Family holiday Costa Rica

[TikehauLilly]

We are in the fortunate position of having 6 weeks off over the summer holidays

Looking for an extended holiday (although not 6 weeks) max 3.5- 4

One option we are looking at costa rica for the main part having discounted belize due to weather meaning if v rainy CR activities are more plentiful

Has anyone tagged on other locations that might work on to a CR holiday?

We are a family of 5 with 7/9/12 year olds.

NB: I'll be adding another post about other locations as just have a few in the running.

Not done it myself but have had rave reviews of Panama from a friend who went there and CR on one trip. Loved CR. You'll have a blast!

We went to New York on the way back. We were stopping there anyway so spent a few days extra

Costa Rica is amazing do it!

We filled 3 weeks easily in CR and could have happily done another week.
Nicaragua or Panama would also add on though.

Peru

@MichaelFlatulence thanks someone said Peru in another thread when I was asking about South America will take a proper look

@House4DS who did you book with or did you do it yourself? I'm getting v overwhelmed... ordered some brochures just to read rather than scroll! Is there anywhere that's a must even if a flight rather than drive or to stay longer than the normal itineraries plan for?

Thanks 👍 😊

We had THE BEST holiday in Peru. Totally amazing experience. I wish we had longer than 2 weeks there.

The Amazon - Tambopata Research Station was awesome.
Inca Trail hike for a day
We went white water rafting
Food tour and cookery in Lima
cycling in the sacred valley
homestay on Lake Titicaca
History, culture, activities.

Brilliant country

We’ve also been to Costa Rica and loved it.

We've been to Costa Rica but never in the summer. I think you have to be picky with where to go given the weather in the summer. I would look at summer itineraries such as this one https://www.stubbornmuletravel.com/costa-rica-itineraries/costa-rica-summer/ to get an idea of the best places for that time. We've always done it ourselves but I have looked at Stubborn Mule before (no connection) and they look good for families if you wanted them to arrange it for you.

We went in August a couple of years ago, never actually saw rain in the day, just two nights of it at either ends of the two weeks.
We enjoyed Tortuguero for turtle hatching.
Monteverde for the amazing zip lining, the whole family will love that!
La Fortuna where we stayed near the volcano. The the trip with a relaxing stay in Papagayo.
Do not bother either San Jose, literally nothing worth staying for!!
You'll have a blast. There is a good Costa Rica tips group on Facebook.
Enjoy

@TikehauLilly
We did it completely independently. It's a very easy place to travel and people were very helpful.
Booking.com for accomodation.
We used buses or minivans instead of hiring a car.
We had about the right amount of time in each place to not rush and have time to swim etc.
Not sure what I'd add on - maybe Manuel Antonia or Uvita (whales). Or Montezuma on nicoya peninsula.

From my notes:
1 Arrive Alajuela late
2 Bus to Samara
3-5 Samara (beach, surfing)
6 Bus to Monteverde
7-9 Monteverde (cloud forest, zipling, lots of walks)
10 jeep-boat-jeep transfer to La Fortuna (bargain $30, amazing views)
11-13 La Fortuna (hanging bridges, arenal observatory lodge hike, rope bridge every day)
14 Bus and boat to Tortuguera (exploradores minivan transfer)
15 Tortuguera (boat or kayak trip, walk in national park - loads of wildlife - turtle nesting evening walk).
16 Boat and bus to Cahuita (booked on tortuguero). Stunning journey.
17-19 Cahuita (fab beaches, snorkeling trip (not amazing snorkeling but fun trip nonetheless), national park walks - much cheaper than elsewhere $5).
20 Bus or rafting trip and transfer to Alajuela. We did the rafting trip transfer with exploradores. Totally recommended.

We took our animal mad dc to Costa Rica aged 10 and they absolutely loved it.
They also liked Mexico but it doesn't have such easy to see wildlife ( it has much better food though)

@TikehauLilly p.s. favourite places were tortuguero and cahuita. Nice relaxed vibe, more wildlife. I wouldn't have skipped anywhere though but could have stayed longer on the Carribbean side and explored further.

Ah thanks so much all. Appreciate all the time and effort writing out replies 😀

Costa Rica was probably my favourite place ever. The people, their humour, the place itself and the animals! All wonderful

We went to Osa peninsula in CR as an extension and it was definitely the highlight of our trip. Awesome, immersive wildlife and stunning lodge hotel. We went with Trailfinders, they were great.