Hello fellow travelers,



My wife and I are planning our anniversary trip and decided to visit Costa Rica. We have a total of 10 days from Early to Mid June of 2025 and would like to see as much as possible



As much as I would love to see the entire country, I understand that 10 days is just not enough, because there are so many interesting places in such a small country. I have spent the last few days watching YouTube videos about the best places in the country and have made a list of interesting places grouped according to regions



We are from Los Angeles, We have plenty of dry weather and beaches in LA. That’s why we may not visit the Guanacaste peninsula in the north west because I understand it’s a dryer region known more for beaches, surfing etc, even though it does have other attractions



We would like at least a couple of days of beach time relaxation but from what I understand the other regions, notably the southern pacific coast has plenty of beautiful beaches as well, for example Manuel Antonio state park and a few others (please recommend)



We are more interested in seeing things that Costa Rica is known for. For example, rainforests, cloud forests, exotic wildlife, private guided wildlife tour, adventuring and activities such as horseback riding, zip lining, snorkeling, ATVs, catamaran sunset and/or dinner boat tour, maybe even fishing, and anything else you can suggest



We will be landing at the Capitol city San Jose in early June. From there, we’re considering doing the following, but I’m very open to suggestions and changes. I also need to figure out how many days to spend in each region to balance out the 10 days and see as much as possible without spending too much or too little time in each region. We also don’t want to be rushing too much as we do want to enjoy our trip, rather than scrambling all the time. I’m thinking 3 to 4 regions will be the maximum we can visit in 10 days, spending 2 to 3 days in each region staying at a different hotel/base for each region



We land early in the morning at San Jose, YouTube videos recommended not spending too much time in the city, although I wouldn’t mind checking out the central market and trying out a few local foods before we get our rental car and hit the road. Our return flight to Los Angeles 10 days later leaves at midnight so we can also enjoy the city on our last day when we return to the capital



Day 1, 2 and 3: spend a couple morning hours exploring the city, then get the rental car and drive to La Fortuna / Arenal volcano area where we can stay maybe 3 days and do the following activities



Arenal & LA Fortuna areas

Arenal Volcano national park

Canopy tour & mistico hanging bridges

La fortuna waterfall

Tabacon hot spring resort with River

Ecotermales hot springs

Free River hot springs off road side

Salto rope swing

White water rafting

Rio Celeste

Arbol de La paz June 1989 (largest tree)



Days 4 and 5: drive from La fortuna to Monteverde cloud forest area where we can spend a couple of days doing the following activities



Monteverde cloud forest areas

Monteverde $25

or

Santa Elena $18 (denser forest, less crowded)

Take a guide if you want to see more animals

You’ll see more animals with night tour

Zip line tour 100% aventura

Catarata del Toro waterfall







Days 6 ,7,8,9 and 10

Drive to the pacific coast and spend the rest of our trip visiting/doing the following places/activities until the day of our flight, and then driving back to the Capitol San Jose for our midnight flight to Los Angeles. I feel like we will be stretched out the dentist on the last five days traveling south down the pacific coast because there is so much to do and everything I listed is not at the same place so I will probably need to choose the best ones and or choose them based off location. Also some of them for example Osa peninsula/corcovado national park may require multiple days…



The coast / Manuel Antonio / Southern regions



Isla tortuga north of Jaco, gulf of Nicoya

Tarcoles River bridge crocodile viewpoint north of Jaco

Playa herradura next to Jaco

Jaco

Playa Hermosa near Jaco, not for swimming

Quepos / Manuel Antonio national park

La Playita small secluded beach in MA

La Selva trail in MA less crowded

Playa Biesanz (snorkel and swim)

Playa Espadilla

Alturas wildlife sanctuary in Dominical

Nauyaca waterfall

Playa Hermosa south near Uvita swim low tide

Uvita (whale tail sand bar beach and park)

Catamaran cruise & snorkeling

Cano island

Ojochal town as base for Corcovado

Osa peninsula (south) most bio diverse area

Corcovado national park, golfo dulce



The activities I have listed above are what I have found so far for the three regions I listed. We would also love to visit the Caribbean coast and a couple of other regions but realistically, I don’t know if we will have enough time, I would like to also see if not on this trip then I will visit them the next trip,





