Duration: 8 days

*Price Range: $$$

*Rates inclusive of full vacation experience – hotels, tours, domestic transfers, and tax (excluding international airfare).  Actual price based on length of travel, number of travelers/rooms, seasonal rates (high, low, peak), number of tour activities, and mode of domestic transportation.

$$$: At or under $1,200 per person.

$$$: $1,200 – $1,800 per person.

$$$: $1,800+ per person

1. Day 1

   Fly into Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) where one of our local airport representatives will meet you before immigration holding a sign with your name on it.  They will guide you through the immigration process and to baggage claim until they take you outside to your waiting private driver. You’ll head due north to the Arenal Volcano where you’ll spend your first three nights at the Arenal Manoa.  Featuring 80 air conditioned rooms each with unobstructed volcano views, this will be the perfect spot to return to after a long day of adventuring, touring, and fishing.

2. Day 2

   Spend this day getting acquainted with the natural highlights of the Arenal Volcano region on an all day combo tour. You’ll begin your day with a guided nature walk over the hanging bridges, which are suspension bridges that traverse the rainforest canopy to get you up close and personal with local wildlife.  Next hike down to the picturesque La Fortuna Waterfall where you can take a refreshing dip in the cool waters below.  You’ll end your day with a buffet dinner and a few hours to relax in the all natural thermal hot springs.

3. Day 3

   Let’s go fishing! Enjoy a day of freshwater fishing with our local, expert captain who is both a naturalist guide and one of the best local captains on the lake.  You’ll be fishing for tilapia, the feisty machaca, and the grand prize of them all – the rainbow bass.  As beautiful as it is delicious, catching a ‘guapote’ on Lake Arenal is an accomplishment any angler can be proud of.  Cast poppers, crank baits, rapalas, and spin baits or troll deep diving lures as you take in the sound of monkeys in the surrounding rainforest and the volcano reflecting off the lake’s surface.

4. Day 4

   Today you’ll move to the southern Pacific Coast so you can end your vacation relaxing on the beach.  Home to the country’s most visited national park, Manuel Antonio also offers beautiful beaches, great local restaurants, and is home to some of the best sport fishing in Central America.  Your vacation ends on a high note as you’ll be staying at the gorgeous Buena Vista Villas in a one, two, or three-bedroom villa (depending on your group size).  Set on the 33-acre Tulemar property, you’ll enjoy 5-star accommodations, three pools, a restaurant, and your own private beach with beachside food and drink service.

5. Day 5

   Head down to the new Marina Pez Vela and see why Quepos is named the ‘sport fishing capital of Costa Rica’.  Enjoy a private, full-day charter as you target big game species like marlin, sailfish, dorado, wahoo, and yellowfin tuna.  Your talented, bilingual crew will have the hooks sharpened, cooler full of ice, and the Penn & Shimano gear rigged and ready to go. Fish on!

6. Day 6

   Take a day off from fishing and enjoy a guided tour of the famous Manuel Antonio National Park.  Your bilingual naturalist guide will tell you about local flora while you look for sloths, three types of monkeys, reptiles, insects and hundreds of birds.  The rest of the day is yours to enjoy the pristine beaches inside the park or head back to the Tulemar property to your private beach.

7. Day 7

   Let’s go fishing!  If you’ve already landed your trophy billfish let’s use this day to try your hand at inshore fishing. The waters off Manuel Antonio feature reefs, islands, and river mouths that are home to snook, snapper, grouper, jacks, mackerel, and the prized roosterfish.  Roosterfish are strictly catch and release and we like to release cubera snapper too, but the rest can be brought back for a fresh seafood dinner!

8. Day 8

   Take a quick 25-minute domestic flight back to San Jose for your international flight home.