allieinnj

I love planning vacations and through reading these boards I have had my interest sparked in skipping our usual anual trip to Disney World and instead taking my family on a trip to Costa Rica...but I could really use some help in being pointed in the right direction on where to start my research. I know very little about this country and don't know where to begin. I know there are some experts here so I'm hoping you can give me some advice. A little about me...I'll be traveling with my husband and son (age 9) and daughter (age 6). We'll be traveling on Easter week in April 2014 when the kids are off from school. We'd like to be in a family friendly resort on the beach. My kids are good swimmers but I've seen pictures in the limited research I've done so far and the waves on some of these beaches look pretty intense...is there any place to stay in Costa Rica on a beach where children can swim? It would be great if there was a resort that had activites and things to see and do right there so we could have things to do on resort days when we aren't on an excursion. I'd like to enjoy the jungles and adventures that Costa Rica has to offer, but in a perhaps "watered down" version that is safe and doable for my kids. My budget is flexible. My first priority is finding the right place for this vacation....I have a feeling that if I plan this right, it could be a very memorable trip for all of us. Any suggestions you can give me...on where to stay and what to do would be so appreciated!

MonicaRichards

Westin Playa Conchal fits for suitable and good beach but it's not exactly an authentic Costa Rican experience. I suggest you step outside your comfort zone a bit and stay at a couple of locations in more Costa Rican Accomodations. It's a safe country, kids are welcome, no need for a sanitized experience. You can read my trip reports at www.markandmonica.com. We also just got back from my fifth trip there, but that info isn't up yet . This last time we did 4 days Puerto Jiminez, 4 days Bosque del Cabo, 3 days Westin Playa Conchal and 3 days Los Lagos near Arenal.

volcanogirl

Check out Tulemar Bungalows in Manuel Antonio. It's exactly what you're looking for. The bungalows are individually owned, so a variety of accommodations, and they have a.c., a kitchen, and their own beach. Lots of wildlife on the property; we saw howler and capuchin monkeys, as well as sloths. They serve breakfast and lunch on the beach if you want to eat there, but they'll also have groceries delivered for you if you want that convenience. We absolutely loved it there. Free boogie boarding and kayaking at the beach. We had a really friendly sweet concierge that helped us out a lot including renting a car. If you don't want to drive, they can arrange for a private driver to pick you up at the airport and drop you back off. There's tons to do in the area. The national park has a beautiful beach and lots of wildlife; you can do the Damas mangrove tour. Lots of restaurants in the area, many walkable from Tulemar, but you have to be careful along the road. We love the area because it's lush and green. Most everyone speaks English so it's easy to get around. Taxis are available if you need one, but if you do tours they'll usually pick you up and drop you back off. This area is really popular with young families. They also have a pool on property which is nice. There's a free shuttle that goes around the grounds if you want to use it to go down to the beach.

volcanogirl

I forgot to mention that if you go between SJO and MA, you can stop at the Rio Tarcoles bridge to see the big crocs down below. Your kids would get a kick out of it. We did a croc tour one day that was really fun; the guide gets out of the boat and feeds the big crocs right in front of you. We rented a car that day to drive there and back.

mad

I'd second Tulemar! Comfortable, safe and easy. The beach is kid friendly and they have kayaks and boogie boards for free use. The wildlife on the property is awesome. You can rent some of the bungalows on vrbo.com for a discounted rate- we really enjoyed Villa Mot Mot. You can hire a driver to take you there from SJO.

allieinnj

Thanks so much for the suggestions...I'm definitely checking them out! Como Si No is another one that looks nice...anyone know anything about it? There's so much to see and do, it's hard to narrow it down. Since this is our first trip I think we'd like to just pick one great spot on a beach someplace and use that as our home base to take excursions and explore from there. Is Manuel Antonio the best spot to use as a home base or is there someplace else we should check out as well? We'll have 7 nights for this trip...it seems like there is certainly enough to fill our time in MA. I like that there is beach, rain forests to explore but also it seems that we can leave the hotel/resort and check out restaurants nearby. It seems like the volcanos will be too far of a trip for a one day trip from MA...am I correct in this? Would it be horrible for us to stay in one location? I think if we stay in one spot we can enjoy exploring at a more leisurely pace and enjoy some r&r too. So much to consider...but I'm having fun researching and planning! Anything else you can offer to steer me in the right direction would be so appreciated!

