Has anyone dived in Costa Rica or done any tours of the Tropical Rain Forest for that matter?

We are thinking of booking a holiday from the UK through First Choice. They do a 5 day Cloudforest Tour. The brief intro to this says: 'Arenal and Monteverde Areas. This 5 day tour gives you the unique opportunity to float down the river on a tropical safari, bathe in hot springs, slide through the cloud forest and see the steams and sparks of Arenal Volcano.' You get the chance to do a canopy tour (which we may pass on as we have done it in Mexico) or walk on rope bridges high above the jungle to see all the wildlife up close which I would prefer. Can anyone tell me if they have been on any of these tours and what they are like? How close up to wildlife do you really get? One website worried me because it mentioned Yellow Fever injections being recommended. Is this essential as I am terrified of needles! Also can anyone tell me about malaria precautions?

As regards diving - what is it like? When we visited the Pacific side of Mexico one year we were a bit disappointed as the water was quite cool and the visibilty wasn't very good. It was also quite rocky rather than a coral reef which is what I enjoy. The area we are looking at is the Gulf of Papagayo. What are the currents like? I understand that there is a lot of surfing in that area - does this mean the beaches aren't good for swimming off?

We are interested in the holiday as we would like to get off the beaten track and visit somewhere which is undeveloped/natural and unspoilt. The idea of visiting the tropical rain forest really appeals.

Any information you could give us would be very much appreciated. Thank you.