Costa Rica

[tootiredtobother]

Hints and tips please.
I am looking at a self drive with Audley Travel. and using their pre arranged tours at various locations. I love bird watching, would go and see the volcano, and would love to end up on a beautiful beach for sunsets etc. good accommodation (not roughing it)

Anyone been and can give good advice what to see or avoid
husband and I both early 60's he's fit and not so.
thanks in advance

Which part of Costa Rica are you looking at? We did a week in Arenal and a week on the south coast. Arranged everything independently, which saved money and was really easy, just booked a car to pick up at the airport when we landed. We got a 4x4 as the second location we stayed at was along dirt tracks through the rainforest and had some steep up hills - it was amazing to be completely alone rather than in a big hotel though, and I'd hugely recommend this if you want to see wildlife (I found it through airbnb).

Tours are generally easy to arrange - plenty of guides at the gates of Manuel Antonio so we just found one when we arrived. We had youngish dc and my do had some health issues so we got our own guide who would go at our pace rather than joining an organised group. It was all quite affordable (other than the flights to get there which were pricey).

We went to Poas volcano on the way from San Jose to Arenal, which was a fab experience, we could see it smoking.

Playa Manuel Antonio was idyllic, but got busy around lunchtime. We liked Playa Tortuga very much and it was empty.

If you are into bird watching, definitely get a guided tour in Monteverde cloud forest reserve. We saw resplendent quetzals!

thanks for the replies,
yes doing cloud forest. staying at small eco lodges on west coast as have been told east is for a younger crowd !
next problem is health and travel insurance as I have a few issues, not going to drop dead with any of them, but online options are useless as they don't do nuance, any ideas??