Hello fellow travelers,
My wife and I are planning our anniversary trip and decided to visit Costa Rica. We have a total of 10 days from Early to Mid June of 2025 and would like to see as much as possible
As much as I would love to see the entire country, I understand that 10 days is just not enough, because there are so many interesting places in such a small country. I have spent the last few days watching YouTube videos about the best places in the country and have made a list of interesting places grouped according to regions
We are from Los Angeles, We have plenty of dry weather and beaches in LA. That’s why we may not visit the Guanacaste peninsula in the north west because I understand it’s a dryer region known more for beaches, surfing etc, even though it does have other attractions
We would like at least a couple of days of beach time relaxation but from what I understand the other regions, notably the southern pacific coast has plenty of beautiful beaches as well, for example Manuel Antonio state park and a few others (please recommend)
We are more interested in seeing things that Costa Rica is known for. For example, rainforests, cloud forests, exotic wildlife, private guided wildlife tour, adventuring and activities such as horseback riding, zip lining, snorkeling, ATVs, catamaran sunset and/or dinner boat tour, maybe even fishing, and anything else you can suggest
We will be landing at the Capitol city San Jose in early June. From there, we’re considering doing the following, but I’m very open to suggestions and changes. I also need to figure out how many days to spend in each region to balance out the 10 days and see as much as possible without spending too much or too little time in each region. We also don’t want to be rushing too much as we do want to enjoy our trip, rather than scrambling all the time. I’m thinking 3 to 4 regions will be the maximum we can visit in 10 days, spending 2 to 3 days in each region staying at a different hotel/base for each region
We land early in the morning at San Jose, YouTube videos recommended not spending too much time in the city, although I wouldn’t mind checking out the central market and trying out a few local foods before we get our rental car and hit the road. Our return flight to Los Angeles 10 days later leaves at midnight so we can also enjoy the city on our last day when we return to the capital
Day 1 2 and 3: spend a couple morning hours exploring the city, then get the rental car and drive to La Fortuna / Arenal volcano area where we can stay maybe 3 days and do the following activities
Arenal & LA Fortuna areas
Arenal Volcano national park
Canopy tour & mistico hanging bridges
La fortuna waterfall
Tabacon hot spring resort with River
Ecotermales hot springs
Free River hot springs off road side
Salto rope swing
White water rafting
Rio Celeste
Arbol de La paz June 1989 (largest tree)
Days 4 and 5: drive from La fortuna to Monteverde cloud forest area where we can spend a couple of days doing the following activities
Monteverde cloud forest areas
Monteverde $25
or
Santa Elena $18 (denser forest, less crowded)
Take a guide if you want to see more animals
You’ll see more animals with night tour
Zip line tour 100% aventura
Catarata del Toro waterfall
Days 6 ,7,8,9 and 10
Drive to the pacific coast and spend the rest of our trip visiting/doing the following places/activities until the day of our flight, and then driving back to the Capitol San Jose for our midnight flight to Los Angeles. I feel like we will be stretched out the dentist on the last five days traveling south down the pacific coast because there is so much to do and everything I listed is not at the same place so I will probably need to choose the best ones and or choose them based off location. Also some of them for example Osa peninsula/corcovado national park may require multiple days…
The coast / Manuel Antonio / Southern regions
Isla tortuga north of Jaco, gulf of Nicoya
Tarcoles River bridge crocodile viewpoint north of Jaco
Playa herradura next to Jaco
Jaco
Playa Hermosa near Jaco, not for swimming
Quepos / Manuel Antonio national park
La Playita small secluded beach in MA
La Selva trail in MA less crowded
Playa Biesanz (snorkel and swim)
Playa Espadilla
Alturas wildlife sanctuary in Dominical
Nauyaca waterfall
Playa Hermosa south near Uvita swim low tide
Uvita (whale tail sand bar beach and park)
Catamaran cruise & snorkeling
Cano island
Ojochal town as base for Corcovado
Osa peninsula (south) most bio diverse area
Corcovado national park, golfo dulce
