AnaBelen

We have finally started planning a trip to Costa Rica, and I am overwhelmed with the number of choices. I have a couple of guide books to get started, and I am having trouble narrowing things down.

We are active, independent travelers most interested in flora and fauna. Some guided activities are fine, but we also want some time hiking (day hikes) on our own. We typically stay in mid- to higher-end hotels/lodges. From the descriptions in the books, some of the parks have a lot of visitors. I am hoping to have some time in more isolated areas with fewer people. I think we will be going the first couple of weeks in May.

So far, the following places are at the top of our list:
1. Corcorvado park in Osa peninsula - Maybe stay at Bosque del Cabo lodge? Will we be able to do independent hikes in the park from there, or would guided tours be a better idea?
2. Manuel Antonio Park - How crowded will this be? Maybe Carara would be a better choice for us?
3. Monteverde - Where to stay?
4. Arenal

Is this too many destinations for two weeks? Any suggestions on how to get from one place to another would be great. We are open to renting a car, and I am comfortable driving on rough roads.

Thanks,
Ana

sylviam

If you want to explore an area without crowds then Bosque del Cabo Lodge on the Osa peninsula is the place. There are numerous trails self-guided or with a guide on he property. We did not use a guide except for one night for fun with our nephew.

Arenal is another area that has many activities, we stayed at Lost Iguana which is remote and you need to cab it into town. You can hike the hanging bridges or the volcano.

Manuel Antonio Park is too crowded for us but it is a nice park. Get there early.

Our last trip was 10 days and we spent half the time in Arenal and half at Bosque del Cabo.

emmajm

Great that you can do higher end. Everyone will recommend something different--here's mine. Fly to Puerto Jimenez to access the Osa. Stay two or three nights at Iguana Lodge, so you can do some local excursions such as to the animal sanctuary to see animals you might miss in the wild, kayak in mangroves, and see some crocodiles. Then head to Bosque del Cabo for maybe five nights.

I would skip Manuel Antonio, and divide the rest of your time between Arenal and Monteverde. Some hikes can be guided--they spot so much better. And do a zipline, even though it's a tourist thing.

volcanogirl

We loved Bosque del Cabo. Have you checked out the video on their website? It's fantastic. We saw all four kinds of monkeys there, sloths, toucans, scarlet macaws, agoutis and even an anteater. It's definitely the most wildlife we've seen in any of our trips, and BdC is very nice, kind of upscale rustic. A lot of people don't even go to Corcovado because they see so much wildlife on the property, and their trails are in excellent shape. We did a great hike with Philip and one with Carlos for birding, but also saw plenty on our own. Some people like to do the night hike to see frogs, snakes, etc. by flashlight.

We love the Arenal area because there's tons to do there - hiking at the volcano, the waterfall, and the Hanging Bridges, ziplines, Cano Negro tour to see wildlife, Penas Blancas river float, Proyecto Asis animal rescue. For upscale, I'd go with The Springs or Nayara, but if you want to be more in the jungle go with Lost Iguana or Arenal Observatory Lodge which are both outside of town like sylvia mentioned.

We liked Fonda Vela in Monteverde. Cooler cloud forest environment there, and you can see quetzals in the reserve.

We just did a trip to Manuel Antonio and loved it. I think part of it is that we stayed at Tulemar Bungalows, and it was fantastic. They have their own beach, and we saw monkeys, sloths, and an aracari right on the property. Lots of wildlife in the park, more monkeys than we could count. They're very used to people though and don't seem "wild" like the ones on the Osa. The beach there is really beautiful.

I'm not positive, but I'm not sure you can even hike Corcovado on your own. Hopefully someone else can chime in with more details.

Lots of ways to get around - rent a car, fly on Sansa or Nature Air, take Interbus, or hire a private driver through your hotels when you reserve them. I think you could do all your spots in two weeks. I'd do about 4 days each on the Osa, Arenal, and MA and maybe 2 in Monteverde.

dakrause

Last December my girlfriend and I did Manuel Antonio, Monteverde and Arenal in ten days. We chose these destinations so that we could fly in and out of San Jose, rent a car and have each drive be no more than about 3 hours. I have a Garmin GPS and used the Cenrut maps: http://www.cenrut.org/adw/over.htm

My take on your itinerary is that since you are doing Osa, you might consider skipping Manuel Antonio(MA). MA is a curious little park, in that the main sightseeing venue is a 1.4 Km footpath "superhighway" beneath sloths and monkeys that takes you to a beach. The beach at the end of the trail is nice, and the fearless raccoons who try to raid your backpack and the monkeys that like to pull the tails of the raccoons make for an interesting time. There are secondary trails that can take you to see squirrel monkeys, but all in all I think it may be a much smaller version of what you see in Osa.

AnaBelen

Thanks for the helpful comments.

