Costa Rica - who to book through?

[scrappydappydoo]

We’re considering going to Costa Rica next Easter. I would rather book things as a package rather than DIY. Can anyone recommend a good company to go through?
It’ll be me, dh and dc aged 12 & 14. We’d want to hit the all the main places and do a lot of activities like zip lining and whitewater rafting alongside some chill out at the beach. I’d like nice family friendly hotels but not ultra luxury. Not sure about going with a group tour but would be open to the right one.

We went couple of summers ago with TUI and stayed at RUI Guanacaste - there are tours to most places from there. We did 5 but there's about 6 tour companies offering about 20 tours. Next door is Diamante which offers a 60mph zipline to ocean though its very high up, my then 10 and 11 year old did it fine but lots of screaming adults, lots of animals there too.

At hotel there's a beach, SUP, kayak and windsurfing included in price along with AI, amazing food. Pool and entertainment. Lots of families but is a lively hotel with a few party type adults. Did things like beach volleyball. Hotel is in rainforest and in hotel we saw 5 raccoons about half the nights at steakhouse, 1 coati, geckos and pelican. 50 metres down road lots of monkeys. On beach Gecko Tours can take you on sloth tour and horseriding on beach. We did sloths, blue river, Arenal, horseriding and water slide in jungle, Diamante, hot springs, active volcanoes. Would recommend for your aged kids.

You are best to take insurance that covers adventure sports and check safety records of companies if going independently, been some whitewater deaths there. Everything we did via tour operators on site and Diamante seemed very safe but some ziplines there are hundreds of metres in air and rafting can be on the wild side.

Thanks I’ll look into that - yep the health & safety thing is one of the main reasons why I want to do a package.

www.familiesworldwide.co.uk have several trips for families to Costa Rica. We have used them in the past and they are good value. There might be teen departures too. I would start with them. If you want more luxurious, then you have plenty more options. Steppes Travel and Audley Travel
will organise whatever you want!

Journey Latin America