Family holiday in Costa Rica - where, when, how long and how much?

[merchdrist]

I've always wanted to go to Costa Rica and decided next year is the year to do it.

I'd love recommendations for the best place to go as a family - ideally with some wildlife to visit / experience and a beach too.

I was thinking 7-10 days due to availability to get time off work.

No idea when is best to go (school holiday tied though) and was thinking about 2,5k per person budget but could push this to 3,5k if it made a huge difference.

Rather avoid the massive all inclusive hotels experience but will do this if it's the compromise to get over there.

Thanks for all tips and ideas and advice

Look at some of the travel company itineraries and then book yourself. Hiring a car and self driving is easy enough out there.

We are going with Families World Wide, but Stubborn Mule will also have ideas.

To get the most from the country multi centre is ideal.

It is quite an expensive location, but DIY will cut costs. BA fly direct to San Jose

I went with the Beyond Tourism company a few years ago. Nice personal service

We went during the Christmas holidays a few years ago - it's dry season then. The biggest expense will be the flights. We hired a car and booked our own accommodation and excursions which will definitely save you money and give you a lot more freedom. It's a long way to go for 7 days - we went for 16 nights but the 1st and last night was spent nearish the airport due to flight times. There is a huge choice of accommodation so I would say that if you get a good price on your flights, you will definitely save by doing it DIY. Do your research - if you're going to do ziplining, do the best ones!

I've looked and can't see the flights are out yet for the summer. Look at exodus for ideas as well

No need to waste money on a tour company.

We flew into San Jose.
Spent 4 nights at Lomas del Volcán at the base of Arenal Volcano.
Went Ziplining, hanging bridge tours & to a Costa Rican cooking class.

Then had an overland transfer, which was really interesting, to Manuel Antonio, and stayed at Tulemar, which is just perfect for families... all individual properties, ranging from apartments, to 10 bed villas.
Private beach, and it's a sloth sanctuary!
Monkeys everywhere, as well as all the other incredible wildlife of Costa Rica..

We went on Kayak tours, whale watching trip, and hours just chilling & wandering around.

Tulemar is incredibly safe, as is the town, which is 5 mins walk.

Back in 2018, we chose mid range accommodation (2 adults & 2 teens) and stayed at :
[https://fincalunanuevalodge.com/ where we did a night trek as well as the farm & choc tour onsite)

Arenal base where we horse rode and took advantage of the multiple pools

these ziplines

sloths & birds

and our last week we had an Airbnb near Manuel Antonio where we kayaked through the mangroves and trekked to waterfalls in addition to visiting the National Park there.

tulemar.com

You are allocated your own concierge, who are so amazingly helpful.
They will arrange everything for you, without being at all intrusive or annoying!!!

Definitely no need for AI or a tour company. We went at Christmas last year with our 5 year old and didn't hire a car except for the odd day and used Uber for short journeys. There is a network of small minibuses which can be shared or private that we used to get around. We stayed at Samara on the Pacific coast (for a first timer, go for Manuel Antonio though, we'd been there before as backpackers), Monteverde and La Fortuna (Arenal). Definitely pick a hot springs hotel in Arenal, we stayed at Los Lagos which is on the cheaper side (but not cheap)

CR is priced for tourists, you will pay European prices so research your activities well. Guides can be worth the money, don't miss doing a night walk!

How far is are these place from the main airport?

id love to go but would need transfers.

Thanks for all this great info. I can't go this Christmas school holiday, would Easter or Summer work best do you think?

Read a site such as Audley Travel. They have a Best time to visit section for each location

https://www.audleytravel.com/costa-rica/best-time-to-visit#sep-oct

I find the good travel company sites a great resource. Just because someone went and it was ‘lovely every day’, you never have context. I’d much rather read the general trend.