Costa Rica Travel Forum

Hi all,

After lot of reading I'm finally there, my itinerary is pinned!!! Could you please be kind enough to post your comments & critics

Traveling from London, family of 4 (2 children 15 & 11) in CR from 01/08 to 18/08. I have only booked the 1st hotel in Osa & the last one in Arenal. We prefer to have the flexibility to either move on or take more time at some places. However I have "short listed" accommodation options along the way and mentionned the "preferred" ones.

Day 1 Arrive in SF, Sansa to Puerto Jimenez Osa Collect 4x4 at airport
Day 1 - 4 Stay at Ojo del Mar, corcovado, beach...
Day 4 -7 drive to Manuel Antonio explore the rain forest, hanging bridges, beaches..."La posada"
Day 7 Drive to Puntarenas take the ferry to Paquera drive to Curu Wildlife refuge "Curu Cabin"
Day 8 - 9 Curu and trip to Tortuga island
Day 10 Drive to playa Coyotte / San miguel. I understand the drive may be tricky and we would probably need to loop inland, we'll ask locally at the time but any comment on that part is welcomed.
Day 11-12 Playa Coyotte "Casa Calitas" or "Arca de Noe" (couldn't find a lot of reviews on the latest)
Day 13 Drive to Canas, visit Las Pumas. Again the beginning of the trip may be difficult drive. Then drive to Bijagua "La Carolina Lodge" (I'll book that one)
Day 14 Hike to Rio Celeste with a guide from la Carolina
Day 15 - 17 Drive to Arenal, "Arenal Observatory Lodge" Cloud forest, hot spring (got a better feeling about Eco Thermales, am I right), and volcanoe.
Day 18 Drive to SJ plane on the evening. We might venture the last day in SJ!!

Thanks for reading

Wow, what an ambitious trip! You will certainly see a lot of the country, far more than we saw in a month, but I am certain you will enjoy it. Just a few comments, and I am not an expert on the country by any means. I general, you may be surprised at many of the road conditions, and the length of time it takes to get relatively short distances. It took us the better part of 6 hours to drive between Osa and Manual Antonio, over some sections of the road that had huge craters and puddles that were like small lakes! Since this is your first leg of the drive, you will be getting a great initiation!
We loved the Osa Peninsula, the wildlife was plentiful, the birding spectacular, the people very friendly. It is the real jungle and feels more remote than many of the other regions we got to. Fabulous. Manual Antonio is a great location also, although more crowded. I am sure you have read that the park can have line ups, so if you plan to go into the park (you have the option of hanging out on the beach outside the park for free), try to get there in the morning as they restrict the number of admissions. The hike up to the Mirador Trail is nice and has great views (slippery in spots). The trail ends at the most stunning beach so it is a great way to spend the afternoon! We were very happy with the Canopy Safari zip line tour based in Quepos. Well organized and safe.
The drive up the coast from MA is good road, and traffic moves well, unless there are bridge closures. There are several one lane bridges (they are building new new adjacent) and often the traffic is stopped if there is a truck or piece of equipment on the single lane. The locals told us that one bridge is referred to as the 'Oh My God' bridge because that is what people say when they cross it! There is a great little local restaurant called Steve and Lisa's between Quepos and Jaco, which if the timing works, is a great stop. Home cooked fresh food, overlooking the ocean and good value. There are often scarlet maccaws, the country's largest and most colourful parrots in this area.
We also spent some time in Arenal although it was too foggy to ever see the volcano well. I am not sure if the time you have allowed will let you get to the cloud forest. I think it is pretty much a full day to get from Arenal to there as you need to drive around the lake. You may want to check that out. We did two hot springs, Tabacon and Eco Thermales. Totally different experiences. Most of us preferred Eco Thermales because it is smaller and more intimate, but Tabacon was an interesting experiences also, and your kids might get a kick out of the big pool and swim up bar etc. We thought it would feel more crowded than it did, but because it is so big, people are spread out. In short, we enjoyed them both. I would also recommend doing the zip line in Arenal, called Ecoglide. In fact, if you are only going to do one zip line in Costa Rica, make it this one. The staff is fantastic, the course is long and it has the most amazing tarzan swing as part of it...huge, scary and a blast! There were people in our group that had done one in Tortuga and they also felt this one was far superior. If your accommodations at the Arenal Lodge are not available, we really liked Loma Del Volcan-peaceful, clean, large casitas away from the highway. One of our best meals in CR was at Don Rufino restaurant in La Fortuna (pricier than most, but cheap by UK standards!)
It is a wonderful country and we truly enjoyed every minute of it. Just be cautioned that the heat and humidity can be zapping, and the driving slower than you think it will be. Given these factors, you will need to decide how hard you want to push your itinerary before it 'isn't fun ' any more, and adjust along the way. Not seeing it all (which one never can) just makes an excuse to come back again!
Hope some of this comment is helpful. Have fun.

interestpost

Many thank for your comment, I am aware of the driving time!!! actually there is a very good site to help you with the travel time here is the link in case you want to go back and enjoy pura vida again!! http://www.yourtravelmap.com/costarica/travelmap/index.php.
I know I may have to scrap Coyotte if the roads are not very bad, in that case we may spend some time in Mal Pais instead.
Kind Regards
Carine

I agree with that being a lot of driving time but it appears you are already aware of that. Just know that it may be draining driving time part of the time but if you are in for a substantial portion of your trip being a road adventure then maybe it would be ok. When i am in costa Rica it is such a laid back place that i get somewhere and just want to relax and take it all in. The good thing is it sounds like you have not set definate plans so yu could potentially change things if you change your mind. I think that is very wise with such an ambitious trip.

I like the variety of destinations you chose. I think you will be very impressed with the Osa Penninsula even though I have not made it there myself. Everyone raves about how phenomenal it is and as far as wild life and rain forest setting, there is nothing in this country that will beat it. You have both touristy places like Manuel Antonio and more obscure places like Curu and Playa Coyotte, which is great. It will give you pampered tourist amenities yet also experiences closer to the true culture. As far as the choices I think they are excellent, I just hope you don't wear yourself out.