I have spent HOURS trying to find just the right place- never looking outside of Caribbean or Mexico. My kids are big pool kids, as opposed to beach, but my husband suggested looking into Costa Rica. Travelling from Boston-- long trip? Read briefly about Los Lagos. Pool slide, volcanos, wildlife... my boys are 5 and 7. Do I need to be concerned about safety? Water? Disease? I know almost nothing about this area. Any suggestions would be SO appreciated. Thanks

Watrer in Costa Rica ios safe to drink, only 'diseases' to worry about are dengue fever but that is in certain areas of the country during rainy season.
its safe outside san jose, jaco and tamarindo.
you can fly into Liberia Airport and youre 30 mins away from the beach:

http://costa.rica.typepad.com/playa_...ome/index.html


Must sees are Osa Peninsula, Arenal Volcano, national parks beaches of Guanacaste, the Central Pacific, Nicoya Peninsula and Caribbean!

http://costa.rica.typepad.com/costa_...ome/index.html

My kids were about that age, maybe a year older the first time we went to CR. It is a very special place,and we had a wonderful time. Compared to some of the other places we've traveled, CR is used to North American visitors and is geared a bit more towards tourists. (But you will definitely know you're in Central America and not Disneyworld!) Arenal would be a good place to go - hotels with pools, tons of activities, and wildlife to see. Manuel Antonio might be another place you'd like, with tons of animals, beautiful beaches, and a number of hotels to choose from.

Hey, GettinBye, thanks for your post! I am just starting to look into CR for a trip with similar aged kids (5 and 9), also leaving from Boston, so this is great, as I have similar questions. Both kids love the beach or a pool; my 9-year-old son is especially interested in volcanoes, rain forest, and wildlife. I've been looking into a tour group that caters to families, but it's really expensive, so now I'm wondering if we can do the trip cheaper on our own? When we were in the Caribbean (Grand Cayman), we stayed in a condo where we could cook for ourselves, but I haven't seen much on condos or places with kitchens in CR--anyone have any info on that?

Also, I'm wondering about the food... My kids love Mexican (anything with rice and beans)--is that typical? My son has food allergies, so I have concerns about finding things we are familiar with. Thanks!

jspen- regarding the food. If your children love rice and beans then they are all set for CR. That is a staple food there and it is so very good!!!

I flew from Boston to SJO last July and granted I didn't have my two children with me (girls trip)it seemed fine. 1 1/2hrs to Charlotte, NC and then 4 to SJO.

Our granddaughter, at 18 months (last July)couldn't get enough rice and beans. We joked that she is a little Tica at heart!

GettinBye,
We live out on Martha's Vineyard and traveled from Boston to Costa Rica Dec. 05 with our 5 and 7 year old kids. It was a fabulous trip!
From San Jose we rented an Xterra from Dollar and drove to Poas Volcano Lodge for the first two nights(easy 45 min. drive). Great lodge with nice breakfast. The hike to the Poas volcano and later through La Paz Waterfalls were wonderful for the kids. Lots of things we don't see back here in N.England! The food was never a problem. We then headed to Los Lagos, which the kids loved. It was my least favorite, because it lacked cultural flavor, but the pools and slides were fun. From there we headed to Monteverde and stayed at the San Luis Ecolodge. That was okay, but I would stay in town next time, for less money. I really liked the town and the guided tour through the Monteverde Reserve was the best. Definitely get a guide for the reserve. While in Monteverde, we visited the creamery and bought some yummy frappes for very little $. After three nights at the Ecolodge we drove to Manuel Antonio and met up with our family for a ten day stay at a wonderful house, Villa el Cantico. Drink bottled water, watch your valuables, bring little with you and get ready to show your kids how to love nature! Hanging bridges and zip line tours are a must! My kids still talk about it and we may return to explore different areas of the country next Christmas holiday. We will bring more items for the local schools too. On our visit, we had a local teacher bring us to visit one of the poorest schools in the area where we gave them washable colored markers and handed out candy canes to each kid. They were so cute and excited! It was a reality check for my Nintendo loving, Gameboy kids!
BTW - we left Boston Dec. 10th and returned the 27th. Manuel Antonio didn't become crowded until the 26th. Up until then, we could have stayed anywhere without a reservation. Weather was great, no crowds.

