mccarty33

We'll be staying in the Arenal/La Fortuna area for the first 4 days of our trip in late May. Then, we'll be heading to Manuel Antonio. I noticed Manuel Antonio has a lot of the same activities Arenal has--hanging bridges, zip lines, etc. Aside from Manuel Antonio National Park, what other activities are a "must do" in Manuel Antonio. We plan to zip line and do the hanging bridges in Arenal and we wanted to do the beach/national park at Manuel Antonio. But, we would like to solicit your thoughts on the best activities in Manuel Antonio aside from the national park.

Thanks!

volcanogirl

We went sailing and enjoyed it. Snorkeling was a dud for us due to all the sediment in the water. Horseback riding with Finca Valmy is popular, and the Damas mangrove tour.

mccarty33

Thanks, Volcanogirl. I'm starting to think we would have been lost in planning this trip without your insightful replies.

mccarty33

Is the damas mangrove similar to cano negro, or would it be worth it to do both?

Pat_Hewitt

In the Manuel Antonio area, there is now a Jungle Tubing tour. It is offered by H2O. Lots of fun, and relatively inexpensive. The only hitch is that they need at least four people to run the tour. So as a couple, you will have to hope that someone else is going as well.

Volcanogirl (as usual) has some good advice. The mangrove tour is offered in a boat with a group, or kayaks with a guide. I don't know though. Floating in a flimsy kayak in crocodile infested waters just doesn't seem like a good idea! The small hitch with these tours, is that they operate during high tide. So you might have a 6:00 am tour, or a 1:00 pm tour. It is best to check ahead of time.

Have fun!

Hope this helps! Let me know if I can offer any more advice.

Warm Regards,
Pat Hewitt
Travel Professional

volcanogirl

Oh thanks, mccarty, glad I could help. We actually skipped the mangrove tour for that reason. We thought it would be similar to Cano Negro, but it does get good reviews. I think the Jungle Tubing tour sounds really fun as well.

MFNYC

We did the Damas Island Mangrove tour in the boat with Iguana tours. There weren't any crocs, mostly monkeys and birds. We did it in the early morning. They served a nice breakfast afterwards. It was just us and another family on the boat. We enjoyed it.

MFNYC

We also did the Valmy horseback riding tour. We loved our guide, Che. He's a very interesting man. This tour too, included a meal. We had a home cooked lunch afterwards. We'd recommend both this and the Mangrove tour.

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Villa Vanilla Spice Plantation is a spice farm in Costa Rica you should check out. They grow a variety of spices and essential oil plants, including vanilla beans (the vanilla bean looks like a long string bean), cocoa, and ceylon (true) cinnamon. It is only about 35 minutes from Quepos/Manuel Antonio. I brought home some real dried vanilla beans. They also have a guy scraping Cinnamon right off of a branch which you can taste (what passes for Cinnamon in the USA is a joke compared to this cinnamon). Check out their website. It is rainforest spices dot com.

The Rainmaker tour is pretty cool too. Walking on suspension bridges 700 feet above the ground. Google rainmaker tour for more info. You need to be in pretty good shape to make the trek. It is about one hours drive to get to the rainmaker tour from Manuel Antonio.

So, here are two tours that are off the beaten path for most tourists to Costa Rica. Fun for the kids too.

Have a great time in CR,
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