hello any and all -i am going to costa rica with 2 children (boy 8 girl 11) for 7 days in a week or so. am staying in a home just outside jaco and am getting car at airport. want to do some fun things. have heard to the jaco canopy tour, crocodile man tour, and las damas monkey tour are good, but don't know the numbers for these. also will go to man. ant. park and hope to hire a guide. should i just do that the day of and hope to get a deal or set it up in advance. any help, advice or suggestions are greatly appreciated. thanks

I'm sure there will be plenty of guides available, but get there early as there is a limit on how many people they let in per day. Also, the park is closed on Mondays.

Some advantages to hiring a guide in advance is that a lot of them include snacks that they bring along, pineapple & other fruits, etc. - not sure if the guides hired day of @ the park will have that or not.

derwood, I can't help you with info regarding the tours you would like to do, but with regard to hiring a guide at Manuel Antonio, you can get one right at the park entrance for $20 per person. Best time (as airwayvz mentioned) is early in the day--better wildlife then as well.

The guides will not furnish snacks on this 3-4 hour tour. But you could take your own. You'll probably want to carry in a couple of backpacks anyway so you can stay inside and enjoy the beaches--the best ones are inside the park.

Prearranged tours will cost you about $40 per person, so $20 extra bucks for some fruit and water. We've done it both ways, and are just as happy taking in a few things of our own. At least those are your options.

Enjoy! Sounds like a fun trip and your kids are sure to have a blast!

shillmac and airwayvz...thanks for your replies...will definately get there early. since this is first time, i'm a little confused. we willl enter the park in our car, right? and pay the fee. from that point we park and hike and then head back to the car to drive to a good swimming beach or restaurant within MA? we will want to catch an early dinner before heading back to jaco before it get's dark

Here's how I remember it:

You will park your car outside the park. From that point you will see a lot of guides waiting around. To enter the park you have to cross a small stream. There's no bridge, so a boatman will take you across for a small tip.

From that point you pay your entry fee to the park and you're off on your tour. The swimming beaches are within the park. You can go back to them after your tour most likely...or maybe your guide will even stop...not sure about that though. There are 3 beaches within the park, and one just outside the park.

As far as restaraunts, there are plenty along the main road back to Quepos...you'll pass them all on your way in. It gets confusing when you here the whole area refered to as "Manuel Antonio"...really it's easier just think pf that as just the park, but all the restaraunts, etc. between Quepos & the park itself refer to themselves as being located in "Manuel Antonio". Hope that makes sense, haha.

The park opens @ 8 am, and limits itself to 600 visitors per day.

Did I leave anything out, y'all?

Matter of fact, this might be a cool restaurant to take the kids to:

http://www.costaverde.com/avion01.htm

I haven't been there yet, but gonna check it out in November when I return.

El Avion is definately cool. Go there in the evenings when they have the bar inside the plane open. The food there is pretty good too!

Well said, airwayvz!

Most of the time a boatman takes you across, but sometimes you can walk because it is just a small stream at low tide. The boatman is the father of one of the guides, Elias. You might ask for Elias as he is an excellent guide, and I saw him inside the park with a group last month, or in June rather.

When we drove up to the Manuel Antonio "town" area outside the park (this is a little confusing, as you say--Manuel Antonio and Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio), we were approached and directed to a parking area. At that time, a guide was right by our car and was agressive is pushing himself on us. We hired him, but this procedure was different than we had experienced 2 years ago. More people, more competition among guides, I suppose. He wasn't the best guide we had had there (Elias was), but he was okay. Showed us plenty of wildlife, but once or twice he seemed to evaporate and we were left turning in circles wondering where the heck he had gone. Soon he would reappear and continue our tour. It was a little odd. Wilbur was his name (odd little ears)--he's not your best bet!

It might be wise to let them help you park, then tell them you are going to look around for a while before deciding on a guide. I don't know. . .just a thought. Might give you time to get your bearings!