Costa Rica is known for its stunning beaches, lush rainforests, and incredible wildlife. Costa Rica is not going to let you down, be prepared for an amazing adventure….enjoy and experience the PURA VIDA!
Best time to go: December to April are probably the best months to go as this is their dry season, however try to avoid Christmas and Easter as these are the peak times. We went at the end of November and we had a bit of everything… we had some rainy and some dry days. Though most of the rain happened in the afternoon from 2 or 3pm onwards.General
Advice: it is super important to carry appropriate gear such us hiking shoes and waterproof jackets as you never know when it can start raining… Another important thing to mention is that sunrise is around 5am and sunset around 5pm. The activities and tours start quite early around 7.30am so you will have to wake up early to make the best of the day!
Renting a car: You are going to need a car and regardless of what you read in other blogs… if you are going to Monteverde or you are going during the rainy season you do need a 4x4. We had an SUV and we regretted it…the road to Monteverde was so bad that it was a bit terrifying.
Day 1: Alajuela
Assuming that you arrive in the afternoon, first thing obviously is to rent the car. You can spend your first night at Alajuela so you don’t have to go into San Jose city centre. From the research that we did and the reviews from other travelers it seems that San Jose can be a miss. Traffic is apparently insane and there is not much sightseeing to do. In Alajuela you can stay at "Villa San Ignacio” and also have dinner at their very nice restaurant. The location is great being near the airport and also outside the city centre so the next morning it is easier to get on the road.
Day 2: Manuel Antonio Beaches
Start early in the morning and head towards Manuel Antonio national park. The road to Manuel Antonio is the easiest one you will do during the trip. It will take you around 3 hours to get there.
The best location for a hotel in Manuel Antonio is near the park entrance. The parking space near the park is very limited therefore it is best to make sure you can walk there. We stayed at “La Vela Boutique” and it was great. Incredible location so you can walk to the beach and to the national park. It has a great swimming pool and very nice rooms. Another option nearby is "Hotel Playa Espadilla”.
For lunch you can go to "Baldi’s Fresh Restaurant” and try the red mullet which is typical from the region.
After lunch, you can explore the beaches near the restaurant - Espadilla beach, Playa Playitas and Playa Espadilla Norte. Playa Espadilla Norte was the best in my opinion as there was basically no-one there, it was super relaxing and beautiful. Note that this area is also famous among surfers so there are a lot of waves!
For dinner, you can go for dinner to the restaurant “Morpho Beach Restaurant” which has a lovely outside area and very nice fish.
Day 3: Manuel Antonio National Park
This is going to be an early day. Two super important things to know for Manuel Antonio national park: 1) you need to book a guided tour; and 2) you will have to go very early to try to beat the crowds so around 7.30am. Note that you cannot enter with any plastics or food into the park. The park paths are well maintained and the walks very easy.
We booked our tour with “Manuel Antonio Park” company and the cost was $70 pp which included the entrance ticket to the park. Our guide was great and our group small with just 6 people which was great. The guide picked us up at our hotel and we entered the park with the group. The reason why it is so important to be with a guide is because otherwise you will not see any of the animals. The telescopes that the guide carry are amazing and it is the only way of seeing them. The best part is that we managed to see 2 sloths which was definitely on my wish list of things to do in Costa Rica.
The tour takes around 2.30 hours and once it finishes the guide will leave you by the incredible beaches which are inside of the park. Super important to wear your swimming suit and carry beach stuff with you (towels, flip flops etc). The beaches inside the park are just great so take your time to chill and enjoy.
In the afternoon, you should go to see the sunset from one of the restaurants/ bars on road 618. According to the locals, "Emilio’s Cafe" is the best option for dinner and sunset.
Day 4: Monteverde zip lines
On your 4th day you will need to get up early again! This time it will take you 4 hours to drive. The end of the road when you are about to get to Monteverde is just horrible. The road doesn’t have tarmac and it is full of holes…it is horrible which is why I recommend to have a 4x4.
In Monteverde, we stayed at "YerbaBuena Modern Stay in the Cloud Forest”, a private property with small cabins located in a very nice garden. It is important to note that because Monterverde is in a very isolated area there are not that many hotels. Also check with the hotel whether a 4x4 is required to get to their hotel or not as they will ask you this as well at the car rental.
You will probably arrive around lunch time, a good place to go for lunch and actually our favourite in Monteverde was “Sabor Tico”, I would order one of their speciality chicken dishes.
After that you can go straight to the zip lines (around 1pm), remember to book in advance. We chose Selvatura Park and hired the Gold package which includes zip lines and hanging bridges. The price of the gold package is $95.40. We chose Selvatura Park because it has 13 cables, including a 1 km cable, 15 platforms, and one Tarzan Swing. The only thing I didn’t like was that the breaks are manual while in other zip line parks they are automatic. Also note that the activity is weather dependent… we were very unlucky and there was a horrible storm going on so after 9 zip lines we had to evacuate as there was a lightning storm over us. Either way this was a very good experience. One thing I would have done different however, was the transport to get there. They offer the option of picking you up at your hotel and taking you to Selavtura Park and I would definitely recommend this… the road is horrendous! We did it ourselves while it was pouring down and it was horrible.
