My husband and I are thinking of planning a (last minute-ish) trip to Central America around x-mas/new years time. I am guessing we will have 5 days/4 nights maximum. We will be leaving our 15 month old twins at home so are looking for some relaxation/beach time as well as some excursions/activities. The reason we are thinking central america is b/c it is a short enough flight from NYC and we had a great time in Costa Rica when we went a few years ago. Also, it hopefully wouldn't be as expensive as other areas x-mas time. Would love any ideas!!

Do you want to go back to Costa Rica or visit a new country? We've visited CR several times and keep going back to new areas. If you want a new spot, Belize gets raves.

www.xandari.com CR close to SJO CR

might be nice for you

do both central valley and Estrillos ocean resorts...

or perhaps

www.issimosuites.com www.manuelantoniopark.com

Have fun,

Belize would be an easy option - we really enjoyed Caye Caulker and it would be a really quick, easy place to get to. Photos and travelogues below if you're interested. Keep us posted!
http://flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections

If you can find affordable tickets to the Liberia airport in Costa Rica, that would probably be your best bet for CR. That way you could actually get to the beach within an hour or so after landing and not waste more of your short time in transit.

In addition to Belize, Panama might actually be a good option too for a short visit. It seems a lot an be reached from Panama City pretty quickly.