1st time family trip to costa rica
 

we have just decided to look into costa rica this summer instead of hawaii. Is it crazy to go weather wise in August? How soon do flights and hotels need to be booked for aug 08? What is a good 8 day itinerary for 14/11 year old kids, of moderate adverture seeking? Would like to split time between relaxation and outings.

We went last Aug for 8 days and thoroughly enjoyed it - was our first time. Would rain every afternoon starting around 2 and end by 6 or so. Had plenty of nice weather in the mornings to do tours, visit parks, beaches, etc and then relax in the afternoons. We also didn't find the temperatures unpleasant - usually in the low 80s.

We didn't make our plans until late June (when our schedule unexpectedly freed up), but had no problem with getting flights and rooms - and the hotel was a substantial discount since it was wet season. We also liked the fact that things were less crowded - so we were told.

If you're not going until August, I'd suggest picking up a guidebook and reading it to get a feel for what kind of things you'd like to do first...or at least clarify your question with some types of activities you are looking to do, or places you'd like to see.

There's so much to do in Costa Rica and so many different types on environments that your question seems VERY broad.

I just finished planning a trip for July of this year and had many of the same questions.

Summer was the only time we could travel, so we didn't really have a choice between green season and peak season, but found that the temperature and rainfall varies considerably from place to place.

Here's a good temperature and rainfall chart:

http://www.costaricaexpeditions.com/.../tempchart.php

Regarding planning, I agree with the others, that you have plenty of time. I started planning well in advance and had everything booked by around November, but that apparently was not at all necessary. Every accommodation we requested had plenty of space.

We are a group of 11, with several teenagers similar ages to your children. Also moderate adventure seekers. We let them loose on the internet to pick out some places and activities. For the "outings" part they chose places where ziplining, hanging bridges, nature walks, rainforest, waterfalls, volcano would be available. For the relaxation portion they chose going to Tulemar and staying in a house on the beach, but where we'd have Manuel Antonio National Park nearby.

I echo airwayvs's recommendation for doing a little research and narrowing down your desires. There are so many places and so much to do. Then, if you post a little more detail here people can help. Also read others' trip reports. That helped me alot.

We're going back to CR for our second time this August. This will be the first trip with the kids though. I planned the majority of the trip this past fall, but mainly due to watching airfares and my obsessive trip planning nature :) As soon as the airfares hit a what I thought was a great deal, I booked the flights and then from there booked the hotels I knew I wanted. I have a few open nights still to plan and will get to them this spring.

Our trip will include, Tortuguero, Peace Lodge, Arenal and either a few days lounging at the Los Suenos Marriott -with maybe some day excursions or if we feel like making the trip from Arenal to Manual Antonio we'll head to there for a couple of days. I haven't decided that part yet.

I would agree that you have some time, so read the boards and some guide books to figure out what you'd like to do and then when you get an idea of where to stay, start making reservations. If you want to stay at a place like Peace Lodge, I would reserve early though because they have a small number of rooms, and only one that accomodates a family of four I believe?? Also, poplular places like BDC book up more quickly as well.

For you flight, start doing a fare watcher and when you see a good one, I would just book it.

And ask a lot of questions here, everyone is a huge help when planning, especially those first trips when everything seems so overwhelming!

So to sort of clarify what might be a good 8 day vacation with kids those ages, you might choose a combo of Arenal and Manuel Antonio (some of the tours and activities are in the above posts) and start looking into hotel reviews and recommendations and prices that fit your budget. If you would like to include a little more solitude "where you are one with the jungle" tee-hee :) you might check out Bosque del Cabo in the Osa which is a very special place.

You will find many flight arrival and departure times present the necessity to stay overnight near the airport or San Jose 1st and/or last night.