We have a time share in San Jose, Costa Rica and I just booked it for December 27, 2009 - January 3, 2010 a couple weeks ago. We are not entirely sure we are going. Would you be interested in using our unit, perhaps? I'd have to discuss it with my hubby. :)
My husband and I went in December '98 then we went again with the kids in December '07. We did some of the same things as they are great things to do while in Costa Rica.
San Jose is in the middle of the country so not coastal but it is relatively easy to get to the coast - visit the Pacific coast as the Atlantic is a bit more rough (so they say) and some areas are inaccessible and dangerous. The Pacific side is the "luxury" side. Anyway, you could drive there in 3-4 hours - it's not so far but the roads make it take that long. Or you could take a domestic flight like we did last time. It was fairly inexpensive considering the time saved (in a 12-seat plane, it only took half an hour from ascending to descent). We visited Manual Antonio beach - there's a national park there too but it is always closed on Monday - the day we chose to go!
Arenal Volcano is a must see. We definitely went back even though it is a 3 hour bus trip from San Jose. They do it in a day trip or you could try to find a place to stay overnight because it is WONDERFUL. The original place that had tours no longer offered them since tourists have now discovered it however Baldi Hot Springs is new but just as nice. They are still under construction but have slides and pool bars, lots of hot springs and natural pools. You eat lunch and dinner there with a pit-stop on the way for "brunch" and souvenir shopping.
Poas Volcano is inactive but it's a beautiful crater. On the same tour we went down the Sarapiqui River through the rain forest. It's best if you have a good camera with a great zoom lens to see the monkeys, birds, etc. There's also a huge waterfall on that day trip as well as food from local restaurants.
We did a zip line tour one day followed by lunch and horse back riding through the mountains.
Another day we went downtown San Jose and toured around a bit. We are all UFC fans and there happened to be a fight on while we were there so we found a pub airing it so we went and had a blast with the locals. Our Canadian (GSP) won too!
Our time share is from Sunday to Sunday but sometimes the flights are cheaper other days of the week. Last time we spent a couple nights at Irazu Hotel (Best Western) down the street from our timeshare (which is huge, sleeps 8). We made our own breakfasts most days and 1 or 2 lunches or suppers.
From Toronto I have found all-taxes-in flights for just under $1000 per person return - direct (5.5 hours). This rate hasn't changed much in 10 years. Taxes are so expensive for airfare though ($250 of that).
The people are very nice and there is lots to do. If you were to be on the coast, you may not want or need to do day excursions but we found we got a lot out of our vacation by doing just that including going to the west coast for a day. We literally flew out at 5:30 a.m., spent the day on the beach and splashing in the waves then returned early evening... to a spa massage!
I think you will really like it. December is when it starts to get nice... the end of the raining season.
Our resort name is Villas Palmas in San Jose, half way between the airport and downtown.
The tour operator we used (both times, in '98 and '07) was Sol Tropical. Mark Ayala still runs it!
