We just got back from an amazing eight day family spring break trip to Costa Rica! We split our time between four adventurous days in La Fortuna and three days at a resort in the Papagayo area by the beach. We loved this itinerary because it allowed us to experience both the more adventurous rainforest and hot springs part of the country as well as the beaches.
Here is exactly what we did on our weeklong family trip to Costa Rica:
Day One (Travel Day): We woke up at 4 AM, took two flights, then landed in San Jose, Costa Rica around 1 PM. It took us two full hours to get through the long, hot customs & immigrations line and then we drove three ish hours to La Fortuna. This was a long and tiring day and by the time we got to our Airbnb we were exhausted and all went right to bed!
You can read the full breakdown of how we saved $9,000 on this trip using points and miles HERE!
Day Two (Animal Sanctuary and Hot Springs): We started the day with a volunteering experience at Proyecto Asis, an animal sanctuary about 30 minutes outside of La Fortuna. We were in a group with one other family and we got a full tour of the animals they have at the sanctuary then spent time cutting up and measuring food for the various animals! We then put all of the food into “enrichment toys” so the animals had to play/work for it. This was SUCH a cool experience and a great ethical way to experience the wildlife of Costa Rica without harming or exploiting animals. We love the mission of Proyecto Asis and can’t recommend them enough!
After eating a quick lunch in downtown La Fortuna, we took an Uber to Baldi Hot Springs to meet up with some Kansas City friends who were also in Costa Rica! We had an amazing time going down all the slides, enjoying the various pools, and then ending the night with a buffet dinner. The slides are HUGE and probably better for elementary age kids are older! They did have a smaller kids play area too.
Day Three (Rainforest Hike, Hanging Bridges, Zip Line): We had a combo tour booked at Sky Adventure Park and even thought it poured rain most of the time, we had an amazing experience! The guide took us through the trails and it was the most quiet, immersive, and beautiful experience. The hanging bridges there were not crowded and it felt like we had the place to ourselves!
The zip lines were huge and amazing and we felt super safe (even if we were all nervous). Unfortunately it was raining really hard by the last few zip lines but I was so proud of my boys (and us!) for doing that adventurous thing together, even if we did end up covered head to toe in dirt and soaking wet. We had quite the adventure on our way back from this excursion (too long of a story to share here but keep an eye out for it on Insta soon).
Day Four (Chocolate Tour & Rest Time): We started the day with a tour of a chocolate/cacao farm about ten minutes from La Fortuna. This was SO much fun and was a great thing to do on another pouring rain day! The tour guide was fabulous and funny and we loved getting to try all of the different stages of chocolate production.
We got back from this tour by lunchtime and it was pouring rain for the third day in a row. We’d planned to do an outdoor swimming hole but were just too tired and I didn’t feel like it would be safe for the kids with how much rain we’d had. Acknowledging your limits is an important part of traveling with kids so we just called that afternoon a wash and packed, hung around the house, let the kids swim in the pool, then walked to dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant with volcano views and a great kids play area.
Day Five (Driving Day, Rio Celeste, Resort): It’s about a three hour drive from La Fortuna to the Andaz Papagayo resort and we decided to break it up with a stop to hike to the Rio Celeste waterfall in Tenorio Volcano National Park. I don’t know that words can describe how absolutely beautiful this drive is…it feels like you are in a rainforest version of Switzerland with endless fields and mountains, grazing animals, and beautiful plants and trees. It was stunning!
The hike to Rio Celeste was pretty steep but not super long and even though it was once again raining, the waterfall was beautiful and so lovely and blue. We had some hangry kids by the end of it but we had a delicious lunch at the soda across the street then finished the drive and go to our resort by 3 PM ish to do some swimming and dinner!
*NOTE: Make sure to book your entrance tickets to Volcan Tenorio National Park in advance! You book a specific time slot and they do check the reservations when you arrive.
Days Six and Seven (Pool/Beach Days): The weather in Guanacaste was MUCH warmer and was perfect for hanging by the pool and beach! We mostly just swam, went to the beach club, and at one point rented jet skis for an hour. Having some slower relaxing days was the perfect way to end our trip!
See THIS POST for our full review of the Andaz Papagayo resort!
Day Eight (Travel Day): We had a super long travel day and had to take THREE fights to get from Liberia back to KC. Not fun but we survived!
This eight day Costa Rica itinerary allowed us to enjoy the adventurous parts of Arenal and La Fortuna as well as Costa Rica’s beautiful beaches. Costa Rica has so much to see and we hope to go back one day to enjoy all of the things we missed on this trip!
