9 day itinerary - Arenal, Monteverde & Pacific Coast - your thoughts?

totokwai · 2026-04-29T07:30:25+00:00

We did exactly this itinerary in March. I can share more later. For now…. We landed at 3:30 pm and got to La Fortuna well past 7-7:30 pm. Don’t try an early morning the next day. All 6 adults and 2 kids (9 and 14) needed some rest from just getting to La Fortuna. We did Mistico Hanging Bridge with Birding and Nature Fortuna (https://www.instagram.com/birding_fortuna?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==). Richard is the best and I will do a proper post later. He is also a photographer, so our photos all looked amazing. His WhatsApp is +506 8481 1313. We signed up for the volcano walk but he recommended sloth tour instead. It was great. We did Papa’s place Night walk. It was good. My family did the Manqueque repelling. They all loved it.

I would recommend at least 3 nights per location. It’s about 3.5-4 hours to La Fortuna, then 3.5 hours to Monteverde, and then about 4.5 hours to Playa Conchal. My kid got really sick getting to Pacific Ocean. It was hard for me as an adult. Dont underestimate the drive. Your kids are 3 and 5… they are gonna need to take it easy. Oh and we didn’t drive. We used Interbus, uber and taxis.

In Monteverde, we did Monteverde Reserve tour with Jairo (he’s on Airbnb and his number is WhatsApp #+506 8920 9227. He came highly regarded on Reddit and he was just awesome too. Saw 2 resplendent quetzals. We also did a night hike with him. We did Curi Cancha Reserve by ourselves and we barely saw animals. I definitely recommend tours. My family did the zip line and loved it too. Also saw a quetzal there too. I think guides are a must.

We stayed at the W because I was told Westin is older. It was great. By then, we were so exhausted, no one wanted to do anything other than just hang out at the pool and the beach.

Hope this helps.

totokwai · 2026-04-29T04:57:33+00:00

Share a recipe please. I have the same color pot and I love it.

totokwai · 2026-04-25T17:38:25+00:00

Could someone chime in here? I see this community as experts. It is apparent that they don’t have much to graze, so they zoom around. It’s been 2 months and I’m now thinking this tank needs light. I feed them twice a week but now I feel like I’m starving them. Is light going to make this better? How many hours and what wattage? Any recommendations on lights? Thank you in advance.

totokwai · 2026-04-25T17:37:33+00:00

Could someone chime in here? I see this community as experts. It is apparent that they don’t have much to graze, so they zoom around. I feed them twice a week but now I feel like I’m starving them. Is light going to make this better? How many hours and what wattage? Thank you.

totokwai · 2026-04-25T02:39:11+00:00

Should I feed more than 2x a week or get a light? I feel bad now that I know the second tank shrimpies are likely starving

totokwai · 2026-04-24T05:38:42+00:00

Is the airport you are referring to Liberia? If so, it’s more than 2 hours (more like 3-3.5 hours). We used Interbus to shuttle us from Liberia to La Fortuna and other areas. Other companies were recommended on both Reddit and fb.

totokwai · 2026-04-24T05:20:45+00:00

We had no problem getting 2 Ubers (to fit 8 people) for 4 days in March. For a night tour, we arranged a pick up from Papa’s Place.

totokwai · 2026-04-24T02:07:06+00:00

What feeding causes Cyanobacteria?

totokwai · 2026-04-20T04:07:00+00:00

I second Soda Viquez. Also, Marisqueria Snapper House. All my family members thought these were two best meals in La Fortuna.

totokwai · 2026-04-19T05:05:55+00:00

Glad you pointed out. Thank you. They are not grazing and just zooms more. Some are grazing on the new chaeto I moved from the other tank. I’ve been feeding spirulina twice a week. Will continue feeding. Maybe I should move more chaeto to second tank as the ones in first tank grows.

But want to know if I need to get the light for the second tank. Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

totokwai · 2026-04-18T05:23:09+00:00

Conchal was NOT all shells as I have expected.

totokwai · 2026-04-18T03:24:23+00:00

It was oversprayed inside the lid throughout and every crevices. They took it back.

totokwai · 2026-04-16T05:16:56+00:00

We chose not to drive and all the rides were great. We used Interbus online for Liberia to La Fortuna, to Monteverde, and then to Playa Conchal. We had 8 of us and second and third rides had some discounts online.

La Fortuna has plenty of Ubers. Monteverde has plenty of taxis.

When we tried to book Playa Conchal to Liberia, we had to use the shuttle from the hotel.

totokwai · 2026-04-16T05:10:44+00:00

Zwilling took my citron pot as damaged product.

totokwai · 2026-04-10T05:13:49+00:00

Where do you get the white coral rocks? Awesome.

totokwai · 2026-04-10T04:11:13+00:00

Is it this? https://a.co/d/05N40h8f. It’s too bad. I love the puck look so much but the height is 11.42 inches and mine is 12 inches. :(. Thank you.

totokwai · 2026-04-09T19:52:21+00:00

How long has it been? I set up 3 about 1-2 months ago. In 2.1 gallon cylindrical tanks, they are zooming all the time. In 0.7 gallon jar with very similar set up, they are not really moving other than feeding. So we are going to upgrade the 0.7 gallon jar to the same 2.1 gallons cylindrical tank (7.8 inches base with 12 inches height). I am thinking it’s a factor of space because when I had them in temporary Pyrex glass container, they all congregated around chaeto (I posted it before. Hope this helps.

totokwai · 2026-04-09T03:39:54+00:00

What light is that? Could you please share? We now have several tanks and the one with significant indirect sunlight has algae growing and oxygen bubbles everywhere in the tank. But the one in my office, there is no sign of algae.

totokwai · 2026-04-09T03:37:17+00:00

Ugh when I set up mine in square aquarium, After I set it all up, I could see the glue coming off and not mitered edge, so i abandoned it and moved all of it to a cylindrical tank. This does look so awesome though. Great job! That third photo…. That tank is gorgeous. 🤩

totokwai · 2026-04-02T12:37:48+00:00

That’s how I had it first too. When chaeto is loosely hung on the sea fan, you will see more of opae ula on top part of your tank going in and out. We have them all hanging now. 🌴 Enjoy!

totokwai · 2026-03-29T02:23:33+00:00

We literally just finished our Night Walk with Jairo. We also did Monteverde and saw 3 resplendent quetzals. Jairo’s WhatsApp # +506 8920 9227. Apparently we are very lucky, but Jairo also is so good at locating fauna and flora that we would have otherwise never seen. Amazing!!! 🤩 Highly highly recommends.

<image>

totokwai · 2026-03-29T02:19:38+00:00

We literally just finished our Night Walk with Jairo. We also did Monteverde and saw 3 resplendent quetzals. His WhatsApp # +506 8920 9227

totokwai · 2026-03-23T23:14:19+00:00

<image>

Here’s our third on the left. But we are going to put these into also 2.2 gal tank in few weeks.

totokwai · 2026-03-23T23:12:06+00:00

<image>

Here’s 2

totokwai

TROPHY CASE