readytotraveltoo

My husband, my two daughters (13&16) and myself will be flying into San Jose on a Saturday in April 2011 and leaving the following Saturdray. Based on discussions that I have read here, we have decided to visit the Arenal area and Manuel Antiono Area. We are not renting a car. Some hotels offer transportation from San Jose but others don't. Is there a tranportation company that you like best? www.tucanlimoservice.com or www.destinos-encantados.com or www.ecotranscostarica.com

Which hotel do you think is better in La Fortuna? Hotel El Silencio del Camp or Arenal Volcano Inn or Volcano Lodge and Gardens.
I am having a hard time determining their location to see what best fits our needs. This is what we would like to do so which hotel is better:
1. have the best view of the volcano that we can(we know it will depend on the weather)
2. go to sky trek
3. go to thermal springs - I am leaning toward the Eco termales
4. Since we don't have a car, I would like to be near restuarants.

On Monday, we plan to leave for Manuel Antiono. Our house that we are renting will pick us up in San Jose but is that the best way to go since we will have to find a ride to San Jose? Is there a company that can take us to Manuel Antiono without going to San Jose?

In Manuel Antiono, we plan to relax at the beach, rent jet ski for a couple of hours and go white water rafting on a half day trip. Anything else in Manuel Antiono, that is a must see. We were told we would have plenty of "visitors" at our house so I think we will have the wildlife covered.

thanks for your help

hsmithcr

1. Transportation -- Tucan Limo Services and EcoTrans will provide you with a private driver. They are both very well thought of in Costa Rica. Not familiar with the other one.

You can also take a shared van shuttle very inexpensively: www.interbusonline.com or www.graylinecostarica.com

2. For information on the Arenal area as well as location of your hotel, check here: www.arenal.net Basically, the side of the volcano where you can see the lava flow has fewer hotels and fewer restaurants so if you are in this location without a car, you would need to use taxis to get around. One option is to rent a car just for the days you are in the Arenal area. This will give you a lot of flexibility.

3. The easiest way to get from Arenal to Manuel Antonio is with a private driver (more expensive but conforms to your schedule.) Next would be shared van shuttle (less expensive but you conform to their schedule.) You can also take the public bus but you will need to head for San Jose and then change buses there. www.thebusschedule.com

For Manuel Antonio, www.manuelantoniopark.com

volcanogirl

We've used Carlos Bogarin through Destinos Encantados, and he was great. He waited hours for us at the airport when our flight was delayed. Of the hotels you listed, I'd say Silencio del Campo is the most popular, and it gets consistently good reviews. Eco Termales is a good choice for hot springs; we enjoyed the chicken dinner there. Most of the hotels have a good view of the volcano, just very few on the lava side. We're fans of the Lost Iguana. If you plan on going to the park in MA, remember it's closed on Mondays.

Allylam

http://www.arenal.net/arenal-costa-rica-map.htm

Above is the map that has hotel and other locations.

hipvirgochick

I haven't stayed at all the hotels you mentioned in Arenal. However, Silencio del Campo is absolutely wonderful. Eco-Thermales is great.

You might consider Finca Valmy horseback in MA if your family likes horseback. It's a nice way to spend a 1/2 day.

cmazza

Hi I did arenal with a teen and stayed at silencio del campo and it fit our needs well. Another recommendation with kids is los lagos. We did toucan limo to arenal from san jose and flew from arenal to our next destination. you could fly or drive back to san jose. We did not have a car and used a taxi to get to town. It worked well. We did the sky treck and loved it. We also did anothe river float tour (cano blanco??) which was nice. Cano negro gets great reviews but we did not try it. We also did a volcano hike which was nice and visited the eco termales thermal baths. we loved it and so did my daughter. Have fun!!

shillmac

If you have a driver coming to pick you up from Manuel Antonio, there is no need for him (or you) to go into San Jose since it is a fair distance out of the way toward the east. How about hiring a taxi or driver from Arenal to take you to San Ramon, about 2 hours, perhaps a little less. You can arrange your driver to pick you up in San Ramon, for example in front of the church. At this point you will be 2.5 hours from Manuel Antonio, more or less. I am sure El Silencio or whichever hotel you select can help you with that arrangement.

MileHighHC

I was in CR for my honeymoon in November (same itinerary - Arenal to MA) and wanted to throw in my 2 cents: We're a young couple on a tight budget and decided to take the Interbus from Arenal to MA and I would NOT recommend that! It was, if I remember correctly, about a 6+ hour trip because of stops and being re-routed due to mudslides. Not to mention we were cramped into a van with about 5 other people + luggage.

From the San Jose airport to Arenal, we rented a private driver named Wilson Rojas. He came highly recommended on these forums and we LOVED him. If you search on here, you can find his contact info. He's worth every penny and more.

We also stayed at Lost Iguana and while for the most part we loved it, I would warn that it's pretty remote from other things in the area. Just a heads up so that when you book attractions, find outfits that will p/u and d/o at the hotel. We took a cab to La Fortuna or other resorts a few times for dinner and it was pricey. But, the resort itself is very beautiful! Have a great time!

hipvirgochick

As cmazza mentioned, Los Lagos is another great hotel you might consider with kids. It is an awesome place to spend the last few hours of darkness enjoying all the pools (gets pitch dark by 6).

With a family of 4 if you don't want to drive you may as well hire a driver as you mentioned in your first post. It will end up costing around the same as Interbus. For two people I always recommend Interbus or Loco fares, depending on area. I've used Interbus many times with great success and often times the van isn't even full. Of course if there are mudslides that will effect everyone...

MonicaRichards

I third the advice for Los Lagos with kids. They have three waterslides, six small thermal pools, one large thermal pool that has a swim up bar, and then three cold pools. Your kids will be in pool heaven, ours still talk about going back there and we were there three years ago. Reasonable rates, too, and we could see the volcano spewing rocks and steam from our front porch thing.

readytotraveltoo

Thanks everyone for the advice. I will check into Los Lagos. I was emailing Silencio back and forth and today when I told them to book, it was no longer available. The entire hotel just got book for a wedding. MIleHigh, I think I read somewhere that SkyTrek picks up for an additional fee but I will keep your advice in mind when picking other tours.
Thanks again

readytotraveltoo

I just checked tripadvisor and most of the comments about Los Lagos are negative except for the pools. Are you sure this is a good hotel?

hipvirgochick

It's a fine hotel. It's not luxury but you'd have to pay a higher price for that. The majority of the ratings are 4 star, next 5 star, then 3 star, so I guess I don't really see that as being too negative...

hipvirgochick

I was referring to the ratings on Trip Advisor if that wasn't clear. ;-)

MonicaRichards

It's a fine hotel. Maybe a bit more like a motel style on the inside of the rooms than a boutique hotel, but the amount the kids will love it, and love you for booking it, makes it worth it. Our room had a front and back door and a seating area at each so you could choose to look at the volcano or down into the valley. Here's my description of it in my trip report: http://www.markandmonica.com/Travel/...os%20Lagos.htm. Did you read the reviews, too? What are the complaints about?

MonicaRichards

Okay, I just checked Trip Advisor, it's got four out of five on the reviews, which sounds about right. Certainly not terrible!