Here is what we are mulling over:

1. Arrive in San Jose around 7 pm, stay one night
2. Fly to Osa and stay in La Iguana, Lapa Rios, or Bosque del Cabo for 4 nights. I considered a guided overnight trip into Sirena ranger station but I am not sure about that. It sounds like there are very nice hikes on the grounds of both Lapa Rios and Bosque del Cabo.
3. Fly to Arenal and stay 4 nights. We are not sure about lodging there. Also, I am not sure if we should rent a car to give us a little more independence. I speak Spanish, so maybe a mix of buses and taxis would work out fine?
4. Take jeep –boat-jeep transfer to Monteverde and stay in Hidden Canopy Treehouse lodge or Fonda Vela for 3 nights. Again, I am not sure if we should have a car here. In addition to the Monteverde reserve, we would like to go to the Santa Elena reserve, bat jungle and the ecological sanctuary.
5. Shuttle to San Jose, stay one night then leave for home. We probably could do this without staying the night in San Jose, but my husband worries about the possibility of missing flights. I have found it is better to spend the last night relatively close to the airport so he is not stressed about it.

We could do the above in reverse (Monteverde>Arenal>Osa>home). Maybe it would be better as it leaves the less touristy place (Osa) for last? I have not checked out Nature Air flight times yet, so maybe that will be a deciding factor.

Any additional input you might have would be much appreciated!

volcanogirl

The Arenal area is spread out, so a lot of people do like to have a car there. If you decide not to, there are plenty of taxis. You can just have your hotel call for you. If you take a bus anywhere, keep an eye on your stuff. If you rent a car, never leave anything in it unattended since breakins aren't that uncommon. They'll appreciate your ability to speak Spanish, but most everyone you encounter will speak English. Monteverde isn't that big. You can use taxis there for more affordably than you can in the Arenal/La Fortuna area. Desafio is good for the Jeep Boat Jeep transfer. The night hike at Hidden Valley is fun. We usually do a last night close to the airport. If you want higher end, Both Grano de Oro and Xandari are nice.

AnaBelen

Now I am looking at Nature Air flight times. I was really hoping to go from Puerto Jimenez to Arenal without having to go through San Jose, but that flight (Nature Air) does not go run on THurs, the day we would want to take it. There is a flight from Drake Bay. Have any of you run into a similar issue?

volcanogirl

One heads up about in country flights. They limit the weight of your luggage, so be sure to check on their limits. It's restrictive, but doable.

tully

It's rare to find a flight that does not go thru San Jose. There just isn't enough demand to go on those longer leg flights, whereas going thru Pavas they can get 2 legs and more people.

colibri

On my first trip to the Osa, we stayed 3 nights at Iguana Lodge so we could have some beach time, visit the animal sanctuary across the gulf, then 4 nights at Bosque del Cabo. The wildlife at Bosque is just amazing and from what I have heard, you can often see more there vs. hiking into Corcovado. Iguana Lodge had lots of scarlet macaws and howler monkeys.

One thing I've heard about Lapas Rios is that you cannot hike the trails on your own, but must have a guide with you.

If you do want to go to Corcovado, I would stay somewhere closer in Carate or Drake Bay. Once I'm at Bosque I'm quite happy not to leave the grounds until I have to fly home!

AnaBelen

Thanks for the helpful posts.

We are making good progress in our planning. The itinerary is Osa for 4 nights, Arenal for 4 nights, Monteverde for 3 nights. We have a night in San Jose on each end of the trip.

So far our accomodations are Bosque del Cabo in Osa, Hidden Canopy in Monteverde, and maybe Lost Iguana in Arenal.

For our first night in San Jose, I was thinking either Casa Roland or Isla Verde. We get in late and then leave for Osa the next day so we just need a convenient place to lay our heads.

For our last night, we will stay somewhere close to San Jose before our flight out the next day. I would like to have our last night be someplace nice, so I thought perhaps Xandari.

Any recommendations for shuttle companies that provide the following transportation?
San Jose to Arenal
Arenal to Monteverde jeep/boat/jeep
Monteverde to San Jose

I am still considering getting a car while in Arenal, but I don't want to drive from San Jose to Arenal. I am fine with rough terrain, but driving in unfamiliar city traffic makes me nervous. So maybe we will take the shuttle to Arenal then pick up a car in the Arenal area for a few days.

volcanogirl

We've stayed at the Lost Iguana a few times and liked it. It's set out on the edge of town out by the lake. Good choice if you want to feel immersed in the jungle. It's a steep property, great volcano views. We loved Xandari - that's a great choice. Very pretty grounds with several small waterfalls, great views, good open air restaurant on site, and a spa (although we didn't use it). To go between cities, we usually just book private drivers through our hotels when we reserve them. Interbus is the most popular shuttle to use. Desafio's Jeep Boat Jeep is good for going between Arenal and Monteverde. They have a nice website if you want to check it out.