Costa Rica: Arenal, Monteverde and Manuel Antonio

1. Day 1: Arrive in San José

   Juan Santamaría International Airport to your hotel in San José

   • Drive about 45 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in San José
   Day 1 details

   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. If you land early, the Mercado Central, a covered market of narrow aisles with sodas, spice stalls and coffee sellers, is a short walk from the centre. At about 6 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a briefing on the week: how the days run, what to pack for the cloud forest, and which early starts are worth it and why. Then we walk to a local restaurant for a welcome dinner of Costa Rican dishes such as casado, gallo pinto and fresh fruit drinks. Tomorrow starts after breakfast, at about 8 am.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner

   Free time: Free until the evening briefing

   Activity: Land by about 4 pm to join the briefing; later arrivals are met and briefed the next morning.

2. Day 2: Over the mountains to Arenal

   San José to Zarcero, then La Fortuna

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in La Fortuna
   Day 2 details

   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.

   Included

   • 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

   Free time: Afternoon free in La Fortuna

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

   

3. Day 3: Arenal at opening, then the waterfall

   La Fortuna to Arenal Volcano National Park, then La Fortuna Waterfall

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in La Fortuna
   Day 3 details

   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. The trails are mostly gentle, about 3 to 4 km in all, and the naturalist carries a telescope for the toucans, howler monkeys and coatis we may meet. We are back in town by noon, and lunch is your choice. In the afternoon we drive about ten minutes to La Fortuna Waterfall, roughly 70 m high, dropping into a forest pool. A viewpoint sits at the top; the pool is about 500 steps down, and you can swim. The evening is free.

   Included

   • Arenal Volcano National Park from opening with a licensed naturalist: forest trails, old lava flows and the volcano viewpoint
   • La Fortuna Waterfall entry

   Optional experiences

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

   Easier option: Stay at the waterfall viewpoint at the top instead of walking down to the pool, or spend the afternoon at the hotel pool.

   More active option: Walk down the roughly 500 steps to swim in the pool below the waterfall, then climb back up.

   Free time: Lunch and the evening free in La Fortuna

   Activity: About 3 to 4 km on gentle park trails in the morning; the waterfall steps are optional.

   

4. Day 4: Across Lake Arenal to Monteverde

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

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Monteverde
   Day 4 details

   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, the last stretch on a winding, partly unpaved road, to Santa Elena, the village beside the Monteverde reserves at about 1,400 m. We arrive around midday, and lunch and the afternoon are yours. At dusk we go out with a naturalist on a two-hour guided night walk in a private reserve, torch in hand, looking for sleeping birds, tarantulas, tree frogs and, with luck, a sloth or a kinkajou.

   Included

   • 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

   Free time: Lunch and the afternoon free in Santa Elena

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

   

5. Day 5: Inside the Monteverde cloud forest

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

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Monteverde
   Day 5 details

   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. The evening is free.

   Included

   • Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve from opening with a licensed naturalist
   • Hanging bridges at a canopy park near Santa Elena

   Optional experiences

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

   Easier option: Skip the hanging bridges and spend the afternoon in Santa Elena, or at the hummingbird feeders by the reserve entrance.

   More active option: 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.

   Free time: Lunch and the evening free

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

   Monteverde to the Tárcoles River bridge, then Manuel Antonio

   • Drive about 4 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Manuel Antonio
   Day 6 details

   Today is the longest drive, about four hours and 190 km, so we break it in two. 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.

   Included

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

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free in Manuel Antonio

   Activity: About 4 hours of driving, split by the Tárcoles stop and lunch.

7. Day 7: Manuel Antonio National Park at opening

   A morning in Manuel Antonio National Park

   • Drive about 15 min
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Manuel Antonio
   Day 7 details

   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.

   Included

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

   Optional experiences

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

   Easier option: Walk only the flat main trail to the beach and rest in the shade there.

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

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free

   Activity: 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. Day 8: Back to San José

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

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in San José
   Day 8 details

   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.

   Included

   • 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

   Free time: Morning free in Manuel Antonio

   

9. Day 9: Fly home

   San José to Juan Santamaría International Airport

   • Drive about 45 min
   • Breakfast
   Day 9 details

   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. 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.

   Included

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

   Free time: Free until your airport transfer

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

Wildlife and weather: 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 night
• La Fortuna2 nights
• Monteverde2 nights
• Manuel Antonio2 nights
• San José1 night