Costa Rica

[maranella]

I need some advice from MNers who've been to Costa Rica. We're in the process of planning a trip ourselves, but we have a few questions.

1. Do we hire a car? We're both confident drivers who've driven overseas in lots of different places, but we could also book private transfers from place to place. Which would you recommend and why?

2. Can you drive to the hotels in Tortuguero or is it all canals and waterways around there? It sounds like quite a basic sort of place, so I'm just wondering what we'd do with the hire car if we need to get a boat to our hotel.

3. We're planning on doing the trip that seems to be the classic few stops - fly to San José, Tortuguero, Arenal, Monteverde, Manual Antonio. We'll be booking the activities ourselves. Did you do anything that was really fabulous that you'd recommend? Or, anything that you thought was a rip-off, not that good, overhyped, etc?

TIA 🙏

Sorry you also asked about the Chocolate Tour we did this in our stop at Sarapiqui

That's great. Thank you so much @toasty1 😍

And thank you @Aaron95 @MaeMair and @Newusernameaug. It's so helpful to get the insights of people who've been already.

I’d recommend guides if you can afford it - they really do spot much, much more wildlife than you would on your own and they usually carry scopes for you to see better and take close up photos. Thanks to our guides we managed to see resplendent quetzals in Monteverde and a boa constrictor in Cahuita that we walked straight past without noticing!

Re the night hikes, check the moon phase - we also did one which was a bit disappointing (in children’s eternal rainforest) and the guide said it was because you see less during the full moon.

@maranella If you need recommendations on where to eat while in Arenal and Monte Verde shout plus we found a great laundry in Arenal as we were away for so long we needed to get stuff washed, also whole fresh in my mind we were going to do a day pass at a hot springs and we were given a recommendation where the locals go which we did and had a great time at a quarter of the cost of the touristy places

We did 5 excursions and the children's favourites (then 10 and 11) were Buena Vista Del Rincon (waterslide through jungle, horseride through jungle, zipline were we saw monkeys and toucans in the jungle, not too high maybe 30 metres or so high, and hot springs plus active volcanoes) as well as meal there. They also loved an excursion we did to see sloths on the Caribbean side in a private reserve through Gecko Tours, it was just us on that tour and saw some sloths, waterfall, rainforest, frog etc. And Diamante the kids loved for the 60mph zipline about 300 metres in the air (also had animals though by that point had seen them all in the wild), I was too chicken to go on it myself. We did another one to Arenal to volcano and hot springs which was pleasant but maybe the least favourite. And another one to a botanical gardens (Blue River), very pretty. We kayaked in the ocean at the hotel, swam, beach volleyball, saw monkeys, coati, racoon, gecko, tropical birds.

Re the night hikes, check the moon phase - we also did one which was a bit disappointing (in children’s eternal rainforest) and the guide said it was because you see less during the full moon.

Again, that's great to know! God knows what phase the moon will be in while we're in Costa Rica, but I'll see if I can find out.

If you need recommendations on where to eat while in Arenal and Monte Verde shout plus we found a great laundry in Arenal
@toasty1 Yes please! We're always keen to have recommendations for good restaurants and I'm notorious for doing laundry wherever we go. I never leave home without my trusty Persil pods

@Silkierabbit Buena Vista del Rincon looks lovely! Sadly, we're not planning to go up there, but if we were I'd be booking a reservation immediately.

We are planning on doing some guided walks btw - I didn't want to give the impression that we'll be blundering around in the forest on our own every time, missing everything.

So far my rough itinerary has:

• San José - guided walk
• Volcan Poas - self-guided walk
• Mistico Hanging Bridges - self-guided walk
• Bogarin Trail - guided walk
• Arenal NP - not sure yet
• La Fortuna waterfall - self-guided walk
• Cacao plantation - guided walk
• Monteverde Cloud Forest - guided walk
• Manuel Antonio NP - guided walk

Hello, I know this is a bit of an old thread, but currently thinking of 2024 holidays and thought mumsnet would help me! I was thinking of booking an organised holiday for us, to make the most of our time there, eg with Intrepid, but is it better / easy to organise stays and activities independently? We’re a family of 6, children will be 16, 14, 12 and 10.
TIA for any info. I am feeling excited already!

@Starmer we initially thought we'd book with a tour company as it's a new country for us and it would be easier. Then I got a copy of LP Costa Rica, did a bit of research and realised that we could easily do it ourselves. We got a quote from a well-known tour UK company, which seemed higher than we'd guesstimated, so we priced up the itinerary we'd chosen and realised we could save about £4k by booking it ourselves. It took me a few days to figure it all out (so if time is in short supply, using a tour company may end up being worth it), but if you have the time/inclination it's certainly not hard to do it yourselves and you can save a decent chunk of money.

Thanks @maranella , have just bought the LP book.

Costa Rica is a very easy country to travel around if you are used to independent travel.

We first went about 9 years ago, on a month long holiday which combined Costa Rica and Panama. We've travelled pretty extensively and it's our favourite country - I'm going to spend the summer there this year and can't wait.

Planning a trip to Costa Rica sounds exciting! Regarding transportation, hiring a car allows you to explore at your own pace if you're a confident driver. However, private transfers can be a great option for convenience and ease, especially if you need clarification on navigating the canals and waterways in Tortuguero. As for activities, I recommend checking out www.costaricafocus.com. They have fantastic recommendations and can help you customize your itinerary.