Monteverde in March - please help to plan
 

We are a family of 3 (2 adults and a teenager) plan to go to CR for the first time. Here is the plan so far:

5 nights in March

Fly have an option of flying either to SJO or LIR, rent a car, go to Monteverde
Stay in the Hidden Tree house hotel, spend 2 days exploring a rainforest and 3 days to drive around the area and explore.

Questions:

- Which airport is better to fly into? Any rental car place you can recommend?
- What are other things to see within 1 hour driving distance from where we will stay?
- Any other suggestions or thoughts?

Only have limited experience in the area, but if it were me I wouldn't rent a car in CR. Don't expect paved roads all the way to Monteverde, they can be very rough and are not signed well. In foul weather even treacherous. Last time there I hired a car/driver for about $100 USD IIRC each way to SJO. Taxis are cheap in the town of Monteverde and any cafe/souvenir shop will gladly call one for you.

The Monteverde Cloudforest (technically not a rainforest) is an amazing area to hike. You may want to get a guide the first day who will point out the native animals, birds, insects, and strange plants, but also consider a second day hike by yourselves just to appreciate the quiet and serene beauty. Binoculars are a must.

Didn't get too far from Monteverde (preferred to use the extra days to see the Arenal Volcano,) but close to town are a working dairy founded by Quakers which offers some amazing ice cream, a butterfly museum, the Tigre trail. Look for the hummingbird feeders outside of some of the businesses, the violet sabre-wings are amazing. Am sure there must be some zip-line runs in the area.

A few non-sequitur thoughts that you probably already know...

1. USD are welcomed most everywhere. Make sure you take new-er, crisp-er bills as they don't like tattered ones.

2. Get the phone number of an English speaking on call physician from the hotel when you check-in and carry it with you. Medical services are very good in San Jose but hard to locate elsewhere.

3. When you're at the airport returning home there may be some hawkers selling 'airport exit stamps' outside the airport. You do need a stamp, but only purchase them inside the terminal not one of the fake ones outside.

Anyway have a great time and am looking forward to some comments from the locals. Can't wait to make it back to CR myself.

the road to monteverde has to be the worst road we have that leads towards a major tourism destination (I am sure that I can find worse roads , its just not the ones that go where the tourists go)

even you decide to rent a car, definitively get one with a GPS

regarding car rental, stick to major /known companies, make sure you dont leave valuables in clear sight in the car (passports, cameras ,laptops, crazy I know but happens here ALL THE TIME)

Arenal is good (lots of things to do there, caverns with bats, waterfall, volcano, canopy , etc), if you fly into SJO do Poas then Paz waterfall /butterfly gardens

if you fly late into SJO or LIR, do NOT try to head out that very night, its hard enough to drive in here during day :)

We just came back from a 10 day trip to Costa Rica. Flew into LIR (landed around 12:30PM - the flight was a full hour early, which we were told is common), and headed to Monteverde right away. We were in our hotel room by 5pm, in time to unpack and watch the sunset. We opted not to drive, and the drive from LIR to Monteverde reconfirmed that choice as a good one. It has got to be one of the worst roads I've ever been on - the only one worse was the road from Monteverde to Arenal. The first hour - hour and a half is paved, but then you turn off the Panamericano, and it's an unpaved, pothole-filled, rocky dirt road the entire way to Monteverde. Uphill, then downhill, then uphill again. We spent equal time driving on the left side of the road as the right - our driver was avoiding potholes which could easily take out your wheels. The drive from LIR to Monteverde is about four hours, though in mileage it seems like it should be a lot quicker. If you rent a car, you definitely want a 4x4 with a decent insurance. Depending on what time you land, you may be fine driving to Monteverde the same day, but just make sure you don't do it in the dark. And you need a GPS, because locals tend to give directions based on landmarks, like "make a right after the high school", but since you don't know where the high school is, it's not exactly straightforward.

We did a guided hike in the cloud forest and went to Selvatura for the suspension bridges. It was a cold day, so we couldn't see butterflies (they were't active), but saw the Hummingbird Garden and the Terrarium. We did Selvatura before the cloud forest, and saw a false coral snake in the Terrarium and one in the cloud forest the next day, which was pretty neat. We also did a tour of a coffee plantation, which was a private plantation, and the man who owns it took us through what he does, etc - he works on it himself and belongs to the cooperative which arranges these tours. You can do zip-lining in Selvatura, I think, and take the suspension bridges back to the parking lot/office. In Santa Elena, we went to the Orchid Garden, though skipped the Terrarium since we've already gotten our fill of all that crawls in Selvatura.

From what I saw, though I am by no means an expert, driving around Monteverde is an effort. Two days was plenty for us, after which we took the jeep-boat-jeep Interbus transfer to Arenal, and spent three days there. There is lots to do in Arenal, but I am not sure how long it will take you to drive from Arenal to LIR. The more sensible itinerary in terms of time (focusing on not wasting any unnecessarily) may be to fly into SJO, drive to Arenal, then drive to Monteverde, and then drive to LIR, or the other way around. It took three hours between Monteverde and Arenal, and thats with a boat - by car, it takes another 1.5 hours to go around the lake, though that road is paved, but windy.

