@AnnaQuayInTheUk and @Andoutcomethewolves I thought you might like some updates on how the recommendations have been. We are in Costa Rica now! A few things to say about our holiday:
Pocos Surf school in Samara were fabulous. Even got me standing! I didn't love Samara, but we had a good time. Friendly and some nice food. But a lot of the places recommended by trip advisor seemed to be shut. Where we stayed organised the transfer from the airport to Samara, and from Samara to Monteverde, and both were good value (private but the cost of shared), and air conditioned and very nice journeys.
Koora Hotel in Monteverde was the best we have stayed in. It is really nice. The food was great, the view from the resturant was INSANE, staff were really helpful. We saw quite a bit of wildlife, and it was just a great hotel. It was on a good deal when I booked it (although if had booked a couple of days earlier it would have been an even better deal!).
In Monteverde I booked the zipline online via Viator first. I really wish I hadn't. I got confused, and thought I had booked Selvetura, which is where I really wanted to go. But it was the Original Zip Line Monteverde (or something like that). It was okay, but not spectacular. We did the cloud bridge walks ourselves. It was fun, but we didn't see much wildlife.
In La Fortuna, the Arenal Observatory and Lodge was a long way out of town, but I loved it. We did the free nature walk and saw loads of animals, and they have a fantastic bird feeder looking towards the Volcano, and we saw brilliant birds there. But the view was wonderful. The rooms are all very spread out so you need to get ride to the reception, but that worked fine. There was an issue with ants in our room - my daughter brought a lolly in with her, and some gum, and that caused havoc. But once we had banished ALL things sweet, there were one or two tiny ants and that was it. The food at Arenal lodge wasn't great, but it was edible. We then went to Los Lagos Resort and Spa. We just chilled there, and the pools and views were lovely. The food wasn't great but it was a short ride into La Fortuna, so that was no issue.
We did a very expensive white-water tubing, but although it was a lot (everything in Costa Rica is a lot), it was REALLY fun.
We used Exploradoes to transfer from La Fortuna to Tortuguero. It was cheaper paying cash (organised via email, don't pay on the website - they will give you a discount on everything doing it that way...and they probalby would have given us a discount on the white water rafting had we done it that way and booked the two at once). The journey by shuttle was shared and not air-conditioned, and so it was super hot. But they did give us breakfast.
Tortuguero I really liked. We stayed at Aninga Lodge (all inclusive meals). I loved it (although the food is perhaps the worst we have had...although if you aren't fussy like my family it is perfectably edible). It had no A/C, but actually it was really not too hot, mainly because there is no glass in windows, only mesh. This is the first time we saw a sloth, and there were howler monkies (at 5am), and we saw a whole troop of spider monkies make their way from one set of trees, across the roof of the bar by the pool, to another set of trees. The pool was lovely, and we had a great day here seeing the turtles nesting, and then taking a 6am tour of the waterways and the jungle. We saw lots of animals. The only sloth we have seen so far was hanging out at the hotel trees, near the pool. Quite high up. And there was a huge iguana on one tree, which I was able to get incredibly close to for some great photos. Paying for the two tours was well worth it.
Aninga Lodge is a little outside Tortuguero, but that wasn't an issue at all. And I liked the little town (it is VERY little and there are no ATMs so come prepared with cash for the water taxis and tips and things).
We will see what the beach days at Cahuita are like. Our lodge is lovely, it is a 2 bedroom villa, which is actually what we need at this stage of a three week holiday. We are eating dinner here tonight, and will go surfing tomorrow.
One thing, it is incredibly expensive here. Everything is expensive. But it is a great experience, and I'm really glad we came.