Just came back from a 9 day vacation (April 18-26) to Costa Rica with my family. My wife and I have an 11 year old boy, and 2 girls ages 8 and 3. Prior to the trip I was concerned about traveling to CR with my 3 young kids but I have to say that the trip was great and I would highly recommend going to this country with kids of any age. The terrain of CR was very similar to Hawaii (especially Kauai) but not as built up. Weather was near perfect, except for some short late afternoon storms along the way. We first visited Manual Antonio (MA) for 4 nights, Arenal for 3 nights and Peace Lodge for 1 night. I have to say that this was probably my best family vacation that we have taken, and we have gone to some nice places in the past. It was also a pleasure that it was not very crowded everywhere we visited. Its surely beats Disney World, hands down. I planned this trip solely by using the Fodors and Trip Advisor websites (forums, hotel reviews, etc..) and now I would like to contribute to this website so future travelers can plan accordingly.

Day 1-5:
8:15 flight from Newark arrived at San Jose on time at 11:30 AM. Immigration took about 10 minutes as we were brought to the front of the line by an Airport Agent because we were traveling with young children. I paid the departure tax at the airport upon our arrival because I heard that it would save us time vs. doing it on the day of departure. Leo Rodriguez, a driver we hired for the 4 legs of our trip, was waiting for us outside of baggage claim. We hopped into his 2008 Nissan Van for our drive to the Buena Vista Villas (BVV) at Tulemar in Manuel Antonio. We pre-arranged Leo to be our driver (got his name from Trip Advisor and Fodors) for all 4 legs of the rip, but he pulled a bait and switch on us and had his associate Carlos drive us for 2 of the legs (more on that later). Drive to M.A. was exciting but took us a while as we made frequent stops along the way, including great fruit stands in which I did not recognize about half the fruit that they were selling. Leo also pulled over at the Tarcoles River to see Crocs - a little scary walking over the narrow bridge with the kids to view the crocs. Although we were planning to do the Cano Negro tour near Arenal, Leo convinced us to stop off for a 90 minute "Jungle River Cruise" on the Tarcoles River (instead of Cano Negro). We saw Howler Monkeys, various birds and many crocs. The driver of the boat stopped at a river bank and fed raw chicken to a croc - it was amazing seeing the 15 ft croc rise up and eat the chicken (w/o harming the guide). This was a great way to start off the trip.

After driving through some narrow bridges and stopping off at a Pizza Hut in Jaco for a very quick bite we finally arrived at BVV at about 7PM. We got upgraded from a 2 BR Villa to a 2 BR Casa as the AC was not working in our Villa. I recommend BVV - it’s pricey but if you can afford it then its worth the $$. The view, the private beach, the pool, the accommodations, all made this place well worth it. Breakfast was also fantastic (must try the pancakes). The only downside is that there is no front desk but you are assigned a "virtual" concierge with his cell # if you need anything (my wife called him constantly). We took advantage of the private beach and body surfed and boogey boarded every day. The beach provided for free the boogey boards, canoes and plenty of beach toys for my 3 yo. I went on a canoe far out into the ocean with my 11 yo son - the view of the coast from out there was gorgeous. We ate lunch at the beach restaurant each day - chicken kabobs, rice, hamburgers, and Papa Fritas for the family - excellent food. We also went to the family pool at BVV, which is quite picturesque in the jungle setting. Each night we left BVV and ate at the Mexican Rico Tico restaurant at Si Como No (a lot of bugs there), Biblyos Pizza (good Italian food), and El Avion. El Avion is definitely a must, especially for the kids with the CIA downed airplane. During our stay in CR we tended to go to sleep shortly after dinner (between 9-10) and woke up very early (5:30-6:00) as the strong morning light would wake up my 3 yo each morning. I was a little disappointed that we didn’t see monkeys on our balcony - but I heard that people saw them at the villas (not the Casas).

We made it to MA National Park during our stay but opted to go w/o a guide as I knew my children would get a little antsy. It was a good idea as the heat and humidity cut our walk through the park a little short (90 minutes at best). We did see many white-faced monkeys near the beaches and loved watching them play, fight and hunt for food. We also spotted a sloth back at BVV 2 times at the same tree. It was pretty easy to miss but a BVV worker pointed it out to us (looks like a large nest when its body is rolled up).

