Pura Vida.  The simple life.  It’s the ultimate goal of visiting Costa Rica but achieving it requires some less than simple planning.  Take a peek at our Costa Rica 10 Day Itinerary for a guide through one of the most popular first-timers Costa Rica routes – Arenal, Monteverde and Manuel Antonio.  Our family loved Costa Rica.  From the island-vibe, adventure filled opportunities, beautiful landscapes, authentically delicious food, and welcoming people truly made for a relaxing and fun adventure.  Let’s walk you through our itinerary along with tips, and at the end we’ll cover some essential “know before you go” items.

Arenal & La Fortuna [Day 1 – 4]

Normally I’d say 3 days is good for Arenal, but our red-eye flight situation and my bucketlist to stay in a treehouse, it just made sense to stay in Arenal for the first 4 days.  There are many adventure type activities that you can do in Arenal that you can also do in Monteverde.  So how long you stay depends on what you want to fit in. For example, we chose to zip-line in Monteverde but we could have done that in Arenal.  We chose to go river tubing in Arenal, but could have done that in Monteverde.

Our Itinerary:

Day 1: Drive to Arenal from SJO airport, relax at the resort, enjoy the hot springs, and take naps after our red-eye flight.  No plans, just Pura Vida.

Day 2: Arenal Volcano National Park for exploring and hiking; natural hot springs; drive to our Treehouse hotel and night hike at the hotel grounds

Day 3: Relax and explore the Treehouse hotel; River tubing adventure

Day 4: Arenal Hanging Bridges; La Fortuna Waterfall; night hike at Ecocentro Danaus

The Details:

River Tubing: Holy moly this was adrenaline producing fun!  This is NOT a lazy river. I repeat, this is NOT a lazy river.  Our super fun tour guides picked us up right at our hotel, and they took us and prepared us for getting in these little inner tubes to essentially go white water rafting.  At times it was mellow, but the majority of the time we navigated rapids.  Some rapids were so wild they attached us to their little kayak (see photo below) to navigate it successfully.  With our kids being 8 and 10 (and the 8 year old being as tall as the 10 year old) I think that’s the youngest age I’d recommend, just as an FYI.  They enjoyed it but at times were teetering between excitement and nervousness.  Halfway through we stopped at a beach and enjoyed the most incredible mango and pineapple.  All in all it was a fantastic tour and I would highly recommend it.  We even saw some sloths in the trees!  http://arenalrivertubingandhiking.com/

Arenal Volcano National Park: This is a must do when in Arenal.  Unfortunately for us it was a very rainy day.  Definitely do your research to plan ahead on which hikes you want to do, because when you get there the parking attendant didn’t seem very interested in giving advice.  There are many family friendly trails and some that are more adventurous and strenuous and best for those without kids (e.g. Cerro Chato).  We did Las Coladas, a less than 1.5 miles flat trail full of giant trees and wild turkeys that was easy to navigate and took us to some lava beds from the 1992 volcanic eruption which was pretty cool.  Great viewing spot of the volcano as well, as long as it isn’t covered in clouds which is usually is!

La Fortuna Waterfall: While this spot is heavily commercialized, it is beautiful and the frankly the commercialization does allow you to easily view the waterfall by walking down 500 well made steps.  Of course, keep in mind you have to climb the 500 steps back up! The waterfall itself is quite intense.  There were a few dare devils swimming close to it but for the most part the adults swimming near it still kept their distance.  Not recommended for children to swim there.  However, just to the left of it there is a little river that is fun and easy for all to swim in, with little fish swimming and great views of the waterfall.  Changing rooms available. http://www.cataratalafortuna.com/

Natural Hot Springs (Rio Chollin): There are a million resorts to pay a lot of money to enjoy their hot springs in Arenal.  But did you know you can skip the investment and just go enjoy the hot springs, you know, as they exist in nature? And it’s FREE! This is was the Costa Rican locals do, and it was a blast!  Definitely crowded but a ton of fun.  The Rio Chollin is right next door to the Tabacon Thermal Resort (“THE” place to go to pay for hot springs).  As you pass the Tabacon you won’t be able to miss the curious line of cars parked on the side of the road.  You’ll park (up to you on whether you want to give money to the Costa Rican “watching your car for you”) and walk through the yellow gate.  Highly recommend you bring NO valuables with you (or leave in the car) and wear water shoes, as it’s quite rocky.

