I recently got laid off from my job. So what’s a girl to do? After finding out that my reformed party-girl-turned-missionary sister Ashley was graduating from her mission in San Jose, Costa Rica, I booked a flight to join my sister Autumn to celebrate Ashley’s love for Jesus and all things righteous. When I called my mom and told her I got a ticket, all she had to say was “Just come back from the frickin’ jungle.”
So with a Frommer’s guidebook I found in my living room in one hand and my fingers typing away doing internet research with the other, I began investigating Costa Rica. I’ll be leaving San Francisco on June 6th and arriving in San Jose on June 7th, spending the first two days doing whatever the Good Lord has on his agenda for Ashley’s graduation.
So that left me with five full days to explore the rest of the country outside of the capital. I quickly found out that having only five days requires a very tight agenda since it takes, on average, four hours to get from one major point of interest to another. The sun also sets and rises at 5:30 every day and the national parks close around 4pm, so timing has to be considered.
So after much research and believe it or not, THOUGHT put into the planning, the up-in-the-air itinerary below is what I just e-mailed to Autumn. She’ll either be happy I did something semi-productive with my spare time or she’ll dismiss the whole agenda as a silly plan. But anyways, I’m posting this online to hopefully help others who only have a short amount of time to spend in Costa Rica and don’t have a ton of time to figure things out for themselves!
Saturday, June 9th:
-from San Jose, catch a bus (8am) to Arenal (~4 hours) on Grayline tourist bus for $29 or a city bus (4.5 hours) for $3 from 5am and on, every half hour
-check into lodging around 12pm (one option: http://www.cangreja-lodge.com/Cangreja%20Lodge/english/hotel.htm , http://www.arenal.net/hotel/la-cangreja-lodge/) $50 + tax/room. It’s supposed to be located right across from the best lava flow viewing area. There’s always the Arenal Observatory Lodge ($55 + tax-includes full breakfast buffet, swimming pool & jacuzzi) or a cheap hostel
-have lunch in town
-hike to La Fortuna Falls (3 hour round trip hike-closes at 4pm), OR hike around Arenal National Park ($6 pp)
-go to Tabacon Hot Springs, buy evening pass, 6pm-10pm, $40 (could go to smaller, cheaper hot springs, but this is the biggest and most famous)
-go to El Novillo for dinner – good view of volcano – good steaks, garlic seabass, etc… (open 10am-midnight)
-OR instead of Tabacon & El Novillo, go to Eco Thermales hot springs from 5pm-9pm w/dinner for ~36. (Need reservations)
Sunday, June 10th:
-9am, take a shuttle/boat/shuttle combo ($25) over to Monteverde (arrive at 12:30pm), it cuts out hours of bus time: http://www.arenal.net/tour/monteverde-boat-taxi.htm
-check into lodging
-have lunch, can visit the Cheese Factory, go to the visitor center in the middle of town to look for 1/2 price tix for Canopy Tour to soar through the trees: http://www.canopytour.com/monteverde.html
-go on a 2:30pm Canopy Tour (lasts 2-2.5 hours) http://www.canopytour.com/monteverde.html Tix are usually: • $45 charge per adult. • $35 per student (12 years and older).
-have dinner/go to a bar or something
Monday, June 11th:
-go to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve in the morning (best time to go) to hike through the jungle $12, $6.50 students
-have lunch
-can catch the 2:45pm Grayline bus (for tourists) to Manuel Antonio/Quepos (it’s $38, ~4 hours). I can’t find info right now about a city bus from Monteverde to M.A., but there probably is one. The Grayline bus is safer though, especially since 1/2 the ride will be after the sun sets.
-arrive in Manuel Antonio/Quepos around 7pm
-check into lodging (read about this place: Blue Monkey (Mono Azul): http://hotelmonoazul.com/cover.htm
-have dinner
Tuesday, June 12th:
-wake up early, have breakfast, and go to Manuel Antonio National Park to hike, see wild monkeys, go to the beaches, etc. ($6 pp - opens at 8am)
-catch 5:15pm flight on Nature Air from Quepos Airport to San Jose ($28 each, includes taxes). Duration: 25 minutes!
-check into lodging (could stay the night in Heredia, see day below for more info. I would have to leave very early though to get to San Jose to catch the tour, which would be okay).
-maybe go to Mirador Ram Luna for dinner: http://www.frommers.com/destinations/sanjosecostarica/0042028262.html
Wednesday, June 13th:
-I get picked up early in the morning to go on this day tour: http://ecoscapetours.com/
-You wander around San Jose or take a bus to the nearby colonial town of Heredia or one of the following in the morning (30-45 minutes away): http://www.frommers.com/destinations/sanjosecostarica/0042026092.html
-You go to the airport for your 2:55pm flight (a taxi from Heredia to the airport is cheap…$2)
*** There’s a $26 airport departure tax from Costa Rica to the States
Thursday, June 14th:
- I go to Heredia in the morning and then catch my 2:55pm flight
-Arrive at SFO at 11:20pm on June 14th, if I make it back from the frickin' jungle!
2 comments:
I can make it to San Jose in less than an hour. By car.
CR seems too expensive to me. Of course, it would be if you stay in hotels with jacuzzi, go to famous hot springs, eat garlic seabass and spank (I mean, pet) wild monkeys.
Of course you can do it ultra-budget so it won't be too expensive. You can be one with nature and pitch a tent for a mere $2/night at the national parks! Found out today that Ashley and her boyfriend will be joining us until the 12th, so we'll be renting a car instead. My whole itinerary was probably a big waste of time. Oh well. I'd like to go to Montezuma too and skip one of the other places. I might have to cut out spanking the monkeys : (
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