My small kids (3 and 5) and I have stayed for the last couple of weeks at Las Cascadas in Quepos (right next door to Manuel Antonio) http://www.condotel-lascascadas.com/. It's GREAT! Safe, yes; water=drinkable; disease, seems fine, however we got typhoid fever vaccines before traveling. They've got such a nice pool and the bonus is the hosts, Gary & Catalina have 3 sons ages 7, 9, and 13 so it's extra fun for the kids as they've got friends to play with. It's walking distance from the town of Quepos which is nice, easy access to taxis and buses to get to all of the regional beaches, restaurants, etc. We're heading up to Arenal and Monteverde for a few days - planning to stay at Hotel el Silencio del Campo in la Fortuna... highly rated on TripAdvisor.

I think your family would have a good time in Costa Rica. We didn't stay in the Best Western in Tamarindo but ate there from time to time. They have a pool and it seemed family friendly. We always felt safe in the city and the beach is not too far from that motel.
The streets are narrow and walking is a bit tricky but safe. We didn't see or hear of anyone being run over.
My web page might be of help...
www.gpbard.info

Gene

This wasn't originally my post, so I don't want to intrude too much, but all great info., especially about condos/houses in MA/Quepos. Sounds like my kids will like the food, too, so that makes life easier. shasta_family, I have also been looking into Hotel el Silencio del Campo, so I'd be interested to hear how that works out with kids. Also, mvisle, how did you work that arrangement with the teacher/school? One of the things I liked about the tour I originally looked into was that they arranged contact with local schools, so I'd really like to know more about how to do that without using a group. Thanks!
JS

jspen, Our visit to the school happen suddenly. We were staying at the San Luis Ecolodge and the staff/students there had been teaching English at the nearby school. They simply asked us if we wanted to come along with them. Great experience for my two kids. All of the children at the school were clean and dressed well, yet I was told this was one of the poorest schools. It was a fabulous learning experience for my children.

Jspen - you asked about tours with kids. We are taking a trip to Costa Rica in March with two kids (boys) ages 6 and 10 with Caravan Tours. The tour covers all the major areas, is reasonably priced and seems to have only gotten positive reviews on travel boards. They also visit a school in Tortugero as part of their tour which I thought was pretty neat. I will give a detailed trip report when I get back.

Hi Gettinbye and jspen,

We too are planning our trip to CR with our children in March (4 & 7 years). We went years ago, for our honeymoon actually, and both of us agreed, we'll come back some day with our children. The people are very family oriented, and clearly adored the children who were staying there on vacation - went out of their way to be kind to the young children. We actually found CR cleaner when we were off the beaten path than Mexico was.

We have found two places with lots of great reviews. The first is in Osa Peninsula, Dolphin Amor Eco Lodge. They'll take you to the dolphins and whales, snorkelling/scuba off Cano Island, and hiking into Corcovado National Park. Since I began investigating this place, I've been corresponding with the booking person. She's been amazingly helpful. The lodge is remote and employs a full time chef who's willing to cook with our allergies in mind (wheat & dairy). They've told us to go ahead and bring ingredients we can use, and they'll put them to use! It's much more than I expected. The other place we've been reading great reviews about, and have been corresponding with, is further up the coast, just south of Domincal, called Shelter from the Storm. The accommodations are villas with kitchens, lots of monkeys and birds on the 5 acre property, and a very friendly & informative hostess. We've decided that the Dominical area will be easier if we rent a vehicle, so we're in the process of arranging all that, with the help of Summer and Donna, the two very helpful and generous contacts for these accommodations.

If you're looking for a little more "resort", the place where we stayed before was Punta Leona - very nice pools, in fact, one just for kids, a few good restaurants, and three great beaches. It's just north of Jaco on the Pacific Coast. We also stayed at Almonds and Corals - amazing wildlife, but we've decided to wait on that with the kids as the Carribean coast has more rip tides and big waves.

so there's my 2 cents worth. I trust you'll have a great trip