Costa Rica with our three boys
Apr 7th, 2012, 09:04 AM
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Costa Rica with our three boys
We got back last night from Costa Rica and I wanted to follow up and thank everyone for all the advice. We traveled with our sons ages 8,8 and 9. Based on advice we got here, we split our trip between Arenal and Manuel Antonio. We stayed at Los Lagos based on the recommendations here and Tripadvisor (Volcanogirl, I believe you suggested it to us both places). It really was a great place for us with the kids. They loved the slides, the breakfast, all the animals, the volacano, etc. There is one large pool with a crazy long, steep, fast (seriously, it would NEVER be allowed in the US) slide that my boys LOVED. There is a huge hot tub pool that has its own slide they really enjoyed as well. There are a bunch of small hot tub pools up the hill but they seemed to be populated by "couples in love". As one of my 8 year olds said "Mom, this is awkward, let's go back to the big pool."
We did some sort of activity each morning and then spent the rest of the day by the pool YMMV but for our kids, having pool time each afternoon was key. We hiked the Hanging Bridges with the MOST AMAZING guide, Erick Guzman. We saw sloths, poison dart frogs, iguanas, toucans, mot mots, blue morpho butterflies, monkeys, pit vipers, eyelash vipers, etc. Really, if you go to Arenal, you need to book this guy. Incredibly knowledgeable, patient with the boys, very reasonably priced (my husband thought that his quoted price was per person and about fell over when he was informed it was for our entire group). Erick took Jane Goodall around when she visited Costa Rica. His website is www.tarabatours.com.
Another morning we went ziplining with Eco-glide. I chose Eco-glide due to its focus on safety and we were very, very happy with our experience. Eco-glide uses two cables so you are clipped to a redundant cable at all times which I appreciated. There were 12 different lines of varying length and all of them were high, high up. The boys did great. On a couple of the longer lines, my skinny guy needed to be clipped to a guide as he simply did not have enough weight to get across without getting stuck. They have a Tarzan swing as well that my husband and a couple of my boys did. I am so proud of them. It looked so scary and high and they did it without crying.
One night we went into town for dinner (at Soda Parades as it had a tv tuned to the NCAA finals). Afterwards we got ice cream from a little shop down the street and strolled into the park to eat it. There were a bunch of local kids playing a pick up soccer game and they invited my boys to join in. We must have spent another hour there with all the kids (boys and girls of different ages) playing soccer. My guys don't speak Spanish but with soccer they didn't need it and they had so much fun. In fact, they made us go back every night to find a pick up game to play with the local kids. It is experiences like that that make travel so much fun with them.
One thing I really liked about Los Lagos that I have not really experienced other places was how friendly all the other families (and it was primarily families) were. I have stayed at a lot of resorts with the boys and in most places, all the families really keep to themselves. At Los Lagos, everyone was chatting by the pool or at breakfast and sharing stories of what excursions they did and what they saw and were so incredibly friendly. It was an unexpected bonus to the resort.
We headed to Manuel Antonio and stayed at Tulemar Bungalows as recommended on this site. Sadly, Villa Mot Mot was already booked but we did get one of the smaller villas. The place really is terrific for families. I highly recommend it to one and all. Well before we arrived, our concierge, Shay, contacted us and was incredibly helpful setting up our trip. The individual concierge they provide guests really exemplifies the service you receive at the resort.
Tulemar has its own private beach full of boogie boards, snorkel equipment, sea kayaks, chairs, etc for the resorts guests to use. My sons took full advantage of this perk and were boogie boarding and body surfing all day long. The beach backs up to the jungle (think Gilligan's Island) and we saw lots of howler monkeys and squirrel monkeys in the trees while we took breaks from the ocean. The beach is set in its own private cove so there did not appear to be rip tide issues and the waves were not scary for the kids. Just exciting enough.
We ate in the little town a couple of times and the resort shuttle brought us there and picked us up when we wanted. Had TERRIFIC fish tacos at Sanchos and a good meal at Cafe Milagro. We saw a gorgeous sunset at dinner (sitting at a great corner table overlooking the ocean....thanks Shay!) at Barbo Roja. One night we went on a nature hike to see nocturnal animals. For us, the trip was mostly frogs and the boys thought it was great. Much more expensive than Erick Guzman at the Hanging Bridges so not necessarily a great deal. However, the boys had fun so I guess that is all that matters.
