Kaneez

Hello all. I reach out to my travel family that has stood me in good stead in our past travels. Thank you!

Our family of five (husband/wife; 13 year old son, 8 year old daughter, 6 year old son) are traveling to CR from the US. We have 10 nights in April. I have done a fair amount of research and have priced out hotels independently and also reached out to a couple of tour operators (that would put together a package for the 5 of us).

We do not have an extensive budget and I am finding the packages from the tour operators to be fairly steep (we are choosing to stay in mid-range hotels).

I am at this time, debating on whether to go to it on our own and obtain a driver to take us around (separately, and I reviewed the threads regarding recommended drivers) or to go with the packaged tour.

The areas that we are looking to cover are the traditional: Monte Verde, Arenal and Manual Antonio.

I would love to get feedback from people who may have done one or both -and with kids. Thank you!

BAJJ

I'll be curious to see the responses. We're a family of four (8 and 10-year old boys) and opted to plan it ourselves and hire private drivers. We'll be there two weeks in June and are doing Peace Lodge, Arenal, Montezuma, and Manual Antonio.

volcanogirl

I would do it on my own; we've booked several trips just by reading guidebooks and exploring this board. It's been pretty easy. You're going to standard areas with good infrastructure, so you don't really need a package. You'll have more freedom and flexibility doing everything on your own, and it's easy to plan and book everything. You can also book drivers through your hotels if you want to; most offer that service.

volcanogirl

Check out Los Lagos and Silencio del Campo in the Arenal area, Fonda Vela in Monteverde, and Tulemar Bungalows in Manuel Antonio to see if they fit what you're looking for.

BAJJ

Yes, booking the drivers through the hotels has been very easy for me. Once I made the hotel reservation, the confirmation email contained additional information regarding transportation. Then I just responded via email, letting the reservationist know where we needed to be picked up from and where our next destination was upon departure. Everything was arranged for us. At least, that's what happened with Peace Lodge and Ylang Ylang.

murphybrown

Hi, I am glad to see your inquiry. I am debating the same options. We, too, are planning to go to CR this April and my kids will be 8 and 13. I have been considering tours through both Austin Lehman and Thompson Family, but, have been hesitant to book since we've never done an organized tour before. On past vacations we've enjoyed the flexibility of adhering to our own schedule, yet, I feel more inhibited by a foreign country. Costa Rica, however, seems to be a welcoming place for first-timers. My kids really want to do a zip line, but, one of the tour companies told me that often times the younger or skinnier kids can not really participate due to their light weight so they eliminated it from their itinerary. Have you read about this?Thanks for the input.

volcanogirl

A lot of companies will clip the child to an adult, and they go together, so check with the companies you're interested in.

mlgb

No reason to book a package if you can find suitable lodgings.

TiltedFlipCurves

To my mind, the fact that you can ask that question here answers the question.

By that I mean that the basic economic proposition of package tour companies is that they have information and contacts, maintain a staff, and fund their operation by charging you more than you'd pay if you put the trip together yourself. Nothing wrong with that; middlemen can serve a function. But basically, they're selling information. You've already put in the time to acquire your own information, and can get more here for no charge.

Kaneez

Love the replies! TiltedFlipCurves - I totally agree with you ... (great screen name, btw).

Volcanogirl (I hope you return to this thread) -- I am trying to decide between Fonda Vela (nearest to the park entrance) or Arco Iris Lodge (in Santa Elena, closer to other activities and restaurants). Any tips?

BAJJ - the Peace Lodge looks amazing... but with our length of stay (10 nights), I think we are going to have to choose between Arenal or Poas Volcano and it appears that Arenal may have more for kids to do.

