There are so many wonderful reviews about BDC I am considering a 4 night stay next year. This will be a family trip with kids aged 7-15.

* when you sign up for activities (other than the nature trails on site) at Bosque are they on site or do you have to travel far? Activities that I would be interested in are waterfall rappelling, zip lines, a boat tour & horseback riding.

* How far is the beach? Is it a good swimming beach? Surfing? Would it be considered safe for younger swimmers or does it have a strong current? Rocky or sandy? Is the water clear & blue or cloudy?

* From reading the trip reports it sounds like BDC is a very special spot for relaxing in nature combined with lots of good hiking. Am I right? Sounds like it is a pretty quiet place, aside from the animals.

Yes, BdC is quiet - there are loads of activities to do, and you can do them all or just hike on the trails and relax in your cabin. It's really quiet at night; they have a small bar there where you can get drinks and people all meet for a big candlelight group dinner every night to discuss the day's adventures, but nothing too rowdy going on. It's great to just sit on your front porch; we saw tons of wildlife that way. You sign up for all the activities at BdC, and some are on site and some are off. We did a Primary Forest tour with their resident naturalist Phillip and hiked on a trail with him for 4 hours while he told us about all the plants and animals. We also did an early morning birding tour with Carlos that was great - saw some beautiful toucans. We also toured the animal sanctuary; to do that, you have to ride into town and then take a boat across the Golfo Dulce - really amazing, and we were the only boat on the entire gulf.

You have to hike to the beaches. There's a Golfo Dulce trail and a Pacific trail. The water is pretty, but it isn't clear. For the Pacific trail, you have to watch the tide chart they put up each day to see when you can hit the beach. There are tidepools you can go to and surfable portions as well.

BDC is a great place for families. Note that they need to be agreeable to no t.v., stereos, etc., but there is a pool! I took my 10 year old this year for 5 nights and we loved it (returning next year). There are several guided walks on site (you just meet in the lobby). The horseback riding was a lot of fun. You ride through shallow river bed, jungle and beach. It's about a 15 min drive from BDC to get there. Zip lines are better in areas like Arenal or MA (more cables), but if this is your only choice I did hear good reviews from other travellers. We combined the dolphin swim (not tame, you have to troll behind the boat with a boogie board, it was fun) and the Wildlife Sanctuary. Your kids would love this experience (hands on with the monkeys and close up with other animals). Next time we will combine the sanctuary with the Sunset Mangrove Tour. Either way, you have to do the ride back into town to take these tours. Agree with volcanogirl, I don't consider BDC a beach destination so if you are able to combine it with a beach location to get some of each, I'd recommend that. The trail system is extensive and amazing. You could hike them over an over and never be tired of them. And yes, it is fairly quiet. We usually socialized around the bar for a couple of hours after dinner and then hit the sack. Most people did the same since it's hard to sleep past the crack of dawn.

Hope you decide to go...I'm sure you won't regret it!

I forgot to mention, there is also a game/reading area on the 2nd floor of the main building where the kids could also hang out if it's raining and need to get out of the cabina.

Thanks hipvirgochick and volcanogirl - you both answered my question perfectly. I thought I had the right idea about BdC but I just wanted to be sure.

One more question - I know BDC isn't a "beach destination" but how long of a walk is it if we wanted to have a beach day? No matter where we are the ocean always calls....

Thanks again!

Just to second/third from all the info you've rec'd. There is more than enough to keep you busy for many days hiking the trails alone. There are several off site tours that are fun as well though. I really enjoyed Miguel and his horseback riding tour. The Refuge tour is really great as well, holding lulu the howler monkey is something I will never forget.

Haven't done the waterfall rappelling but I believe it's next door at El Remanso and I've heard really good reports on it, as long as the water level is pretty high.

The beach is about an hour and half walk, you go down the Golfo Dulce trail. You'll end at the Beach Access Road, and you'll pass 3 beaches. The first 2 are not really good for swimming but people do surf there. The 3rd beach is the calmest, this is very close to where a driver from BdC will pick you up from. Just a note, I found out the hard way at the 3rd beach - enter the middle area or further to the left (if you're looking at the beach from land), the right side looks calm but has a lot of small rocks and the tide comes in hard - I got pelted hard and had little cuts all over my feet and shins. It's really beautiful down there, they will pack you a lunch and you can enjoy it as long as you want to.

I personally liked the Pacific beach, even though it's really too rough to swim there. You can take a dip in the tide pools though. About 2 hours on either side of the low tide you can walk for miles. There is something really appealing about being on a deserted beach with nothing but the sound of the surf. About a mile or so from BDC there is a nice waterfall to cool off in.