I've been working on our itinerary for a few weeks now, and hope I got it right! any suggestions would be wonderful:
- arrive SJ mid-afternoon- overnight at Le Bergerac
- depart early morning for osa peninsula -3 nights at bosque del cabo
- arrive mid-afternoon to SJ, rent a 4 x 4 and drive to arenal (2 nights at arenal paraiso)
- drive to monteverde (2 nights at pico a pico)
-drive to airport for a late afternoon flight home.
any thoughts and/or suggestions along the way would be greatly appreciated!

Sorry I can't help you, but I have a favor to ask. We are also thinking of Bosque del Cabo (Feb or March). Would you mind posting a report when you get back?

Sounds like a wonderful trip. You will have a very good feel for what CR is about because you will be seeing so many varied areas.
I know you will enjoy Bosque del Cabo and I can't wait to get there myself. We will be right behind you. Don't forget to watch for whales!
Don't forget to pack a flashlight, bug spray, and suntan lotion. Plan on 3 1/2-4hrs to get to the airport and allow for time to check the car in. Pay exit tax in walkway to main check in area ($26pp-colones, american, or I have heard visa).
Last but not least, a trip report when you return. I will be curious myself about poco a poco (means little by little).

To JKP...there have been several postings on Bosque del Cabo on this board. If you do a search I am sure you will learn a good bit about it.

Dear mag,
My name is Neta Talmor and I have been living in Costa Rica with my boyfriend for almost 3 years. We help our friends and family plan their trips to Costa Rica all the time, so I thought why not help more people as well.
I have reviewed your itinerary and I think basically it is very good. I have never been to Osa Peninsula myself, but I know people like it very much. I have one important comment - driving in Costa Rica is not an easy thing if you are not used to it, and what looks close on the map usually takes a few hours. I think it is a bad idea arriving from Osa in late afternoon, renting a car and only then leaving for Arenal. It is a 3-4 hour drive, and being your first time driving a car in Costa Rica, I think you shouldn't drive that night to Arenal. In general, we recommend avoiding driving at night in Costa Rica, if possible. This means that you should stay in a hotel in the central valley that night. That also means you lose a night in Arenal, which is a shame since it decresases your chances of actually seeing the volcano (it is cloudy most of the time). As I have posted in another message ("help with CR trip&quot, in this case you should maybe consider giving up on Monteverde and staying 2 nights in Arenal after all. Monteverde is beautiful, but hard to get there, and it will basically take you 2 days to get to and from it, and you will have only one day to spend there. You can spend 2 nights in the central valley and do a lot of day trips (Turubari park, Poas volcano, Carara biological reserve, and many more). Perhaps you would like to consider something else, but I truely suggest you don't drive the night you are back from Osa to Arenal.
Let me know if I can help you with anything else. You can write directly to my email if you would like.
Pura Vida,
Neta.

It would help to know also which airline you will be using. 2 1/2hrs from Juan Santamaria (Sansa) is a pretty good guesstimate to Arenal but if you fly Nature air it will be closer to the 3 and possibly just a little more. It does get dark early...It will be pretty dark by 6pm. You mendioned getting in mid aft. You should have time to get to Arenal if you leave by around 3. The Arenal area is pretty easy to drive around in so if you do get there slightly after dark you shouldn't have too much trouble. Signage is not the best and that is another reason for not driving too much at night. As Neta mentioned, driving at night is generally not recommended. Fortuna is a small town and there is only one road going past the volcano at the base where many of the hotels are. Paraiso is on that main road on the right hand side. The big if here is getting past San Ramon and on the right road to Fortuna. There are a couple of wrong turns to the right to Zarcero and another a little beyond that. Keep to the left and head straight to Fortuna. Once you get through this tricky area it will be very easy. Be sure you have a good map. If you could get one of the earlier flights arriving around noon it would be much less stressful.

thanks for all of your input. I was a bit concerned about driving to arenal in the late afternoon, but our flight (sansa) gets in around 3, so most of the drive should be when it's fairly light out. I'd rather just get there than spend a night somewhere else. If our flight gets in on time we may even get there before dark.
I'm curious about pico a pico too! I'll let you know how it goes.