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The original 10
7 days: Arenal + Guanacaste beaches
The classic first-timer route — volcano, waterfalls, hot springs, then the Gold Coast's best beaches.
10 days: Arenal + Monteverde + Manuel Antonio
The grand triangle — volcano, cloud forest, and the Pacific's most famous national park. Zero backtracking.
7 days: Tortuguero + the Caribbean coast
Boat-only jungle canals, reef snorkeling, sloth sanctuaries, and the country's best Caribbean food.
5 days: Arenal + Monteverde adventure express
Only five days? Do two places properly — maximum adventure per day, minimum windshield time.
7 days: Manuel Antonio + Uvita family coast
Short drives, calm logistics, wildlife the kids will remember — surf lessons, mangroves, and a whale-tail sandbar.
All Things La Fortuna
Waterfalls, hot springs, hanging bridges, zip lines — every pin worth your time in the volcano town.
All Things Manuel Antonio
The famous national park and the beach town around it — filterable by park, wildlife, adventure, and day trips.
All Things Tamarindo
The Gold Coast playbook — which beach for which mood, surf, night markets, and the best day trips.
All Things Monteverde
Quetzals at dawn, bridges in the mist, and a mountain town with Quaker-dairy roots.
All Things Puerto Viejo
The other Costa Rica — reef, reggae, sloth sanctuaries, and beaches best explored by bike.
The new 10
10 days: the relocation scouting trip
Four regions expats actually settle in — compare cost, climate, and daily life before you commit.
7 days: Guanacaste beach hopper
Tamarindo to Nosara — a different beach every day, plus the waterfalls and volcano behind them.
7 days: the wild Osa expedition
Drake Bay, Corcovado, and the roadless Pacific — Costa Rica's last truly wild corner.
14 days: the ultimate Costa Rica
The full loop — Caribbean canals, volcano, cloud forest, Gold Coast, and the Central Pacific.
7 days: volcano + Papagayo honeymoon
Hot springs under the volcano, then barefoot luxury on the Papagayo coast.
All Things Central Valley
The valley most tourists skip — coffee towns, San José culture, and highland wildlife.
All Things Uvita & Dominical
Whale tails, mellow surf towns, and the jungle waterfall with a natural rock slide.
All Things Papagayo
The luxury peninsula — flagship resorts and the hidden coves between them.
All Things Tortuguero
Boat-only jungle canals, turtle nesting beaches, and the green turtle capital.
All Things Osa & Drake Bay
Corcovado's wild side — dolphins at dawn, scarlet macaws, and empty black-sand beaches.
Trip planning services draft — proposed
30-Minute Starter Consult
A focused planning call. We answer your questions, sanity-check your route, and point you at the right guide. The $49 is credited toward a Blueprint booked within 30 days.
Custom Itinerary
A written, day-by-day itinerary built around your trip — not a template. Tell us your dates, pace, and must-sees; we map the route, pick the stops, and hand you a plan you can actually drive.
- Intake questionnaire — dates, travelers, pace, budget, must-sees
- Written day-by-day plan for up to 10 travel days, with map stops
- Base-town, hotel-area & restaurant recommendations per stop
- Driving times and route logic included
- 1 revision round · 5 business-day turnaround
- $49 consult fee credited if you upgrade after a call
Guide place photos: The Costa Rica Map pin library. Fresh hero photography: Pexels contributors.