguero to SJ. Pick up rental SUV go to Arenal
5- Arenal
6-Monteverde
7- Drive to Santa Rosa park area
8-9 Nicoya/Tamarindo area
10-12 Manuel Antonio
13-15 Corcovoda Park
can't decide to stay in Drake Bay area or Puerto Jiminez. Any suggestions. Where would we leave the car if we went to Drake Bay
16-17 Orosi
18- fly home
Would it be doable to drive to SJ airport from Orosi or is it too far? Our plane leaves at 2:00 pm. Is there another interesting place to spend the last night that isn't in SJ?

A three day Tortuguero tour is perfect, but you may feel rushed in Arenal and especially Monteverde. It takes a lot longer to get from place to place in CR than maps seem to indicate. What do you CR experts think?

How are you getting to Drake Bay? If you're flying, three nights might be enough, more would be better. I haven't been to Manuel Antonio, but have heard from folks that it was disappointing after going to the Osa.

I personally would cut 1 or more stops from your itinerary in favor of adding more nights to spots like the Osa and/or Arenal or Monteverde, but that's me!

I definitely agree with Molly2. You have too many things packed into your time. If you are going to the Osa, don't go to Manuel Antonio. Also, I'd skip Santa Rosa for now. Choose either Arenal or Monteverde. You don't have time for both. They need at least 2 days each. Orosi Valley area is a good place to end up if you return to San Jose a couple of days before your departure flight. I'd do it something like this:

Arrival Day
Tortuguero 3 days
Return and pick up car
Central Valley 2 days
Arenal or Monteverde 2-3 days
Nicoya Peninsula 4 days
Return to SJO and check in car
Osa Peninsula 4 days--fly
Departure day

This itinerary will give you a very nice overview of the country without rushing you around so much. If you drive down to the Osa, you will lose 2 days. I'd strongly suggest you fly.

If you really want to spend time in Santa Rosa, I'd suggest trading that for the Orosi Valley. Or do it as a day trip while in the Tamarindo area.

I am sure other people will disagree with me but I think 2 full days in Tortuguero is enough. We did 3 and it seemed like one day too long. We have trouble sitting still for very long. Almost all of your sight seeing there is by boat. The ocean is not a good place to swim in that area so your physical activities will be limited. I really enjoyed it there and would love to go back and have investigated other areas a little further north since but I can only sit in a boat just so long. Basically your sight seeing amounts to 2 tours in a boat every day.

Definitely choose between Monteverde or Arenal but not both unless you give up either Manuel Antonio or the Osa.

I would spend a few days longer in the Nicoya area and just do Santa Rosa park as a day trip. You could even take a day to see Rincon de la Vieja volcano. Great hiking, hot springs. You might want to think about some time in the Playa Hermosa area just a little north of Flamingo (which is a little north of Tamarindo) as you will be closer to the diving areas there. It would also be closer to Santa Rosa. Tamarindo is more of a surfer area and not the swimming, diving type place you mentioned wanting. Playa Hermosa would give you the swimming and diving as well as easy access to some great hiking.

Thanks for the input. Are the Nicoya Pen. and the area around Manuel Antonio quite different? We are looking for a little more "off the beaten path" but think the trip down to Osa through the Manuel Antontio area would be worth it, so we might exclude the Nicoya Pen. If we were to pick one of Arenel or Monteverde which one? We both have seen lots of active volcano sites - so not a big deal for us to see. In the Osa Pen. is Drake Bay or Puerto Jimenez a better choice? Thank you, thank you for the advice!

Your post is going to generate many opinions. Basically, it is more a matter of what types of surroundings you prefer rather than what everyone else thinks is best.

Difference between Arenal & Monteverde:
Monteverde is cloud forest--higher, cooler, damper, different flora and fauna--literally in the clouds. There is probably quite a bit more to do (and variety) in the Arenal area. I have not visited the particular cloud forest of Monteverde, but am familiar with cloud forest surroundings. The canopy walkways and ziplines are available both places. Others can advise you as to which area they think is best for this. One of the distinct advantages to Arenal is the hot springs at Tabacon--many (including me) would call it a "don't miss!"