volcanogirl

The La Fortuna area has the Arenal volcano; there's tons to do there as well, but it would be about a five hour drive from the MA area. I would personally do two spots, but if you want a lot of downtime, you could spend the entire trip in MA. Si Como No is a nice hotel, but it's not on the beach, so I'd go with Tulemar given the choice. You might consider spending a couple of nights at the Peace Lodge if you can swing the cost. It's fairly close to Poas volcano, and there's a lot to do on the grounds - aviary, butterfly house, ranarium, five waterfalls you can hike, fishing at the Trout Pond, etc. It's not all that authentic, but it's very comfortable so maybe check out pics and reviews and see if it's your kind of place. Really only good for a couple of nights though imo.

allieinnj

Just checked out Tulemar...looks incredible! Just what I was hoping for. Do you book these directly through the resort, a travel agency, or are independently owned and I should try through vrbo? I'm looking to book for Easter week (I'm a teacher, no flexibility with travel dates) so I don't want Tulemar to get booked up. I'm also going to check out Peace Lodge. Honestly, I hate packing and unpacking and the traveling from one place to another but it sounds like it might be worth the effort! The thought of this vacation has me really excited!

volcanogirl

When we've booked Tulemar, we just just contacted them through their website. They'll let you know from there; some owners will have you contact them via phone to give credit card info. We did that with Mot Mot. With others, they'll have you fax your credit card info. We had one that wanted to use PayPal. Tulemar will let you know depending on which unit you want. If you want Easter, then you're really not too early to book; that's one of the most popular times to go. Ticos (Costa Ricans) go to the beach at Easter time too. The Peace Lodge is only about an hour from SJO, so it could be good to do it at the end of your trip to be closer to the airport.

mad

You'll pay less if you book through vrbo.com. The resort charges the owners a fee for renting out their property. You get the same service either way. Villa Mot Mot actually has their own website - http://villamotmot.com. It's a great place to stay- we didn't have one complaint.

volcanogirl

When I checked VRBO, the rate was the same for booking there or through Tulemar, but I think at other times of the year it varies. I would expect the rates to be pretty high at Easter since it's so popular.

mad, that's good to know that you get the same service. I wasn't sure about that. Can you still charge meals and drinks and everything to your room if you go through VRBO?

mad

It's been a while since we've been there, but as far as I remember we were able to charge everything to our room. We had Chris, the concierge come to our place each day to check in on us and help with anything we needed. He cooked us a fantastic meal. Had such a great time there. We went during high season and paid a few hundred dollars less than listed on the Tulemar website. Perhaps things have changed.

volcanogirl

That's good to know, mad. I will definitely check again next time we go, and there will be a next time.

And thanks again to everyone who suggested Tulemar. It made me an MA convert.

Patty

We also booked Villa Mot Mot directly with Susan, the owner. It came with concierge service and all of the usual inclusions at Tulemar. On arrival we stopped at the reception desk to provide a credit card for room charges.

volcanogirl

Thanks, Patty!

plambers

Hi all. We too are considering Costa Rica for a family vacation (kids 9 and 11). We were considering 3 nights in the Arenal Springs Resort and 5 in Tulemar. I did not realize the distance between the 2 and am now reconsidering a week in Tulemar.
There were some events in Arenal area that sounded great-haning bridges, eco glide park, hot springs. What are the day trips from Tulemar? I had condsidered a guided trip to Miguel Antonio National Park but seems Tulemar gets its share of animals.
Is there anything to see with the snorkeling equipment in Tulemar?
Lastly, we are torn between mid April 2014 or June,July. Is there a big temperature difference in addition to the chance of rain?
thanks all
Just trying to get an idea of entire cost of this trip. How expensive are meals if we stayed in Tulemar? What are expeditions we'd really want to do? The crocodile day sounds great.

