hello all,
thanks to advice on this forum, we have planned our first trip to costa rica for this march. we'll spend our first night and last night in alajuela, and in between we'll be in arenal for 3 nights and a private villa in manuel antonio for 3, maybe 4 nights. i have a few questions, and would love your help!

-dilemma #1: we are currently planning to spend 3 nights in manuel antonio. we can either extend that to 4 nights or spend 1 extra night in alajuela so we can visit poas volcano. is it worth it, or should we just relax in manuel antonio?

-dilemma #2: i've heard great things about the cano negro tour in arenal, and the damas tour in manuel antonio - which one should we do?

-dilemma #3: i'm astounded by tabacon's high prices! is it worth paying for tabacon, or should we try the new springs resort & spa? fyi, we plan to do eco termales either way (just want to try something else while we're there)

thanks in advance for your help!

We enjoyed seeing Poas. If you go, make sure to get there early for the best viewing before the fog rolls in. We combined it with a day at the Doka Coffee Estate, and that was good combo. Hopefully Poas is open after the earthquake they just had, but I would check.

Cano Negro is great; that would be my pick. We've seen tons of wildlife when we've gone - howlers, capuchins, sloths, bats, birds. I don't think wildlife is as prevalent on the mangrove tour, but I haven't had a chance to do it myself.

I think Tabacon is overpriced. Eco T is great. The Springs looks pretty neat, so I might give it a try.

Poas Volcano National Park reopened last week, but some of the hiking trails are closed. Go early before the clouds roll in.

Check out some of the Cano Negro photos posted recently here. It's got my vote, for sure!

Hi there! I agree with volcanogirl that if you can do the extra night and can get to Poas very early, it might be nice to do a combo trip with the coffe tour. We went to Poas and it was totally clouded over, but we still liked the visit.

We have done both Damas and Cano Negro and I preferred Cano Negro, much more wildlife. Although the monkeys came right onto our boat in Damas...In arenal, Cano Negro may be the only wildlife you see - depending what you do, so if you have the time for a full day trip I'd pick that. You'll be in MA for a few days and Damas is only a couple hours in the morning, so you may want to do that as well.

For Tabacon, if you're talking about staying there, it is expensive compared to other hotels. We stayed there on our first visit and I was not at all impressed. The only thing it has going for it is the admission to their springs is included. If you plan to visit the springs more than once, the price is worth it. Their springs are wonderful. The hotel itself was just ok in my opinion. Breakfast isn't included and is very expensive and the rooms are fine, nothing so great. I would try the new Springs resort if you're going for a splurge! It looks great!

thanks everyone! while it sounds like most people recommend going to poas, i'm starting to wonder whether i'd rather just chill for the extra day in manuel antonio. we plan to visit the coffee plantation anyway on our last day since we'll be in alajuela, so we'd really be going 1 day earlier just for poas. oh well - i'll have to give it a little more thought and also get my family's opinions. it's just so hard to plan all the wonderful things to do with so little time!

Here's a completely different suggestion:

Stop somewhere in the Tarcoles area (Villa Caletas, Villa Lapas, Punta Leona or others) and do it like this:

Day 1: Manuel Antonio
Day 2: Manuel Antonio
Day 3: Manuel Antonio
Day 4: morning in MA, drive 1.5 hours to Tarcoles area, do afternoon crocodile boat tour (birds + GIANT crocs) and maybe some birding
Day 5: Morning tour of Carara NP, see Scarle Macaws and other wildlife, then drive to Arenal

Tarcoles is on the road from MA to Arenal, and we're stopping there to break up the long drive, and because we wanted to see the crocs, Macaws, and Carara.

Since you are going to Eco Thermales, you have the hot springs covered. You might consider Tabacon Grand Spa. . .it is excellent. You can make an appt. and go to the spa without having to pay admission to the grounds. It was one of the more "well worth my time" spa experiences I've ever had. I did check recently, however, and noticed a big jump in prices. A couple of years ago, I thought $130 was okay for a 90 min. deep tissue massage. Whatever it is now, $180 or something, is more than I would like to pay! But those gals know what they are doing, no worries there.

Have fun!