Here’s our 8 day & 7 night itinerary in the Guanacaste region of Costa Rica, the north-western section of the country around Liberia, several volcanic areas, jungles and miles of beautiful beaches on the Pacific Ocean.
The first half of our itinerary will be on the beach, splitting our stay between Playa Flamingo and Tamarindo, then we’ll head to La Fortuna for waterfalls, an active volcano, zip-lining and wildlife.
Day 1: Getting to Costa Rica
It wasn’t easy getting to Costa Rica from Bangor, Maine. Our flight had a layover in JFK, then in Atlanta where we stayed the night and then we landed in Liberia at 9:30am the next morning.
The other option for flying to Liberia would be to fly direct from Boston, but then we would’ve had to drive or take the bus there and spend the night in Boston before since its an early morning flight, so that wouldn’t save any time.
Anyhow, after arriving at Liberia Airport, Immigration and Customs took only 20 minutes and then we we were on our way.
Rental Cars in Costa Rica
We picked up our rental car at Adobe. You’ll hear a lot about rental car “scams” in Costa Rica. They’re not really scams, but insurance is mandatory and expensive in Costa Rica, so people are shocked when they pick up their rental car and find that the price is more than double what they thought when they booked. At Adobe, the insurance was already included in the price, so no surprises.
We navigated to Margaritaville Playa Flamingo in Google Maps where we would be spending our first couple of nights. It took us on the shortest route, on the Monkey Trail. We had to turn around at the river crossing b/c Adobe said we’re not allowed to do river crossings! 
That was my only gripe about renting a car with Adobe. I wish we would have rented a jeep and were allowed to do river crossings because some of the short cuts in Costa Rica are on some wild “roads”! We’re all for the thrill of four-wheeling but didn’t want to violate our rental agreement.
We had to back track and take the longer highway route to Playa Flamingo. These roads were fine but we must’ve gone over 30 speed bumps! Or, “Reductors” as they’re called there. I’ve never seen so many speed bumps and these are big ones too so be prepared for that!
Finally, we arrived at Margaritaville and Playa Flamingo both are beautiful! The ocean was so warm!
We enjoyed the sunset from the beach and walked to dinner at Coco Loco. We ate outside with our feet in the sand. Fantastic!!!
Playa Flamingo
Our second day in Costa Rica and first full day was spent lounging at the beach and pool at Margaritaville Resort on Playa Flamingo. Very relaxing!
It’s a small resort so there was never a lot of people at the pool. The beach was uncrowded as well, surprising as Playa Flamingo is considered one of the best beaches and it’s easy to access.
A breakfast buffet was included at Margaritaville and it was really good. We went to Coco Loco for dinner again b/c it’s so good!
Overall I can recommend Margaritaville for its gorgeous pool and very close proximity to a great beach. Not a lot of other places to go within walking distance though.
Playa Conchal
The next day we went to Playa Conchal, accessed from Brasilito Beach. Plenty of parking in the “free” lot on Google Maps, but somebody charged us $6. Whatever, our car didn’t get broken into and that’s all that matters. It’s a half mile walk to Playa Conchal and surprisingly there were many more people there than at Flamingo. Still not what I would call crowded though.
As soon as you get to the beach there are people that will be happy to sell you beach chairs with a canopy ($30 I think?) but we were content to put our towels down under a tree for shade. The most shells are at that side of the beach, next to Brasilito. Very cool!
As you walk farther south to the beach in front of the Westin and W Hotel, the sand (or shells?) get much finer and softer. Great swimming along the entire beach.
Tamarindo
Late afternoon we headed to Tamarindo where we would stay for the next 2 nights. A lot of people don’t like Tamarindo because they say it’s too crowded, touristy, busy, etc. Well, we loved it!
We stayed at The Coast Beachfront Hotel, on the quiet end of Tamarindo and a 10 minute walk on the beach or street where all the action is.
We LOVE this small hotel. Big clean rooms with a full kitchen, a small pool and best of all their private area in front of the beach with plenty of chairs and shade under the palm trees.