Anyway, just wanted to circle back and than all those who were so helpful in assisting me in planning our trip. We really had an amazing time and my kids will never forget it. We won't either. Thanks!
We did some sort of activity each morning and then spent the rest of the day by the pool YMMV but for our kids, having pool time each afternoon was key. We hiked the Hanging Bridges with the MOST AMAZING guide, Erick Guzman. We saw sloths, poison dart frogs, iguanas, toucans, mot mots, blue morpho butterflies, monkeys, pit vipers, eyelash vipers, etc. Really, if you go to Arenal, you need to book this guy. Incredibly knowledgeable, patient with the boys, very reasonably priced (my husband thought that his quoted price was per person and about fell over when he was informed it was for our entire group). Erick took Jane Goodall around when she visited Costa Rica. His website is www.tarabatours.com.
Another morning we went ziplining with Eco-glide. I chose Eco-glide due to its focus on safety and we were very, very happy with our experience. Eco-glide uses two cables so you are clipped to a redundant cable at all times which I appreciated. There were 12 different lines of varying length and all of them were high, high up. The boys did great. On a couple of the longer lines, my skinny guy needed to be clipped to a guide as he simply did not have enough weight to get across without getting stuck. They have a Tarzan swing as well that my husband and a couple of my boys did. I am so proud of them. It looked so scary and high and they did it without crying.
One night we went into town for dinner (at Soda Parades as it had a tv tuned to the NCAA finals). Afterwards we got ice cream from a little shop down the street and strolled into the park to eat it. There were a bunch of local kids playing a pick up soccer game and they invited my boys to join in. We must have spent another hour there with all the kids (boys and girls of different ages) playing soccer. My guys don't speak Spanish but with soccer they didn't need it and they had so much fun. In fact, they made us go back every night to find a pick up game to play with the local kids. It is experiences like that that make travel so much fun with them.
One thing I really liked about Los Lagos that I have not really experienced other places was how friendly all the other families (and it was primarily families) were. I have stayed at a lot of resorts with the boys and in most places, all the families really keep to themselves. At Los Lagos, everyone was chatting by the pool or at breakfast and sharing stories of what excursions they did and what they saw and were so incredibly friendly. It was an unexpected bonus to the resort.
We headed to Manuel Antonio and stayed at Tulemar Bungalows as recommended on this site. Sadly, Villa Mot Mot was already booked but we did get one of the smaller villas. The place really is terrific for families. I highly recommend it to one and all. Well before we arrived, our concierge, Shay, contacted us and was incredibly helpful setting up our trip. The individual concierge they provide guests really exemplifies the service you receive at the resort.
Tulemar has its own private beach full of boogie boards, snorkel equipment, sea kayaks, chairs, etc for the resorts guests to use. My sons took full advantage of this perk and were boogie boarding and body surfing all day long. The beach backs up to the jungle (think Gilligan's Island) and we saw lots of howler monkeys and squirrel monkeys in the trees while we took breaks from the ocean. The beach is set in its own private cove so there did not appear to be rip tide issues and the waves were not scary for the kids. Just exciting enough.
We ate in the little town a couple of times and the resort shuttle brought us there and picked us up when we wanted. Had TERRIFIC fish tacos at Sanchos and a good meal at Cafe Milagro. We saw a gorgeous sunset at dinner (sitting at a great corner table overlooking the ocean....thanks Shay!) at Barbo Roja. One night we went on a nature hike to see nocturnal animals. For us, the trip was mostly frogs and the boys thought it was great. Much more expensive than Erick Guzman at the Hanging Bridges so not necessarily a great deal. However, the boys had fun so I guess that is all that matters.
Anyway, just wanted to circle back and than all those who were so helpful in assisting me in planning our trip. We really had an amazing time and my kids will never forget it. We won't either. Thanks!
Apr 7th, 2012, 05:34 PM
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Loved your report! We leave in 3 days with our 3 kids, ages 5, 8 & 9. I just had a couple questions I was hoping you could answer. We are also staying at Los Lagos and then heading to Puerto Viejo.
What other tours did you do in La Fortuna? Did you enjoy them. We are planning to do Ecoglide & canyoneering with Puretrek, as well as the waterfall (on our own) and the hanging bridges.