The activities I have listed above are what I have found so far for the three regions I listed. We would also love to visit the Caribbean coast and a couple of other regions but realistically, I don’t know if we will have enough time, I would like to also see if not on this trip then I will visit them the next trip,
San Jose
Centro market
Irazu volcano
La paz wildlife refuge
Catarata vuelta del canon
Caribbean
Punta Uva beach
Puerto viejo
Cahuita national park
Guanacaste / Tamarindo
Playa conchal
Playa Manzanillo
Playa Samara (turtles)
Rio Negro hot springs
Isla tortuga gulf of Nicoya
Other questions
Any recommendations for a rental car? I was told to get some thing with all wheel drive or 4 x 4, because the roads in Costa Rica are known to be rough, especially when it rains. I found a company recommended by a YouTuber called “car_rentals_costa_rica_and_USA” on Instagram and WhatsApp, the owners name is Jairo. Apparently Costa Rica is known for adding on insurance, taxes and fees when you show up. after calling you a lower price online, but Jairos rates are no surprises it includes the listed charges and he works with Alamo. I was quoted about $55 per day for a small/mid SUV (Suzuki Vitata) automatic 4x4 with basic insurance coverage. (Full coverage costs more) it was also recommended to use WAZE app to navigate instead of google maps, please advise
Please see attached screenshots of the route We are considering taking and the rental car
Also we are open to stopping at any interesting places while driving at any point in the country. I took a look at the route and noticed a few places so far that may be worth stopping on the way to our destinations, including these
Catarata Del Toro (waterfall) on the way to La Fortuna
Tarcoles crodocile viewing bridge on the way to Jaco
Any advice on where to stay? What type of hotel is the best option or maybe AirBnB? We will be eating mostly at restraints I’m assuming, and maybe snacks and to go food while traveling or while in nature. We don’t need all inclusive hotels that would be a waste of money I think
Please excuse the very long post, I know it’s a lot so thank you for taking the time to read it, we are hoping to get some solid advice on how to make this the best trip possible because this may be a once in a lifetime trip and we don’t want to have any regrets on how we planned and executed our trip. We are very very grateful to the good people here who take the time to help us. We’re looking forward to your responses. Thank you very much.
Alen
My wife and I are planning our anniversary trip and decided to visit Costa Rica. We have a total of 10 days from Early to Mid June of 2025 and would like to see as much as possible
As much as I would love to see the entire country, I understand that 10 days is just not enough, because there are so many interesting places in such a small country. I have spent the last few days watching YouTube videos about the best places in the country and have made a list of interesting places grouped according to regions
We are from Los Angeles, We have plenty of dry weather and beaches in LA. That’s why we may not visit the Guanacaste peninsula in the north west because I understand it’s a dryer region known more for beaches, surfing etc, even though it does have other attractions
We would like at least a couple of days of beach time relaxation but from what I understand the other regions, notably the southern pacific coast has plenty of beautiful beaches as well, for example Manuel Antonio state park and a few others (please recommend)
We are more interested in seeing things that Costa Rica is known for. For example, rainforests, cloud forests, exotic wildlife, private guided wildlife tour, adventuring and activities such as horseback riding, zip lining, snorkeling, ATVs, catamaran sunset and/or dinner boat tour, maybe even fishing, and anything else you can suggest
We will be landing at the Capitol city San Jose in early June. From there, we’re considering doing the following, but I’m very open to suggestions and changes. I also need to figure out how many days to spend in each region to balance out the 10 days and see as much as possible without spending too much or too little time in each region. We also don’t want to be rushing too much as we do want to enjoy our trip, rather than scrambling all the time. I’m thinking 3 to 4 regions will be the maximum we can visit in 10 days, spending 2 to 3 days in each region staying at a different hotel/base for each region
We land early in the morning at San Jose, YouTube videos recommended not spending too much time in the city, although I wouldn’t mind checking out the central market and trying out a few local foods before we get our rental car and hit the road. Our return flight to Los Angeles 10 days later leaves at midnight so we can also enjoy the city on our last day when we return to the capital