San Jose

Centro market

Irazu volcano

La paz wildlife refuge

Catarata vuelta del canon



Caribbean

Punta Uva beach

Puerto viejo

Cahuita national park



Guanacaste / Tamarindo

Playa conchal

Playa Manzanillo

Playa Samara (turtles)

Rio Negro hot springs

Isla tortuga gulf of Nicoya





Other questions



Any recommendations for a rental car? I was told to get some thing with all wheel drive or 4 x 4, because the roads in Costa Rica are known to be rough, especially when it rains. I found a company recommended by a YouTuber called “car_rentals_costa_rica_and_USA” on Instagram and WhatsApp, the owners name is Jairo. Apparently Costa Rica is known for adding on insurance, taxes and fees when you show up. after calling you a lower price online, but Jairos rates are no surprises it includes the listed charges and he works with Alamo. I was quoted about $55 per day for a small/mid SUV (Suzuki Vitata) automatic 4x4 with basic insurance coverage. (Full coverage costs more) it was also recommended to use WAZE app to navigate instead of google maps, please advise





Please see attached screenshots of the route We are considering taking and the rental car





Also we are open to stopping at any interesting places while driving at any point in the country. I took a look at the route and noticed a few places so far that may be worth stopping on the way to our destinations, including these





Catarata Del Toro (waterfall) on the way to La Fortuna



Tarcoles crodocile viewing bridge on the way to Jaco





Any advice on where to stay? What type of hotel is the best option or maybe AirBnB? We will be eating mostly at restraints I’m assuming, and maybe snacks and to go food while traveling or while in nature. We don’t need all inclusive hotels that would be a waste of money I think



Please excuse the very long post, I know it’s a lot so thank you for taking the time to read it, we are hoping to get some solid advice on how to make this the best trip possible because this may be a once in a lifetime trip and we don’t want to have any regrets on how we planned and executed our trip. We are very very grateful to the good people here who take the time to help us. We’re looking forward to your responses. Thank you very much.



Alen

Since my last post I’ve created an itinerary using the locations and activities I previously listed, please let me know what you think, I’m open to suggestions / changes and again thank you very much for your helpThe Plan



Day 1 - Land in San Jose 5:30am, leave airport by 8am or sooner, explore the city for a couple of hours, explore central market try a few foods then start driving to La Fortuna, arrive at La fortuna between 12:00 and 13:00. Check in hotel and unpack by 14:00. 4 hours Sunlight left in the day, can do Salto rope swing and any hot springs, or Arenal horseback riding, or Mistico hanging bridge canopy tour. End day enjoying evening activities



Day 2 Do a full day guided tour or self guided multiple tours. Option A: all day guided tour of La fortuna waterfall, Arenal volcano hiking, indigenous village and hotel hot springs. Option B: do the same or other activities ourselves without a guided group tour. End day enjoying evening activities



Day 3 River rafting, Rio Celeste trail and Arbor La Paz (largest tree in CR), hot springs, horseback riding, hanging bridges tour, salto rope swing. End day enjoying evening activities



Day 4 Check out of La fortuna and drive to Monteverde, check in hotel, 100% Aventura zipline tour, chocolate tour, hanging bridges, night time wildlife tour. End day enjoying evening activities



Day 5 Santa Elena cloud forest guided tour, 100% Aventura zip line tour, chocolate tour, hanging bridges, night time wildlife tour. End day enjoying evening activities



Day 6 Check out of Monteverde, start driving towards the pacific coast. Optional: Take a boat ride from Jaco area to isla tortuga for snorkeling and beach fun (may skip this as not enough time) . Drive to Jaco, stopping at Tarcoles bridge to view Crocodiles. Then stop at Herradura beach for swimming and beach fun. Then stop at Jaco for lunch and explore the town. Then head to Manuel Antonio and check in hotel. Check in should be around 15:00 with only a few hours left in the day, can do one of the following: La Playita small secluded beach in MA, La Selva trail in MA less crowded, Playa Biesanz (snorkel and swim), Playa Espadilla (swim OK with caution) End day enjoying evening activities



