Costa Rica recs

[Susie]

Anyone gone to Costa Rica and have recs to share?  Itinerary, ground transportation, must-dos, etc.?

We're planning a trip there for February.  We'll be bringing our kids (who will be 4 and 8) and meeting friends there whose kids will be 5 and 9.  We have flights roughly worked out (EWR-LIR for us), but still deciding on intinerary, etc.  With kids, we're probably looking to limit how much we move around, maybe 2 general areas?  But definitely open to any recs.

ETA:  we're thinking of spending about a week total, split between beach/coast and hiking/waterfalls/etc. type activities?

[underwaterrhymes]

H’s family lives there, so we have been often.

My favorite place there is La Fortuna / Arenal. It’s absolutely beautiful and you can go hiking, horseback riding, white water rafting, etc.

Hotel el Silencio is lovely and reasonably priced.

I highly recommend the hanging bridges hike, which is a do not miss.

There is also a fabulous sloth tour through the forest.

www.slothwatchingtrail.com

(Don’t go to a place that lets you hold or pet a sloths as they are stressed out by human touch.)

If you do the hot springs, we prefer Ecotermales. It’s frequented more by locals than tourists and doesn’t have the bells and whistles some of the other places do, but we love it. Excellent food too.

As far as restaurants are concerned, we LOVE Don Rufino and have been many times.

Restaurante Cafe Mediterraneo has great Italian and is also very kid-oriented. They have a playhouse and a giant Connect 4.

We also loved Chocolate Fusion Cafe in La Fortuna.

We had a delicious tipico breakfast (gallo pinto and plantains) at a roadside spot on the way to La Fortuna next to the Blue Morpho Lodge.

We’ve also been to Jaco, Puntarenas, Poas, Puerto Viejo, and lots of places around the San Jose Valley since my in-laws live in Naranjo. I have a bunch more recommendations as your plan comes together. My sister- and brother-in-law run a touring company there, too, if you want someone to show you around. (They’re multilingual and speak English and Spanish fluently.)

[stinkyfeet]

Costa Rica is one of my favorite places and great for travel with kids!

Our last trip we stayed at Tree House Hotel Costa Rica. It exceeded expectations. It's not terribly far from Fortuna and they will plan all your excursions and arrange transportation. My kids ar eolder but here were definitely kids your little ones ages there.
www.treehouseshotelcostarica.com/

The Westin Playa Conchal is fabulous for families. It's got a nice beach and fabulous pools. They also help you plan excursions and have lots to choose from. We did fantastic zip lining and a sunset cruise. Plus there is tons to do at the resort. And the food is great for an all-inclusive

We also loved Tabacon but I'm not sure about your children's ages for that place.

[IndiaInk]

Following, as my BF and I are also planning to visit Costa Rica in February. We've purchased airfare to San Jose, but haven't settled on lodging yet, though I'm getting a little antsy about making some decisions because it's high season and it seems like many places are already getting booked up.
We want sun and relaxation, beaches and wildlife and not TOO many crowds, and don't want to spend too much time driving around the country. I think we'll probably go to La Fortuna for a few days and then over to Manuel Antonio area for beach time.
I love trip planning but Costa Rica has me nearly overwhelmed with choices! There's a good Facebook group I've found called Costa Rica Travel that has lots of advice, so that might be a good place to start.

[devonpow]

We were there on a big extended family trip this summer. We started in Arenal at the Arenal Ovservatory Lodge www.arenalobservatorylodge.com - we really enjoyed staying here but it’s not fancy. It was great for hiking, waterfalls, views, seeing animals on property, etc. The food was pretty good and they had a nice happy hour each night We went spent a day at the thermal springs and doing bouldering and rafting, went ziplining etc. Our transportation (from the airport , to activities etc) was all through the hotel and very easy. A fancier hotel there is the Springs - we spent a day there and it was great! A trip to La Fortuna waterfall was a highlight.

We then went to Manuel Antonio (this was a 5 hour distance, but we really wanted to go to these different areas) and stayed at the Parador. We had a great time here, nice pools and swim up bar, we did all the beach activities, a catamaran trip etc etc. Very different from the volcano. We had a private guide in Manuel Antonio who took us into the park and identified all the animals etc for us, and took us on a day trip to Nauyaca waterfall park. If you end up going to that area message me and I can give you his name.

[simpsongal]

Following 😃- we were eying Costa Rica but we need late summer (august) travel and we’re a little concerned it’s the rainy season. Our kids will be 7 and 10 next summer.

[Susie]

Awesome, thanks so much!  underwaterrhymes, I may reach out as we get to planning.  My friend suggested possibly La Fortuna / Arenal area for part of our time, and Tamarindo for the other part.  I'm glad to hear the Arenal area get so much love.  

[devonpow]

Oct 6, 2023 8:11:10 GMT -5 simpsongal said:

Following 😃- we were eying Costa Rica but we need late summer (august) travel and we’re a little concerned it’s the rainy season. Our kids will be 7 and 10 next summer.

we were there in July - it did rain but only in the afternoons. We planned all our excursions in the mornings and it was great!

[EvieEthelGarland]

I went 10 years ago so I can't offer much but if you do go to Fortuna (which you should) and you do go to a hot springs (which you should) and you chose Baldi, be aware of he water slides. Baldi was recommended by the hotel and it was nice, but cheesy. I think it would be a good option with children. However, the waterslides, while they look normal, are ones I would not let my family go on. I went home with quite the goose egg and was not the only person there that evening with a bump or bruise from them.

