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Hotel Class: 
3 Stars - 78 Opinions
Apdo. 1818-1002, Tortuguero, Costa Rica
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of people enjoy staying here
78 Opinions
Beautiful pool area
Shelves for storing our things
Cross section of a banana plant stem
Pods with red dye
We are 6 people touring Costa Rica from Tortugero to Arenal, then Manuel Antonio and finally Poas.
We start on November 9th. The tour agency offered us a non 4X4, 12 seats car.
Is this enough or do we need a 4X4 car?
Thanks for all answers
Quiquog
We needed a 4 wheel drive, because we were there in heavy spring rains and the road up to arenal was washed out in several spots. Many of these cars have no shocks...and can be hard for long rides...check it out before you leave the lot. I have been there twice. Once with incredible views and monkeys climbing on the railings to our rooms---and once when the fog was so thick you could not verify by either site nor sound, there WAS an arenal....great bird watching at the inns on top overlooking...
We use a driver with a van frequently and his van is not 4x4. We have traveled the road between Limon to Arenal in it with no problem. It won't be paved but it is well graded. Pot holes are always a problem whether it is paved or not so take your time.
Regarding Tortuguero. You cannot drive up there. You can drive to Limon (Moin) to the boat dock. There is a guarded lot there where you can leave your car while you are in Tortuguero. You will then travel by boat to Tortuguero and back.
The road from Arenal to Manuel Antonio is paved and in pretty good shape. There are a couple of bridges as you approach Manuel Antonio that are a little "narrow". This will be about a 5-6 hr drive depending on stops. While in Arenal, if you stick to the main road to the sights you should be okay. If you want to get to the actual park to hike you might want to assess the road because that road is off the main road and unpaved. See Arenal.net to get an idea of where things are. There is a map of the area. If it is dry you should be okay. Manuel Antonio, don't know how much you will be driving there but the roads are paved.
Getting back to San Jose from Manuel Antonio will be on good roads as well (again..watch those pot holes). Good road just means better than some. This is a 3hr ride. The road to Poas is good as well.
I had a thought. That is a very rainy time of year to be going to Tortuguero/Limon. One of the rainiest times. The unpaved roads could be in pretty bad shape between Limon and Arenal and a 4x4 might be a better idea. You could fly to Tortuguero and then back to San Jose and from there drive to Arenal. Another option would be to hire a driver to drive you to Limon and then from Limon to Arenal. You could arrange to get the car in Arenal. There might be a drop off charge for them to get it to you but it can be done. By using the private driver you won't have to pay for parking and for rental on the car when you won't be using it.
You cant drive to Tortugero as it is only rerachable by airplane or boat. The road are all nicely paved in between your other destinations
The roads are very rough in the east I went there in a van and it took about 2 hours to go 50 miles and it would not have been any faster in a 4x4.
the pot holes in the dirt road were rough but the cows and dogs laying in the road made it a long trip.
Tortuguero is a difficult place to get lost in unless you wander through the neighborhoods off the main streets. No shops were selling this map in Tortuguero although many of them had them tacked onto walls for your reference.
Not the brilliant aqua blues normally associated with the Caribbean Sea. The beaches and the surf along the northwest Caribbean shore in Costa Rica are wild. The beach at Tortuguero was deserted--not a single soul in sight. The water was much too rough for swimming.
However, these beaches do attract a lot of attention those few nights a year that the green turtles come ashore to lay their eggs. The green turtles live their lives swimming throughout the Caribbean reaching as far north as Florida coastal waters, but the females all come back to the Tortuguero area to lay their eggs. For centuries turtles and their eggs were ravaged by sailing ships and the local people. However, a marine biologist, Archie Carr, began studying the green turtles in the 1950s and was able to prevail upon the Costa Rican government to grant the turtles protected status. In present times the local people and the Costa Rican government understand the conservation issues and the turtles are now zealously guarded from would be poachers.
When we were in Costa Rica in 1997, the reptiles we saw included alligator, iguana (photo 5), river turtles (photo 3) and cayman (photo 4). This time we saw mostly Jesus Christ lizards.
That is the common name for the basilisk lizard which has webbed hind feet and can run upright over the surface of the water for a short distance. Smaller basilisks can run about 10-20 meters on the water surface without sinking, and the young can usually run farther than older basilisks. We saw them do their running across the water trick in 1996 from a canoe when we were in Drakes Bay (on the Pacific coast). Basilisk is a corruption of the word for 'little king' which probably comes from the fact that their heads are adorned with both a crest and a coloured dewlap. We saw them in Tortuguero in 2008 - although only sitting on branches - not running around.
There are no cars in Tortuguero at all. The only way to get around is by boat or foot. Some days it is as busy as a freeway & other days like a country road. At night there is a fair bit of "traffic" as residents go up & down the canal visiting.
Every dog deserves a napping spot. The hounds seemed to have free run of the village, but none seemed aggressive or threatening in any way. I imagine they help keep vermin under control and of course, they provide useful services as play companions for the villages children.
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Address: Apdo. 1818-1002, Tortuguero, Costa Rica
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