jaunon

Our kids are of the ages of 9 and 7. Has anyone taken a family vacation there with young children. Was it a good experience and where do you recommend that we stay? Is there a problem drinking the water there? What would you recommend that we should absolutely do with the kids? <BR><BR>Thank you for any advice !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Iza

We went to CR twice with our daughter who was 6 years old during the first visit and 7 during the next. She absolutely loved it there. We met a number of families with kids around that age or even younger. <BR>Costa Rica is a great destination for families, hotels are mostly child-friendly and a lot of activities there appeal to kids.<BR>If your kids love nature, are not afraid of bugs and don't need TV to keep themselves busy they will have a great time.<BR>Our daughter loves swimming so she spent a lot of time in the hotel pools but she also enjoyed boogie boarding and swimming in the ocean, hiking in the rainforest, watching monkeys and other animals at Manuel Antonio and Osa Penninsula, horse back riding on the beach. She also liked the hot springs at Tabacon, a visit to Poas volcano and the canopy tour that we did at Rincon de la Vieja.<BR>As you can see, Costa Rica is all about nature and outdoor activities, so if your kids are into that they will love Costa Rica. <BR>The two places that our daughter really enjoyed (and we did as well) are Hotel Capitan Suizo in Tamarindo and Hotel Si Como No in Manuel Antonio.<BR>By the way, there is no problem drinking water in CR, none of us ever got sick there.<BR>Please post here if you have any more questions.

ALF

We just got back from a 2.5 week trip with our 13- and 10-year olds. They had a great time. We spent a week at Playa Hermosa in Guanacaste, where there are several nice hotels/lodges. The beach has smallish waves which are great for little tyke boogie-boarding. Some OK snorkeling can be had nearby as well. The kids also had fun at Arenal, going on a couple of guided hikes around the base of the volcano. We stayed at the Arenal Observatory, which has great views (weather permitting!) and grounds for exploring. The kids loved the pool and the suspension bridge that crosses a ravine near the lodge. We also spent a few days in the Talamanca Cloudforest, south of San Jose, where there were great places to watch birds, hike through incredibly dense forest, and ride zip lines on 'canopy tours' (7 is too young for this, and 9 might be too young). Lastly, we spent a week on Bahia Drake, on the Oso Peninsula, where there were great opportunities for horseback riding, hiking, and snorkeling. Lodges there range from very rustic to quite elegant.

jose aunon

Thanks for the feedback !!!!!!! I guess I can assume that we would have to rent a car while we are there. With regards to the hotels mentioned, are there many activities for families at the facility. Was it very expensive there?? Does anybody know what the weather would be like there in August?? Too hot? Too rainy? Too humid? If August is not a good month, when would be the best time to go there???

Iza

Both times we went to CR were in August and the weather was fine. It is hot and humid but not worse than northeast US in August (actually, when we were in CR last year in August it was actually cooler in CR than it was in Connecticut!). You do get some rain in August as it is the rainy season, but it is not everyday and never all day (usually a brief shower or storm in the afternoon, evening or at night). Thanks to the rain though, the countryside is very green and lush wherever you go.<BR>The hotels we stayed at do not have any organized activities for kids. I believe that some of the large all inclusive resorts may have them but we didn't stay at any of those. <BR>As to cost, the places we stayed at were on the expensive side (for Costa Rica), check out the websites www.hotelcapitansuizo.com and www.sicomono.com<BR>For an overview of other hotels (and prices) check out www.crica.com <BR>Whether you need to rent a car depends on your preferences and where you plan to travel. We flew to some places and rented a car to go to others. Some people also choose to hire a car with a driver which apparently is not that expensive.