My husband and I are planning to travel to CR from Sept. 18th - Sept. 26th. My itinerary is as follows: Arrive in San Jose on Sat. travel to Tabacon stay there for 4 nights then travel to Peace Lodge and stay there the remaining 4 nights. My question to you is this... I have no idea on wether I should rent a car or use a transportation service. My husband thinks it would be best if we had someone drive us around but I hear that it becomes quite expensive. Do you have any suggestions? Also, my ideal trip would be to see as much wildlife as possible. In particular monkeys, where do you think I should go within driving distance of the hotels to be able to see the most animals? Do you think I should book tours with the hotels or do you think I should go directly to the places? In the past I have noticed that it winds up being much cheaper going straight to the source. I am so CONFUSED!

Thanks in advance.

Well, first to answer your question, we found the driving quite simple - not nearly as scary as you read about! Especially for the 2 places you mentioned. However, you may want a 4WD during that time frame b/c of the rain & the clearance on the roads, and those can get pretty pricey - so you may wish to compare the options. We found it less expensive to rent a 4WD (although it was more than our air tickets combined!) b/c of the flexibility. Particularly in the areas you mentioned, you will want a car to get around to avoid paying for taxis - and there aren't really taxis near Peace Lodge, so there you'd be limited to their tours & property.

But - here is the bigger question....have you considered doing 2 nights in each of those destinations & then 4 nights elsewhere (or 3 nights with your last night in San Jose depending on your flight time?) I think you'll get a much better experience with more variety. I haven't been to Manuel Antonio, but I understand that is an easy drive & a great place to see wildlife, specifically monkeys. You could easily combine all three of those destinations. I think 4 nights at both Peace Lodge & Tabacon are too many. But, just my opinion. Maybe go Manuel Antonio, Tabacon & then Peace Lodge for your last nights. That order should work well for your driving - and Peace Lodge is only about an hour from the airport so you could feasibly stay there your last night if your flight doesnt leave too early in the morning.

I'm sorry - I just realized you must be talking about Sept 18th as in next week - for some reason I was thinking next year. So, maybe your hotels are already set & can't be changed. If that is the case, I would go for the rental car. Tabacon is about 20 minutes from Fortuna where all the restaurants are as well as a hiking trail to La Fortuna Falls. It'd save you money & convenience to drive yourself in there for your meals, etc. From Peace Lodge, you can drive about 1 hour north to Hacienda Pozo Azul for any type of adventure activity you want & save on the cost of transfers (it was a big savings). Plus, you could drive to Poas & other restaurants outside of Peace Lodge (about 20 minutes) for variety of meals.

Have a great time!

Okay,

Let me try to jump in and help here. The decision to hire a driver vs. renting a car is one based on the types of people you are. You will find many varying opinions on this board. We chose to hire a driver because: 1. We don't enjoy driving under the best of circumstances. 2. We didn't want to be looking at a map (and arguing family harmony was a BIG consideration) instead of enjoying our surroundings. 3) We wanted a local to show us around to places that may be off the beaten path.

That being said, it did limit our flexibility a bit. Because we were 5 people, we didn't have an easy experience getting cabs in the Arenal area. You have to be comfortable with having someone else on your vacation with you. Since I'm generally a private person, I thought that this would make me uncomfortable, and was surprised when it didn't.

If you're interested, our driver's name is Oscar, and he has very few bookings until November. You can reach him at [email protected].

Regarding wildlife: I didn't really see much wildlife in the Arenal area. We did the Hanging Bridges, the Penas Blancas Safari Float, Arenal Paraiso Canopy tour. You might see more wildlife on the Cano Negro boat tour.

I was only at the Peace Lodge/La Paz waterfalls for one afternoon, so I can't comment on the wildlife viewing in that area. I think many people take rafting tours from this area.

Re tours: In the Arenal area, you save about $5-10 per person booking your tours in the town of La Fortuna, vs. booking at your hotel activities desk. Sunset Tours, Aventuras Arenal and Jacamar tours all have offices there.

Your best shot at seeing monkeys is probably in the Manuel Antonio area, but that is not an easy day trip from where you are staying.

Hope this helps.

Thank you so much for your helpful replies. I think I might go for a rental car. I'll be sure to post everything we did when I get back. : )

Thanks again and have a great weekend!

Phatima7 -

Hope you're still reading this thread.

I must say this : If you are staying at Tabacon for 4 days and are using their shuttle service and are not driving anywhere - don't rent a car. They will pick you up at the airport and you won't have to pay for an idle rental car for 4 days. It adds up. All the front desk staff speaks English at Tabacon.

You can save the 12% airport concourse fee by having your car delivered to your hotel, or taking a very short taxi ride to an off-site car rental location. Please research this. We rented from Economy located right next door to the Hampton Inn Suites, which is across the highway and the next exit from the airport.

If you have AMEX or another credit card, you may be able to waive the additional insurance cost - if you feel this is a good idea - and pay only for the gov't mandatory auto insurance. Some like to have full coverage in a foreign country. This may be a good idea. Check the cost variance and your cardholder's agreement.

Tabacon honored our AAA card for a 10% discount.

I think you'll do fine driving around. We returned on Friday after driving from San Jose to Arenal/Tabacon and Lago Arenal and some places that I cannot recall at this moment off of the PanAmerican Highway (Hwy 1).

Please research the translations of road signs if you or spouse are not Spanish-proficient. There's only about 7 signs that you commonly see. I posted earlier for another traveler. Also check my posting for Tabacon tips/hints. Use the search function of this site.

Good luck!! You'll have a great trip!!

Thanks so much! I'll keep your tips in mind. : )

Two places are options for you for good wildlife viewing. From Arenal you could go on the Cano Negro tour. From Peace Lodge you can get over to the Rio Sarapiqui and do a float tour.