Hi,

I am planning a 2,5 month trip around SEA and we are at the moment of planning itinerary that would be more recreational/beach focused, but also we want to focus on finding/seeing/interacting with animals for our kids (5 and 8 year old).

I know this is a broad topic, but we are really now broadly looking around for places to visit: before visiting SEA, we will be in Costa Rica where we plan to visit Jaguar rescue center, sloth sanctuaries, but also "on the way to SEA" visit Hawaii and sea seahorse/octopus farm in Big Island. We also have Sepilok in Borneo for Orangutans.

Are there any other places you would recommend to visit? I know Elephant farm near Chiang Mai, apparently there are various snake farms/centers (Bali has one apparently) and I read somewhere about whale sharks in Cebu (although this is overall a question mark).

I know there are some ethical issues at some of the places, so if there is a possibility to visit the ones that do not mistreat the animals that would be great and I would be super super thankful if this topic does not become mainly about animal abuse, but rather with helpful tips :) Thanks!!!

Bartek

Hello,
We (33 yr old couple), are planning a two week trip to Costa Rica at the beginning of May, our approximate plan is to enjoy as much as much wildlife and biodiversity as possible at the start of our trip and end it with 3-4 beach days. I have laid out two possible trips we are considering in the following:

Trip #1
We fly into San Jose, take a domestic flight to the Osa Pennisula for ~3-4 days and explore Corcovado / Piedras Blancas National Parks. Return to San Jose by domestic flight and then take either public transportation or rental car to visit the Arenal and Monteverde area for ~3-4 days. For the final leg we would head West to Nosara by rental car and spend the next ~3-4 days heading North along the coast and finally flying out of the Liberia airport.

Trip #2
We would fly into San Jose, travel to the Manzanillo / Cahuita area for ~3-4 days using either a rental car or public transportation. We would then travel to an area in the Heredia province for another hike or nature walk and spend a night in the area. Finally, we would then travel to the Arenal and Monteverde area and complete our trip the same as it is described in Trip #1.

We would prefer the Osa Penninsula option however with flight, guide costs, etc it seems to be quite expensive. As for accommodation we are fine with any low budget options including ecolodges, hostels and Airbnb's. Our budget is $1500/ person not including our international flights.

We appreciate any additional information or suggestions you can give us.

Thank you,

Shaun

Hey there,

We are a late 20’s couple traveling to Costa Rica with our 11month old landing feb 23rd.

We have our first week booked at random air bnb’s But would love to meet up with some new people along the way. Let us know if you might be interested. No set plans the last week yet.

Let us know if you’d like to chat more

Here’s what I’m thinking, but would really appreciate feedback on my itinerary. First time to Costa Rica, female solo traveler 29 yrs. I have 14 days total.

Fly to San Jose, spend night in Alajuela
Public Bus or package trip to Tortuguero, 2 nights
Travel to La Fortuna, 3 nights — leave on last day to raft Pacuare river
Stay night back in San Jose after rafting
Nonstop bus in the morning to Golfito, take ferry from Golfito to puerto Jiménez
Stay and chill here 2 days, then 3 day/2 night trip to Corcovado and stay in Sirena Station 2 nights
Back to Puerto Jiménez for another day or two
Ferry back to Golfito— bus back to San Jose, flight out.

I had originally planned to rent a car and drive from La Fortuna to Manuel Antonio and make a day of it, stay in Manuel Antonio for 2 nights and then head to osa, but from other advice I’ve gotten seems like a way better trip to spend as much time in osa as possible.

Any feedback would be SO helpful for me. Thank you!!