This board helped me make the decision to go to Costa Rica instead of Hawaii for an upcoming 8-9 night vacation in late May to early June.

Now I'm hoping for a little more input to help nail down some particulars. We are a family of four with two older teen boys. We like to be active and eat well. Will want to hike, snorkel, surf, fish, do canopy tours, swim, and see cool sights and wildlife.

We are generally thinking to split our time between two different lodgings, one in Forest/Mountain, one on Pacific coast. But maybe that's not necessary based on some feedback I've gotten.

Big questions:

To partake in the rainforest/mountain type activities as well as the beach/ocean activities, do you need to split the trip into two sections with two different lodgings? Just talked to someone who stayed in Jaco area and said they took a short drive inland to do canopy tours, atv rides, etc.

Had been looking at La Fortuna area as well as Monteverde area for mountain and rainforest sights and activities. It doesn't look like they are day trips from each other, so which one is better to base out of and why?

Possible alternative with Tenorio Volcano national park area and the Rio Celeste? Would this be a good optional rainforest mountain base or side trip from La Fortuna?

As far as coastal areas, I think I like the sound of the Samara area on the Nicoya Peninsula. The Tamarindo area seems a little overly touristy where the Samara area is more low key. Also, we are novice surfers so like the idea of smaller waves and a beach you can swim and snorkel in.

Another option is the Manual Antonio area but it sounds like it gets pretty crowded and Jaco sounds a little sketchy.

Is there a good resource from driving times between possible destinations? I am thinking we will rent a 4WD vehicle but the distances and times I've seen in various places are inconsistent, so I don't know how much is doable for day trips.

Been once. Absolutely Love Costa Rica. Don't have a ton of feedback. I think 8 days is plenty to do both beach and rain forest. We flew into Liberia and stayed at Dreams Las Mareas an all inclusive. We had monkeys right there on the beach and the fishing was fantastic! Also did a rainforest tour that was really fun. It's amazing how much water runs through the forest. I would go back in a heartbeat.

We've been twice. Both times we stayed 8-9 days. In the first trip we stayed at Los Lagos the first half then to Monteverde for zipline and rainforest stuff. The second time was Los Lagos again with a trip to hanging bridges and Rio Celesre, then transferred to the east coast at Coahuita for beach stuff but short trip inland for zip lining and Manzanillo Refuge. Love Costa Rica…Pura Vida!

If it were me, I would split up the trip. I'd be afraid of needing to drive a little too much to get to places of interest. One of the times we went, we stayed in the Arenal/La Fortuna area and did all the activities we could there. Then we moved to the Guanacaste area on the coast for more down time but still did a couple things. Shuttle was about 3 hours, but drive kept our attention.

I believe we stayed at some adults only place in the interior, and then the Westin Playa Conchales.

End of the day, lots of options to choose, but it'll be hard to not have a great time.

The only reason to go to Jaco is for the legalized prostitution, so I would avoid that one with teenage sons. The Cocal poolside bar can be some of the most interesting people watching that you would ever do.

From what you are describing, I would plan four days in the La Fortuna area for the inland stuff, and four days on the southern pacific portion. The only reason that I would not recommend Nicoya is due to the fact that I have not been there yet. Others may be able to recommend more on that one, but I have heard that the roads there can be difficult during the rainy season. Tamagringo is good if you want to be around lots of other tourists. The best beach that I have been to in Costa Rica is Playa Conchal.

For the Southern pacific portion, I would recommend staying in Matapalo. It is between Quepos and Uvita/Dominical. There is little to do in Matapalo besides relax and the beach, but it makes a good base for Uvita, Manuel Antonio, Dominical, Nauyaca. The beach is plentiful and secluded there and offers some excellent surfing.

If you do determine that you want to be close to Jaco, because there are other things to do around the area, I would recommend staying in Playa Hermosa and making the ten minute drive to Jaco.

La Fortuna can be a good base for places like Rio Celeste as well.

Monteverde to me seems a little too secluded to utilize as a home base. However, it is a beautiful area and offers some great coffee tours and wildlife tours as well as the cloud forest.

Use Waze for your travel guidance. Getting around in Costa Rica can be difficult due to road issues, traffic and weather. Waze seems to deal with it pretty good. Just know that for some trips can take longer due to these issues.

If you are flying into and out of San Jose, the traffic can be nerve racking. If San Jose and you land in the late afternoon, I would recommend staying near the airport the first night. Driving to La Fortuna from there in the dark can be challenging and the scenery is best viewed during daylight hours.

The last few times we have flown into Liberia, and I would prefer to do that every time we go.

Last time we went we did 8 days. 5 on the beach near Playa Flamingo and the did 3 nights in Tabacon at the hot springs near Arenal. I wasn't expecting it, but the rainforest/volcano portion was equally if not more fun than the beach. La Fortuna area is great.

