1

You will have been on the beach a week at this point, the gems of CR really are about nature and wildlife, and you have the time to focus on some great venues to see this country of great bio diversity.

I would suggest trying to at least visit Tortuguero on the caribe side and Rincon/Tenerio Celeste waterfalls.

On the pinnacle of wildlife and nature is Corcovado in the OSA, a shuttle or short flight away from MA, of flight from SJ. Lots do great lodges there like Luna Lodge in Playa Carate.

But for more beaches, you have two coast, the caribe has nice contrast to the pacific side as its far less developed and more intrinsic of the native people's that are Afro caribe, spicy food and funky music.

The best beaches on the Pacafic side are far from SJ. Mal Pais area is 6 hours drive, as is Samara/Nosara.

You fail tO mention a budget, so I will mention tHe best. Playa Tamarindo the Capitan Suizo, Mal Pias Flora Blanca, Malarepa, Latttiude 10, Montezuma Ylang Ylang, to name but a few outstanding properties.

There are tons of other great lodges and inns, just look at Trip Advisor or a guidebook. Paso you have Paos Volcano lodge, La Paz waterfalls Peace lodge, more rustic options in Tenerio area La Carolina lodge, and at Arenal the observatory lodge and Tobocan lodge. You would be best served to rent a car and explore the country on your own terms as well. Though the OSA you don't need one, Tortuguero you can't drive one.

2

you have 9 days "left over" and for that amount of time, you could easily visit 3 locations. i would definitely not spend all that time at the beach! if you do that, you will be missing some of the best of costa rica. some suggestions: (all starting from arenal)

1. tortuguero, beaches of the southern caribbean http://www.puertoviejosatellite.com, sarapiqui area http://www.selvaverde.com as an example

2. extend your time in arenal to four days and do two day trips: to the tenorio national park for the hike to the rio celeste and to cano negro for the boat trip through the cano negro wildlife refuge. for either of these, you can arrange a guided tour or just hire a guide and drive your own rental car.

3. to the southern nicoya peninsula http://www.nicoyapeninsula.com and to turrialba for some hiking and whitewater rafting.

if you can arrange your flights into san jose and out of liberia, that opens up a whole area to you. there are four national parks you could visit as well as some great beaches.

plan on splurging a couple of days at punta islita, one of the best hotels in costa rica, and perfect for a honeymoon stay. http://www.hotelpuntaislita.com from there, it's pretty easy to get to the samara/carrillo area for more beach time. http://www.samarabeach.com

3

Thank you both for the feedback. We've adjusted our itinerary, see below. Want to do a mix of high end and cozy lodges/ hotels. I think we may splurge in Arenal and book the Tabacon Hot Springs resort for 2 days. Our budget on average is $150 night, we would prefer $100 but in high season $150 seems more realistic. We are adventurist so we want to spend our money on kayaking, scuba, rafting, canyoning, etc.

I'm curious what the thoughts are on the order of our destinations and traveling between them.

Feb 24th, Sun -Santa Ana to Montezuma - shuttle, ferry, taxi
Feb 25th, Mon - Montezuma
Feb 26th, Tue - Montezuma
Feb 27th, Wed - Montezuma to Monteverde
Feb 28th, Thur - Monteverde
Mar 1st, Fri - Monteverde
Mar 2nd, Sat - Arenal
Mar 3rd, Sun - Arenal
Mar 4th, Mon - Arenal to Punta Viejo via Raft
Mar 5th, Tue - Punta Viejo
Mar. 6th, Wed - Punta Viejo
Mar. 7th, Thur - Punta Viejo to San Jose

4

that's a pretty good itinerary and the order seems to make sense. you could also do it the other way around and raft to end up in puerto viejo, then arenal, monteverde and montezuma.

5

any recommendations on traveling between locations. rent and car vs. shuttles and taxis?

6

to montezuma: shared van shuttle
to monteverde: shared van shuttle
to arenal: taxi/boat/taxi
rent a car in arenal and use it for the rest of your trip