Day 7 Explore Manuel Antonio park well known areas and also do the following if enough time: Kayaking, fishing, La Playita small secluded beach in MA, La Selva trail in MA less crowded, Playa Biesanz (snorkel and swim), Playa Espadilla (swim OK with caution)



Day 8 Check out of Manuel Antonio, head South and visit some of the following places en route to Drake Bay: Alturas wildlife sanctuary in Dominical, Nauyaca waterfall, Playa Hermosa south near Uvita (swim low tide), Uvita whale tail sand bar beach and park, Uvita waterfall natural water slide into pond. Arrive at Sierpe before 3:30pm, park car, take 3:30pm boat from Sierpe to Drakes Bay arriving 5:00pm. Check in hotel. End day enjoying evening activities



Day 9 Get on 7:30am boat tour to Cano island for snorkeling, 5 hour tour should be back at drakes bay by 1:00pm. Maybe do some daytime beach activities then try “Nativos Corcovado Night Hike in DrakeBay”



Day 10 - Check out of Drakes Bay Hotel, get on 6:00am boat to Corcovado national park. Walk & tour to wildlife station. Check in at Sirena overnight ranger station, drop off bags. Enjoy afternoon wildlife tours. Lights out 8:00pm



Day 11 Do a morning and afternoon wildlife tour then leave the park at 1:00pm via boat, arriving at Drakes Bay at 2:30. Then Take 2:30 boat from Drakes Bay to Sierpe arriving at 4:00pm. Get in the rental car and drive to San Jose, arriving around 8:00pm. Return rental car and go to airport by 10:30pm in time for 12:50am (June 18) flight

You state you're going to "end day enjoying evening activities". In my opinion, you're going to end your days flopping into bed, too tired from an overly busy daily schedule to enjoy any evening activities other than sleeping. You're doing the newby thing, trying to cram too much into too little time, not taking any time to relax and smell the roses. Relax a lot, see many fewer sights, and enjoy your vacation, rather than trying to do so many things There will be another time to complete that schedule, provided you liked what you saw the first time around. Next time, you'll be a more seasoned traveler, and better able to pick your best activities. And enjoy some evening activities.

Hi Pelon,

thanks for your response. You have a good point and I agree. The activities I listed for each day are just options / ideas. I understand it’s unrealistic to think I’ll get all of them done. I’ll go home satisfied as long as I wake up early every day, and knock one or two things off the daily bucket list while also taking time to relax and enjoy the trip. I also counted the days where we will be very active and the days where we will be doing more relaxing things and it seems balanced. I’ve been to CR once before with my parents in 2017. All inclusive hotel. I didn’t even leave the hotel, regretfully. I vowed to return and this time see as much as I can. I want this trio to be 60% adventure 40% relaxing or something like that

one thing I decided to change, I’m going to do the itinerary in reverse. When we land in Costa Rica we’re going to drive straight to OSA pensinsila then work our way up the coast, Monteverde and finally La fortuna. That way we’re not scrambling to make our flight on the last day by taking a chance of missing a boat from Drakes Bay to Sierpe plus the 6 hour drive from Sierpe to San Jose. Instead, our last day we’ll wake up in La Fortuna , spend half the day there, and end up in San Jose in the evening, enjoy the city for a few hours and head to the airport

The activities I listed for each day are just options / ideas. I understand it’s unrealistic to think I’ll get all of them done and I’ll be exhausted trying. I’ll go home satisfied as long as I wake up early every day, and knock one or two things off the daily bucket list while also taking time to relax and enjoy the trip. I counted the days when we will be very active and the days where we will be doing more relaxing things and it seems balanced. I’m considering transfer days where we’ll be driving for hours and won’t have a full day to do activities as “relax” days too, since there probably won’t be too much physical activity on those days

I’ve been to CR once before with my parents in 2017. All inclusive hotel. I didn’t even leave the hotel, regretfully. I vowed to return and this time see as much as I can. I want this trio to be 60% adventure 40% relaxing or something like that. Will be with my wife this time.