White water rafting Pacuare. Two days, difficulty 3 the first day. 4+ second day.

I am hitting a roadblock, pun intended, trying to figure out driving directions.

I understand that Waze is the way to go once you're in Costa Rica, but I can't get Waze to pull up while I'm still in the US.

Anyone know any tricks for how to get an idea of actual driving times and routes in advance?

Obviously conditions will change, but just use google and pick the longest time given.

Waze will only really help you once you are in country, but for planning the itinerary, I have found that google can give some decent times.

As an example, I just googled driving from Monteverde to la fortuna (which is 116 kilometers) and it gives me times ranging from 2 hr 56 minutes to 3 hrs 49 minutes. It will probably be closer to 3 hrs 49 minutes if you get stuck behind a truck in those hills.

We just got back from a similar trip. We started off near LaFortuna, stayed in the Nayara resort. I can't recommend this place enough. We then made the 4 hour drive down to Playa Longosta, just south of Tamarindo. We've rented houses with our larg'ish family in several Playa's in the Guanacaste region, but it's hard to find a place out of crazytown Tamarindo, but close enough to lots of good restaurants. Brasalito is also a nice beach town to explore.

No matter where you go there will be great outdoor activities.

Costa Ricans are so much nicer and friendly than any other destination we've been to in the Carribean, Hawaii, Mexico, North America, or Europe.

La Fortuna surprised us how much we liked it. Nayara had alot to do with that, their accomodations, grounds, nature trails, restaurants, bars, pool areas & staff are fantastic.

All of our previous trips to CR were to the Pacific side. The climate in the rain forest is much more comfortable (cooler) than the Pacific side.

On the other hand, you can't go fishing if you're not on the Pacific. I love to fish, so we got a half day charter for $800, caught a nice Blue Marlin & a Bull Mahi (delicious).

If you think about Longosta, look up El Capitan Suizo. Great spot which is technically on the farthest southern tip of Playa Tamarindo, but you are essentially in northern Longosta, comfortably outside of crazytown Tamarindo.

Went to Costa Rica last year as family and loved it. Would/will definitely go back.

We were there 8 days and split into two segments... the first half in the Arenal / La Fortuna area... and the backhalf in the Tamarindo area. I think La Fortuna is a great base for the mountain/rainforest portion of your trip. We stay at Lost Iquana resort and it was great. The view of Arenal volcano from our room was straight off a postcard.

The Tamarindo area is definitely more touristy than many places in CR, but we really enjoyed it. Stayed at the Tamarindo Diria Beach Resort which was in stark contrast to the rainforest portion of the trip but that's part of what made it enjoyable.

Short answer... yes I'd split up and the La Fortuna area is highly recommended as your base of operations for the rainforest portion of your trip.

Also just FYI... we rented a car. I was initially hesitant about driving in CR, but it's a breeze.

We have booked 4 nights in a house on the outskirts of La Fortuna and 5 nights in a house on Samara beach. We chose to avoid the more touristy/developed Tamarindo area in hopes of getting a little more authentic feel to the beach portion. I'm sure there will be tradeoffs and there will be some conveniences we would have liked in the more Gringo-heavy areas.

Next up is booking a rental car. I've seen some conflicting reviews online regarding the insurance issue, which apparently can greatly increase the cost of your rental car. Some say it is a straight up scam perpetrated by the local rental car agents, some say it is the law, and some say you may be able to get your US insurer to provide a letter which will allow you to rent without purchasing the CR insurance coverage.

I want to rent a 4WD vehicle from a company which is reliable enough for it to be there when I get there, and I'd like to avoid or minimize the insurance add-on.

Any advice from those who have rented in cars in CR before would be appreciated. We will be flying into Liberia.

We have used Vamos rental there and it seems less of a scam than familiar brands like Avis or Budget. I usually get the highest level of coverage and have never utilized the credit card insurance. Usually at Vamos, I pay a $100.00 deposit that goes back to the credit card at the end.

We also used Nativos in Liberia and it was good, but the last two times I tried them they had no cars available.

Beyond those two it can be a crap shoot.

Might be a little late to respond to this but I would definitely recommend a split stay in Costa Rica especially if you are planning on being there at least 7 days.

We did this trip last summer and it was unforgettable! We flew into LIR and had private transfers.
Most of my clients like to rent a car and drive themselves, I think it's really just a personal preference. We liked not having to worry about getting lost.

We started in La Fortuna/Arenal area and stayed at Amor Arenal. There are so many great hotel/resort options in the area. Nayara Springs, Tabacon, Kioro are some hotels my clients love. The drive from LIR to La Fortuna was a little under 3 hours.
Here we did all kinds of excursions - the Hanging Bridges, La Fortuna Waterfall, Volcano hiking, etc... There is soo much do so and see all in the Arenal Volcano area.

