Women-only Costa Rica: Arenal, Monteverde and Manuel Antonio

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in San José

   Juan Santamaría International Airport to your hotel in San José

   • Environ 45 min de route
   • Light welcome supper
   • Nuit : San José
   Détail du jour 1

   Fly into Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO), about 20 km west of San José in Alajuela, at any time of day. A driver meets you in the arrivals hall for the drive into the city, 30 to 45 minutes depending on traffic. San José sits at about 1,150 m in the Central Valley, ringed by volcanoes and coffee slopes, so evenings are mild rather than tropical. There is nothing to see or do today unless you want to: check in, rest, and if you land early, walk with a companion to the Mercado Central, a covered market of narrow aisles, sodas and coffee stalls. At about 6:30 pm your female See Sight Tours guide meets the group at the hotel for a short briefing on the week, then we sit down to a light supper of Costa Rican dishes together, nearby and unhurried. Most women are in bed early after a long travel day, which is the idea. Tomorrow starts after breakfast, at about 8 am.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)
   • Short welcome briefing with your guide
   • Light welcome supper

   Temps libre : Free until the evening briefing; no sightseeing today

   Activité : Land by about 4:30 pm to reach the hotel for the 6:30 pm briefing and supper; later arrivals are met, and briefed over breakfast.

2. Jour 2 : Over the mountains to Arenal

   San José to Zarcero, then La Fortuna

   • Environ 3 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : La Fortuna
   Détail du jour 2

   We leave San José at about 8 am, after breakfast and before the city traffic builds, and climb northwest through coffee country into the Central Volcanic range. After about an hour and a half we stop in Zarcero, a hill town at about 1,700 m known for the clipped cypress topiary in the park in front of its church: time for a coffee and a stretch. From there the road drops through dairy pasture and cloud into the northern lowlands, and the cone of Arenal Volcano appears ahead if the clouds allow. We reach La Fortuna, our base for two nights, in time for a sit-down lunch together. The afternoon is free to settle in, swim or walk round the small town. As the light goes, we drive a few minutes to one of the hot spring parks around La Fortuna, where water heated by the volcano runs through pools set in gardens. Soak for as long as you like; dinner is included at the springs.

   Compris

   • Drive from San José to La Fortuna with your guide
   • Coffee stop in Zarcero
   • Sit-down lunch in La Fortuna
   • Evening entry to a hot spring park near La Fortuna, with dinner

   Temps libre : Afternoon free in La Fortuna

   Activité : Bring swimwear and a change of clothes for the hot springs.

   

3. Jour 3 : Arenal at opening, lunch with local women, the waterfall

   La Fortuna to Arenal Volcano National Park, a home kitchen near La Fortuna, then La Fortuna Waterfall

   • Environ 1 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : La Fortuna
   Détail du jour 3

   Arenal is the reason most people come here: a cone of about 1,630 m that erupted without warning in 1968 and stayed active until 2010. Its summit is often in cloud by late morning, so we are at the gate of Arenal Volcano National Park when it opens at about 8 am. A licensed naturalist walks us through regrown forest and over old lava flows, now covered in ferns and shrubs, to a viewpoint over the volcano and Lake Arenal, about 3 to 4 km on mostly gentle trails, with a telescope for toucans, howler monkeys and coatis. The day's 45 km of driving comes in short legs of 15 to 20 minutes. At midday we drive to a home kitchen near La Fortuna, where local women host a home-style lunch for the group; we confirm the hosts and the menu with your dates. In the afternoon, La Fortuna Waterfall, roughly 70 m high, seen from the viewpoint at the top, a few minutes from the entrance, or down about 500 steps to its pool, roughly 15 to 20 minutes each way. The evening is free.

   Compris

   • Arenal Volcano National Park from opening with a licensed naturalist: forest trails, old lava flows and the volcano viewpoint
   • Home-cooked lunch hosted by local women near La Fortuna, confirmed with your dates
   • La Fortuna Waterfall entry

   Activités en option

   • Canyoning, whitewater rafting or ziplining around La Fortuna, booked at the operator's own price

   Option plus facile : Stay at the viewpoint at the top, a few minutes' walk from the entrance with no steep steps, instead of walking down to the pool, or spend the afternoon at the hotel pool.

   Option plus active : Walk down the roughly 500 steps to swim in the pool below the waterfall, about 15 to 20 minutes each way, then climb back up.

   Temps libre : Evening free in La Fortuna

   Activité : About 3 to 4 km on gentle park trails in the morning; 45 km of driving in short legs; the waterfall steps are optional.

