CR Vacation--Family of 5
 

We are planning a trip to Costa Rica at the beginning of June and I wanted to post our tentative itinerary and get any suggestions. We are a family of 5—two parents, a 10-year-old, 8-year-old, and 5-year old. Our main focus is seeing as much wildlife as possible on the trip. So here’s what we’ve planned.

Day 1—Arrive San Jose 12:00 noon, drive to Arenal, spend the night in Arenal/La Fortuna
Day 2—Arenal
Day 3--Arenal
Day 4—Leisurely drive back to San Jose
Day 5—Fly San Jose to Puerto Jimenez, check into Bosque del Cabo
Day 6—Bosque del Cabo
Day 7—Bosque del Cabo
Day 8—Fly Puerto Jimenez to San Jose, spend the night San Jose
Day 9—Fly home

Alternatives are cut one day off of Arenal and spend an extra day at BdC. The only thing I’m worried about is whether we’re spending too much time traveling and not enough seeing things. We’re also looking for suggestions of hotels to stay at in Arenal. Any ideas and suggestions are appreciated.

Neal

I think you're spending the right amound of time in Arenal. Lots of good hotel choices. Los Lagos is popular for families with young kids, also Silencio del Campo, Tabacon, and Arenal Observatory Lodge. If you want to spend $, The Springs. We love the Cano Negro tour to see wildlife in that area, but might be too long of a day for your 5-year old, and there's not a bathroom on the boat. While you're on the Osa, definitely go to the animal sanctuary; as a bonus, we saw dolphins on the way over - your kids would probably love that. And the night tour would probably be a hit too.

Since your kids are so young, you might look at doing Manuel Antonio instead of the Arenal area. Arenal has amazing adventure activities, but your kids might be too young to partake. MA gives you easy beach access as well as access to fairly tame wildlife. Check out Tulemar Bungalows and Si Como No.

Kids love www.tabacon.com

www.thespringscostarica.com

www.royalcorin.com

all hot springs termes on site

www.lostiguanaresort.com is nice great lava view no springs.

Personally to save a tonne on air usually rent a nice car

www.servicecarrental.com and drive down to PJ tonnes

of nice places wildlife along your way.

www.hotelvillacaletas.com
www.tulemar.com
www.cunadelangel.com

fun places to see/stay on your way down to

www.bosquedelcabo.com

Have fun,

It sounds like a great trip. We've been to Costa Rica three times, two of those trips were with our kids. They were 6 and 8 the first time and 9 and 11 the second time. They loved both trips. Arenal is a huge hit with the kids. There is so much to do there. They love the zip lines. There may be a little less to do with your 5 year old, but I'm sure you can still find a lot that they will enjoy. Our first trip we stayed at Los Lagos and the kids loved it. They have a great property with several pools, including a few water slides. The rooms are basic, but big, and will fit a family of five. Second time we stayed at Arenal Observatory Lodge and we loved it there. It's much more remote, but it's so close to the volcano. You'll see much more wildlife there. I'd recommend either. However, it is a DRIVE to get anywhere for your excursions, and with kids, that can be draining at times. The road to the main road is bumpy. It's not far, but it's slow. We usually rent a car in Arenal just to give us the flexibility of coming and going as we please - for dining and tours etc.

At BDC, we had Casa Miramar (we were also travelling with my parents, so there were 6 of us) and it was spectacular. Your kids - especially the older ones should love it there. Double check the Animal Sanctuary - I know the previously had an age restriction - you had to be at least 8 years old to visit. I'm not sure if this is still the case. I'm not sure how adventurous your kids are, but my son did the Tree Rapelling on the BDC property and he loved it. We also did the horseback riding there and that was a great day.

Have a great time!

I visited Costa Rica 2 years ago with my then 14, 11, 6 and 2 y/o's. We spent 4 nights in Arenal at Los Lagos and it was great. Lots of things to do with the kids. Horseback riding, zip lines, waterslides. We then drove down to Manuel Antonio for 6 nights and stayed at Tulemar Bungelows. The kids saw tons of wildlife at this resort. Howler monkeys, capuchin, squirrel monkeys, sloth's, crab eating raccoon, iguana's and basilisk lizards. Tons of frogs, birds and insects as well. Nice private beach that the kids loved.

We rented a car and drove around the enite time with no problems.

I just booked my flights for a trip this summer and the kids want to go back to the same hotels.

Let me know if you have any questions and good luck planning.

Josh

Neal - our family of five (almost the same ages as yours: 13, 8, 6) are going in April to CR. We will be in Arenal for 5 nights (2 at Arenal Observatory, 3 at Arenal Nayara); Monte Verde for 2; Manual Antonio for 2 and then in SJO for one night before our flight leaves to return to New Jersey.

The Fodors travelers, including Volcanogirl, were great with their recommendations and we opted for a split stay in Arenal to get the wilderness and some pampering (at the Nayara). I am now looking at excursions while there and am getting a bit of a sticker shock :-( it ain't cheap to travel as a family. We hope to do canyonning and Cano Negro in Arenal.

For the first two days while we stay at the AOL, we will do the hanging bridges (near AOL) and just enjoy the area and volcano.

I am in the process of working out our excursions, I can post them once I work them out, if you are interested.

Enjoy your travels!

My only suggestion would be to drive back to san jose and fly out the same day to BDC. Have fun