Shore excursions in Puerto Caldera (Puntarenas), Costa Rica?

I will be on a cruise and will be spending a day in Puntarenas late March (7:00 am to 5:00 pm). There are a variety of shore excursions offered by the cruise ship and I would prefer taking one of those. I am not into zip lines, etc. I have been looking at shore excursions to San Jose, panoramic bus rides, tours to Sarchi, mangrove boat rides (although I know the best times to see animals is early morning or late in the day), etc. What would you folks recommend? Many thanks!

Believe it or not, you'll find more info on Costa Rica under the Caribbean forum than here, even though you will be on the Pacific side. Also, I always recommend a visit to the Windstar boards because Puntarenas/Puerto Caldera is a regular stop on their CR itineraries.

Keep in mind that San Jose is a good hour inland on the highway, so that kind of trip will take up most of your shore time.

Visiting a coffee plantation is another popular activity.

We've docked at Puerto Caldera twice. It is the commercial port and there is nothing for tourists there. I believe Puntarenas refers to the big pier nearer to town where the large cruise ships go. You can do CC searches on both because they serve the same general area.

I agree. the far better place for your research is on the Costa Rica board, here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=198

Yes, OP, please do go to the Costa Rica board, and even the Panama Canal board.

But since this thread is here, I will say that we had a port call in Puntarenas last month (on a Panama Canal cruise) and six of us on our Roll Call had a fabulous, all-day private shore excursion with Gio Tours. Lots of wildlife, a really interesting day. I recommended them highly. If you go to my review thread at the link below, I cover our day with Gio Tours (lots of photos too) starting at post 31

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2456255