one thing I decided to change, I’m going to do the itinerary in reverse. When we land in Costa Rica we’re going to drive straight to OSA pensinsila then work our way up the coast, Monteverde and finally La fortuna. That way we’re not scrambling to make our flight on the last day and also not taking a chance of missing a boat from Drakes Bay to Sierpe plus the 5 to 6 hour drive from Sierpe to San Jose. Instead, our last day we’ll wake up in La Fortuna , spend half the day there, and end up in San Jose around sunset 6pm, enjoy the city for a few hours and head to the airport

im also thinking this will be better because the further south you go the rainier it’s supposed to be and the later in June the deeper into rainy season, so if I start from the south at the beginning in early June, then head north, I might experience less rain? What do you think?

Basically the plan is (open to changes / suggestions ) we added an extra day so total 11 days instead of 10, not counting the flight time

We will skip San Jose. We will sleep on our 6 hour direct flight from Los Angeles so we should arrive somewhat rested. we take off at 11pm and land early morning 5:30am

day 1 drive straight to OSA / Sierpe then either take the 4pm boat to Drakes Bay or drive from Sierpe to DB. with our small or mid size 4x4 rental, maybe do a night wildlife tour that evening, then sleep

day 2 wake up early do the Cano island snorkeling tour, returning to DB around 2pm

day 3 wake up early take the overnight tour to Corcovado national park for hiking wildlife exploration and sleep at the Sirena ranger station

day 4 finish our tour in Corcovado and return to DB around 2pm then drive or take the boat to Sierpe and head up the coast towards Manuel Antonio park , check in at a hotel near or in the park. I’m assuming it’ll be around 5pm when I arrive at Manuel Antonio so wont be able to do much else that day?

I read that the road from Sierpe to Drakes bay has been improved , regular cars can drive it as long as the weather isn’t too rainy because if so it gets muddy? I plan on renting a small or mid 4x4 maybe Suzuki Vitara SUV or Toyota SUV. I’m concerned when we get to Sierpe on day 1, if the weather is dry and I make it to drakes bay via car, what if later it rains and gets muddy and the car gets stuck in DB when I need to drive back to Sierpe. What do you think?

day 5 do a full day tour of Manuel Antonio park and maybe spend some time relaxing at the beach after hiking in the park

Day 6 maybe enjoy some local beaches in Manuel Antonio area I listed a few interesting places in the area, I would also like to visit Naucaya waterfalls, maybe some other activities like ATV or horseback riding, or I can do horseback riding in Arenal/LF instead of in MA. Maybe check out Alturas wildlife sanctuary if we can get close to animals. We want to leave Manuel Antonio area not long after noon time so we can make it to Monteverde while there is still light out, I understand it’s a 3+ hour drive. I would also like to see anything interesting on the way to MV, for example Tarcoles bridge crocodiles viewpoint. Arrive in Monteverde before dark and check in hotel. Maybe can end the day with a nighttime wildlife tour or just relax

day 7 considering hiking the Santa Elena cloud forest instead of the Monteverde cloud forest, I heard it’s denser forest with less crowds, maybe even do it with a guide so we can see more things. After that I would love to do the 100% Aventura zip lining I heard it’s the longest in Latin America. Maybe end the day with a night time wildlife tour or something else


day 8 check out of Monteverde and head towards La Fortuna or do another activity in Monteverde then go to La fortuna and find something to do like Salto swing or check out Rio Celeste and the biggest tree in CR (Arbor La Paz) or do afternoon horseback riding near volcano

day 9 do the full day tour which takes us to La Fortuna waterfall, Arenal volcano hike, indigenous village experience, and hot springs resort

day 10 spend at least half the day relaxing at a nice hot spring resort like Tabacon, that is if we enjoyed yesterdays hot spring experience. Another option is to do the level 2/3 white water rafting experience it takes you down several kilometers down the river, sounds fun.