A continental breakfast (fruit, yogurt, granola, etc) is delivered to your patio every morning. Fast WiFi throughout the property. Good location for a walk to Playa Langosta (best sunsets!) or just enjoy this quiet beautiful southern end of Tamarindo.
As for downtown Tamarindo, I understand why some are turned off, it’s busy and congested, but we loved having so many restaurants and places to shop. Great food at Mercadito de Tamarindo, be sure to check it out!
The free fire show at Tama Onda Beachfront at 7:30 was incredible! Next door at El Be or La Palapa have fire shows as well.
Oh, and try the Chiliguaro, a spicy shot that tastes like a Bloody Mary!
So, I give Tamarindo a thumbs up. The next 3 days of our Costa Rica itinerary will be spent in La Fortuna so we’ll transition from beach to jungle. Pura Vida!
La Fortuna
After 4 wonderful days on the coast at Playa Flamingo and Tamarindo, we hit the road to La Fortuna. It was a 2hr & 45 min drive to our first stop at Rio Celeste and then another 1.5 hours from there to La Fortuna. That detour to see Rio Celeste did not add much drive time.
Rio Celeste
First, Rio Celeste looked just as beautiful as it does in the photos! It’s a beautiful trail, and only 3.5 miles round trip, but has some elevation gain, particularly on the way back up the stairs. Make sure to make a reservation on the Parque Nacional Volcano Tenorio website!
Rio de Casa Hotel
In La Fortuna we stayed at Rio de Casa boutique hotel, a large resort with 2 pools, 2 hot tubs and a water slide. We booked it on AirBnb. Absolutely beautiful resort! Located just a few minutes drive from downtown La Fortuna.
As for La Fortuna itself, unpopular opinion here but we didn’t really like it. After driving through the lush jungle, you get to this busy, congested, urban city.
Outside of the view of the volcano, it’s just not a pretty town, and we didn’t enjoy driving in the downtown area and parking to eat at restaurants. That being said, there are lots of great restaurants, several beautiful resorts and it’s the hub for lots of fun excursions.
La Fortuna Waterfall
La Fortuna waterfall is awesome. It’s nice that you can get in the water. Take your time going back up the 500 steps of stairs. It’s a workout but totally worth it.
Sloth Viewing
I went to the Bogarin Trail (sloth viewing area) without a guide because I hadn’t made a reservation and figured we could get a guided tour later if desired.
It was OK …. I saw my first and only sloth pretty quickly because there was a group looking at one. The sloths sleep WAY high up in the trees so they’re tough to see. I also didn’t feel like I was in a real jungle because it’s a small area located just off a busy street. Again, unpopular opinion, as most seem to love it.
My highlight there was actually taking photos of the birds right near the entrance and restaurant.
Zip Lining
We went zip lining with Sky Adventures (Sky Trek) and that was a highlight of the trip. So much fun! Absolutely incredible to be gliding through the air at fast speed above the jungle with views of the volcano and lake.
We did the hanging bridges at Sky Adventures as well. Very pretty, this time I really felt like I was in the jungle. It was more of a hike than we expected and a little strenuous so we didn’t do the whole loop. In retrospect maybe we should’ve done a guided tour at Mistico instead.
Tabacon Hot Springs
In late afternoon we went to Tabacon. Parking was confusing – you have to park across the street from the spa entrance and there’s no sign for it, but once we got in we loved it. Absolutely gorgeous!
I was worried it would be too crowded and touristy but it was very relaxing. It’s way bigger than I thought with many pools at different temperatures and the landscaping is outstanding. We went at sunset and into the night and it was especially relaxing during that time.
Back to Liberia
On our last day of this 8 day Costa Rica itinerary, we had a 4pm flight out of Liberia. That drive from La Fortuna until the highway had gorgeous scenery! We stopped at Llamos de Cortez waterfall, which is another beauty! Many more locals and hardly any tourists there. It’s a great spot to bring a cooler with lunch and cervezas and go swimming.
Check-in at Liberia airport went smoothly and it took us 45 minutes to get through security. It took about 45 minutes to get through customs in Atlanta as well, FYI.
So, a great first trip to Costa Rica with beautiful beaches and fun in the jungle! We’ll be back to discover another region!