Costa Rica, 9 Days?

[Anonymous]

Can anyone help with a suggested itinerary? Or a few good suggestions. This would be a bit of a splurge trip in May for 6 people, ages 7-70 (all active but beaches are good too).

[Anonymous]

Which airport? How much driving are you willing to do?

The classic itinerary if you fly into San Jose is (in any order that works for you):

Monteverde/Santa Elena for the cloudforest. Be sure to do a nighttime guided walk. The guides will show you beautiful bird sleeping in trees, scorpions, tarantulas, etc., and you'd never be able to locate those things on your own.

Arenal for the hot springs, volcano, rafting, horseback riding, etc. Splurge on a nice hotel with its own hot springs.

Manuel Antonio for the fantastic nature and the beaches. Definitely get the guide again (only use the official national park rangers) for the walk to the national park beaches. They'll help you spot and photograph wildlife that you'd never ever see if they didn't locate it for you.

If you have more time you could hit the west coast beaches and if you're more adventurous, the Caribbean beaches.

Enjoy! We loved very minute of it.

[Anonymous]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2995978/Costa-Rica-tropical-paradise-filled-long-stretches-unspoiled-beaches-dense-jungles-exotic-wildlife-smouldering-volcanoes-pura-vida-indeed.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which airport? How much driving are you willing to do?

The classic itinerary if you fly into San Jose is (in any order that works for you):

Monteverde/Santa Elena for the cloudforest. Be sure to do a nighttime guided walk. The guides will show you beautiful bird sleeping in trees, scorpions, tarantulas, etc., and you'd never be able to locate those things on your own.

Arenal for the hot springs, volcano, rafting, horseback riding, etc. Splurge on a nice hotel with its own hot springs.

Manuel Antonio for the fantastic nature and the beaches. Definitely get the guide again (only use the official national park rangers) for the walk to the national park beaches. They'll help you spot and photograph wildlife that you'd never ever see if they didn't locate it for you.

If you have more time you could hit the west coast beaches and if you're more adventurous, the Caribbean beaches.

Enjoy! We loved very minute of it.

This is the way to see Costa Rica through Marriott's eyes. All of these areas have been destroyed. Branch out to see real beauty.

[Anonymous]

For a group aged 7-70, I think it's ok if you don't wander completely off the beaten path. There are still plenty of wonderful things to see & do. The first poster gave a good description of the main tourist areas. Just make sure that you leave plenty of time between places. The roads are often unpacked and can take forever to drive what shows on a map as a straightforward route. I've been 3x and prefer using Nature Air to go from place to place. Every hotel is capable of setting up tours, so you don't have to pre-book everything. Nature guides really do make a difference in the animals that you see and are worth it. Have fun!

[Anonymous]

To 21:28 what areas do u recommend

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which airport? How much driving are you willing to do?

The classic itinerary if you fly into San Jose is (in any order that works for you):

Monteverde/Santa Elena for the cloudforest. Be sure to do a nighttime guided walk. The guides will show you beautiful bird sleeping in trees, scorpions, tarantulas, etc., and you'd never be able to locate those things on your own.

Arenal for the hot springs, volcano, rafting, horseback riding, etc. Splurge on a nice hotel with its own hot springs.

Manuel Antonio for the fantastic nature and the beaches. Definitely get the guide again (only use the official national park rangers) for the walk to the national park beaches. They'll help you spot and photograph wildlife that you'd never ever see if they didn't locate it for you.

If you have more time you could hit the west coast beaches and if you're more adventurous, the Caribbean beaches.

Enjoy! We loved very minute of it.

This is the way to see Costa Rica through Marriott's eyes. All of these areas have been destroyed. Branch out to see real beauty.

What does this even mean. No Marriott's at any of these places. OP, don't listen to this. Your itinerary is good for any first time visitors. We like the Hotel Silencio del Campo in Arenal, which has its own hot springs and is close to town.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which airport? How much driving are you willing to do?

The classic itinerary if you fly into San Jose is (in any order that works for you):

Monteverde/Santa Elena for the cloudforest. Be sure to do a nighttime guided walk. The guides will show you beautiful bird sleeping in trees, scorpions, tarantulas, etc., and you'd never be able to locate those things on your own.

Arenal for the hot springs, volcano, rafting, horseback riding, etc. Splurge on a nice hotel with its own hot springs.

Manuel Antonio for the fantastic nature and the beaches. Definitely get the guide again (only use the official national park rangers) for the walk to the national park beaches. They'll help you spot and photograph wildlife that you'd never ever see if they didn't locate it for you.

If you have more time you could hit the west coast beaches and if you're more adventurous, the Caribbean beaches.

Enjoy! We loved very minute of it.

Do you have any specific recommendations for branching out?

This is the way to see Costa Rica through Marriott's eyes. All of these areas have been destroyed. Branch out to see real beauty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which airport? How much driving are you willing to do?

The classic itinerary if you fly into San Jose is (in any order that works for you):

Monteverde/Santa Elena for the cloudforest. Be sure to do a nighttime guided walk. The guides will show you beautiful bird sleeping in trees, scorpions, tarantulas, etc., and you'd never be able to locate those things on your own.

Arenal for the hot springs, volcano, rafting, horseback riding, etc. Splurge on a nice hotel with its own hot springs.

Manuel Antonio for the fantastic nature and the beaches. Definitely get the guide again (only use the official national park rangers) for the walk to the national park beaches. They'll help you spot and photograph wildlife that you'd never ever see if they didn't locate it for you.

If you have more time you could hit the west coast beaches and if you're more adventurous, the Caribbean beaches.

Enjoy! We loved very minute of it.

This is the way to see Costa Rica through Marriott's eyes. All of these areas have been destroyed. Branch out to see real beauty.

Do you have any specific recommendations for branching out? (Corrected my post. Sorry...)

[Anonymous]

Manuel Antonio is amazing but you could also fly into Liberia (I think there is a direct flight there now from the US) and stay in Tamarindo. We love Capitan Suizo.

[Anonymous]

has anyone been there during the green season? is it too rainy?

[Anonymous]

21:46 again. unpacked = unpaved. I've been during green season as well as high season. For green, expect at least 1 shower a day, but when you're in a rainforest, it's not that big of a deal. It does make paths muddy & slippery - so be careful with your footing. Bring something to keep your camera & electronics dry. We just packed a few extra ziplocks along with us for day hikes etc.

[Anonymous]

I'm so jealous. We went for 2 weeks several years ago in the dry season. Our itinerary was one week in Arenal and one week in Tamarindo. We flew in and out of San Jose. In Arenal there is so much to do and your kids are old enough to do all the fun stuff. After all the adventure activities in Arenal, it was nice to end at the beach and be more laid back at the end of the trip. We had a rental car and explored surrounding beaches to the north and south of Tamarindo each day. I'm happy to answer any specific questions, Costa Rica was one of my favorite trips ever!!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the great info! Is mid May a time you'd choose not to go? I'm curious to hear some of the 'adventures" people liked with family. Hotel and tour recs would be greatly appreciated. For better/worse, we're typically a Ritz/resort group, but looking to expand our horizons!

[Anonymous]

Anyone have suggestions for Jaco?

Is Uvita too remote to try to travel to during the green season?

Any experiences taking the buses?