Sometimes it helps as much when planning to know what’s not easy to do in an area as to know what’s there and below are some of the things you shouldn’t expect to find in or around Monteverde.

Beaches

It’s not really that people expect there to be beaches on the mountain top, but many hope they can include Monteverde in their vacation as a day trip from the coast.  While technically it’s possible to drive up to the cloud forest reserve, take a quick walk around and get back to the beach in time for sunset cocktails it’s strongly discouraged.  Depending on the exact starting point it would require seven to nine hours of travel round trip and some of it is over pretty rugged road.  Spend the night or skip it.

White Water Rafting

As with the beaches there are no white water rafting rivers with put-ins within a reasonable drive of Monteverde for a day trip.  There are also no wildlife float trips or calm water boating tours near Monteverde although you can get to the south shore of lake Arenal in about an hour and we’ve heard rumors of SUP or lake kayaking trips in the planning stages.

Warm Tropical Nights

When the sun is out during the day it can be downright hot in Monteverde, but typically it’s cool and cloudy and because of the elevation the nights can be downright cold.  If you’re escaping a winter wonderland and don’t want to see a jacket or turtleneck for the duration of your vacation you may want to give Monteverde a miss.

Jungle

Most peoples vision of the jungle is based on tropical lowland wet forests and includes dripping sweat while hacking through vines with machetes.  The cloud forest around Monteverde is different – cooler, higher and often wetter than a jungle.  If you want classic jungle head to Tortuguero instead.