   

4. Jour 4 : Across Lake Arenal to Monteverde

   La Fortuna by road to Lake Arenal, by boat across the lake, then by road up to Monteverde

   • Environ 2 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Monteverde
   Détail du jour 4

   There is no direct road from La Fortuna to Monteverde, and the drive round Lake Arenal takes about four hours, so we cross the lake instead. After breakfast a short drive takes us to a dock near the Arenal dam, where a covered boat carries the group and our bags across the water, with the volcano behind us when the sky is clear. Lake Arenal is a reservoir, the largest lake in Costa Rica, formed when the dam was finished in 1979. On the far shore our van meets us for the climb into the Tilarán hills, on a winding, partly unpaved road, to Santa Elena, the village beside the Monteverde reserves at about 1,400 m. Lunch is your choice, and the afternoon is free: after the lake and the mountain road, this is time to settle in, rest or walk the village. At dusk a naturalist leads a two-hour night walk in a private reserve, torch in hand, looking for tree frogs, tarantulas and sleeping birds.

   Compris

   • Van and boat crossing of Lake Arenal, with road transfers either side
   • Guided night walk with a naturalist in a private reserve near Santa Elena

   Option plus facile : Skip the night walk and have an early night after the travel day.

   Temps libre : Lunch and the afternoon free in Santa Elena

   Activité : The night walk is about 2 hours on forest paths; bring a warm layer, as Monteverde evenings are cool.

   

5. Jour 5 : Inside the Monteverde cloud forest

   Santa Elena to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, then a hanging-bridges park

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Monteverde
   Détail du jour 5

   The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve opens at 7 am, and the first hour is the quietest and the best for birds, so we are at the gate when it opens. With a licensed naturalist and a telescope we walk about 3 km of the reserve's trails under trees thick with mosses, bromeliads and orchids, listening for the metallic call of the three-wattled bellbird and looking for the resplendent quetzal, seen most often from about February to June. The reserve was founded in 1972, with land from the Quaker families who settled here in the early 1950s. Lunch back in Santa Elena is your choice. In the afternoon we walk the hanging bridges at a canopy park nearby: a loop of trail and suspension bridges at treetop height, which shows the cloud forest from the level where most of its life happens. If cloud or rain closes in, your guide swaps the morning and afternoon. At about 4 pm, for those who want it, a short visit to a women's craft cooperative in Santa Elena, confirmed with your dates. The evening is free.

   Compris

   • Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve from opening with a licensed naturalist
   • Hanging bridges at a canopy park near Santa Elena
   • Short visit to a women's craft cooperative in Santa Elena, confirmed with your dates (optional)

   Activités en option

   • Ziplining through the canopy, a coffee and chocolate farm tour or a butterfly garden, booked at the operator's own price

   Option plus facile : Skip the hanging bridges or the cooperative visit and spend the afternoon in Santa Elena, or at the hummingbird feeders by the reserve entrance.

   Option plus active : Stay on in the reserve after the guided walk and walk the longer trails to the continental divide viewpoint; the van collects you in the early afternoon.

   Temps libre : Lunch and the evening free

   Activité : About 3 km in the reserve and 2 to 3 km on the bridge trail; paths can be wet and the air is cool and damp.

   

6. Jour 6 : Down to the Pacific, by way of the crocodiles

   Monteverde to the Tárcoles River bridge, then Manuel Antonio

   • Environ 4.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Manuel Antonio
   Détail du jour 6

   Today is the longest drive, about 190 km and four and a half hours at the wheel, a little over our four-hour cap because no shorter road links the cloud forest with the Pacific. We break it with two long stops. We leave Monteverde at about 8 am and wind down out of the hills to the Pan-American Highway, then south towards the Pacific coast road. Our first stop, after about two hours, is the bridge over the Tárcoles River, where large American crocodiles usually lie on the sandbanks below, in plain view from the walkway. A little further down the coast we stop for a sit-down lunch together, then follow the coast road past Jacó and through oil palm plantations to Quepos, and up the hill to Manuel Antonio, our base for two nights. We arrive in the middle of the afternoon. The rest of the day is free: swim in the hotel pool, walk down to Playa Espadilla, the long public beach just outside the national park, or find a terrace for the sunset over the Pacific. Swim only where the water is calm; rip currents are common on this coast.

