Costa Rica 15 days - Itineary Help

Hi - My husbanda and I will be traveling to Costa Rica the last 2 weeks of August.

We'll fly home on the 16th day. It will be our first trip, so we are very excited! We

plan on renting a 4x4.

We are definitely doing at 3/4 full days in Arenal, 3 full days Manual Antonio ,and

3 full days in Domincal.

I'm torn w/ the following: 1) Pacuare 1 day rafting trip out of San Jose 2)

Monteverde 3)Peace Lodge/La Paz Waterfalls

If you had two choose 1, which would it be? If two, which which two?

A few people have highly recommedned the Pacuare rafting trip out of San Jose.

Is this the best? Or can we go on a comparable rafting trip out of Arenal? I don't

like the idea of having to spend an extra night in San Jose.

I really want to go Monteverde, but is it worth the drive since we'll be renting a

car? We've learned on our travels in order not to feel rushed, it's best to stay in

one place for at least 3 nights at a time. But I don't think we want to spend that

much time in Monteverde.

Peace Lodge/La Paz Waterfalls seems amazing. We aren't fancy people, and

stay in the accomodations in the lower mid-range. But we like to live it up for the

last couple days of our trips and thought this would be a perfect place. Is it worth

it to go here? or can we skip this?

If we do skip Peace lodge, where should we stay for our last few days? Manual

Antonio or Domincal? We would like our last part of the trip to have access to the

beach - R&R time (and hubby wants to surf). If our last stop if Dominical, can you

reccomend any nice accomodation...i.e. on the beach/ bungalows etc. How about

in MA?

I appreciate any insight you can provide!

If you really want an unforgettable experience then spend the last days at the Lapa Rios Ecolodge at the Osa Peninsula. You'll have your own villa (no air conditioning) with screens instead of windows and you'll be able to listen to the jungle as it come alive - howler monkeys, mackaws, etc, etc.

We stayed there for 4 nights and it was fabulous. They have nature guides at the lodge who will take you into the jungle (day and/or night) - the memories and pictures are priceless.

Service and food are excellent - you will learn a lot about Costa Rica and local customs from the guides and staff.

Of all the things we did in Costa Rica this still stands out as the very best. - would love to go back:-)

Yes, the Osa is certainly a nice place to visit - but it's also completely out of your

way... I'd skip it for now and visit it on another trip.

To answer your questions:

If I had to choose only one of the three activities it would be rafting on the Pacuare

and I'd be doing it from San Jose since it is the easiest departure point.

If I had to choose two activities, it would be the Pacuare and La Paz Waterfall

Gardens. I am not sure that I would spend the money to stay at Peace Lodge. If you

want to spoil yourselves, I'd probably stay at Lost Iguana in Arenal instead.

You can easily visit La Paz from San Jose - it is only about 45 minutes by car.

Frankly, I'd do this at the beginning of the trip because it provides a very nice

introduction to CR's flora and fauna.

I am not a big fan of Monteverde and find it rather overrated. I've been several times

and have never walked away feeling impressed or awed or fascinated. Arenal, on the

other had, has repeatedly been a spectacular place to visit. That said, Monteverde

plays host to the best Zip line tour I have found in Costa Rica: SkyTrek. The

company also operates a SkyTrek tour in Arenal but I found the one in Monteverde

to be better.

Whether you stay in Dominical or MA for your last few days is really just a matter of

preference. For accommodations in MA, look into Costa Verde Hotel.

My wife and I were in Costa Rica in January. We tend to try and head to less touristy locations so we did not go to Arenal, Monteverde, MA or La Paz. We spent three days in Dominical but were not impressed although we did see one of the best sunsets I've ever witnessed. It's kind of a dusty little town overrun by surfers and backpackers; i.e, not a lot of Costa Rican "culture." While hubby is surfing, there may be some good exploring with 4WD south of there according to the guidebooks or on the paved highway to the Ballena Natl Park.

We enjoyed the Osa Peninsula immensely but it is time consuming to get there by vehicle and deserves a several day stay during which time your rental vehicle will be superfluous as exploring is done by boat or foot. If they ever get the new international airport built in Palmar, the Osa may become too accessible unfortunately.

We did a Pacuare River trip and that was worth it. We stayed in Turrialba the night before and the night after which made for a much easier day than doing the entire trip from San Jose. There are lots of hotels in Turrialba and they will all set you up for rafting. Many rafting companies offer a two day trip with lodging on the river. If I was to do that again, that's what I would do.

I went for 11 days last fall with the family (boys 3 and 5). We did Arenal, Playa conchal (resort, to unwind during the last few days), and Monte Verde. I can share some on Arenal and PLaya Conchal if that would help. For now, I'll focus on trying to address your question:

Monte Verde was nice. We only did 2-3 nights there (I forget). We stayed at the Monte Verde Lodge, which was nice and fairly affordable. The food was also good, which was a bonus. We booked through Costa Rica expeditions (Michael S. Kaye and Luis Cubero were great to work with and very well informed) The onsite staff was very friendly and helpful too. CRE took care of all of our trips from the lodge too... I usually rent a car and drive on trips like this, but decided that it was a bad idea after talking with a lot of freinds from the country. I'm glad I didn't bother trying. It was easier to relax and let them a driver handle it... The roads weren't that good and had essentially no signs at all.

As far as shooting in Monte Verde, we only did one hike in the Reserve but it was worth it. I'd hire a guide if you are not a nature-buff. He pointed out a lot of things tha I never would have noticed/known on my own. We also did some trips to local animal sites (not quite a "zoo" but along those lines). If it was just my wife and me, I would have done a longer Reserve hike and maybe spent an extra day going deep into it. Coming home to the Monte Verde Lodge each night would be a nice way to relax after a day of shooting.<div></div>