Teja asked 7 years ago
We land in LIR Feb 15, and are attending a dance workshop at the Blue Spirit Retreat Center in Nosara from Feb 17-24, then doing our own exploring from Feb 24 – Mar 3, when we fly back from SJO. We have 3 questions:
- Since we have 2 days after we land in LIR, before needing to get to the retreat in Nosara, we’re wondering the best use of those 2 days. One person suggested driving up to Rincon de la Vieja, but we heard some of the trails may be closed due to volcano activity, and of course, it means driving another 1-2 hrs away from Nosara, not towards it. Another person suggested spending those 2 nights in Tamarindo, but we’ll already have a full week of beach town time in Nosara. What would you suggest as best 2-day spot to visit before heading down to Nosara?
- Upon leaving Nosara, we have only 7 days before leaving CR. Our current plan is to spend a night in Blijagua, a couple nights in Spring Resort/Tabacon area, and 3 nights (already booked) at the Hidden Canopy Treehouse suites north of Monteverde, then head back to SJO. Of course, all 3 of those are in the general vicinity of Arenal, but we don’t want to spend too much time in the car, trying to get to other parts of the country like, say, Manuel Antonio Pk. We’re open to suggestions if you have favorite spots we should consider instead of the Bijagua-Springs Resort-Monteverde
- We’re debating whether or not to rent a car the first week. The only advantage would be driving freedom those first 2 days on the way to Nosara. Once we arrive at the dance workshop, the car would just be parked for a full week, and there are both shuttles to Blue Spirit Nosara from around Liberia, and car rentals available in Nosara for our second week of exploring, so some say it’s a waste of money, while others say it’s good to have the car for both weeks as you can get great 2-week rates. Your thoughts?
Jenn and Matt Staff answered 7 years ago
Hi Teja,
As far as we know, the trails at Rincon de La Vieja are all open now, except for the very difficult trail that goes up to the top of the volcano (most people wouldn’t do this anyway). That one has been closed for several years due to volcanic gases and other activity. On the other trails you can see all the volcanic features we mention in our post. It sounds like from your separate email that you’re planning to visit Tamarindo instead anyway but I thought I would mention it for others. Tamarindo is a lot different than Nosara so a couple days there will be worth it for you.
One night in Bijagua would be nice on the way to La Fortuna as well. The town is very authentic and there is great wildlife. I can follow up in email but you might be able to do a tour of the Rio Celeste Waterfall on your way to La Fortuna the following day too with the shuttle company I mentioned to you.
For the rental car, you won’t need it for Tamarindo since everything is close together along the beach. It sounds like your schedule will be full at Blue Spirit, so you wouldn’t need it there either. You could always hire one of the Tuk-Tuks that they have in town to bring to around if you needed to get somewhere local. So I’d say not to get it for that first week.