   Compris

   • Drive from Monteverde to Manuel Antonio with your guide
   • Crocodile stop at the Tárcoles River bridge
   • Sit-down lunch on the coast road

   Temps libre : Late afternoon and evening free in Manuel Antonio

   Activité : About 4.5 hours of driving, split by the Tárcoles stop and a sit-down lunch; about 7 hours door to door.

7. Jour 7 : Manuel Antonio National Park at opening

   A morning in Manuel Antonio National Park

   • Environ 15 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Manuel Antonio
   Détail du jour 7

   Manuel Antonio National Park is small, about 2,000 hectares on land, and popular, with a daily cap on visitors, so we buy tickets ahead and go in at 7 am, when it opens, the air is cooler and the animals are most active. Your naturalist sets the telescope on whatever the forest gives us: two- and three-toed sloths, white-faced capuchins, Central American squirrel monkeys, iguanas and agoutis, and birds from toucans to kingfishers. The main trails are flat and wide, with some stretches of steps; we walk for about two and a half to three hours and end at Playa Manuel Antonio, a curve of pale sand between forested headlands. Stay for a swim, or walk the Punta Catedral loop, then leave when you like before the park closes at about 4 pm. The park is closed one day a week, and we set our dates around it. The afternoon and evening are free.

   Compris

   • Manuel Antonio National Park entry from opening, with a licensed naturalist
   • Beach time at Playa Manuel Antonio inside the park

   Activités en option

   • Mangrove kayaking near Quepos or a catamaran cruise, booked at the operator's own price

   Option plus facile : Walk only the flat main trail to the beach and rest in the shade there.

   Option plus active : Add the Punta Catedral loop, a short steep trail round the headland with views along the coast.

   Temps libre : Afternoon and evening free

   Activité : About 3 to 4 km on mostly flat trails with some steps. Bring water, swimwear and sun cream; the park does not allow some foods and plastic, so pack light.

   

8. Jour 8 : Back to San José

   Manuel Antonio to San José, then a walk through the centre

   • Environ 3 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : San José
   Détail du jour 8

   A free morning on the coast: a last swim, a walk on Playa Espadilla or a coffee with a view. We leave at about 10:30 and take Route 27, the faster road over the coastal hills, about three hours and 170 km to San José, with a sit-down lunch on the way. In the middle of the afternoon your guide leads a walk through the centre. We start at the Teatro Nacional, opened in 1897 and paid for with a tax on coffee exports, and the Plaza de la Cultura in front of it, then follow the Avenida Central pedestrian street to the Plaza de la Democracia. Above the plaza stands the old Bellavista fortress, its walls still marked by bullets: after Costa Rica abolished its army in 1948, the barracks became the Museo Nacional. In the evening the group sits down together for a farewell dinner, and your guide makes sure everyone has her airport time.

   Compris

   • Drive from Manuel Antonio to San José with your guide
   • Sit-down lunch on the way
   • Guided walk in central San José: the Teatro Nacional, Avenida Central, the Plaza de la Democracia and the Bellavista fortress
   • Farewell dinner

   Temps libre : Morning free in Manuel Antonio

   

9. Jour 9 : Fly home

   San José to Juan Santamaría International Airport

   • Environ 45 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   Détail du jour 9

   Breakfast is your last meal together, and the morning is yours until it is time to go. If your flight leaves in the afternoon, there is time for a final look round: the Museo del Oro Precolombino beneath the Plaza de la Cultura, the Mercado Central for coffee to take home, or a slow breakfast on a café terrace. Your transfer to Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) is included whatever your flight time; the drive takes about 30 to 45 minutes, longer at rush hour, and we time the pick-up from your flight. For international flights, plan to be at the airport about three hours before departure. Your guide checks everyone's flight times the night before and says goodbye at the hotel. Your driver is booked through us, so there is no need to find a taxi on the street. If you would like to stay on in Costa Rica, ask us when you book and we can quote extra nights in San José or on the coast.

   Compris

   • Drop-off at Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)

   Temps libre : Free until your airport transfer

   Activité : Any flight time works; book a flight after about 11 am if you want a free morning in San José.

Faune et météo : December to April is the drier season on the Pacific side; May to November is the green season, with sunny mornings, afternoon rain and fewer visitors. Monteverde is cool and misty in any month, and Arenal's summit is in cloud more often than not, which is why we look early. Wildlife is wild: sloths, monkeys and toucans are seen on most trips, but we cannot promise any one animal.

• San José1 nuit
• La Fortuna2 nuits
• Monteverde2 nuits
• Manuel Antonio2 nuits
• San José1 nuit