You can book your driver through the Lost Iguana; we've done that several times. They use Carlos Bogarin, and he's great. You can also reach him through Destinos Encantados; they have a website. Sky Trek is the most popular zipline - long, high, fast lines with gorgeous views of the lake and the volcano. We loved it. You can also do a sunset boat cruise on the lake and white water raft with Rios Tropicales. We also like the Cano Negro tour and the Penas Blancas river float. You won't have time for all of it with only two days, but there's tons to do. The natural hot springs like Tabacon and Eco Termales are a nice evening activity.

Oh good...thank you vocanogirl...I was hoping you would respond to my posting as from all I've read you seem to be very knowlegable of Costa Rica..do you think we should rent a car and drive ourselves to Guanacaste or use that day to do another activity and have a private driver take us to Guanacaste later in the day (I've read that if driving yourselves it is best to leave early in the am to avoid fog and drive in daylight). Also ..are there white water rafting trips to do from Guanacaste? I am thinking maybe first day (day of arrival) doing hanging bridges and doing zip line the next day with hot springs at night and then whitewater rafting on third day (day of departure) with private driver....or skip white water rafting in Arenal and get our own rental car to use the day to get to Guancaste as an adventure in itself ...then we would want to whitewater raft from Guanacaste...I am stressing a little as I think I should have booked 3 nights in Arenal but we do arrive by 11am in SJO so thought we'd still have time to do an activity on day of arrival...we are beach people and love to be on or under the water so that is why we did 6 nights in Tamarindo...hope we won't be disappointed...so any suggestions are great...I could I suppose try to finagle another night in Arenal if hotel available...or just settle on what I've done...I am obsessive about making this the perfect trip...can you tell

Here is a list of drivers recommended both here and on TA. I've only used Leo Rodrigues and have been pleased with him or Don Carlos (his assistant) on two trips.

Odyssey Tours (Diego and Alvaro) - info@odysseytourscr.com
Oscar Chavarria - oscardrivercr@gmail.com
Carlos Bogarin - encantados@ice.co.cr
Danny Jimenez - crdannytravels@yahoo.com
Leo Rodriguez - leratravelcr@yahoo.com
Juan Carlos and Rubier - tjtransfers@gmail.com

Thank you Colibri...what can I expect to pay for a transfer from SJO to Lost Iguana? Am looking for someone knowleable about the area and personable!!

I think you can expect to pay anywhere from $150 on up. Lost Iguana is past La Fortuna right by the Hanging Bridges, so a bit further out than many lodges.

All the drivers and guides we've had over the past five trips have been excellent - enthusiastic, knowledgeable and so very proud of their beautiful country.

suz, here's the website for Carlos http://destinos-encantados.com/. He's very personable and fluent in English. He knows the Arenal area very well. He even spotted a toucan for us on one of our drives. I think we paid between $140-150ish the last time we went. Prices vary according to gas prices, etc. I love him because he waited hours for us when our flight was delayed. I haven't been to Guanacaste, so can't help you with that one. It's a drier area, so I'm not sure how good rafting would be there. If you get a chance to do the waterfall hike in the Arenal area, it's really beautiful. I love Arenal, so personally I would opt for more time there, but really up to you.

Great! Thanks for the info on Carlos..looks like both of you have recommended him so I shall get in touch with him..I am wondering if we can do hanging bridges on arrival day....whitewater rafting on next day with hot springs at night and then waterfall hike/zip line on last day with private driver to Guanacaste that evening? Whew!! Does that sound doable??

You could do the Hanging Bridges on arrival day if you make it through the airport quickly. Are you planning to eat lunch at all? It gets dark around 5:30ish, and you don't want to be out at the Hanging Bridges in the dark. It really just depends on how early you get there. The Hanging Bridges is located right next to the Lost Iguana, so that works in your favor. They sell half price tickets at the front desk, or at least they have in the past, so check on that if you end up going. Rafting and hot springs is doable in one day. Zipping took us about 4 hours total, but that included being picked up and dropped back off at the hotel by Sky Trek; they stop at every person's hotel, so that takes time. I think you could do an early morning zip and then have time to do the waterfall. You would really be packing it all in, but it would be fun! A private driver would be good because then you could go in the dark so it would give you more time.

Thanks for the information...sorry for the delay...finally got my power back and digging out from the Blizzard that hit us hard in CT! We will want to have lunch after landing at airport..that would be great to fit the hanging bridges in upon arrival..how long should we plan on for the hanging bridges? Is there a way to do whitewater rafting trip that ends up at our next destination in Guanacaste or is that just a crazy idea? And last question, does anyone know how long a drive it is for us from Lost Iguana to Guanacaste? Thanks for the help!!