Costa Rica In August: where?

[Howmanysleepstilchristmas]

Can anyone suggest a base for a 2 week holiday? The Caribbean side looks better weather wise I think? Can someone point me towards a good area to look please? We want an active holiday with plenty of wildlife, and need the youngest dc aged 6 to be able to join in. Would he be old enough to kayak/ zip line etc? I’m struggling to see online.

We have been in August - it is rainy season but we had pretty good weather - we stayed on Pacific side in Guanacaste - was about 27C each day and just rained after 4pm so could work round it. I don't know if we were lucky with weather though but was consistent throughout two weeks.

Plenty of wildlife all over and activities all over so really depends what you prefer. I would say a 6 year old is quite borderline on being able to zipline and also make sure the place you are going has good safety checks. My kids were 10 and 11 and we did 2 ziplines - one at Buena Vista which maybe suitable about 30 metres in air monkeys and toucans in trees, also waterslide, horse riding, hot spings etc. They might allow a 6 year old but all ziplines have height and weight restrictions. Other zipline we did was Diamante - this was several hundred metres in the air and I don't think a 6 year old would be allowed - lots of CR ziplines are incredibly high and quite a few are not suitable for 6 year olds. This is Diamante restrictions - more based on weight and height:
diamanteecoadventurepark.com/activities/aerial-pass/

My then 10 and 11 year old did it but I wouldn't let a 6 year old on that one. They do have animals though so if you say have older kids they could zipline and youngest see sloths etc but would say somewhere like Buena Vista would be better if they take 6 year olds so all can do it.

Our hotel included free kayaking, SUP and windsurfing and a 6 year old would be allowed kayaking out of those with an adult in same kayak. Its in Pacific Ocean.

www.buenavistadelrincon.com

We also stayed Pacific side in August - we typically had one thunderstorm a day which would last about an hour in either the afternoon or evening - it wasn't a big deal!.If you're just looking for one base then I'd recommend Tulemar in Manuel Antonio - it's won the TripAdvisor Travellers choice award this year and is the no 1 rated hotel in Manuel Antonio -tulemar.com www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g309274-d300974-Reviews-Tulemar_Bungalows_Villas-Manuel_Antonio_Province_of_Puntarenas.html. Manuel Antonio is a National Park, it is one of the more popular national parks but the beach in the park is gorgeous & it's easy to navigate your own way around without a guide. Tulemar is a series of properties spread out over 30 odd acres of rainforest with its own beach, free kayaking, 4 pools and one restaurant & small supermarket. If you're looking for AI this isn't the place for you but families have the choice of catering for themselves, eating in the restaurant or in the wide choice of places on the road outside Tulemar or even having a private chef! There are lots of options in terms of excursions other than the national park (zip lining, horse riding, boat trips etc) which either Tulemar can organise or you can use one of the tour operators a!ong the road outside Tulemar. Our DD was 7 when we went & ok for zip lining. There are also canopy walks which would be fine I think for smaller children. We saw as much wildlife in the grounds of Tulemar as we did in the national park & there is a Sloth Institute on site. It was a really special place to spend a week! We stayed in the cheaper accommodation but there are a range of options. Highly recommend & would be happy to go back any day.

Ps - American friends we made who'd come from the Caribbean side felt the Pacific side was nicer, just their opinion though & I've not been!