Two days to kill in Costa Rica...

After my Aug 18-26 trip on the Okeanos Aggressor to Cocos, I've got two days to kill in Costa Rica. I was originally going to try to visit a friend down in Dominical but unfortunately he has to get back to the US before my Cocos trip ends.

Given that I'm going to have a lot of luggage I'd rather not run around with all my diving gear +u/w cameras so I was thinking of dumping them off at a hotel in San Jose or if the Airport has decent luggage storage you can trust...

What are some daytrips or even overnite trips that you would recommend from San Jose. Would love to get out to Tamarindo but it looks a bit too far without flying. Maybe Jaco beach for some surfing? Or just head out to Arenal lake/ volcano area? I'll skip on the white water rafting...

After my Aug 18-26 trip on the Okeanos Aggressor to Cocos, I've got two days to kill in Costa Rica. I was originally going to try to visit a friend down in Dominical but unfortunately he has to get back to the US before my Cocos trip ends.

 

Given that I'm going to have a lot of luggage I'd rather not run around with all my diving gear +u/w cameras so I was thinking of dumping them off at a hotel in San Jose or if the Airport has decent luggage storage you can trust...

 

What are some daytrips or even overnite trips that you would recommend from San Jose. Would love to get out to Tamarindo but it looks a bit too far without flying. Maybe Jaco beach for some surfing? Or just head out to Arenal lake/ volcano area? I'll skip on the white water rafting...

Arenal is a beautiful area. I recall it's about 4 hours or so by car from San Jose. Also a great place to relax after Cocos in the hot springs.

Great time of year for Cocos.

This time is also good for visiting Carara, a park that's on the road between San Jose and Puerto Arenas -- doable as a day trip from SJ, though you should leave early to avoid hot weather and/or rain. If Freddy's guiding, he's good -- I've gone with him twice. I've lost my contact info, though.

For an overnight trip, Monteverde would be a lot of driving but might be worth it. May be some quetzals that time of year.

Quick trips up the nearby volcanos are touristy but fun.

It's a lot of driving to get to Arenal and back in a day, and it's very likely to be cloud-covered this time of year -- but worth the gamble.

I drove upto Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui, its on a loop road that could be a nice quick tour, but a fair bit of driving. On the coach on the way down the rep will be offering some bits and piece for the group to do, but only having one night doesnt give you a lot of flexibility.

After a trip on the Okeanos you might just want to sit in a 5 star hotel and relax for a while, it certainly isnt their flagship vessel in terms of luxury!

yep, I'm leaning towards just relaxiing for the those two days. Been speaking with a friend who has property on the beach there. He'll be able to arrange for a taxi to pick me up a the port. He's got a nice house down on Dominical, so I'll probably just chill and at most maybe try to catch a few waves there.

we got a van and driver from bill beard's travel agency, driver's name was Carlos, he was great. Did arenal, the hot springs (great after the okeanos), a river raft trip, a canopy tour.

We stored luggage at the marriot in san jose, it was safe.

Get to a butterfly farm, there was one in san jose. Only takes an hour or two, very cool stop.

I did a two week assignment in Costa Rica for Bill Beards Costa Rica at the end of April and would recommend the following.

Volcano Lodge, (if you want to over night) at Arenal Volcano.

Pure Trek Canyoning- near Volcano Lodge.

Canopy tours, I.E. Zip lines- several around San Jose.

Lapaz Waterfalls- about two hours from San Jose is great for nature photographers. Birds, butterfiles, frogs, snakes, flowers falling water, lush rain forest and a great lunch included.

Phil Rudin

You can't find a much more versatile place for nature lovers than Costa Rica.

I'll vote also for the Arenal area.

the night in the hot water at tabacon, cold beer in my hand and the active volcano above me was one of the great timesI ever had.

We stayed at Tabacon which is right next to Arenal and had full access to the Tabacon Hot Springs. It was absolutely amazing, especially if you're looking to relax. We floated around the hot springs and racked up a massive bar bill ordering every tropical drink on the menu, but it was worth it. They have a fantastic spa on-site and the food there was fantastic. We were told it was unusual to be able to see the lava flow because there is usually a lot of cloud cover, but we got lucky and had a great show for several nights in a row.

One of the other things I would do again in a heartbeat was the canopy tour. There are some around Arenal, but one of the world's largest, fastest and longest is about an hour + southwest of San Juan. I didn't get there on my last trip, but its high on my list for the next one.

We also went to La Paz Waterfall and it was nice, but a bit more mellow. Very pretty scenery along with way.

Rafting was a blast and mud baths were a lot of fun too.