For dinner on your first night in Monteverde you can go to “Tramonti”, a nice Italian restaurant in the area.
Day 5: Monterverde Cloud Forest
There are 2 main cloud forests you can visit or 2 very popular ones; “Monteverde Cloud Forest” and “Santa Elena Cloud Forest”. If you go to Selvatura Park the day before, it would be better if you go to Monteverde Cloud Forest as Santa Elena forest is right next to Selvatura and the other way you can see slightly different things.
The ticket for the park can be bought online and it costs $25 per person. You will drive up to a parking (you can pay the parking online when buying your ticket) and there you will be picked up by a mini-van which will take you to the entrance of the park. Please note that you have to validate your online ticket here before you can access the park. Note that you cannot enter with any plastics or food into the park.
For this walk we decided not to have a guide as you cannot see that much fauna here and this is more about the flora so we did the full walk on our own. We did a circular walk starting towards the waterfall and afterwards going to the viewpoints. It was a bit challenging and uphill at times and it took us 2.30 hours to do the route - to be fair we walked quite fast so probably it will take you a bit longer.
Once we finished, we went for lunch to “Cabure”, an Argentinian restaurant which has amazing chocolate.
After lunch, we went to see the The Bat Jungle which is in the same building and was surprisingly interesting. The ticket cost goes towards a good cause as they are a refugee for bats where they rescue injured bats, cure them and when possible release them back into nature.
Other activities that you could do in Monteverde are: visit the Garden de Orquideas, night walk in Curi Cancha reserve or a cafe tour. We didn’t do any of this because unfortunately it was raining so much during the afternoon!
Before dinner you can go for a nice beer to “Belmar Craft Brewery”. For dinner you can go to “El Bosque”.
Day 6: Parque Nacional Volcan Tenorio
Another day and another early morning. This day is going to have a lot of hours driving so before starting the trip you can go for a nice breakfast to “Stella’s Cafe”.
The first part of the drive will take you to the Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio or Río Celeste. This takes around 2.20h. Again as mentioned before the worst part of the drive is to exit Monteverde, once you have managed to get to one of the main roads the drive is not that complicated.
You can buy the ticket for the park online and the cost is $12. You can do this walk in 2 ways… the easy way or the difficult way. The easy one basically follows the path up to the waterfall, goes down to the waterfall and back up and towards the exit. Note that you might need time to catch your breath when going back up the stairs as there are quite a few! The difficult way would be to continue to the path towards “Los Teñideros” and "Los Borbollones” after coming back up from the waterfall, it is difficult because the path is full of slippery rocks and it is very uphill. It took us 2.30 hours in total to do the walk and we ended up exhausted! Note that you cannot enter with any plastics or food into the park.
From here you will make your way towards Arenal. We stopped for lunch at a touristy place but with very nice food called "Restaurant Tapirus Paradise Rio Celeste”.
The drive to Arenal/ Fortuna will take around 1.15 to 1.30 hours.
In Fortuna the most important advice I can give you is to book a hotel which has thermal waters inside of the property! The thermal waters in the area of the Volcan Arenal are super famous but as it is one of the only activities in CR that is for free these are super crowded, so choosing a hotel with them in it was the best decision. We stayed at The Royal Corin Thermal Water Spa and it was absolutely great! I would definitely stay here again.
For dinner you can go to “Restaurant Bongos” just 5 min drive from the hotel.
Day 7: Arenal
In Arenal, we decided to go to “Mistico Hanging Bridges” which is a 25 min drive from the hotel. You can buy the tickets online and the price is $32 per person. Parking here is for free. Note that you cannot enter with any plastics or food into the park. I would recommend to arrive around 8 am. We arrived at 9 am and it was more crowded than expected. It is important to note that Arenal is the most touristic area of the 3 that we visited.
This walk is very easy and flat so everyone can do it, you will cross 15 bridges of which 6 are hanging. It took us around 1.30 hours to complete the circular route, however when we were there part of it was closed due to maintenance.
From here we went to Catarata Fortuna which was 30 min drive. Again we were able to buy the tickets online and the price was $18 per person. Parking free. The waterfall is just beautiful and again I would recommend ideally to get here early around 10am to avoid crowds. You will go down all the way to the waterfall and remember to wear a swimming suit because you can swim near the waterfall. As the entrance to the water near the waterfall is a bit dangerous and full of slippery rocks, I would recommend to go to swim to the left side of the waterfall where the waters are calmer and the entrance is much easier. Note that going back up will take you a while as there are so many stairs that you will have to stop few times to catch your breath.
For lunch you can go to “Mercadito Arenal” and after to have a coffee or ice cream to “Chocolate Fusion”.
In the afternoon, we chose to relax in the hotel enjoying the thermal waters.
It is important to note that activities such as zip lines etc. are much more expensive in the Arenal area than in the other areas mentioned before.
For dinner you can go to “Que Rico Arenal”, it is a super nice Italian restaurant which makes very nice pizza.
Day 8: Back to Airport
Time to say hasta pronto and get back home. The drive from Arenal/ Fortuna to the airport will take around 3 hours.
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