Pls help with CR itinerary!
 

A fam of 4 adults are traveling to CR in Jan., 04 for 10 days. We plan on traveling first to Monteverde for 2 nights, and originally wanted to include Tortuguero and Manuel Antonio. The Osa penin. also lured us. Question: Is Tortuguero great to see minus the turtles? and would this be more sensible than the Osa? We will not have a car. Thanks!!

I have been to Tortuguero without the turtles and there is still plenty to see. Keep in mind that most of the time you will be doing your sight seeing from a boat going through the canals.
Comparing Tortuguero and the Osa is difficult because they are so different. I like the more wooded area of the Osa for hiking but was totally fascinated with Tortuguero. Depends on what you want to see. If you also go to Manuel Antonio you will get to do a good bit of hiking in the rainforest so the two (Tortuguero and MA) are a good contrast. The beach areas in the Tortuguero area are pretty rough and not really for swimming but some of the MA beaches are very nice.

Thanks Susie. you know your CR. Can you recommend an airline for flying to Tortuguero? Is it best to fly one way and bus back to San Jose?

There are lots of people who know a lot about CR. It is a fun, easy country to get to know.
Regarding your trip. What time do you arrive in CR? Monteverde is a fairly long ride and unless you have a private shuttle planned to pick you up at the airport, you may have to plan a night in San Jose first.
How exactly were you planning on traveling? Public buses are cheap but very time consuming and you are not planning an easy trip. For instance, in order to fly to Tortuguero after 2 nights in Monteverde, you would have to get back to San Jose and spend the night there because there is only one flight at a very early hour (6amish) to Tortuguero. There are two airlines, Sansa and Nature Air. Both leave their airports within minutes of each other for Tortuguero. One flight daily.
Have you decided on a hotel in Tortuguero? They could help with the logistics of getting to them. The hotels can be a big help, you might as well use them for as much as you can to take some of the worry away. I will end this and post a suggested itinerary.

Back again.
D1 Arrival day! Bienvenido! Pura Vida! shuttle to Monteverde if you arrive early enough. Night in Monteverde. I would contact Monteverdeinfo.com for transportation help.

D2 Early morning guided hike in Monteverde. Still plenty of time for a zip canopy tour and a quick tour of the butterfly farm. Night in Monteverde

D3 Morning departure for Fortuna by horseback or jeep. Again, Monteverdeinfo.com for help. night in Fortuna....boy are those hot springs going to feel good if you did the horseback trip :).

D4 Early morning trip to Limon/Moin boat dock for trip up to Tortuguero. 2 options for getting there-yep, monteverdeinfo.com or just hire a taxi through your hotel. You should work out your boat trip to the Tortuguero Lodge of your choice with the Lodge. They can go ahead and arrange for a boat for you at the dock. You will need to get there by one of the above options. The Lodge might also have a suggestion for getting to the dock. night in Tortuguero.

D5 Tour canals -night in Tortuguero.

D6 Early morning flight to san Jose. Only one flight. Sansa-Arrive around 7:30am. Fly out to Quepos at 9:00am or Nature Air-Arrive in San Jose at 7:45am. Fly to Quepos at 9:30 am. either way you will be in Quepos/Manuel Antonio before lunch. still plenty of time to hit the beach or pool or just scout things out. Might want to head to the hotel tour desk to make arrangements for something the next day. Night in Manuel Antonio.

D7 Manuel Antonio Early morning guided hike in park. Night Manuel Antonio

D8 Manuel Antonio

D9 Manuel Antonio-possibly leaving for a night in San Jose to leave on Day 10. Possible night in MA

D10 :( going home. If late international departure you could fly out early from Quepos to San Jose and just head right to the International Airport.
If your trip down there is actually 10 full days and leaving on the 11th, I would add one more day to either Monteverde or Fortuna. Could be you will end up with just one day up there anyway if you don't get into CR until too late in the day to get to Monteverde. Monteverde has quite a few more things to do than you could see in just one day if you have the chance. On the other hand if Arenal is cloudy one night you might get lucky the next. I am not suggesting another night in Tortuguero because you will have already had a several hour tour in the canals just getting to the lodge. 2 days of riding in a boat, IMHO, is plenty.
I would also like to suggest Pat Hewitt at LoveCostaRica.com. He is very honest and can help you with any aspect of your trip.