You walk down and you enter this tunnel!  Turn into the tunnel to go to the main hot springs, but if you go right and are able to navigate the rocks you can go to some others.

Arenal Hanging Bridges (Formerly called Mistico Hanging Bridges): Definitely recommend this spot for beautiful scenery and fun exploration of the hanging bridges high in the sky!  Not major adrenaline producing but if you had a significant fear of heights this might be a tough thing to do.   Reservations are not needed, but take our warning…get there early especially in high season as the parking lot is very small so you’ll just sit in a line seemingly FOREVER just to get your car parked.  While the area was crowded, once we were on the trail we had so much of it to ourselves.  Saw a ton of these beautiful lizards who weren’t scared away.  Amazing views, and Instagram-worthy photo opportunities throughout. You can zip-line here too.  We just did the Hanging Bridges walk (we zip-lined in Monteverde) and it’s easy, flat and suitable for all ages. https://misticopark.com/

Ecocentro Danaus (Night Hike): This was the first of many night hikes we did in Costa Rica.  80% of Costa Rica’s creatures are nocturnal so we felt that multiple night hikes were super important, and we enjoyed them all!  This night hike was enjoyable, however looking back at all of our night hikes it wasn’t our favorite.  We saw many creatures but we found the tour guides in other places to be more passionate and thorough. Regardless, it will still fun and I immediately achieved my Costa Rica bucket list item…seeing a sloth!  The guides carry around these big telescopes so you can see them in the trees closer up, and it even works to take a photo! Isn’t this little guy the CUTEST?!   http://www.ecocentrodanaus.com/en/

Accommodations:

Accommodations were a highlight for us in Arenal.  Normally for us a hotel is just a place to sleep, but the 2 places we stayed at we actually wove into our Arenal experience.

Volcano Lodge & Springs (first and last nights in Arenal):  We had several recommendations from friends of where to stay in Arenal.  Having gone over Spring Break, everywhere was sold out so far in advance.  We ended up loving this place we found on our own.  Our entire first day was spent lounging around the resort with a swimming pool, hot springs (one even with a swim up bar!), and our room even had it’s own private hot spring on the back patio (note: not all rooms have this).  The gardens were lush and beautiful, the rooms nice, the service wonderful and the food was great.

Our own private hot spring with views of the volcano.  Doesn’t really get better than that!

Cascading waterfall hot springs, with view of the volcano. Open in the evening as well.

At night…

Swim up and sit on bar…

The Treehouse Hotel: This was hands down our favorite little adventure in Arenal.  Actually, it’s about 40 minutes outside of Arenal and La Fortuna if we are getting technical.  You get to stay in your very own private treehouse, be served a delicious Costa Rican breakfast by their chef, and treated like a guest in their home.  Need I say more?  This was paired nicely with the our river tubing excursion as it’s right by the river, so the shuttle picked us up and it was a very short shuttle drive.

They only have a few treehouses, it’s a very small place, and had a very B&B feel.  They are fully equipped with an A/C unit, showers, etc. so for someone who doesn’t like to camp but LOVES nature, this was my kind of treehouse experience!  Each treehouse has a wrap around deck in the trees!  In the morning there is coffee/tea waiting for you on your deck to then you sit outside and look for wildlife.  On our last morning we had an entire family of Howler monkeys (including a baby!) swinging around our patio and roof.  It was SO awesome.

Even had private hammocks at the bottom!

Every night you are invited to be their guest on a night hike, with their guide Rolando, who takes you through the grounds where you spot SO many creatures!  80% of Costa Rica wildlife is nocturnal, so doing night hikes is a MUST and this night hike was the kids favorite.  Our guide holding the famous Red Eye Tree Frog!  From there he put it on the head of anyone who was willing.

Monkeys swinging around our patio!

And as you walk around the property in the evening, be careful as you might just step on an Armadillo! We saw so many of these around the property, as well as so many other creatures!

Authentic Costa Rican breakfast prepared by their personal chef each morning. The table is set and awaiting your arrival, while the owners and their adorable dogs greet you and mingle with you.

