wildlawnc

Have 8 days in Feb. and was wanting to visit all three places. Any advice on how I can achieve this? Likely to rent car out of San Jose. Was thinking of getting down to Jaco first day after flight arrives, spend one more day there, then ready to head for MP or Dominical. My question really centers on which one I should head to first, and what's it going to be like trying to get from one to the other, then back to San Jose for flight out. Thanks.

shillmac

You're going to be doing a LOT of driving--are you sure you don't want to skep Jaco and just head to Dominical and then finish up at Malpais? If not, you can, I guess, work it in however long you can in between the other 2. You can do it either way (Malpais, Jaco, Dominical OR reverse) because it will take you about 5 hours to get to Malpais and about 5 hours to get to Dominical. So order won't matter. Me, I'd go to Dominical first, then head to Malpais, saving the best for last! Consider that you may have to spend first and last nights near the airport depending on arrival/departure times. 5 hours out is too far for driving back to the airport same day of departure! And I sure as heck wouldn't chance trying to get to either location with an afternoon arrival. Neither are particular easy drives.

Your drive to Malpais (or return from there, whichever order you decide) will be determined by ferry departure times from Puntarenas to Paquera, so be sure you double check those times as they tend to shift some now and then. Keep in mind that you are looking at (basically) 3 days of drive time. You've got three 5 hr (or more) transfers.

SJO-Dominical
Dominical to Malpais (through Jaco?)
Malpais to SJO

www.nicoyapeninsula.com

Have fun!

shillmac

Oops, I'd not "skep" Jaco, I'd skip it!

guanacaste

skip Jaco, its a dump!!
go to Dominical then Mal Pais:

http://costa.rica.typepad.com/mal_pa...ome/index.html

Samuele

You only have 8 days to travel and relax so 3 destinations will wear you out and you'll be in the car a lot.
I suggest to drive to Mal Pais first of all since 4 days is really enough even with throwing in a day trip to Montezuma. After Santa Theresa, you have a 20 minute ride to Playa Hermosa which is very beautiful to hang out for a day. Afterwards head to the Southern Pacific Zone via Quepos and take the road to Domnical. Yes, it is bumpy and so forth but only an hour and a half and then you arrive at the Costanera Sur highway which is the most beautiful stretch in all of Costa Rica. There are a lot of beautiful beaches without the building and condos like is Tamarindo. Playa Uvita is super and the area is lush and spectacular.

Just my opinion...have a great trip!

guanacaste

good call on Punta Uvita, lovely beach!