Then we went to stay at Westin Reserva Conchal for a little relaxation at an all-inclusive resort and to spend some time on the beach. It was almost 4 hours from La Fortuna to the Westin in the Papagayo area. It was a great drive though and our driver was super informative telling us all about the area and country.

We liked the Westin and it would be a great resort for families. There are a ton of hidden gem properties to stay at all along the coast.

Overall, I would go back and do this same trip every year if I could. Costa Rica in general, is just an amazing destination with so much to offer.

If you need any help with planning and booking anything or have any questions, feel free to reach out!

Highly recommend taking the adventurous 1 hour drive to the Nosara area to do Miss Sky Canopy Tour. When we did it a few years ago they advertised being the longest zipline tour in the world. Their longest single line is nearly 1/2 mile long.

We stayed in a house above Playa Carillo, which is a short drive south from Samara. Samara is a great beach that's not terribly busy, but go to Carillo if you want the whole beach practically to yourself.

There is a good restaurant/steakhouse in Puerto Carillo called El Colibri. We were glad to have our 4 wheel drive to get there as we had to cross a decent creek to get there.

I was going to recommend a place called Lo Que Hay. Kind of a divier bar/restaurant right on the beach in Samara. They had great fish tacos and tables on the sand. Unfortunately it looks like it might have closed recently, but maybe only temporarily.

Spent a week last summer at Diria. Loved it.

NE PA Ag said:

---

Highly recommend taking the adventurous 1 hour drive to the Nosara area to do Miss Sky Canopy Tour. When we did it a few years ago they advertised being the longest zipline tour in the world. Their longest single line is nearly 1/2 mile long.

We stayed in a house above Playa Carillo, which is a short drive south from Samara. Samara is a great beach that's not terribly busy, but go to Carillo if you want the whole beach practically to yourself.

There is a good restaurant/steakhouse in Puerto Carillo called El Colibri. We were glad to have our 4 wheel drive to get there as we had to cross a decent creek to get there.

I was going to recommend a place called Lo Que Hay. Kind of a divier bar/restaurant right on the beach in Samara. They had great fish tacos and tables on the sand. Unfortunately it looks like it might have closed recently, but maybe only temporarily.

---

Cool. Let me know if you have any other dining or activity recs from that area. Did y'all do any fishing? It looks like some charters may leave from Carrillo.

Struggle and Strifer said:

---

We have used Vamos rental there and it seems less of a scam than familiar brands like Avis or Budget. I usually get the highest level of coverage and have never utilized the credit card insurance. Usually at Vamos, I pay a $100.00 deposit that goes back to the credit card at the end.

We also used Nativos in Liberia and it was good, but the last two times I tried them they had no cars available.

Beyond those two it can be a crap shoot.

---

Vamos looks like it might be our best bet for a 4WD. Did you get the mobile hotspot option for your vehicle? I'm wondering how superior, if at all, that is to just regular cell service.

No. I have never done the mobile hot spot. I have wondered about it, but mainly rely on T mobile international and wifi at restaurants and lodging. I have never felt at a loss with the exception of my initial shell shock when arriving n San Jose many years ago.

Waze has always functioned well.

Arenas Del Mar near Manuel Antonio.

It's not cheap. But it's worth it.

This is the place.

I've got the flights, the lodging, and the rental car booked.

Now looking for dining and excursion advice and any other tips.

Any dining recs in La Fortuna area? We are staying in outskirts.

In La Fortuna, I'm sure we'll do the La Fortuna waterfall "hike" (which sounds like it's just a bunch of stairs).

Any other hiking recommendations in La Fortuna? Waterfalls, wildlife and lava fields would be ideal.

Other excursion ideas or recs? We may wait and do a canopy tour when we're staying on the beach, but haven't locked in on that.

Hanging bridge tour worthwhile?

Thoughts on hot springs?

In Samara (a good bit south of Tamarindo) we'll be looking to do some surfing, kayaking, snorkeling, fishing, and maybe a canopy tour as well. Also looking for dining recommendations.

We ate at a place called Naku in the heart of town and really enjoyed it. That was four years ago. There was a place across the street from it that looked to be decent and crowded too, but we did not eat there.

We did a volcano tour that picked us up and was guided. There was a hike, small waterfall, wildlife and other features of the tour. One of the features was that we were able to go to the free hot springs and experience that for about thirty minutes. Recently I looked into a day pass at Tabacon and Baldi Springs, but we elected to go to Uvita to see some whales instead.

The hanging bridge tour looks to be good, but from everything that I have researched on that shows that you want to get there earlier in the morning to beat the crowds.

We enjoyed the waterfall, and somehow it seems like twice as many steps going up as it did going down. But, a cold Imperial afterwards helped.

Make sure to get a Pipa fria and enjoy the town square while you are in town.

We have not done it, but check out the Rio Celeste excursion and I hear that the white water rafting in the La Fortuna area is amazing.

Pura Vida.