1

Depends a fair bit on the weather. You certainly wouldn't want to head to the rainforests in the rainy season! (Corcovado is mainly shut). Arenal volcano is not doing much. Head for the beach and plan to start your days early when you get the most sunshine....

2

Actually it's really dry in the southern zone, had to water my plants.

3

since you are flying into liberia and have a short amount of time, i would split your time between one of the beaches and rincon de la vieja.

rincon de la vieja national park: http://www.acguanacaste.ac.cr/1997/ecodesarrollo/ecoturismo/pailas_turing.html also take a look here: http://www.guachipelin.com for a bunch of things to do. check out their activity center http://www.guachipelin.com/one-day-pass.html which is near the national park entrance.

for some places to stay in the rincon de la vieja area, http://www.rincondelavieja.net

be sure to spend some time at santa rosa national park http://www.acguanacaste.ac.cr/1997/ecodesarrollo/ecoturismo/santa_rosa_turing.html

rincon de la vieja is about 45 minutes from liberia and santa rosa about an hour.

for beach areas, take a look here: http://www.nicoyapeninsula.com not listed on this website are playas del coco and playa hermosa. playas del coco or playa hermosa are about 1/2 an hour from the airport - and about an hour from liberia.

for distances and travel times: http://www.yourtravelmap.com

4

Rincon
Tenorio/Celeste Waterfalls
Tamarindo

5

waallll - i would check the weather report before heading to tenorio right now. that area has just been blasted with four straight days of rain. if it doesn't rain in the next couple of day, things might be dry enough to enjoy, but otherwise.... maybe too wet.

you can always ask your lodging wherever you are to call one of the hotels/lodges near the park and ask about the weather there.

6

Thanks for the info guys. I should add that I won't be renting a car and would take public transit/shuttle to these destinations. Which sites would I be looking at for current schedules? Would I be able to reach all the places mentioned without my own vehicle?

7

it really depends on where you are going.

you can take public transportation or taxi or shuttle to any of the beach towns.
http://www.thebusschedule.com/cr/ for public bus
http://www.anywherecostarica.com/cr/ or http://www.easyridecr.com for shuttle. if you are going to one of the beaches from the liberia airport, there is also the tamarindo shuttle. or - you can take a taxi.

to get to rincon de la vieja, you can take a taxi or take the bus from liberia to curubande and then a taxi to the park. you can also contact guachipelin for more information on transportation in that area.

to get to santa rosa, you can take one of the buses from liberia north either to penas blancas or la cruz. tell the driver you want to get off at la casona. it's a few kilometers hike into the park, but mostly flat and paved most of the way.

8

I would definitely recommend Rincon - was our best location for wildlife-spotting, and all the volcanic activity is really cool.

Tenorio was, indeed, quite wet. Don't think it's worth the hike from Liberia on public transportation/hired car unless you were planning to stay a couple of days.

9

Definitely spend at least 3 days by the beaches, and go on a tour with a local. By far the best part of my trip was with a fellow that didnt speak a word of English, but he brought us out to a tiny rock formation and jumped in- of course we followed! At first I was pretty disappointed because I had wanted shallow waters and lots of shiny fish, that was before I realized we were surrounded by manta rays! We did eventually get to the 'shiny fish' part to, and he found an octopus that didnt mind getting a free ride on my hand for a bit.

Rincon de la vieja is another excellent choice, we did a 'package tour' that included horseback riding, zip-lining/ rappelling, tubing down the river, and the hot mud baths, a very packed, exhilarating, exhausting day.

Monteverde is and will remain my favorite town, it has all the wonders of the cloud rainforest close at hand, yet enough creature comforts and excellent restaurants for when you start to go into 'urban withdrawals'.

Have fun!!