Ok guys, now I am even more confused than a few days before.. Reading all kinds of trip reports on the net! Should not do that...

So we have 5 full days in CR. For now I am thinking to spend 2 days here:
http://treehouseshotelcostarica.com/...ica-hotel.html which will give us a plantiful rainforest experience. It is also close to Arenal, judging from the tours they offer. We can skip Monteverde all togehter.

and then two days here:
http://www.rafikisafari.com/

plan to do some whitewater rafting

what do you think? Should we try to squeeze a trip to the beach? If so, which one will be relatively close?

Just got back from CR. LIR is a much easier airport than SJO. If you need to spend the night upon arrival Liberia is a safer and more pleasant choice then San Jose.

Public transportation is real easy in CR. Buses go everywhere and are cheap. If time and comfort are an issue, there are private shuttle vans going to beach towns, Monteverde, La Fortuna, etc. There's also a 4-hour jeep-boat connection between Monteverde and La fortuna that saves time and is scenic.

Would love to visit Costa Rica someday..

Our plans firmed up and we are not going t oMonteverde after all. We will spend 2 nights in Tree houses lodge, not too far from La Fortuna, 2 nights in Rafiki lodge and 1 night in Tulemar gardens.

something else is bothering me quite a bit - snakes... Recently I came across of statistics that there are about 700 snake bites in Costa Rica every year, resulting in death. Let alone I am an deathly afraid of any snakes, including garden, now that we booked to stay on a tree house and in the tent on the camping ground - please please please tell me it is still a good idea to go....

well I have never been bitten and I have spent a few decades in here :D

only suggestion is, if you go into jungle trails (slippery etc ) be careful what you grab on to. just grab a stick and use it as a cane or something

I've been going to Costa Rica for nearly fifty years and led natural history tours there, spending plenty of time in the bush on my own (and have driven to Monteverde sveral times - for those not used to really rutted "terracería" roads, don't do it - and the road from here / Santa Elena to Arenál is definitely worse).

Snakes are much more afraid of you than you are of them. There is not much of a chance you will ever see one; I avidly look for them and have seen a few, but then again I know where to look.

There are 17 venomous species in Costa Rica; the commonest venomous species include the eyelash palm-pit viper (Bothriechis shclegelii), and the Fer de lance / Terciopelo (Bothrops asper); the former is small and wants a lizard, the latter is extremely venomous, is usually 4 - 6 feet long (can be longer) and is quite a nasty and irritable customer when disturbed, found in a wide variety of habitats. These guys are responsible for most of those 700 bites, and they are mainly to field workers, especially those working in the cane fields.

That being said, it can only strike about one third of its body length, is nocturnal and is unlikely to be encountered if you do not go tromping through the bush without watching where you put your feet (or volunteer for an extended period of cane cutting ;)).

Your hosts will be quite aware of dangerous critters and you will be quite safe. Don't worry - go enjoy and learn. Maybe take some binoculars - the bird life is spectacular, and it's likely your resorts will have nectar feeders for some hummingbirds and even butterflies (Morphos are quite spectacular).

Do take some insect repellent - purujas can be very small but nasty biters and as visitors you will not have any built up resistance to the histamines they may inject whilst getting their blood meal. And take some rain protection as well. But mostly, enjoy this new habitat you are going to!

Go, have fun -- the only thing you should worry about is what kind of margarita to order. In touristy areas they're virtually non-existent and you shouldn't have time to get into trouble in only 5 days -- sort of like saying "I won't go to Las Vegas because I've heard there are rattlesnakes in Nevada" -- true statement but incredibly unlikely.

Although on my trip while waaay out in the sticks looking for animals we did happen to spot a lora (green palm viper) and our local driver was amazed saying it was the first true one he'd seen in over 20 years (as opposed to the common lora falso which looks similar but is harmless.)

"what kind of margarita to order. In touristy areas they're virtually non-existent "
Nonsense! I was able to get margaritas everywhere I went.:)

p.s. The town is Santa Elena, the park is Monteverde.

Sorry if I wasn't clear. The 'they're virtually non-existent" was referring to snakes in a touristy area. Although it would have been pretty hard to get margaritas in a few places I went to -- didn't want to pack a blender and couldn't find a tree with an outlet.

Thank you Jdiver for a thorough answer. I will try not to freak out. Leaving on Thursday. Bought a pair of hiking boots, very lightweight, but sturdy.

Also got Deep Wood repellent and repellent bracelets that light up in the dark.

So far we booked a hike trip to Arenal and Hor Sptrings. Also, whitewater rafting on Saverge river.

Just a joke, Zarf. (And there other margaritas than blended, you know!):)