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On day one you mentioned an evening organized tour to the park, are you refering to the Arenal Volcano Park, if so you would be doing the same tour on day 3. If you are talking about the Fortuna falls I never heard they do that tour in the evening.

For the Fortuna waterfall you can take a tour that they take you by car almost all the way to the fall or you can take the horseback ride/hike that goes to the Fortuna Falls

OP, perhaps if you arrive before Dec 15th you might want to check out the Cano Negro Lodge. It offers better than average accommodations in your price range, all meals, and a boat tour. It would put you smack in the middle of where you want to be and be a step up from Hotel La Fortuna where the wildlife outside your window is a 10 yr old Hyundai.

http://www.canonegrolodge.com/

la fortuna hotel www.vistadelcerro.com for $50 or so per night. every room has a view of the volcano, breakfast is included.

For tours to Caño Negro contact http://arenaltours.com/ , the name of the company is Jacamar Tours. They can assist you a bit more.

I'd suggest you try a zipline tour the afternoon of day 1 instead of the park tour as you will be hiking in the national park or the nearby silencio trail on day 3.

Also suggest you head for Monteverde in the early afternoon of day 3, not the early evening. This is a 3 hour drive And wants you drive around the lake, the road is steep, unpaved and unlit - definitely something you dpn't want to try in the dark and it gets dark around 6 PM.

For hotels check out www.arenal.net

You asked how long it takes to hike La Fortuna waterfall and the volcano. Ignoring travel time to each of the park entrances, you could climb down to the waterfall, swim and hike back up in a little more than an hour. It is not so much a hike as several hundred steps cut into the hillside. As such, the rise of each 'step' varies. You could also spend longer there swimming, but the walk up and down is perhaps ten-fifteen minutes each way.

We finished the volcano 'hike' much faster than the groups led by guides who stopped to explain history. The R/T walk took perhaps an hour, but we move quickly.

If you have a car, you could cover both of these in half a day. The drive between the two was not excessive. We went to the waterfall in the morning, then Hanging Bridges, lunch at Lost Iguana and then volcano hike. If you are going with a hired tour, Road Advisor's time estimates are realistic.

Thanks a lot for talking your time to help me answer my question.

I am not sure of their prices, but the best view of the volcano is supposed to be from the Arenal Observatory Lodge. Hopefully it will be clear enough to view. It is very impressive!