Monteverde [Day 5 – 6]

Monteverde was our next stop…the Cloud Forest.  Totally different climate, but similar in vibe, scenery and activities.  You probably have already read, and I will warn you, the drive from Arenal to Monteverde is not for the faint of heart.  It’s about 3 hours away, the last hour is a dirt, curvy, and washboarded not well-maintained road.  My Iowa-raised husband felt totally comfortable (well, white knuckling a bit) driving it but had I been the driver I might not have mentally been able to handle it.  Everything we read insisted on 4-wheel drives. We had an SUV that was not 4-wheel drive (4-wheel drive is SO expensive to rent) and the high clearance was all we needed.  Now, it didn’t rain.  We hear when it rains the road can get tougher and sometimes not passable, so just keep that in mind as you plan your drive to Monteverde.

Our Itinerary:

Day 5: Drive to Monteverde, hike around Monteverde Cloud Reserve, Night Hike at Escondido Preserve

Day 6: Zipline and Hanging Bridges at Selvatura, Chocolate Tour (they ended up being closed for Easter week)

The Details:

Monteverde Cloud Reserve: Probably the most popular spot to visit while in Monteverde, it’s full of trails through the infamous cloud forest.  You can spend anywhere from a couple of hours to a day here.  When you arrive you’ll get tickets and they are very helpful in directing you on which trails to take. http://www.reservamonteverde.com/

Selvatura Zipline and Hanging Bridges: We had a blast!  There are SO many places to zipline in Monterverde, I was a bit overwhelmed to choose the perfect place because my FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) was kicking in big time.  What if I didn’t chose the best place?  Well, this place was awesome.  Allow 4 – 5 hours to enjoy if you are doing the zipline and hanging bridges.  They have an insane number of ziplines…VERY long, as well as Tarzan Swing (which is kind of a like a mini-bungee jump)!  It’s very crowded to start but trust us, it spreads out after the first zipline.  You then can explore the hanging bridges and again, we just loved doing that in Arenal so doing that in beautiful Santa Elena Cloud Forest was another treat.  https://www.selvatura.com/

Even saw a Coati sneaking out some food from the trash can!

Escondido Preserve Night Hike: This was our favorite of all the night hikes we did.  Super well done, very educational and passionate tour guides.  Did you know that scorpions light up with a black light?  Yeah, we learned this on the hike and saw for ourselves! I highly recommend this night hike if you are in Monteverde.  https://www.escondidopreserve.com/night-tour

Accommodations:

Monteverde Lodge & Gardens: We loved the hotel. It was a beautiful and tranquil spot, they even had a meditation area.  But they were also very accommodating to our children who don’t meditate often. 😉  The kids loved going in their enclosed butterfly garden, swimming in the pool to wind down, etc.  They also do quite a bit of of tour booking so they are very helpful for planning and booking activities.

You can also walk into town for a nice dinner, and on the way we saw my favorite mural EVER!

Right in town they had a restaurant called the Treehouse restaurant, with a giant tree in the middle!  They had delicious food, fancy drinks, as well as live music that sang a combination of modern English hits and Costa Rican tunes.  It was awesome and the kids really enjoyed it!

Manuel Antonio [Day 7 – 9]

And we were off to the beach!  Remember that crazy dirt road getting into Monteverde?  Well, it’s the same for the first hour getting out of Monteverde and towards Manuel Antonio.  So just be warned. 🙂

Our Itinerary

Day 7: Driving (this ended up taking a LOT longer than we planned, see our “Know Before You Go” for details); enjoy hotel and relax

Day 8: Guided Tour at Manuel Antonio National Park; Swim and hang out at Playa Biesanz

Day 9: Catamaran / Snorkel Tour; Drive to San Jose Airport Hotel . [BEST decision ever to drive to an airport hotel the day before our flight..you just never know with Costa Rica traffic!  We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott in San Jose and it was perfect.]

Day 10: Fly out!

