Hello, I will be visiting Costa Rica in the beginning of December and staying in Manuel Antonio area – my trip is planned except for my final day. Our flight is a midnight flight and I need to be out of the resort early in the morning so I’m looking for something to do for the day where I can leave from whatever destination we choose straight to the airport and on to our late-night flight.

I’m looking for something other than beach-animal-type activities (would have done plenty of that already) and thinking about 1 of 2 options but open to any feedback. I have a 6 and 8-year-old with me so anything we do has to be OK for them to participate



Option 1 leave the resort and spend the day visiting a volcano location – thinking of POAS VOLCANO before late night flight

· Visit the park And maybe la paz waterfall

· Eat dinner somewhere

· Go to airport

Option 2 – take a tour and spend time in San Jose

· Worried about safety

· Kids wouldn’t like adult museums

· Not sure if it's still worth it

Option 3 Arenal Volcano la fortuna waterfall and Hot Springs with Lunch type tour?

THANK YOU ANYONE FOR YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS AND OR ADVICE

I like the La Paz Waterfall Gardens. Poas Volcano is okay, but it can get shrouded in fog so it's not visible. The last I heard you had to do timed tickets. I'm not sure if that's still the case.

Instead of going to the usual tourist spots, why not check out the northwest coast?

I probably wouldn't spend the time touring San Jose. In general it's not a very attractive city - just think big city with lots of traffic and congestion, lots of bars on the windows, etc. The biggest attractions are the museums which you said your kids wouldn't enjoy.

I agree, I would not go into San Jose. Also I am nervous about parking ANYWHERE in Costa Rica with luggage in the vehicle. It's easy to get lost around San Jose as there are no street numbers, and directions tend to be "turn at the tree by the green store".

I probably would store luggage at Manuel Antonio (assuming your lodging will allow that) and find a day trip around there for the morning.