How long did you spend in each location? We have 10 days and are doing 5 nights in each location.
Did you rent a car? Of so, how was the driving?
Anything we should remember to pack? Anything else that's a must do or see?
Thanks!!!
What other tours did you do in La Fortuna? Did you enjoy them. We are planning to do Ecoglide & canyoneering with Puretrek, as well as the waterfall (on our own) and the hanging bridges.
How long did you spend in each location? We have 10 days and are doing 5 nights in each location.
Did you rent a car? Of so, how was the driving?
Anything we should remember to pack? Anything else that's a must do or see?
Thanks!!!
Apr 7th, 2012, 06:13 PM
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MatKat
You will have fun at Los Lagos. My advice, and I am serious about this, is to bring some bandaids and anti bacterial lotion. The pool area is so fun for kids but the surface around the pool is very slippery. In addition, the slide is long and fast and steep. Pretty much every kid there had a skinned knee or elbow. Like I said, this type of pool set up would not be allowed in the US (OSHA must have a rule against it).
We did the Hanging Bridges with Erick Guzman, the waterfall on our own and the ziplining. The family in the room next to us did a night hike and had a good time. I think it was thru Desafio (or whatever that group is). Another family we met did a horse back ride to the waterfall and were very pleased with that. We got up early one morning and the sky was super clear and the volcano viewable so we did the hike to the observatory before breakfast. Some people we met did white water rafting and were happy with their experience.
If you use Erick, he can get you a discount on Ecoglide which was nice. I think it was $10/off per person.
We also visited the animals on the grounds...the Butterfly garden, leaf cutter ant farm, frogs, crocodiles, etc.
We spent four days in each place. Wish we could have had longer but that is pretty much the limit with the boys' school break.
We didn't rent a car. We hired a driver to take us around. If I had to do it over again, I would have flown between Arenal and MA. The roads are fine but there is about 2 hours of winding, slow, mountain roads with lots of stops and starts (the cars being stick didn't help). My guys all got a bit car sick from this and it would have been so much easier (although more expensive) if we had just flown. Live and learn.
Have a great trip!
You will have fun at Los Lagos. My advice, and I am serious about this, is to bring some bandaids and anti bacterial lotion. The pool area is so fun for kids but the surface around the pool is very slippery. In addition, the slide is long and fast and steep. Pretty much every kid there had a skinned knee or elbow. Like I said, this type of pool set up would not be allowed in the US (OSHA must have a rule against it).
We did the Hanging Bridges with Erick Guzman, the waterfall on our own and the ziplining. The family in the room next to us did a night hike and had a good time. I think it was thru Desafio (or whatever that group is). Another family we met did a horse back ride to the waterfall and were very pleased with that. We got up early one morning and the sky was super clear and the volcano viewable so we did the hike to the observatory before breakfast. Some people we met did white water rafting and were happy with their experience.
If you use Erick, he can get you a discount on Ecoglide which was nice. I think it was $10/off per person.
We also visited the animals on the grounds...the Butterfly garden, leaf cutter ant farm, frogs, crocodiles, etc.
We spent four days in each place. Wish we could have had longer but that is pretty much the limit with the boys' school break.
We didn't rent a car. We hired a driver to take us around. If I had to do it over again, I would have flown between Arenal and MA. The roads are fine but there is about 2 hours of winding, slow, mountain roads with lots of stops and starts (the cars being stick didn't help). My guys all got a bit car sick from this and it would have been so much easier (although more expensive) if we had just flown. Live and learn.
Have a great trip!
Apr 9th, 2012, 07:42 AM
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Volcanogirl, I really want to thank you for all your help. You are the one who directed me to both los Lagos and Tulemar and they both turned out be to great for our guys. I really very much appreciate your assistance.
Apr 9th, 2012, 10:19 AM
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Sounds like a great trip! We loved Los Lagos and Tulemar with our kids! Your guide at the Hanging Bridges sounds wonderful! It's a great hike when you get to see so much! I'm glad your family got to experience such an amazing vacation.
Apr 9th, 2012, 07:00 PM
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Thanks so much for your quick reply! Just packed some extra bandaids! I just checked Erick's website but unfortunately it states that he's not doing any yours from April 7 till sometime in the fall I think.
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