Day 11 checking out of La Fortuna , spending half the day in La fortuna area before heading to San Jose arriving sometime before sunset , spending a few hours in the city before flying home at our 1:00 AM flight

im also considering visiting the hanging bridges either in Arenal or Monteverde, if I have time. Is there one you recommend more than the other?

if I decide not to visit Monteverde because it’s similar to Arenal and is redundant, or if I decide to still visit MV but spend 1 less day in La Fortuna, where should I spend the extra day that I will have? Maybe spend that extra day in Manuel Antonio? That would mean spending 3 nights in MA instead of the proposed 2. Maybe I could drive to Rio Celeste if it’s worth it? Unfortunately I heard you can’t swim there but there is a free swimmable part just outside the park. The largest tree is also there. What would you recommend?

there are also some beautiful places like Isla Tortuga which is across the bay from Jaco in Guanacaste. Maybe that could be a good substitute but it could be redundant since I already have snorkeling plans at Cano island near OSA peninsula


below is is a list of places and activities I found interesting based on my research. I tried to mention all these places in my daily itinerary but nothing is set in stone. I’m open to suggestions on which ones to skip and also any new ideas. Thanks for taking the time to read all this and give me your advice and opinions. I appreciate you
Arenal / LA Fortuna area

Arenal Volcano national park

Canopy tour & mistico hanging bridges

Horse back riding

La fortuna waterfall

Tabacon hot spring resort with River

Ecotermales hot springs

Salto rope swing

White water rafting

Rio Celeste

Arbol de La paz June 1989





Monteverde cloud forest areas

Monteverde $25

Santa Elena $18 (denser forest, less crowded)

Take a guide if you want to see more animals

Selvatura Park / Treetopia Park hanging bridges

You’ll see more animals with night tour

Zip line tour 100% aventura

Sky adventures Monteverde





The coast / Manuel Antonio / Southern regions

Isla tortuga north of Jaco, gulf of Nicoya

Tarcoles River bridge crocodile viewpoint north of Jaco

Playa herradura next to Jaco for swimming

Jaco

Playa Hermosa (near Jaco, not for swimming,

Quepos / Manuel Antonio national park

La Playita small secluded beach in MA

La Selva trail in MA less crowded

Playa Biesanz (snorkel and swim)

Playa Espadilla (swim OK with caution)

Alturas wildlife sanctuary in Dominical

Nauyaca waterfall

Playa Hermosa south near Uvita swim low tide

Uvita (whale tail sand bar beach and park)

Uvita waterfall (natural slide into pond)

Drakes Bay

Cano island

Ojochal town as base for Corcovado

Osa peninsula (south) most bio diverse area

Corcovado national park, golfo dulce

We love the Arenal area. I think you have way too many things planned. Keep in mind that rafting and things like the Rio Celeste trip are usually all day activities. Save the natural hot springs for the evening when there's usually not much else to do.

You don't need to do a tour to the La Fortuna waterfall. It's basically just taking a bunch of steps down to the base and back up again. Most people do that on their own. It's pretty. Curious about the indigenous village. At one point La Fortuna had a Burger King; it's not an isolated area full of indigenous people. We like the Mistico Hanging Bridges for a nice hike. Rio Celeste is beautiful, but it takes a while to get there and back. We did this as an all day activity, same with white water rafting. Another all day tour we enjoyed was the Cano Negro tour - a boat tour where we saw monkeys, sloths, caimans, bats, lots of water birds, etc. In town, there's a family that owns the Bogarin Trail. We did a guided hike there, more like a stroll, and saw sloths and some nice birds. You have to do the guided tour, or you'll just walk right by the wildlife without seeing it. Sky Trek is good for ziplining; we had to book ahead and reserve a specific time slot. For natural hot springs, we like Tabacon for fancy and Eco Termales for smaller, charming, and locally owned. I probably wouldn't bother with horseback riding unless you have a strong affinity for it. Desafio is a good local company for tours if you need one.

In Monteverde, we did our ziplining with The Original Canopy Tour. Sky Trek is also popular. We did a night hike at Hidden Valley that was fun. Night hikes are iffy; sometimes all you see are snakes, frogs, insects, and things like that. Take a jacket or sweatshirt in case it's chilly. Our hotel had the fireplace going when we were there, and a lot of people were in shorts not expecting cooler temperatures. Monteverde is most famous for its beautiful quetzals. We did a guided tour of the Reserve, and our guide found one for us before we even left the parking lot. No one else seemed to have noticed it.

