Central America - First time in Costa Rica

Hi All,

I am going with my girlfriend to Costa Rica in early December for 6 nights. I have read many of the previous posts with comments and suggestions and they have been very helpful. I have a few questions of my own that I'd love people's opinion on.

We are flying into SJO and the "tourist" destinations we're planning on going to are:

Arenal (Volcano)
Monteverde (Cloud Forest)
Manuel Antonio
Dominical (this is a maybe)

Here are my questions:

How long does it take to go from Arenal to Monteverde? What is the best means of transportation?

How much time do we need to spend in the Arenal area?

Is the above too much for a weeks time?

We want a beach to relax on - should we go to Dominical or will Manuel Antonio fit our needs?

Any other suggestions or comments that you have would be great! Much appreciated!

That's an awful lot to pack into six nights. The thing you'll discover about Costa Rica is that the country is small, but the highway system is not the best. It takes a lot more time than you think to get from one place to another.

With a week, I would limit myself to Arenal and Manuel Antonio. That's kind of the classic first timer's trip. Both destinations are crowd pleasers and have a lot to do and see.

I definitely wouldn't do both Manuel Antonio and Dominical in such a short trip, but you could do Dominical instead of MA. It's a bit farther away though.

Thanks so much!

That's an awful lot to pack into six nights. The thing you'll discover about Costa Rica is that the country is small, but the highway system is not the best. It takes a lot more time than you think to get from one place to another.

With a week, I would limit myself to Arenal and Manuel Antonio. That's kind of the classic first timer's trip. Both destinations are crowd pleasers and have a lot to do and see.

I definitely wouldn't do both Manuel Antonio and Dominical in such a short trip, but you could do Dominical instead of MA. It's a bit farther away though.