We're staying on the Central Pacific Coast for 8 nights...?

I have to say I love to anwer this question. I'm from Costa Rica and love to travel inside my country,so here it goes. Let me tall you that the Central Pacific coast offers the most accesible beaches of the country. You can start with a stop at Jaco Beach, one of the most popular beaches of the country. Is not the best, but you can get greate waves and it is a nice starting point o central pacific. Don't spend more than 2 nights there, as you will like to take advantage of better places. Same road will take you to one place not to miss at all: Manuel Antonio. This is a national park were you will have a variety of scenarios. From white beaches to jungle, you can't not miss it. Recommend to stay 3 night maybe, so you can go to national park, take walks, visit the little town and dine at some of the nice restaurants of the place. Hotels.. there is a lot to choose, so I prefer not to recomend as it depends on your desires. On the road to Manuel Antonio you can try to visit other beaches like Playa Hermosa (mainly if you like surfing) and Esterillos. After Manuel Antonio, follow the road and It will take you to other nice beaches such as Savegre, Matapalo and Dominical, where you should stay some days. Finally, you can get all the way down to the National Park Ballena Marine, where you can get a nice stay at Playa Ballenas, Playa Ventanas and others. Its a nice area for tourism, and there are a lot of hotels of all kinds. My recommendation is always to stay at "average" hotels, not to cheap not to expensive, because is the best way to enjoy the culture, people and places of Costa Rica. For you, here is a nice map of Central Pacific coast so you can get a better planning for your trip: http://www.frommers.com/images/destinations/maps/j...

Good luch and enjoy!

By the way: 4x4 good idea, and careful with the bridges on your way to Manuel Antonio. Also other recommendation: go for the adventure sports such as canopy, kayaking, rafting and rapel. You wil not regreat it.

The central Pacific...

A lot of nice places, and a lot of sketchy places to visit here. Jaco beach is very popular and like the answer above said, very nice surf. However, the town of Jaco is a place to miss. There are lots of prostitutes and drugs unfortunately. Puntarenas is another place to be cautious. It is a very important port town, which also brings in a lot of things...

I will say Playa Esterillos is beautiful. You can see it here

http://www.anywherecostarica.com/playa-esterillos-...

Manuel Antonio National Park is another gem. It has lush rainforests, great snorkelling, and you can learn a lot about tropical ecology and wildlife within the park.

http://www.anywherecostarica.com/manuel-antonio-co...

The website I have referenced will give you information on all you need to know about the central Pacific Region of Costa Rica. Just find the title REGIONS on the Right side in the main column and click on Central Pacific. It is super convenient ad a great place to start I think.

I hope you find all you need to know to organize a great holiday!