Anks

Hi
I am coming here with some hope because I am so confused about where to go in costa rica with a 8 year old boy. He loves beaches, some zip lining and loves birds and wild life....we want to go for 5-6 nights only....is San Jose the only airport to land from US? I heard it is boring for a kid....Any suggestions and recommendations? we are also really late in booking...any tips on getting a good deal now? We want 4-5 start hotels only ....prefer resorts than `hostel' type setting.

Hope to hear from great suggestions here.
Thank you.

volcanogirl

I'd go to Tulemar Bungalows in Manuel Antonio. They have their own beach and lots of wildlife right on the property - we saw monkeys and sloths and an aracari there pretty easily. If you want a second location, the Arenal area has great adventure activities like ziplining at Sky Trek and you could visit the Proyecto Asis animal rescue center and the natural hot springs like Tabacon and Eco Termales. There's another airport in Liberia, but if you're interested in these locations, I'd fly in and out of SJO; Liberia is convenient if you want to visit the Guanacaste area. If you want upscale in the Arenal area, check out The Springs Resort and Spa; Nayara is also nice; the Lost Iguana is good if you want to be away from town and in a more jungly setting. Lots of families like Silencio del Campo and Los Lagos, not sure if those are your types of places.

Anks

Thank you so much! I am completely ignorant about locations and distances.....how far is manual anotnio from san jose airport and how far would monteverde be from manuel antonio? I was thinking of landing in san jose, and staying mostly in manual antonio and making a trip to monteverde....also I read in your previous posts about La Fontina....what is that?
Sadly most good places are taken up... Tulemar included.....I am so late!

Also is Arenal and manual antonio one and the same? Pardon my ignorance.

volcanogirl

Manuel Antonio is a beach town on the Pacific side of CR about three hours from SJO.

La Fortuna is the same as the Arenal area that I mentioned; La Fortuna is the town and Arenal is the volcano, so people refer to it as the Arenal area. It's about three hours from SJO also but in the opposite direction from Manuel Antonio.

It's about fiveish hours between the Arenal area (La Fortuna) and Manuel Antonio. There are also in country airlines Sansa and Nature Air if you want to explore those. Just pull up a map of Costa Rica and you can see where everything is on the map. Monteverde looks fairly close to La Fortuna/Arenal on the map, but it's a pain to get to because the road is long and bumpy and not in the greatest shape. I think it took us about 3 or 4 hours to go between Arenal and Monteverde. We used Desafio's Jeep Boat Jeep service to cut across the lake.

Anks

Thanks! so if you were to recommend 5 days would it be Manuel antonio? And we make few day trips here and there? My son loves the beach and animals...and birds....zip lining too. Would we get enough of that in manual?

volcanogirl

Yes, you can get all of that in Manuel Antonio. The beach inside the national park is very pretty and full of monkeys. Do a guided tour of the park with Manuel Antonio Expeditions; they'll point out little things you would walk right by on your own. We saw monkeys, sloths, bats, and even a pit viper when we did it. They also have a Damas mangrove tour that's interesting; you ride in a boat - monkeys even boarded the boat when we did it. There are also adventure activities in the area, horseback riding, etc.

volcanogirl

You might consider spending a night or two at the Peace Lodge too. It's about an hour north of SJO - they have a beautiful waterfall hike on site, and also an aviary, butterfly house, nocturnal frog tour, fishing in their trout "pond" and some other things your 8 year old would enjoy.

Latitude9Lisa

I think Manuel Antonio is a great fit for families. There is a lot to do there (activities, restaurants, waterviews and animal sightings) and the area is very "tourist friendly." What time of the year are you planning on visiting?

StantonHyde

If Manuel Antonio is full, you can try looking at Dominical or other nearby places. I am planning a trip in April and I found lodging there that was not booked and/or less expensive than those In MA.

And grab the Fodors guide--it is very good with maps etc. I have to see distances and towns etc so I know where I am going. I love my travel guide books

BearBear

I took my 8 year old son to Manuel Antonio and he loved it! If he likes monkeys, you can go for breakfast at Anaconda which is at the Hotel Costa Verde. The restaurant is surrounded with trees and the monkeys are swinging from tree to tree! Great views too, and a neat property to walk around. I also recommend the Dames Mangrove tour. It is filled with all types of wildlife and is very educational, yet fun!! We also did tandem parasailing (bring your camera or camcorder up with you), ocean kayaking and of course, no trip to Manuel Antonio would be complete without the guided tour of the park!

Have fun!