Day 1 2 and 3: spend a couple morning hours exploring the city, then get the rental car and drive to La Fortuna / Arenal volcano area where we can stay maybe 3 days and do the following activities
Arenal & LA Fortuna areas
Arenal Volcano national park
Canopy tour & mistico hanging bridges
La fortuna waterfall
Tabacon hot spring resort with River
Ecotermales hot springs
Free River hot springs off road side
Salto rope swing
White water rafting
Rio Celeste
Arbol de La paz June 1989 (largest tree)
Days 4 and 5: drive from La fortuna to Monteverde cloud forest area where we can spend a couple of days doing the following activities
Monteverde cloud forest areas
Monteverde $25
or
Santa Elena $18 (denser forest, less crowded)
Take a guide if you want to see more animals
You’ll see more animals with night tour
Zip line tour 100% aventura
Catarata del Toro waterfall
Days 6 ,7,8,9 and 10
Drive to the pacific coast and spend the rest of our trip visiting/doing the following places/activities until the day of our flight, and then driving back to the Capitol San Jose for our midnight flight to Los Angeles. I feel like we will be stretched out the dentist on the last five days traveling south down the pacific coast because there is so much to do and everything I listed is not at the same place so I will probably need to choose the best ones and or choose them based off location. Also some of them for example Osa peninsula/corcovado national park may require multiple days…
The coast / Manuel Antonio / Southern regions
Isla tortuga north of Jaco, gulf of Nicoya
Tarcoles River bridge crocodile viewpoint north of Jaco
Playa herradura next to Jaco
Jaco
Playa Hermosa near Jaco, not for swimming
Quepos / Manuel Antonio national park
La Playita small secluded beach in MA
La Selva trail in MA less crowded
Playa Biesanz (snorkel and swim)
Playa Espadilla
Alturas wildlife sanctuary in Dominical
Nauyaca waterfall
Playa Hermosa south near Uvita swim low tide
Uvita (whale tail sand bar beach and park)
Catamaran cruise & snorkeling
Cano island
Ojochal town as base for Corcovado
Osa peninsula (south) most bio diverse area
Corcovado national park, golfo dulce
The activities I have listed above are what I have found so far for the three regions I listed. We would also love to visit the Caribbean coast and a couple of other regions but realistically, I don’t know if we will have enough time, I would like to also see if not on this trip then I will visit them the next trip,
San Jose
Centro market
Irazu volcano
La paz wildlife refuge
Catarata vuelta del canon
Caribbean
Punta Uva beach
Puerto viejo
Cahuita national park
Guanacaste / Tamarindo
Playa conchal
Playa Manzanillo
Playa Samara (turtles)
Rio Negro hot springs
Isla tortuga gulf of Nicoya
Other questions
Any recommendations for a rental car? I was told to get some thing with all wheel drive or 4 x 4, because the roads in Costa Rica are known to be rough, especially when it rains. I found a company recommended by a YouTuber called “car_rentals_costa_rica_and_USA” on Instagram and WhatsApp, the owners name is Jairo. Apparently Costa Rica is known for adding on insurance, taxes and fees when you show up. after calling you a lower price online, but Jairos rates are no surprises it includes the listed charges and he works with Alamo. I was quoted about $55 per day for a small/mid SUV (Suzuki Vitata) automatic 4x4 with basic insurance coverage. (Full coverage costs more) it was also recommended to use WAZE app to navigate instead of google maps, please advise
Please see attached screenshots of the route We are considering taking and the rental car
Also we are open to stopping at any interesting places while driving at any point in the country. I took a look at the route and noticed a few places so far that may be worth stopping on the way to our destinations, including these
Catarata Del Toro (waterfall) on the way to La Fortuna
Tarcoles crodocile viewing bridge on the way to Jaco
Any advice on where to stay? What type of hotel is the best option or maybe AirBnB? We will be eating mostly at restraints I’m assuming, and maybe snacks and to go food while traveling or while in nature. We don’t need all inclusive hotels that would be a waste of money I think
Please excuse the very long post, I know it’s a lot so thank you for taking the time to read it, we are hoping to get some solid advice on how to make this the best trip possible because this may be a once in a lifetime trip and we don’t want to have any regrets on how we planned and executed our trip. We are very very grateful to the good people here who take the time to help us. We’re looking forward to your responses. Thank you very much.
Alen