The Details

Manuel Antonio National Park: I cannot say enough good things about Manuel Antonio National Park.  Here’s my #1 tip… hire a guide to take you through.  There are SO many creatures everywhere and we would have missed 99% of them without the guide.  Hire the guide…and if you want to stay longer, just stay and take a taxi ride home.  Our guide knew where to look, had a giant telescope for easy viewing, and guided us through all the paths and the amazing beaches.  He even gave us some time to swim (not enough time, so consider staying after your tour is done!).  On the beach you are greeted by Iguanas, Raccoons (watch your food!) and the best of all, Capuchin monkeys are EVERYWHERE.  They have NO fear and basically try to steal your food.  Swinging from the trees, running on the beach, it’s completely hilarious!  We did not want to wake up at the crack of dawn on vacation, but trust me…you have to for this.  By noon they reach capacity many times and do not let people in.  So the 7:30am tour it was, which we booked right at our hotel.

Playa Biesanz: Known as the beach where the locals go, this was right by our hotel so was an easy stop to get some beach time in.  Not quite as beautiful as the beaches in Manual Antonio National Park, it still was a lot of fun with the warm water and gentle waves.  Being Easter week and the locals were on holiday, it was PACKED!  My guess is outside of major holidays this is the perfect place to go for a quieter beach experience than the crowded Manuel Antonio National Park.

Catamaran / Snorkel Tour: This was super fun and like most guided tours, they pick you up making it very easy!  We took a Catamaran tour around the beautiful waters, followed by a fresh fish lunch (chicken also available) and fresh juice (also beers available for sale), and a pit stop to snorkel and jump or slide off the 2nd floor deck of the boat!  So much fun! . https://www.sunsetsailstours.com/tour-description/

Accommodations:

Parador Resort & Spa: We just LOVED our hotel.  Conveniently right next door to Playa Biesanz (mentioned above), breathtaking views (note: no hotels are actually ON the beach), wonderful multi-level infinity pool with swim up bar, fantastic food, and impeccable service.  They also had a concierge to book excursions and tours, mini-golf, spa, and other amenities we just didn’t have time to take advantage of.

Know Before You Go!

Ok, so here is the boring but important stuff that I didn’t already mention…frequently asked questions!

Car rental: So just expect to pay an arm and a leg for car rental.  Maybe 2 legs. They are some crazy additional insurances you have to buy that the standard credit card doesn’t cover.  It’s ridiculous.  But if you are road trippers like us you just need a car.  However, there are so many “Turismo” shuttles/tours that if you are willing to shell out money for a guided excursion you could literally be shuttled around everywhere you go.

Money: Everywhere took US dollars or credit cards.  We didn’t have to exchange any money the entire trip.  Keep in mind many of the excursions we booked required cold hard cash (US dollars ok) upon arrival.

Costs: It’s a common misnomer to think, “Oh Costa Rica, third world country, it will be cheap.”  NOPE.  As you probably have realized, it’s a very popular destination.  NOTHING is cheap.  Expect to pay full USA prices.

Can you drink the water? We had no problem at all.  We sipped a bit on tap water, and mostly did ask for bottled just to be safe.  But we drank the juices, ate the fresh veggies, etc. and had no issues at all.

Electricity: Power/outlets are all the same as in the USA.

Guide or no Guide?  So many hikes in the various areas can be done on your own or with a guide.  If I was infinitely wealthy, I would get a guide EVERY time.  We only hired a guide for Manuel Antonio National Park and I can tell you emphatically it was 100% a better experience than the hiking we did on our own.  Without the guide you will pass by EVERYTHING and notice NOTHING.  Obviously it’s an expense so you need to prioritize.  But definitely hire a guide for at least one of your hikes.  And as already mentioned you must do night hikes, which are always guided.  They usually start right at sunset and are where you will see 80% of Costa Rican creatures.

Driving: Our drive from Monteverde to Manuel Antonio took 6 hours, when it was only supposed to take 3.  It’s called Costa Rican holiday.  And they do some wild things to manage the traffic, like completely shutting down freeways in 1 direction and opening up to be fully going in one direction only versus 2 ways (similar to what they do in the USA for hurricane evacuations).   Use your GPS, but also have maps with you, because you can encounter some serious surprises on the Costa Rican roads.

Jet Lag: Many families are hesitant to travel, especially with young ones, due to the time difference and the potential jet lag.  Because who wants a kid waking you up in the middle of the night, ready to go!  While our kids are a bit older so the adjustment (and negotiations!) were a bit easier, we thought these tips for helping a little one were quite insightful.

We hope our 10 Day Itinerary was helpful!  Please reach out if you have any comments or questions…we are listening!

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