We went to Costa Rica for Spring Break with another family in 2023. We flew through Copa Airlines-we really enjoyed this airline and did not have any issues! They also have some opportunities for longer layovers, which we took advantage of on the way back. We had around a 6 hour layover in Panama City so we left the airport and took a taxi to see the Panama Canal. It was great!
Our first night in San Jose and on our last night before leaving, we stayed at the Hampton by Hilton SJO Airport. It was nothing special but a nice hotel with an outdoor pool. It was easy to get to and from the airport which is all we cared about! We took an uber to the mall because we had a few hours to burn and it was huge and had a lot going on, including a pop-up indoor skating rink! **I can book this hotel for you!
Arenal:
We hired a private driver to take us to each of our locations in Costa Rica. This ended up being cheaper than renting a car and MUCH easier than driving around ourselves, which is do-able but I would not recommend.
-This area is known for the volcano, hot springs, and beautiful hiking. We stayed at Hotel Los Lagos and it perfect. The price is great for the location and view of the volcano and they have huge pool with a fun slide for the kids and a swim up bar for the adults. They also had some areas with natural hot springs. Our breakfast was included, which was an amazing buffet, and they had a restaurant you could eat at for lunch and dinner if you wanted. The rooms were huge and very comfortable for our family of 4. They also have rooms that fit 6. We would highly recommend this hotel! ***I can book this hotel for you or another hotel in the area with Hot Springs!
Our Activities in Arenal:
-We went to Mistico Park Hanging Bridges in La Fortuna, Costa Rica and hiking along the hanging bridges. It was a little rainy on this hike but that didn’t stop us from crossing all 15 bridges. The kids loved the hike!
-Some of the group did a zip line in the rainforest, about a 20 minute drive from our resort. We booked a package that picked them up from our hotel and brought them back. That was definitely a highlight of the trip!
-The downtown in Arenal is also very cute with restaurants, bars, and stores. We took a 5 minute taxi ride from our hotel and went out to dinner in the downtown area once. It was a fun experience for the kids and felt very safe.
Manual Antonio
-Our driver picked us up in Los Lagos and drove us to our house in Manuel Antonio. This was a several hour drive that was through the mountains. We had a 12 passenger van for the 9 of us and I never get car sick so I sat in the way back with the kids and for the first time ever, felt carsick. I was able to get through it by not looking at my phone and closing my eyes but would recommend medication for anyone who knows they get car sick and just be aware that it could happen to anyone!
-The 9 of us stayed in an airbnb house in Manual Antonio. In hindsight, I would recommend paying a little more and staying closer to the beach but our airbnb was beautiful. It was way up on a hill and we had a beautiful view from our balcony. Staying high up on a hill though had some challenges, which we were not considering when we booked, such as getting cars to drive up to our house. We got groceries when we arrived into town with our private driver but whenever we needed to get more, we had to call someone to deliver them to our house, since we didn’t have a car. We had some drivers who were not willing to come up to our house because of the hill or thought they could make it but couldn’t. Our house was also not very many miles from the beach but due to traffic in Manuel Antonio, it took a while to get to the beach in a taxi.
-The main activity we did in Manuel Antonio was going to Manuel Antonio Park Information – Complete Guide. I would highly recommend hiring a guide to walk through the park with you if you want to see animals because they are there but hard to spot if you don’t know where to look. It’s very important to read the website and book a guide from their official website. We walked through the National Park and then hung out at their beach for the afternoon. There are bathrooms near the beach but I would recommend bringing a backpack cooler with food/snacks/drinks. Also, there are monkeys everywhere!
-We went to Manuel Antonio beach the rest of the time we were there and even though we religiously put sunscreen on ourselves and our children, everyone got sunburned. We ended up staying at our house on our last day because the kids were sunburned and wanted to just hang at the pool at our house because it was in the shade. So friendly reminder, the sun is strong!
-There are many restaurants on the road to the beach but this was one of our favorites. You have a beautiful view and they have an airplane in the middle of the restaurant that the kids loved to check out! https://www.elavion.net
TBD Travel with April 