We like Manuel Antonio; we've been a few times and stayed at Tulemar Bungalows. We saw sloths and monkeys right at our hotel, and they have their own beach. We did a guided tour of the park and the Damas mangrove tour with Manuel Antonio Expeditions; they were excellent. We saw a ton of wildlife in the national park, and the beach inside the park is pretty. Lots of good open air restaurants around the hotel. We also went sailing and did a snorkel tour. Water had a lot of sediment in it, so the visibility wasn't great.

Are you sure you want to drive to the Osa? Most people fly down on Sansa airlines. It's much quicker. Our hotel picked us up and just in the short drive there were cattle in the road, a tree across the road, and we had to drive over a short river. We were glad we didn't drive it. We stayed at Bosque del Cabo which was amazing. It's expensive though.

We've enjoyed stopping at the Rio Tarcoles bridge to see the crocs. It's on a busy road so you have to be careful walking out along the bridge. Don't leave anything in your car unattended since break-ins can happen. There was a good place to get tropical smoothies in the parking area when we were there. Usually see about 10 or 15 big crocs down below.

Jaco has a reputation as kind of a party town. It's where guys go for their bachelor parties. Might be okay to skip this since you look like you'll be short on time.

good point maybe we’ll cross off spending an entire day or even half day for hot springs and instead do that in the evenings, like you said. We’ll use the hot spring day to do rafting or Rio Celeste. I have been considering if it is worth devoting an entire day to Rio Celeste because it is an hour and a half to 2 Hour to get there from La fortuna and another two hours back, considering we are going to be seeing other rivers/waterfalls, but this turquoise blue water looks special and beautiful and just now I found a tubing tour which sounds like a lot of fun. What do you think? Is anything else you recommend doing while up there? It won’t let me post a link but if you google ONCA tours Rio Celeste Tubing on trip advisor, it has good reviews

thanks for pointing out we don’t need a tour for LF waterfall. I’m considering the pros and cons of doing the tour vs self guided tour of LF waterfall and Arenal volcano. Maybe the pros taking the guided tour is they give you information and facts you otherwise wouldn’t know and they point out wildlife along the way, and also take you to spots that you wouldn’t find on your own. Cons of tour is wasting time in a Van picking up to 12 people from their hotels. The pros of going ourselves is we won’t feel rushed or slowed down and move at our own pace at the waterfall and during the volcano hike but we could miss out on hidden gems, better areas, information and wildlife. The tour costs $99. I googled LF waterfall entrance fee says $20 and $15 for arenal volcano entrance. I don’t know which Hot Springs they take us to but that cost anywhere from $30-$50 depending on which one they will take us to, I doubt they will take us to Tabacon or another high-end resort but I read the springs they take us to are very hot and the tour has only good reviews

We are considering doing at least 2 rounds of hot springs, one at a paid resort , most likely Tabacon,and one at a free road side river just to experience it

I added Bogarin trail to my list maybe we’ll squeeze it in since it’s less than 3 hours time needed

my wife loves horseback riding so we would like to do a short ride if we have the time, we also enjoy ATV riding so a short ride would be fun as well. Turns out Aventura doesn’t offer those services so we’ll look elsewhere, maybe with Desafio

I googled Sky Trek and found Sky Adventures. I guess I have to choose between sky adventures in La Fortuna , 100% aVentura in Monteverde or Selvaturs in Monteverde they both offer canopy, Tours and zip lining, I did a little bit of research and seems like 100% of Ventura is more focused on zip lining and adrenaline, they have the longest single zip line in Latin America and they also have the largest Tarzan swing. considering that we are already doing nature/wildlife focused activities in Corcovado, Cano, Manuel and other areas , I am not discouraged, knowing that 100% Aventura focuses mainly on zip lining when compared to Selvatura, which also has some focus on nature and wildlife.

