My friend and I (both women in our late 20s) are taking an organized tour (run by The World Outdoors) of Costa Rica in mid to late April. The trip lasts 8 days. I have included a brief itinerary below.

Days 1-2 San Jose-Pacuare River-- city tour of San Jose, whitewater rafting on the Pacuare River

Days 3-4 Monteverde-- zipline canopy tour, hike, night hike

Days 5-6 Guanacaste-Rincon de la Vieja-- stay at a working cattle ranch, horseback riding, mud baths, mountain biking, hike to Rincon de la Vieja National Park's volcanic cauldrons.

Days 7-9 Sugar Beach-Liberia-- a day of outrigger canoeing, snorkeling and a free day.

We are considering extending our trip by a few days and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. Is there anything that you would consider to be "quintessential Costa Rica" that we are missing with this itinerary? We were considering possibly going to Arenal or the Osa peninsula. However, we were hoping to stay at Bosque del Cabo-- which gets rave reviews on here-- but they are completely booked.

Thanks so much!

Arenal would be a nice extension of your trip--3-4 nights. What a nice itinerary you have! If you haven't had enough beach time with your short stay at Sugar Beach, then head down to Manuel Antonio for a few days---lots of wildlife and plenty of activities. You can do as much or as little as you want. Same with Arenal, only you'll see more wildlife at MA, if you are interested. . .

My husband and I did that trip with The World Outdoors last Feb., with the Arenal extension. We only did 2 nights in Arenal, though we wished we'd stayed 3. We loved Arenal so much we're heading back with our 19-year-old son for his spring break in March. But MA and the Osa are great too (saw both on a previous trip), I don't think you can go wrong with any choice. You will see monkeys, sloths, butterflies, gorgeous birds and more on the tour portion. If you're interested in horseback riding at Sugar Beach, my husband still raves about the wonderful ride he had there - the horses are trained to a very smooth gate, and want to run (not exactly the case at Rincon). Have a great time! Pat

If you are looking for 3 days or so, I would recommend like previous poster either Arenal or Manuel Antonio because of the lesser travel requirements. Osa takes a bit to get to and you don't want to waste valuable time with traveling for such a short time frame. Are you beach people (MA) or mountain people (Arenal)? Also, Arenal will probably have more hotel choices and thus better chance of available rooms and Plus you get a chance at seeing the volcano lava.

First of all, thank you so much for the helpful response! As for the question-- are we beach or mountain people? We could go either. We're looking for a place that is relaxing, reasonable for 3 nights, with activities but also good options if you want to just hang out in the environs of the hotel (why Lapa Rios and BdC sounded like such perfect options).