volcanogirl

I listed a few MA tours up above - we did the Manuel Antonio National Park; we saw tons of monkeys, and the beach there is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen; we also did the Damas mangrove tour boat ride and monkeys actually boarded our boat, and we did the Villa Vanilla Spice Tour. There are a lot of adventure activities, but we did them all in La Fortuna. There's also some sort of buggy ride that goes to waterfalls and some more hidden spots. It's called Vacation Buggy, and we heard some rave reviews, but didn't get a chance to try it. Manuel Antonio Expeditions is who we used for our tours, and they were great. I got the recommendation on this board. I still like the split between MA and Arenal because it's neat to see both areas, and they're very different.

We snorkeled in Manuel Antonio, and the visibility wasn't great for us due to sediment in the water. I wouldn't bother with it again. Tulemar has lots of wildlife, but it's not as in your face as in the park. People in the park feed the animals, so they are always there and hanging around waiting for handouts. At Tulemar, the animals behave more naturally; they make their rounds around the grounds, picking fruit, etc. Seems like we saw them most early in the morning. We saw a baby sloth on the beach that had fallen from a tree, and we saw several sloths around the property, but only when guides and hotel personnel pointed them out to us. We would look up and one would be right over us, but unless you know to look, you can walk right by them. We saw howlers in the trees by the beach on our own, and we had an aracari in a tree near our room.

Rain starts at the end of April; we've been then, and that's a great time to go. The rain increases as the year goes on, so June would have more, and July more than that. We've also been in July, and it was fine too, but you'll have less rain in April. March and April are the warmest times to go, but only by a few degrees. It would probably be high of about 90 during the day and cool off to the lower 70sish at night. Tulemar has a.c. which was great.

We used Jose's Croc Tour and would recommend them. Saw lots of cool birds and things in addition to the crocs. Tulemar only serves breakfast and lunch on the beach. You would have to eat out for dinner. Check out the menus for Barba Roja and Cafe Agua Azul online to get an idea of what they're like; those are pretty representative of tourist prices.

Patty

When we stayed at Mot Mot, we had capuchin and squirrel monkeys on our balcony every day. At one point we had both. Both also tried to get inside several times so we had to be very careful about not leaving doors and windows open. We thought it was pretty in your face. They totally acted like it was their balcony, playing in the hammock, etc. and we were just being allowed to use it We also saw both two and three toed sloths on the grounds. One was in a tree right by the bungalow.

The only tour we took was the Damas mangrove one as it was more of a rest and relaxation trip for us. We saw a number of birds, a boa, crocs, capuchins and a silky anteater on that trip.

There's also the option of preparing some of your own meals and our concierge took us grocery shopping the first day.

volcanogirl

Patty, were you in Upper Mot Mot? I've heard they visit there daily. We were in lower Mot Mot and never saw a single monkey, not even one in the trees nearby. We wanted monkey visits. We did have bats though; two little ones that hung right outside our door.

The concierge will also deliver groceries for you, but if you want to go on your own, you can walk to the Super Joseth very easily. My husband went to get chips and drinks and made it back pretty quickly. We made our own breakfast every day to save money - just cereal, fresh fruit, juice, but you can get eggs, bread, etc. if you want to make something more elaborate.

Since you asked about prices at Tulemar, we only really ate lunch there; they had a simple menu of things like fish sandwiches, BBQ chicken sandwiches; it's was pricey like you would imagine hotel food to be, but not outrageous, maybe about $10-12 for a sandwich. They also have servers that will bring you drinks on the beach.

Patty

Yes we were in upper. We were literally overrun with monkeys.