We stayed at the Tortuga Lodge, and it's excellent. It deserves all the high ratings. The service was wonderful, and the food very good. I also liked that they didn't assign us to a group for touring, eating, etc. like a lot of the other lodges do. I even commented on a dish that I liked, and they gave me a recipe. When we left, they gave us an extensive survey asking for all the good and bad comments, who went out of their way for us, etc. They really want you to have a special experience, and we did. I would love to stay there again. Our food was served to us at the table; they have a great chef and the restaurant is right along the water. They even surprised us with a picnic by the river on our boat ride in. I don't think they do that all the time, but we thought it was amazing. They had wine, fresh fruit juices, and all kinds of thoughtful things. It's a neat spot. When we left, our guide escorted us to the airport and found two more turtles for us on the beach while we were waiting for our flight. Their guides are great. I'd highly recommend Tortuga Lodge.

Thanks for all the posts they were great. We're planning on staying at Casa Marbella for a couple day then renting a car to drive the country and end at Manuel Antonio to beach relax before we return home.

The weather in both please should be pretty good in both locations in April?

I saw on another forum that Turtle watching isn't very likely in April, thats unfortunate but I'm sure the wildlife will be fantastic.

Lastly if we are doing Tortuguero and then headed to Arenal and Monteverde which of those last two could we cut and just stay more time at Tortuguero.

Thanks in advance

I like Arenal over Monteverde just because there's more to do, it has the volcano (no current lava), the natural hot springs, and for us better weather; Monteverde can get really chilly at night.

MAwamba...Laguna...PAchira lodge...also Turtle beach...nice places...about the same price for all of them...do not pay a lot more for the same...is not worth it...if you like a gourment meal...Tortuguero is not the right place...and some people will charge for a simple piece of meat a price as a gourmet place...really not worth it...do not pay a lot more for the same..

A monkey looks the same from a nice simple place or from a overated place...with huge prices...

roadadv isor

Check this: vacationscostarica.com/hotels/manuel-antonio/ For sure it's gonna make you change your mind about Tortuguero and head you towards Manuel Antonio, something bad-ish from Tortuguero is that you are pretty far from the "city" so you should also take that into account.