[InBetweenDays]

I've been to Costa Rica twice. Once as a girls trip and we flew in to Liberia and stayed in Tamarindo (a few days at Tamarindo Diria and a few days at a VRBO). Second time with our family (kids were 10 and 12) and stayed in Arenal/La Fortuna, Monteverde, and Manuel Antonio.

I loved all of it, but if you wanted to limit it to two places I'd probably do La Fortuna for hiking/adventure and either Tamarindo or Manuel Antonio for beach. In La Fortuna we stayed at Los Lagos spa and resort. Had numerous pools all with different temperatures, water slides, swim up bar, etc plus an AMAZING view of the mountain. As someone else mentioned the sloth tour is right there, there is zip lining, and we did a horseback ride to the La Fortuna waterfalls (you can also hike in). Plus some great restaurants nearby (food at the resort was meh).

It's a hard choice between Tamarindo and Manuel Antonio. Tamarindo has better beaches, but Manuel Antonio I think has more activities plus has the national park right there. In Tamarindo we loved the Tamarindo Diria resort. Had several pools, great food, could take surf lessons right there, could walk to restaurants in town, etc. In Manuel Antonio we stayed at an AirBnB that was fabulous. Had three units and a shared pool but what made it great was our host. He had so many good recommendations.

We rented a car both times and found it pretty easy to drive ourselves around.

[IndiaInk]

Oct 6, 2023 12:47:01 GMT -5 InBetweenDays said:

I've been to Costa Rica twice. Once as a girls trip and we flew in to Liberia and stayed in Tamarindo (a few days at Tamarindo Diria and a few days at a VRBO). Second time with our family (kids were 10 and 12) and stayed in Arenal/La Fortuna, Monteverde, and Manuel Antonio.

I loved all of it, but if you wanted to limit it to two places I'd probably do La Fortuna for hiking/adventure and either Tamarindo or Manuel Antonio for beach. In La Fortuna we stayed at Los Lagos spa and resort. Had numerous pools all with different temperatures, water slides, swim up bar, etc plus an AMAZING view of the mountain. As someone else mentioned the sloth tour is right there, there is zip lining, and we did a horseback ride to the La Fortuna waterfalls (you can also hike in). Plus some great restaurants nearby (food at the resort was meh).

It's a hard choice between Tamarindo and Manuel Antonio. Tamarindo has better beaches, but Manuel Antonio I think has more activities plus has the national park right there. In Tamarindo we loved the Tamarindo Diria resort. Had several pools, great food, could take surf lessons right there, could walk to restaurants in town, etc. In Manuel Antonio we stayed at an AirBnB that was fabulous. Had three units and a shared pool but what made it great was our host. He had so many good recommendations.

We rented a car both times and found it pretty easy to drive ourselves around.

Would you be willing to share the Airbnb that you liked in Manuel Antonio?

[InBetweenDays]

Oct 6, 2023 13:46:10 GMT -5 IndiaInk said:

Oct 6, 2023 12:47:01 GMT -5 InBetweenDays said:

I've been to Costa Rica twice. Once as a girls trip and we flew in to Liberia and stayed in Tamarindo (a few days at Tamarindo Diria and a few days at a VRBO). Second time with our family (kids were 10 and 12) and stayed in Arenal/La Fortuna, Monteverde, and Manuel Antonio.

I loved all of it, but if you wanted to limit it to two places I'd probably do La Fortuna for hiking/adventure and either Tamarindo or Manuel Antonio for beach. In La Fortuna we stayed at Los Lagos spa and resort. Had numerous pools all with different temperatures, water slides, swim up bar, etc plus an AMAZING view of the mountain. As someone else mentioned the sloth tour is right there, there is zip lining, and we did a horseback ride to the La Fortuna waterfalls (you can also hike in). Plus some great restaurants nearby (food at the resort was meh).

It's a hard choice between Tamarindo and Manuel Antonio. Tamarindo has better beaches, but Manuel Antonio I think has more activities plus has the national park right there. In Tamarindo we loved the Tamarindo Diria resort. Had several pools, great food, could take surf lessons right there, could walk to restaurants in town, etc. In Manuel Antonio we stayed at an AirBnB that was fabulous. Had three units and a shared pool but what made it great was our host. He had so many good recommendations.

We rented a car both times and found it pretty easy to drive ourselves around.

Would you be willing to share the Airbnb that you liked in Manuel Antonio?

So looking at it we may not have booked through AirBnB. But fabulous place. We rented the 2 BR/1 BA.

www.villasoasis.com/?cn-reloaded=1&fbclid=IwAR3vpb67va6ne8aiVPvIf1j0RI5FLi1bOcFh3kb24LR4gN5OUVKnakwAzXM

[IndiaInk]

Oct 6, 2023 15:36:10 GMT -5 InBetweenDays said:

Oct 6, 2023 13:46:10 GMT -5 IndiaInk said:

Would you be willing to share the Airbnb that you liked in Manuel Antonio?

So looking at it we may not have booked through AirBnB. But fabulous place. We rented the 2 BR/1 BA.

www.villasoasis.com/?cn-reloaded=1&fbclid=IwAR3vpb67va6ne8aiVPvIf1j0RI5FLi1bOcFh3kb24LR4gN5OUVKnakwAzXM

Thank you! It looks perfect!

[jg183]

we went for a week split between tabacon and manuel antonio. My boys always ask to go back
we stayed at pacifico colonial condo in manuel antonio and kimberly there organized everything for us (private driver, tours, etc)

[wanderlustmom]

We have went two times (one with kids and one without) to Arenal, Manuel Antonio and Monteverde. Loved everything about our trips to Costa Rica