I read that Slvatura beats 100% percent Aventura with it scenery and better views though. How does Sky Adventures compare to these two? I also read that the cloud forest in Monteverde is nicer than the rainforest in La fortuna, but the Mistico hanging bridges are also in LF. Do you think we should use any of our time to see the mystical hanging bridges if we are already going to be up in the canopy zip lining?

just saw this message and I will research the original canopy Tour. I could not find Sky Trek, when I searched it I found sky adventure, but that is in La Fortuna

we definitely want to do a night hike, I’ll look into the hidden valley hike, I looked it up and seems pretty popular. That would be fun with a very small group or a private guide

Sailing sounds great. I’d also love to go fishing if we have the time but I think our itinerary is already full. I read about a beach called Breisanz Manuel Antonio which is supposed to be good for snorkeling, is that where you snorkeled? We plan on snorkeling at Cano island , in the pictures people post, the water looks pretty clear, but then again, we are going in the beginning of the rainy season, which could stir up the water

you are right the roads could be treacherous and also we are losing 4 to 6 hours driving from San Jose to Sierpe, but we need a rental car for everything we planned for the 11 days and I think we need to pick it up in San Jose, I’m not sure if we can pick up a rental car in Sierpe or Manuel Antonio or have the rental car delivered to Sierpe or Manuel Antonio, if yes, we could fly from San Jose to Sierpe, and then get the rental car after our three nights in DrakeBay since we won’t need the car while we’re there. That would be ideal

I’ll check out the hotels you mentioned as well, thank you

I’ve also heard from others about break ins, we will do our best to keep valuables, cash, cards and passports on our persons instead of leaving them in the car while we are at Tarcoles and while between hotel transfers/check ins. We hope they have good safes at the hotels we choose. We’ll also try to park the car at the safest spots we can when between hotel transfers/check ins while we are sight seeing . Tropical smoothie sound amazing we are looking forward to eating fresh, tropical fruit like pineapples, passionfruit, mango’s, coconuts, etc..

We went to Beisanz beach while we were in MA, and it was almost fully under water when we went due to high tides. We had stayed at a place called Mango Moon on our first trip and hiked down from our hotel. Our hotel told us we should have checked the tide charts before going. That's something that never occurred to us. Personally I wouldn't bother with snorkeling in MA.

Sky Trek is in both the Arenal area and Monteverde. They're unique in that they offer a tram ride up whereas most other tours require a lot of climbing. They have some of the longest, highest, fastest ziplines in the country. You don't see much on a zipline tour; it's more about the adventure of being up high and going fast. The hanging bridges is just basically a nice hike through the rain forest. We had a ton of rain while we were in Monteverde, and it was cold. We only went there once, and I didn't have a huge desire to go back. It's biggest draw is for birding. We've been to the Arenal area several times and really enjoyed it. Rainy season is generally Mayish through Novemberish, but really it can rain any time of year.

Can you please send me Sky Trek’s information? Website will suffice, thank you. I’d like to research them

have you been to any other zip line besides Sky Trek? So far I’ve researched 100% Aventura the most, they have 10 zip lines which get crazier towards the end, the last 2 are the longest at 2,000 feet and 5,000 feet long (Latin America’s longest) and are both “Superman style” meaning you hang from your back facing down, unlike the standard seated hanging style. The last activity on that tour is the 150 foot tall tarzan swing

There is also Selvatura which isnt as exciting from what I’ve read but it has better scenery and has more focus towards nature/wildlife

both of these are in Monteverde

i found one called Sky Adventures in Arenal/LF, it offers a tram ride up as well. I’m getting the feeling that Sky Trek changed its name to Sky Adventures? Not sure

do you think I should devote any time to hanging bridges? If yes, which company/location? Some people say Monteverde forest/canopy is nicer . This one is hard to choose because there seem to be so many zip line and/or canopy tour companies in Arenal and especially in Monteverde

Aventura
treetopia
the original canopy tour
sky trek
sky adventures
selvatura
mistico hanging bridges
extremo park

I believe Sky Adventures is the name of the whole park, and Sky Trek is the name of the zipline.

We loved Rio Celeste, but keep in mind if it's been raining the pretty blue water doesn't show up, and it will just look brown and muddy. I'd only go if the weather has been good. It was gorgeous when we were there.