buckminster

I am just now trying to plan our first trip to CR for the first week of March. I don't usually leave it this late so I'm having some trouble finding accomodations.

We are a couple in our mid fifties, in good shape, like hiking/wildlife but not interested in ziplining or white water rafting (at least I'm not, my husband might want to do it). We've traveled to St John quite a few times so he is used to driving on twisty potholed roads (can you tell which one of us is the daring one?).

We don't mind packing up and changing hotels every few days, but we don't like to travel more than about 3 hours to get to our next destination, and we don't like day trips that are more than 1 hour each way away from where we're staying.

We have 9 nights total. How does this sound?

1. Land at SJO about 2:30 pm-- Pick up rental car. Stay at Xandari or maybe drive to Peace Lodge (do we have time to get there before dark?)

2. Drive to La Fortuna/Arenal area and spend 3 nights at Lost Iquana

3. Lost Iguana

4. Lost Iguana

5. Drive to Manuel Antonio. I wanted to stay at Tulemar Villas but all the one-bedroom units seem to be booked up. Is there more than one website you can book with them? Also, I'm concerned about drive time to MA. I read it takes about 3 hours from SJO area. Since we would be coming from Arenal, which is 3 hours from SJO in the other direction, does that mean it will take 6 hours? That is more driving than we want, since we are not good at hitting the road early it would use up the whole day.

6. MA

7. MA

8. MA

9. Drive back to Xandari, would be nice to return car first since we have a 7:00 am departure from SJO on day 10.

10. Leave early morning

We definitely want to go to the Arenal area but are flexible about the MA part. We would like to see the coast, since we're from the Midwest and like to spend time by the ocean when we can. But maybe there is a closer spot for our beach time?

Also, although the Peace Lodge is available, they quoted me $410/night. We can afford that for one night, but not sure if it's worth it. Worried it will be kind of Disney like, and hate being around large crowds of tour groups. I don't care for zoos although the waterfalls sound nice to hike to. If we stay at Xandari, how far is that from La Paz Waterfalls?

And finally, regarding the headline of my post, I just read on Trip Advisor that the Arenal volcano hasn't been active in two years, which surprised me. I'm sure the area will be beautiful and I know you can't always see it anyway, but I was hoping for some smoke/lava shows and it sounds like that may not be the case.

volcanogirl

No, it hasn't had any active lava for about two years. You can still see the big conical volcano when the weather cooperate but no nighttime lava show. The Lost Iguana had great lava views when it was more active. We love Xandari; that's a beautiful place to stay with wonderful views. The Peace Lodge is about an hour from SJO so you could get there before dark depending on how long immigration, getting the rental car, etc. takes, but you wouldn't have much time to enjoy it. The waterfall hike there is fantastic, really beautiful. It took us about 5 hours to go between the Arenal area and Manuel Antonio; that included a stop at the Rio Tarcoles bridge to see the huge crocs down below. If you like hiking and wildlife, the Arenal area has some nice hikes at the waterfall, volcano, and the Hanging Bridges. You can see wildlife on the Cano Negro tour, the Penas Blancas river float, and sometimes at the Hanging Bridges or out by the lake. The Proyecto Asis animal rescue center is nice if you want to get up close.

buckminster

Thanks--is there another spot you would recommend for beaches that is closer? Maybe in the Guanacaste region? Or we could go to the coast first, then head over to Arenal for the second half. We could even stop at Peace Lodge for one night in the middle to break up the drive, although it looks like it is not really on the way? Looking at the map, it looks like you have to go back towards the airport when leaving Peace Lodge? About how long would it take to drive from Peace Lodge to Arenal?

If we went to Peace Lodge the first night, we could hike the waterfalls in the morning before driving to Lost Iguana, but even that sounds like it might be trying to cram in too much.

volcanogirl

The Peace Lodge to Arenal took us about 2 hours and 15 minutes on a recent trip. They just put in a brand new road to replace the one damaged by the earthquake. You definitely could hike the waterfalls in the morning. We've done that a few times, and it's nice to get there before it opens up to the public. We've had the entire place to ourselves, and that's pretty amazing. I think Manuel Antonio is a fine choice for a beach - pretty, easy access to wildlife, lots of hotel and restaurant choices.

buckminster

If I were to rearrange my itinerary and go to Manuel Antonio first (after spending first night at Xandari), do you think Peace lodge would be a good place to stop for one night to break up the drive from MA to Arenal? Then we would have: 1 night xandari, 4 nights MA, 1 night Peace lodge, 2 nights Lost Iguana, last night Xandari.

Birdie

If you end up at Manuel Antonio, contact Tulemar and ask about availability. There are a couple of rental companies in the complex and Tulemar will refer to others if they don't have availability. That seems to me the way it works, anyway. You will still get the same great concierge service.

volcanogirl

I like the Peace Lodge, but for me two nights in the Arenal area isn't enough so I would personally drive straight through and stay that night in the Arenal area.

buckminster

Thanks all, I have booked all the accommodations and it worked out like this:

Nights 1 & 2: Xandari (we will probably take a day trip to Poas/La Paz from there on day 2).

Nights 3, 4, 5: Buena Vista Villas at Tulemar in Manuel Antonio

Nights 6, 7, 8: Lost Iguana by Arenal

Last Night: back at Xandari before our 7 am departure on day 10

It seems most people do the reverse, going from Arenal to Manual Antonio, but I was unable to get the lodging we wanted in MA unless I did it this way.

I am having a hard time finding driving directions from Manuel Antonio to La Fortuna--does anyone know a good link? Everything I see is from the airport to MA or from La fortuna, which I guess I could just reverse but it seems no one goes the other way?

Haven't done much research on car rental so any tips on that are also appreciated. I think I read that some agencies will drop the car off at Xandari which is what we would like to do so we don't have to pick up the car until day 2 or 3.

volcanogirl

Regarding Xandari, when we stayed there, they offered a free one way shuttle to or from the airport, not sure if they still do, but it's worth checking on. Your trip looks great. We don't rent a car, but I'd recommend getting one with GPS if you can.

xelas

Here is a website with realistic driving times. www.yourtravelmap.com . Click on the map and enter your start and end locations.

buckminster

thanks xelas, that is a great link-very helpful!