Looking for some Costa Rica expertise
January 22, 2011 11:47 AM Subscribe
Please help clarify some questions about Costa Rican interior parks/volcanos/rain forest...
I'm in the process of planning a couple weeks in CR with my wife and 2 kids, the plan being to split our time between the interior sights and the coast for surfing. I have the coast part of the trip figured out. My question is thus (and I realize with enough time I might answer it on my own, but between maps, tripadvisor forums, Frommers, etc, I can't imagine a better and more clarified route than AskMeFi) : I want to expose my kids to some cool stuff, i.e. rain forest canopy, wildlife, a real volcano, etc. My understanding is most people head to Monteverde and Arenal for this. Does anyone have good counsel on what the difference is of the two? It almost looks as though Arenal has all of what we want, and the only reason it's germane is I would love to have a single "home base" for a week to limit the inherent risks and nausea for the kids with driving.
We are flying into Liberia, I expect, if it matters.
I really appreciate the input.
I'm in the process of planning a couple weeks in CR with my wife and 2 kids, the plan being to split our time between the interior sights and the coast for surfing. I have the coast part of the trip figured out. My question is thus (and I realize with enough time I might answer it on my own, but between maps, tripadvisor forums, Frommers, etc, I can't imagine a better and more clarified route than AskMeFi) : I want to expose my kids to some cool stuff, i.e. rain forest canopy, wildlife, a real volcano, etc. My understanding is most people head to Monteverde and Arenal for this. Does anyone have good counsel on what the difference is of the two? It almost looks as though Arenal has all of what we want, and the only reason it's germane is I would love to have a single "home base" for a week to limit the inherent risks and nausea for the kids with driving.
We are flying into Liberia, I expect, if it matters.
I really appreciate the input.
When are you planning on going to CR? Driving in the dry season (Novemberish to Mayish) is really different from driving in the wet season. Especially if you're talking about driving to/from Monteverde/Arenal. During the dry season, the trip isn't really too bad, and a "home base" could work.
Where are you surfing at? I'm assuming it's on the Nicoya peninsula, since you're flying to Liberia. You might want to consider Rincon as your volcano instead of Arenal if you're traveling during the wet season. You're probably not going to see the lava at Arenal- it's hit or miss even in clear weather, but Rincon has bubbling pools of mud and steam vents. And the hike to the top is doable, depending on how old your kids are.
posted by shrabster at 12:09 PM on January 22, 2011
Where are you surfing at? I'm assuming it's on the Nicoya peninsula, since you're flying to Liberia. You might want to consider Rincon as your volcano instead of Arenal if you're traveling during the wet season. You're probably not going to see the lava at Arenal- it's hit or miss even in clear weather, but Rincon has bubbling pools of mud and steam vents. And the hike to the top is doable, depending on how old your kids are.
posted by shrabster at 12:09 PM on January 22, 2011
i took a boat between arenal and monteverde, bypassing the road altogether.. very pleasant :) i'd say if you go to costa rica, go to both locations- they're pretty different. highly recommend the hot springs in arenal and the ziplining in monteverde.
posted by raw sugar at 12:55 PM on January 22, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by raw sugar at 12:55 PM on January 22, 2011 [1 favorite]
We just got back from a trip that included stops in both Arenal and Monteverde. The drive between the two took about 3 and 1/2 hours, the second half of which was on unpaved, very bumpy roads. Since we went during the dry season, the roads weren't that bad, but we were very happy to get back on paved roads! Some of the tour companies offer jeep and boat tours between the two places (but I don't know how much driving time they actually save), and some of also offer horseback tours (just make sure you read reviews of the companies before you sign up for one). This page has a breakdown of different tours vs driving.
As for the differences between things to do in each place, we spent two and half days at each place, and we never got to see the volcano -- it was overcast and rained the whole time we were in Arenal. So we skipped the canopy-related stuff there and did more relaxing things, like EcoTermales hot springs. There's also a really lovely waterfall near La Fortuna. At some point during the drive to Santa Elena, the sun came out and we had beautiful blue skies for the rest of our trip. We did a suspension bridge walk, a tour of the butterfly garden, a night tour of the frog pond with a guide using a flashlight to find nocturnal frogs, and a wonderful tour of a sustainable coffee farm we arranged through the Common Cup. I don't know how much fun the last would be for the kids, but we thought it was really interesting!
posted by amarynth at 1:04 PM on January 22, 2011
As for the differences between things to do in each place, we spent two and half days at each place, and we never got to see the volcano -- it was overcast and rained the whole time we were in Arenal. So we skipped the canopy-related stuff there and did more relaxing things, like EcoTermales hot springs. There's also a really lovely waterfall near La Fortuna. At some point during the drive to Santa Elena, the sun came out and we had beautiful blue skies for the rest of our trip. We did a suspension bridge walk, a tour of the butterfly garden, a night tour of the frog pond with a guide using a flashlight to find nocturnal frogs, and a wonderful tour of a sustainable coffee farm we arranged through the Common Cup. I don't know how much fun the last would be for the kids, but we thought it was really interesting!
posted by amarynth at 1:04 PM on January 22, 2011
but I don't know how much driving time they actually save
Sorry, that should've said "I don't know how much driving on unpaved roads they actually save." For our drive, the roads were unpaved pretty much from Tilaran on.
posted by amarynth at 1:08 PM on January 22, 2011
Sorry, that should've said "I don't know how much driving on unpaved roads they actually save." For our drive, the roads were unpaved pretty much from Tilaran on.
posted by amarynth at 1:08 PM on January 22, 2011
Response by poster: Shrabster - I think mid-June is when we will go. Right now am thinking of Playa Negra for surfing. It looks low key and there is a nice place there we read about, but have not cemented anything. I did not know about Rincon so I will look at that.
Amarynth - thanks. Can you tell me more about the night frog tour? My daughter is a frog nut.
I just read about this place that can get you from Arenal to Monteverde, so that seems like a good option, as rawsugar pointed out.
posted by docpops at 3:19 PM on January 22, 2011
Amarynth - thanks. Can you tell me more about the night frog tour? My daughter is a frog nut.
I just read about this place that can get you from Arenal to Monteverde, so that seems like a good option, as rawsugar pointed out.
posted by docpops at 3:19 PM on January 22, 2011
Sorry for the delay in responding! A little more about the Frog Pond: we didn't have any expectations going in, we just selected it because it was something to do very close to our hotel. It's a herpetarium, so the frogs are kept in large terrariums. Tickets are good for two entries (so you could do the night tour one night and come back another time to walk around during the day), and the student price was $10 (I'm not sure how much the regular adult or child price is). They say that they donate a portion of the ticket sales to conservation and research, and our guide mentioned that their frogs were rescues from people who kept them as pets. Our tour was probably over an hour, with a highly enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide (Walter), and a small group (I think there were five of us). At night, you can't use flash photography, and the guide uses a special flashlight. We never went back for our second entry, so I don't know what it's like during the day, but I do know they have some other activities -- a butterfly garden and the ubiquitous zip-line and tarzan swing. Searching for combinations of Ranario or Frog Pond and Monteverde or Santa Elena should bring up more info and some pictures.
posted by amarynth at 11:02 AM on January 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by amarynth at 11:02 AM on January 24, 2011 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by docpops at 11:59 AM on January 22, 2011