Day 5-8:
Another driver, Carlos Rodriguez, picked us up promptly at 9AM on Tuesday for our long drive to Arenal. Leo, our original driver had called us at the BVV 2 days prior to inform us that his Van had overheated and that his colleague Carlos would drive us. I later found out that Leo actually had driven another family around CR for the past few days and that his Van was indeed working. Carlos was very nice (although Leo spoke much better English) but his Van was older and the AC broke towards the middle of our drive. It was also difficult to put my 3 yo daughter’s car seat securely in the Van's seat. Anyway, the drive was quite long but we made many stops at souvenir shops, Sodas and Supermarkets along the way. We finally arrived at our hotel, Los Lagos, about 4PM (over 7 hours with stops). The volcano was covered with clouds so we were a little disappointed when we arrived. It was also a little bit of a downer at first when we realized that our “superior premium room” (largest at hotel) was not nearly as nice as our beautiful and large Casa at BVV. But we eventually got used to the room and it really served our purpose as the 2 queen size beds had rollaways underneath for the kids to sleep. The room was quite large but very basic. However, the grounds were beautiful and there was much to do there with all the hot pools, the croc farm, turtle farm, ant farm, etc. It also helped that the canopy tour and horse-back riding was on the hotel premises.

The pools at Los Logos were great - 2 cold pools and the rest were warmed by the hot springs- probably about 96-98 degrees. Our family loved hanging out at the pools while my 11 yo son loved the slides. My 2 older kids had fun teaching English to one of the workers at the pool who really wanted to become more fluent. He had an English/Spanish dictionary and I thought this was a great experience for the kids to teach someone our language as opposed to being the student (they probably spent 2 hours with him) . My 2 older kids and I went horse back riding up the Volcano (8 yo daughter with me and my son on his own horse) for a 2 plus hour ride. We were the only ones riding so we had our own guide. When we rested at the observation point high up on the Volcano, one of the horses ran off and our guide had to track him down. He was gone for almost 30 minutes and we were getting a little concerned that we would be stranded in the middle of nowhere - he came back and we were all smiles again (thank God my wife was not with us - she would have freaked out). The ride was beautiful - my son wanted to do it again (we will have to take up horseback riding in NJ this summer). My son and I also went zip-lining on the Los Lagos property. We were both anxious but it really is a lot of fun and not really scary at all (I'm scared of heights and I was OK with it). I purchased a CD from the photographer who went with us - paid only $20 which had about 120 pictures of us (and another family that went with us) and the CD also included another 200 great pictures of the volcano and various animals. While we were adventurous, my wife and 3 yo daughter were enjoying themselves at the pools.

At night we took taxis to La Fortuna and ate at Don Rufinos, La Choza Del Laurel and Vagabon Pizza. We enjoyed La Choza the best as the Chicken over the spit fire was the quite succulent. Breakfast at Los Lagos was OK but not nearly as good at BVV's breakfast. Lunch at Los Lagos was awful so we actually ordered in pizza one day from Vagabon (had to pay them $5 for taxi ride). The weather at Arenal was good and the skies became less cloudy each day. I finally saw the entire volcano w/o clouds but could not see Lava at night as it got more cloudy towards the eves. If I had to do it over again I would have rented a car after I arrived at Arenal to give us more flexibility to explore the area – we never got to see la Fortuna waterfall, hanging bridges, and Lake Arenal. I also wanted to see the lava at night but we did not want to spend $50 r/t to go to Observatory Lodge (I would have done this if I had a car). We did go to Baldi Hot Springs (3 minute taxi ride) but immediately decided to leave (and got our entrance money back) as we realized that it was not much different than the Los Lagos pools.

Days 8-9:
Leo picked us up at 8:30 AM on Friday for our trek to Peace Lodge. Carlos had wanted to drive us again but we told him that we preferred to have Leo's newer van and working AC. One of the highlights of the trip was when Leo stopped at a restaurant about 20-30 minutes from Fortuna to show us a "surprise". The surprise was a restaurant next to a river/bridge that was the home to hundreds of Iguanas. It was an amazing sight to see all these Iguanas in trees and swarming along side the restaurant (it was like an alien invasion). We went right up to them and took great pictures. The total drive time to Peace Lodge was only 2 hours from Arenal. It was nice ending our trip at Peace Lodge as the "grand" Monarch Villa was a stark contrast to our basic room at Los Lagos. My family enjoyed all the exhibits at PL - all types of Monkeys, different types of Cats (pumas too), frogs, and birds. My 3 yo loved the butterfly exhibit - chasing them all around. We hiked to 3 of the 5 waterfalls at PL. This was very difficult for my 3 yo with all the steps - I had to carry her the entire time and she actually fell asleep in my arms during the hike. The falls were fabulous but I think we went too fast and crammed too much into one day.

