gcanedo asked 7 years ago
My bf and I are going to Costa Rica Sept 23-30, 2017. We didn’t realize it was rain season, but we’re very active & making the best of it. We fly into LIR, stop by Rio Celeste, La Fortuna/Arenal and Montezuma the last 3 days before flying out of SJO. Itinerary below.
Any suggestions on what areas we should consider visiting or skipping due to the rain expected every day. Are the beach days in Montezuma worth skipping? Should we spend all our time in rain forests? Should we leave it as is? Help.
- Day 1 (Sat) – Arrive 12pm LIR > (30min drive) Playa Hermosa
- Day 2 (Sun) – Playa > (2hr AM drive) Rio Celeste Hike > (2hr PM drive) La Fortuna
- Day 3 (Mon) – La Fortuna/ Arenal Volcano/ Hot Springs
- Day 4 (Tue) – La Fortuna > (6hr AM drive/ferry) Montezuma (arrive by 2pm)
- Day 5 (Wed) – Montezuma
- Day 6 (Thu) – Montezuma/ Santa Teresa
- Day 7 (Fri) – Montezuma > (5hr drive/ferry) SJO area hotel
- Day 8 (Sat) – Depart 12pm SJO > USA
Jenn and Matt Staff answered 7 years ago
Hi gcanedo,
You could take out the Rio Celeste hike to have more time in La Fortuna and do the La Fortuna Waterfall instead. The blue color of the Rio Celeste Waterfall doesn’t appear if the water has been churned up by rain. Plus it is risky to leave your luggage in the car while you hike (there are parking attendants but it is a big lot and they can’t see everything). I don’t know if it is worth skipping your beach time in Montezuma. It’s hard to say where there will be more or less rain. Sometimes La Fortuna has great weather this time of year but you never know. At the beach, you should still have some chances to get some sun, especially in the morning. If it does rain, there are plenty of cool cafes and restaurants to hang out at and you could probably still do a hike if it’s not too bad. Another tip is to make sure you ask someone in Montezuma if the ferry is back on schedule, they had a problem with the dock about a month ago so you had to leave from Naranjo instead. I can’t find anything about if the repairs are finished so just be sure to ask. Hope this helps, you’ll still have a great time, I’m sure!