I have taken and pen and paper and redone our agenda 3 times till i think this is what i think will would work the best all around. It is for 17 night arriving in San Jose Wed. Nov. 14 at 9:45 pm and departing Sat.,Dec. 1 at 7:45 am.

day 1 arrive San Jose
days 2-3 Playa del Coco area(visiting)
days 4-6 Monteverde
days 7-9 Arenal
day 10 Open
day 11 Poas
day 12-17 BdC
day 17 San Jose
day 18 return home

We will be renting a 4x4 for the first 11 days and then fly to BdC for the last part of the trip.

I know the first stop at Coco wont give us only one full day and 2 nights but are really not sure i want to any more time there. We are just going to visit and see what the Pacific beach area is like.

We have one open day and are trying to decide if we should add it to Arenal or Poas area and maybe do the Bosque de Paz area?
How long of a drive is BdP away from Poas and is that doable?

Can anyone make a recommendation for a good hotel when arriving in San Jose and departing San Jose. Somewhere close by so that we can take a late free shuttle(11 pm) and checkin, leave our luggage when going to BdC, and possibly have our breakfast included? I know Orquideas and another one hotel have been recommended but not sure if they provide all that we are looking for.

When you go to have to get your luggage down to the 25 lb limit. How do you weight it in the middle of your trip? Or do you weight it before you leave and then hope you repack the same things back in your luggage?

Thanks again for all your help. It is greatly appreciated. I rave to all my friends about how helpful you all are..

crlover, are you planning to go to the La Paz Waterfall Gardens while you are near Poas? We just got back, and I would highly recommend it. There are 5 beautiful waterfalls you can hike to, as well as the butterfly hatchery, hummingbird garden, ranarium, serpentarium, and aviary at the Peace Lodge. The Trout Bar there is a great spot for a casual lunch.

As far as luggage goes, if you didn't want to bother with leaving luggage behind, repacking, etc. You could just opt to bring about a week's worth of clothing and send out for laundry service. Several of the hotels where we stayed had this option, and friends of ours used it at BdC and were very happy with it.

I brought 21 pounds of luggage that included 7 shirts, capris, a pair of jeans, shorts, bathing suit, etc. I was amazed at how much fit into that little weekender convertible bag.

We stayed at Grano de Oro in San Jose - excellent restaurant there, although I don't believe we had free breakfast or a shuttle. The hotel was charming with good service - cost about 100 bucks.

I think your itinerary is shaping up nicely.

For a hotel near SJO try Hotel Villa Bonita. You can leave luggage, breakfast included, about 5 min from airport (less than $5 taxi), around $55/night. Really friendly family/owners live there (it's an old large colonial home).

And, ah-hah! I see you did rearrange BDC for last. I hope the new plan works well for you. I don't think BdP is too far from Poas, less than and hour I think...

As far as luggage goes, it was all guessing, but I did re-pack before leaving to catch Sansa. Dividing up the heavier things that were all previously in the rolling suitcase, into the Weekender and picking them up together to see if they were equal. It worked!

It was hot and we did get dirty, sweaty and sandy, so I used the laundry service as well.

volcangirl, i definitely plan on seeing la paz. sounds like really good place to visit. Thanks for the recommendation. I ll keep the trout bar in mind.
as far as laundry, we are thinking that too. To have some wash as we go. Guess right now till we actually pack, it doesnt sounds like 25 lbs is hard to beat with camera, camcorder, etc.

hip, thanks for the hotel recommendation. we had actually try to book it the first time but never got an answer so went elsewhere, but with more time that shouldnt be a factor. Sounds like the place to stay. Thanks
as far changing to BdC last. Yes, that was one of my goals if the agenda also worked to, which i believe it does pretty good now. I guess we will just have to do as you and volcangirl said and more or less go with the flow. I was just a little concerned after reading one of someones story about Sansa giving someone in front of them being given a real hard time.
Thanks for the info

has anyone done Bosque del Paz, and is it really worthwhile to do or should i just add the extra day to arenal?

Thanks in advance

Hi, crlover - that was my post about Sansa giving someone a hard time. The girl had only 19 pounds of luggage, and they were completely fibbing to her about hers being the heaviest, because both of ours were heavier, and I saw several people with luggage bigger than that even. It all seemed very random. Just in case you haven't gotten the Sansa info. from them, you are allowed to bring things separate from your luggage on the plane - things like a camera, reading material, umbrella - I'll try to dig up that e-mail from them, so I can post the details for everyone. We checked our luggage and still brought camera, big purse, books and magazines on the plane itself. Good luck! Your trip sounds wonderful; you're doing everything I would want to do all over again.

Thanks volcangirl, I just printed out the different Sansa flights along with what can be carried-on board.
Yes, that incident sounded really bizarre. Dont care to see that happen..haha.
I ve been wanting to thank you for a really awesome report on your trip. I printed it out and took it out on my deck that is surrounded by woods and layed on my lounge chair and just read and absorb your trip. Really felt like i was there. Cant say i wasnt wishing i was there, cause as we both know we would have been there about the same time as you. Just hope we have half the trip that you did. Thanks again for the great report.

I was reading about Bosque de Paz and it being a private reserve. Does anyone know for sure if you must stay there? Sounds that way. And if so, is it worth $200 for a one night stay there?

If not, can anyone suggest a good place for 1 night that wouldnt be too out of the way that has good sightings of birds and animals (especially the quetzel)
Thanks again.

crlover, I'm glad my trip report helped you. I know you will have a wonderful trip.

does anyone have any information concerning Bosque de Paz or any other good birding/animal location to see as a stop off during our trip?
Thanks

Someone here recently stayed at Bosque del Paz, trying to remember who - you may want to try a search. You could always email them directly & see if you could come in for the day, sure it's possible.