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Hi! Over the past 20 years my husband and I (and once with kids) have visited Costa Rica mostly to surf (Nosara**, Playa Negra**, Tamarindo, Playa Avellanas**, Playa del Coco, Santa Teresa, Mal Pais, Playa Dominical, Playa Conchal, Liberia – starred ones are our favorites or have visited multiple times). We did a little tour of Manuel Antonia, Drake Bay (fishing) and the Osa Peninsula, which I loved, about 15 years ago.
My oldest daughter (15) is volunteering this year for about a month in Costa Rica with the Amigos Program in July, and needs us to accompany her for the flight out. We have decided to take our youngest (11) daughter on a trip for a couple of weeks after we drop the oldest off in San Jose. She longboard surfs daily year round (we live in California), and Dad loves surfing too — so we will spend the first 5 days surfing, and then my husband needs to head back home for work. But I would like to continue on and do some sight seeing/adventure with my daughter for an extra week. I am comfortable driving in Costa Rica — unless we are off road where cars can get stuck (I know it will be rainy season!) We are adventurous (11yo is athletic) – have done rock climbing, white water rafting, kayaking, SUP, zip lines, repelling, snorkeling, horseback camping in wilderness and love all of that kind of stuff, but only want to zip line if it is super special. We prefer activities where we can get in the water, not just see it.
I am in Itinerary overload…I am just not sure what we should do. Do you have any suggestions?
So far – we arrive in SJO, and spend two nights sending off the oldest.
Day 3-8 Drive to either Nosara or Santa Teresa for 5 days of surfing (likely Nosara…just because we are very familiar and thinking the surf break will be good for our kiddo – they like left breaks – we considered Pavones, but it seems too far)
Next Days 9-16..I am debating on picking 2-3 locations and order of travel and I would love your suggestions – we haven’t booked return flight yet, so we are flexible with where to end.
Debating between Arenal, Monteverde, Tortuguero, Puerto Viejo De Talamanca, Manuel Antonio, somewhere else in Guanacaste (solely because of the weather)…but I am open-minded…my reasons are below:
–Arenal is top of my list – I think we will like the hot springs/hanging bridges and I have never been.
–Monteverde – We are not that into bird watching…and I don’t love cooler, rainy weather, but everything I read says you shouldn’t miss it – am I missing something?
–Tortuguero/Puerto Viejo De Talamanca – I have never been to the Caribbean side of Costa Rica and would love to see it, but it seems July might not be the best time of year to go…we will be back for sure, should we skip it this trip? Also, seems out of the way adding more driving
–Manuel Antonio – I remember we went to this location for a quick day trip last time and I thought it was amazing – not sure if it is too far out of the way
–Other Guanacaste areas – I know the weather will be best in this area, but I would like to explore new activities, maybe there is a new beach area or inland area I should check out because I haven’t yet been…
I would love to figure out an itinerary where we only have a couple of days of driving (so likely just two locations) or shorter drives where we can do something interesting along the way (looking at the Rio Celeste? Or waterfalls we can stop and see along the way and take a dip..)
Anyhow, I would appreciate any suggestions you have based on the info above. I’ve downloaded the moon guide and read countless articles on the blog (they are amazing!) but I think I have hit information overload.,Hi Tneill101!
It’s awesome to hear that you’re coming back! It sounds like you’ve been bitten by the pura vida bug. 😉
Here are a few of my thoughts following your itinerary comments:
Yes! Visit the Arenal area, as you note, because you haven’t experienced it before, especially the hot springs. Since you’re so adventurous and love the water, I’d recommend checking out canyoning tours or the waterfall jumping tour, and activities to do around Lake Arenal, including kayaking and stand-up paddling. Desafio Adventure Company recently opened a whole Lake-based operation in the El Castillo / El Fosforo area, at the edge of the lake. With a car, that area is accessible from La Fortuna, so feel free to station yourself at a La Fortuna hotel. Alternatively, you can station yourself at a hotel in El Castillo directly.
The choice is entirely yours, but if you aren’t into bird-watching and the potential for cooler temperatures, I’d say you won’t be missing out by skipping Monteverde. Personally, I love Monteverde and recommend it highly, but mainly to people who love hiking and/or bird-watching, and who want to explore the cloud forest. If these activities don’t interest you, and the possibility of cooler temps would be a turnoff, you’d probably be best to avoid Monteverde altogether.
Visiting the Caribbean coast will add more driving, but whether or not that extra driving is worth it depends on your level of interest in attractions in the Caribbean area. There are a ton of reasons to visit the Caribbean coast (immersing yourself in the Caribbean culture is a top one), but if your interest is adventure, the region may not be the best for you. Are you interested in gentle water exploration? If so, you may like Tortuguero, because you can go boating and kayaking on the canals there. Tortuguero is very quiet, though, and bird-watching is another main activity, which I know isn’t a main interest of yours. The biggest adventure activity in the Caribbean region is the Pacuare River Rafting Tour, which is a must-do activity, in my opinion. It’s an inland Caribbean activity, though, which means you don’t need to travel all the way to the Caribbean coast to experience it. The river is commonly accessed from La Fortuna and San Jose.
Since you mentioned you’d like to visit two destinations after your husband leaves, and you’ve likely decided to head back to Nosara for the first portion of the trip with him as part of the group, I’d consider making La Fortuna (Arenal) and Manuel Antonio your two next destinations. Manuel Antonio provides a ton of adventures (the 10-in-1 Adventure Combo offered by Amigos del Rio may interest you, waterfall jumping with Paddle 9 may interest you, and kayaking through the mangroves may interest you), and it’s also within reach of the beautiful Nauyaca Waterfalls (that you can visit and swim at) with a rental car. Alternatively, if you don’t want to travel as far down the coast as Manuel Antonio, and you’re looking for a new area to explore in the Guanacaste / Northern Pacific region, you may want to check out the Rincon de la Vieja area. It’s largely quiet but does offer some properties with adventure activities and hot springs (see Hacienda Guachipelin, for example).
One last note, if you wish to spend time at additional waterfalls, you may want to check out the Blue Falls of Costa Rica (near Catarata del Toro) if you opt to fly out of San Jose, or the Llanos del Cortes Waterfall if you opt to fly out of Liberia.
Pura vida! 🙂
Owner of the Costa Rica Travel Blog • CEO of Pura Vida! eh? Inc. (Costa Rica Discounts) • Creator of DIY Costa Rica, the Costa Rica Destination Tool, the Costa Rica Recommendations Map and the Costa Rica Trip Planning 101 E-Course • Author of the guidebooks Moon Costa Rica (2019, 2021, and 2023) and Moon Best of Costa Rica (2022) • “Travel Blogger of the Year 2020 – Costa Rica” (LUX Life Magazine) • Happy wife of a proud Costa Rican ❤️️
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