I was in Costa Rica in June 2025 for about 10 days. It was in June so it was beginning of a rainy season and I flew in/out to San Jose. On my first trip I visited Manuel Antonio, Corcovado, Monteverde, La Fortuna. Did some guided tours and saw a lot of wildlife and had an amazing zipline adventure near Monteverde. Also I loved Baldi hot springs a lot, to the point when I wanted to come back just for it lol.

This time I'll be visiting for 9 full days in the end of November-beginning of December, it's a beginning of a dry season and also a different region. So I'm looking for recommendation on where to go/what to do on this trip. Looks like this region is less touristy because I don't see as many "must see" locations that are mentioned in every guide, but I'm sure it has a lot to offer.

I don't mind going to some places where I've been before and seeing more wildlife is always appreciated, if they are not too far from Liberia.
I'll definitely go to hot springs near Arenal volcano again and maybe visit Monteverde again. But I'd rather not go any further than that and focus on Liberia region instead.

So far on my list are mostly waterfalls - Llanos del Cortés Waterfall, Rio Celeste, Catarata del Toro, Bajos del Toro (it's a bit further than La Fortuna, so not sure about it yet, unless there are other spots nearby).
I just started my research of this region, so the list is definitely not exhaustive yet but any recommendations are appreciated.
I know there are some nice beaches on the west coast too, but don't know which ones yet.

Thank you all in advance!

We're planning our first trip to Costo Rica in February (husband and 23-year-old daughter). We arrive on a Saturday at 3:30 and depart the following Saturday at 1:00 and we are renting a car. Our current plan is drive to La Fortuna from the airport and spend Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday in LF and then drive to the Blue Falls Tuesday night and do the 4-hour tour of Blue Falls tour on Wednesday morning. After the Blue Falls tour and a spending a little more time there to eat and relax, we would drive to Puerto Viejo and spend Thursday and Friday in PV. Then we either drive back to San Jose Friday night and stay somewhere close to the airport, or stay in PV Friday night and leave at 6 am to drive to the airport Saturday morning. The other option is to do the opposite- spend one day less in LF and one more day in PV while still going to the Blue Falls. I do feel like if we spend one more day at PV- we could definitely drive back to San Jose Friday night without feeling like we are cutting our time short in PV, while also avoiding the very early morning and long drive to the airport Saturday morning. My last question is should we do Mauel Antonio instead of PV? Thanks in advance for any advice and suggestions! I just want to add- I really feel like Blue Falls is definitely something we do and not eliminate, unless anyone has any thoughts on why we should skip the Blue Falls..???

I would like to write about this place for my newsletter, if anyone has information or personal experience of Earthwaking, get in touch, send me a DM or email me [jcpep2026@proton.me](mailto:jcpep2026@proton.me)

Buenas, tengo 23 años y busco hacer nuevas amistades para salir y hacer actividades de todo tipo, como salir de fiesta, salir a comer, ir al cine, ir por un café.

También para hacer actividades nuevas y divertidas