Most of the Nicoya Peninsula is in the province of Guanacaste, as is Santa Rosa Park and the Rincon de la Vieja. Guanacaste is different from Puntarenas (where Manuel Antonio is located). You'll see rolling hills, cattle and ranch land. Oxen being driven by the road, etc. It is my favorite area of the country. If you are truly interested in variety, you'd be better off not to skip this area. It is an entirely different type of country that you won't see elsewhere.

If you are driving to the Osa, there isn't any reason why you couldn't spend a night on the way in Manuel Antonio. In fact, it would be advisable to break up the long drive. Just understand that the Osa Peninsula is actually rather similar to Manuel Antonio--just more impressive! So you'll want to focus more of your attention down there.

Both sides of the Osa are very nice, with the Drake Bay side being easier to get to--at least it would seem so to me. It isn't easy or cheap to tour Corcovado from the Puerto Jimenez/Golfo Dulce side, but many posters have said they've seen better wildlife there than in Corcovaco anyway. We loved the Golfo Dulce side.

The thing about driving to the Osa is that your rental car is going to be sitting for a few days while you are paying for it. Are you sure you want to do that?

if you have a car I would go a little farther to Puerta Jimenez as you can actually use your car and have your choice of lodging- We like the Iguana Lodge near PJ and the owners recommend the Luna Lodge in Carate. I would agree with previous posters. The Osa is awesome and worthy of your time. MA is nice but the Osa is far far more remote with a huge tract of coastal rainforest. We spend more than a week here, did not get bored,and will go back to see the surrounding area( Playa Zancudo and Pavlones)across the Gulfo Dulce

I have not done this and have heard it is a pretty rough hike but from Puerto Jimenez you can take an air taxi right into Corcovado Park and hike out. I don't know the specifics of this but any one of the lodges in the Carate area can help arrange that. I was at Look Out Inn and Terry had arranged that trip for a couple of people. Didn't get the specifics on it although I ran into the people a few days later at the airport and they said they had some horrific blisters. If you do make it to Carate but just want to take a day trip into the park, arrange for a guide to take you through your hotel. The entrance to the park is about a 1hr hike down the beach from Carate. It is a less traveled entrance and the last time we went in there we had to turn around because the trails were in bad shape and we didn't want to get lost.

There is a tico who (with his n.american wife) owns a place called Bosque del Rio Tigre. It is just outside of Puerto Jimenez in Dos Brazos. He does a hike from their place to Carate. It is not a stroll in the park and from what I understand the pace moves along in order to make it that far. He grew up in that area and is a wealth of information. He is hardcore and hikes barefoot frequently. I am sure he would customize a day trip with an out and back into the forest at your pace. If you stayed at Iguana lodge rather than there it would be a 1/2hr early morning taxi ride to get to his place. Toby and Lauren at Iguana send people there for birding tours as well.

Most people really enjoy the one day trip into Corcovado done from Drake Bay. This area would also give you the diving. You would drive to Palmar Sur/Sierpe and leave your car and take a boat taxi through the mangroves to get to Drake Bay. If you were to skip the Nicoya and head down to MA and then Dominical, Uvita, etc to Palmar Sur you would see some lovely unspoiled areas. You could surf in Dominical. Check out the whales at the Marino Bellena Marine Park. The coastal road south from Dominical to Palmar Sur is good.

From Palmar Sur you could swing up through the Orosi area easily.

You just have to decide on what your priorities are for your "first" trip to CR. You aren't going to see it all. I don't think any of us has.

So here is my opinion!
Arenal and Monteverde a minimum of 2 nights each. Remember travel time is going to eat up a good portion of these days.
Tortuguero 3 Day/2 Night is good, since again you have to consider travel time.
I would not do MA, Nicoya and Osa. Personally would drop MA for this trip.
We like to stay in an area for about 3 to 4 nights.
Also, you may want to consider an in country flight to the Osa and back. Then spend your last 1 or 2 nights in the outlying SJ areas.
As someone else posted - You can't see it all. You will be back! Don't rush yourself, spend a few days in each area - there is so much to do and see! Enjoy!

Everyone thanks so much for your help. I'm going back to the drawing board to make some adjustments and will return with a new/improved itinerary for your kind review.