Once I am finally done with my hotel reservations, I will post them here for the other families travelling. My target date to get the reservations done is this weekend.

volcanogirl

K, we really enjoyed Fonda Vela; they organized our tours for us and made recommendations, and they have a good restaurant on site and a pool. We stayed in a new junior suite, and it had two huge beds, a small refrigerator, sitting area, and a bathtub. It also has pretty grounds - very green and is close to the reserve. Arco Iris gets good reviews as well. Cab fare was pretty cheap for us; we paid between $5-8 for fares. The first time I tried to tip the driver, he handed the tip back to me, and told me I overpaid! I think you'd be happy with either place.

TiltedFlipCurves

Thanks for the hat tip, Kaneez. They say alcoholics remember every detail of their first drink. I remember my mom bought me my first Pluto Platter frisbee when I was 3. It was blue.

mamalirv

We are also planning ten day trip 5/14-24 with our three kids in their 20's. I was thinking about 3-4 days at Tabacon resort in Arenal and 5-6 days at Tamarindo Dirria resort. I'm assuming we can do a number of activities on out our (rental car) around Arenal. Has anyone stayed at either of these resorts?

mysparky

We did a 10 day trip in July 2009 with our 5 kids (ages at the time 10-17) and we didn't do a sponsored tour for the same reason as you're finding - cost. I think an independent tour is highly feasible and it's what we did.

Our areas of focus were Arenal (stayed at Silencio del Campo) and Manuel Antonio (stayed in a 2 bedroom villa at Buena Vista Villas - excellent choice).

I found a driver that was referenced here, as well as the tripadvisor forums and he was with us for the first few days of our trip. Our itinerary was as follows:

Day 1: JFK to SJO, stay overnight at Marriott
Day 2: Pickup by Danny (driver), drive to Arenal. Stop at La Fortuna Waterfall, grab lunch, drop off at hotel.
Day 3: Skytrek ziplining, followed by Hanging Bridges (lunch at Hanging Bridges). Had planned to drive back over to see volcano at night, but it was pouring and 0 visibility.
Day 4: White Water Rafting down Balsa River (Class II/III) with Wave Expeditions (first time for all of us - excellent!)
Day 5: Checkout of Silencio, drive to Manuel Antonio with stops in Sarchi, Tarcoles Bridge (HUGE crocodiles), lunch, etc. Said "goodbye" to Danny and checked in to Buena Vista Villas.
Day 6: Lazy day at beach
Day 7: Guided hike of Manuel Antonio National Park
Day 8: Kayaking in Mangroves
Day 9: Lazy day at beach
Day 10: flight from Quepos to San Jose and then home (boo hoo)

Excluding our airfare from JFK to SJO, the total for our trip was $7200 (hotels, all transfers, activities and meals). It should be noted, however, that we were traveling during "green season" and so the hotel costs were less expensive. Also note that the villa I rented at Buena Vista (aka Tulemar) was one I found through vrbo.com and not through their website (it was more expensive to rent directly from Tulemar).

mtrichards

we just returned - a group of 6 my family of 4 and my parents. kids age 11/14- and did it ourselves and loved every minute of it! use VRBO for rentals and Fodor's for daily activities or Eco Logdes were great also. we rented a house in Dominical for a week, 2nites at Dantica (eco lodge) and 1 nite in San Jose at Hotel Bergerac. had a great trip- hope you do too!

Kaneez

Thank you all so much... I am using all your comments ... volcanogirl: Fonda Vela is getting mixed reviews in TripAdvisor. I am leaning towards it over Arco Iris since it has the pool (a must-do for the kids). Have you had anything negative with them?
I understand that different travelers have different expectations from hotels. We are not high maintenance (at least we dont think we are .
Anybody else who has had negative/positive on Fonda Vela, please let me know.

volcanogirl

No, K, we had a good experience with them. I think some of the rooms are older, but the new junior suites were great for us. The Internet wasn't working when we were there, but that wasn't a biggie for us. I'd definitely stay there again. Monteverde is a lot more rustic than some of the other areas of CR, and we liked the vibe there. I think a lot of people don't realize that most every hotel in MV has a rustic vibe to it.