Costa Rica Travel Forum

I am arriving in Liberia with 3 friends at the end of July. We have 1 week to do it all. What is the best way to go?

Absolutely do not miss La Fortuna where you will find the Arenal Volcano . Do the Mundo Aventura zip-line tour where the longest cable is over the La Fortuna waterfall and is a half mile long. We hiked in the morning to La Fortuna waterfall from our hotel http://www.cataratasresort.com/ and then swam in the wonderful cool water at the foot of the huge waterfall. That afternoon, we went to Baldi hot springs where they pipe in hot water from a river under the volcano to about 15 hot water pools. They have 2 pools with swim up bars, and 3 BIG waterslides. They have a hanging bridge tour and much more. Here is a website: http://www.arenal.net/arenal-volcano-tour.htm

We were there last week for the first time and will go back next week since we loved it so much.

We are in Flamingo Beach this week--it's okay, but I like my beaches better in Pensacola : )

Suerte!!

Guess what. You can't come even close to seeing it all in a week. As a matter of fact, getting around is so difficult that I would tell you to choose two destinations. Arriving in Liberia already dictates your options quite a bit because you are arriving in the north west part of the country meaning that many destinations will be entirely too far.

Arenal is a possibility to see a volcano. This destination is very popular with tourists and therefore has many activities and tourist amenities. If you like very unvisited areas then you could go to Rincon de Viejo, which is a volcano very close to Liberia. There are a few lodges near there where you can stay but you will be isolated from things to do other than natural ones that the volcano offers like, mud pits, hiking, hotsprings, etc. If you want beach you will be near the Guanacaste coast so search these beach options. Maybe Flamingo, although I have not been there myself. Nosara is a place less touristed and has the opportunity for viewing howler monkeys.

The Guanacaste region is dry not rain forest so you will not be able to see much of the wildlife associated with the country. Further south in the rain forests like the Osa Penninsula and Manuel Antonio you have this type of setting and many many animals but I am afraid it would take up a lot of your time to get there because of where you are starting out.