Carlos (not Leo) picked us up at 8:45 AM on Saturday for our 1 hour drive to the airport. On the way to the airport Carlos stopped on the side of the road to show us his home in which he has lived for the past 40 years. His home was surrounded by about 10 other homes which housed his relatives and his wife’s relatives - very close knit family which I think is typical of CR. I have to say that the major highlights of the trip were the 4 legs of driving between hotels/airports which really gave us a good feel for the country (thanks to the knowledgeable drivers). The drivers constantly showed us the various types of fruits and vegetables farms that are grown here and gave us an in depth history of CR.

We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare for our 12:20 flight back to Newark. The line to pay the departure tax was pretty long so I was thrilled that we saved time by paying it upon arrival. At the airport, I got about 5000 colons in coins and bills for my kids to have as a souvenir - they love the foreign money.

Now, back to reality in New Jersey USA. Its tough coming off my high from CR but I do have many great pictures and fond memories of the country to enjoy.

Excellent report. Thanks. We are headed to CR in August and are really looking forward to it.

It sounds like you had a great trip. I'm glad your kids enjoyed it so much! I've been trying to keep up with all of the family trip reports since we'll be bringing our kids this August and I'm just hoping they enjoy it as much as yours seemed to! We'll also be going to MA, but staying in the Mot Mot Villa at Tulemar, staying in Los Lagos as well and also the Monarch Villa at Peace Lodge - so I was really interesetd in your report! We're also going to Tortuguero and we're driving ourselves instead of hiring a driver.

It's good to know about the horseback riding and zip lines at Los Lagos, I think my kids will have a blast there (they'll be 7 and 9 yrs old) I just wish the drive from Arenal toe MA (we'll be in MA last) wasn't so long, especially with kids!

If you have any tips for the travels with the kids, let me know! My husband and I went to CR last year, so we have a feel for the country, but I'm just not sure how to handle the travelling between destinations with the kids!

Thanks for sharing! I'm glad you had such a great time - less than 3 months for us!

What a great report. I really felt as though I was there with you. Don't feel bad about the switch in drivers. The Costa Ricans are funny about that. We were once told that a bird guide was in the hospital with a bad heart and couldn't guide us (at Peace Lodge). As it turned out he was at the lodge guiding other people the two days we were there. They thought we would feel bad or something.

Glad you got to see the Iguanas. It is a stop for people when they go on the Cano Negro tour. It is pretty amazing at times.

A great report also for people with kids that are concerned. What a great time the older ones had and it sounds like the younger one found plenty of things to delight her.

Hmmmm, believe it or not, there is a huge Costa Rican community in New Jersey. Most of the Costa Ricans that we know personally that have spent time living and working in the States have been in New Jersey. The community where our house is has quite a few that have returned and built homes with the money they earned. We even bought a car from one who had brought it back to CR with him. It has a decal from a New Jersey car lot. A good friend of ours just spent a couple of weeks in NJ visiting her new first grandchild.

Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a nice report.

Always appreciate a detailed trip report. Sounds like a great adventure, especially for the kids. We went last Aug (but only to MA - a week at Si Como No) with 2 19-yr olds and it seems like there's simply something for everyone in CR. Can't wait to go back and explore other parts of the country. We rented a car and enjoyed the flexibility, but am seriously leaning toward a driver next time - sounds like that was a good choice for you.

Great report. Since we're headed to BVV (villa) in June, I'm thrilled you enjoyed the property.

Thanks for your trip report. I have been to Costa Rica three times.. but not with children. I have a three year old and I loved hearing about your experiences with your children.
Did you bring any medications for them or anything like that?
With the huge Diego craze I know that my son would just love seeing even one of the animals on the hike.

Thanks for the great report. We're going to Costa Rica in July, also with children. We're staying 4 nights at BVV in Casas and also have the Monarch Villa at Peace Lodge booked, so I really enjoyed hearing about how much you and your family enjoyed both.

ttraveler, we brought children's pepto bismol chewables but did not use it. My doctor perscribed a Cipro antibotic (for the adults)which she said should be good for travelers diahriah, but thankfully we did not need that too. It would have been good if we had benedryl as my daughter got some kind of rash from riding the horse. The rash went away after a good shower.

To all other responders, your kids will love CR - nothing to worry about. And you will especially enjoy BVV and Peace Lodge.