10 day trip to Costa Rica with Kids

This blog is written with the intent to share our experience with taking a trip to costa rica with kids. In addition, aid families navigating traveling with kids/toddlers, and share general expenses to help families budget for travel. Note that the activities and food choices are our decisions and may not work for your family(but hopefully gives a general idea on cost). See summary of spend in table at bottom of the blog. Note: We didn’t explore MonteVerde or SanJose, We spent all of our time in Liberia and La-Fortuna. Skip to summary below if you want to read an abbreviated version.

Our Toddlers at the time of Travel in Spring 2024 were 4 ¾, and 2 ¾ years old. Both have traveled about 2-3 times per year, since they were birthed into planet earth 😄, they have a comfort level with flying. However, entertaining Toddlers is still a challenge for long haul flights. This was our first series of flights with a full day of traveling to costa rica with kids. 16 hrs from leaving home to landing at our end destination in Liberia. Our point of origin was Portland, OR. To get to Costa Rica, We flew 2.5 hr to LA then a 5 hr layover before another 5 hr flight to Liberia Costa Rica.

Pre Travel Adults

For starters, when traveling ,I like to review the official website for the country I am visiting. This is the link for Costa Rica. For anyone flying out of the west coast or anywhere Alaska Airlines travels, I highly recommend utilizing Alaska air credit card and companion fare. We were able to travel to costa rica with our kids and pay only less than $400. My wife and I were both busy the weeks leading to the trip, so we didn’t plan every detail like she usually does(Notice I took credit for my Wife’s planning. Typical!😜). We didn’t order Colones(Costa rican currency) which is nice to have for tips and paying for tours that give you better deals with cash only.

Most importantly, it is also nice to have for getting fresh fruits from the fruit stand you will see all over Costa Rica. If you are a no cash type of person, don’t sweat it. almost everywhere we went to took credit cards and showed you the dollar conversion on your receipt. If you really don’t want to deal with cash, you will be just fine. One of many things to note is the cost of food is equivalent to the United States(so about $15-20 per plate for a decent meal or more for more touristy restaurants- budget accordingly). Ice cream is slightly cheaper so that’s a plus. My wife and I are both laid back travelers, we didn’t plan everyday filled with activities. We left some filler days for relaxing and some we planned while in Costa Rica which you will see below.

Pre Travel Kids

We had a slight panic when we opened our son’s passport the night before and saw the year 2024. We truly debated who we were going to leave him with.(Joking one parent would have stayed behind: My wife of course and not me because we would have decided with rock, paper, scissors and I would have won due to my ongoing 95% winning rate). Thankfully the passport expires later in the year. The lesson for us here is a reminder to check every traveler’s passport when the travel is booked.

Sun hats and Sunscreen are very important. These are the sun hats we have and they have worked well through the years. We tend to lean more on minimal chemicals so here is the sunscreen we use.(without any scientific analysis to validate the minimal chemicals but rather blindly trusting the branding). We packed all the coloring books and crayons/sharpies, which came in very handy on the plane and when we needed downtime in the afternoon. Below are the items we purchased to aid flight boredom and downtime while in between activities

Bluey Coloring Book

Water Coloring Books

Crayons and Coloring Markers which we store in this bag for easy transport everywhere we go.

Most of these can be purchased from your local Art store or Online on Amazon.

We packed some bedtime reading book. Don’t forget to pack your Alexa/Google home, if your kids like to sleep to music. We packed all swimwear and swim floaties. The swim floaties and goggles came in very handy both on the beach and in the pools when we weren’t teaching them how to swim and they just wanted to play. There is a laundry list of other things we packed but these were the most prioritized items.

Plane ride

This actually turned out better than expected. The layover in California helped. I can’t imagine what life was like for our parents who didn’t have tablets to entertain kids on flights. For us, It was a mix of the coloring books above and Mickey Mouse on their tablets.

Enroute to Costa rica, we made sure both kids and adult iPads were charged, pre-loaded with the Disney/Netflix favorites. We use Khan Academy kids(free age specific content across different subjects) as an alternative to cartoons. We try to break up their screen time during flights with 50% educational, 50% entertainment. The reality is we end up more along the lines of 70% entertainment and 30% educational which I consider a win to get any educational content squeezed in. Please share in comments if you have other educational apps your kids use on their tablets.

Car Rental

As it turns out, for whatever reason, Car rental in Costa Rica can be a science unless you are willing to pay an arm and a leg at a name brand rental(Avis, enterprise etc). We rented from Vamos rent-a-car. For the 10 days we spent about $1000 dollars and were outfitted with a 2WD Suzuki mini SUV which was very capable and got us through the bumpy off roads we had to occasionally go through. We brought our own car seats after several bad experiences. I recommend checking with the rental companies and emphasize functioning car seats, if you don’t want to travel to costa rica with your car seats. It is a lot easier to get through airports and immigration without them.

From what we could gather, the same or similar car with a name brand rental company costs about $2000 or more.(this is not the price you see online, this is due to add-ons they require on site). If you have a major credit card, you will need a letter from them saying you are covered with the travel auto damage waiver credit card companies provide. We had Alaska Air credit card, so we were covered easily. Our experience was seamless at Vamos rent-a-car, the rental company is across the street from the airport, you get shuttled upon pick up and drop off.

Airport Experience

Our experience here was standard, Get off, go through immigration, exit airport. The carts were free in Liberia which is a plus when hauling 2 suitcases and 2 car seats. We try to streamline our luggages to one for the adults and one for both kids.This helps with the navigating the airports and managing car rental cost.

Sunday- Costa Rica with Kids– Day 1/Night 1: Settling In

Word to the wise, Costa Rica does not have designated addresses, if arriving at night, make sure you have your host’s phone number (that works) and clear instructions on how to get your Airbnb. Our experience on night one was one for the records. Read below if you are interested, Otherwise move on to Day 2.

We picked up our rental around 8pm, kids were tired and hungry, and we had every intention to feed them a third meal, but by the time we made the final stop they were passed out. The first airbnb we pre-booked didn’t have the right address listed and the host didn’t pin her location properly(We found this out when entered into the GPS and arrived at an open field), To escalate the situation, she was out of town and not picking up. Around 9 pm, after driving around for 1hr, we called airbnb and canceled that reservation, then stopped by the Hampton hotel there in Liberia by the airport. They told us $200/per night. The airbnb we booked was only $80. Out of pride, my wife said no, let’s book another airbnb,(Hindsight, we should have just stayed there).

We proceeded to book another airbnb 30 minutes away in Playa Hermosa(Playa= Beach) closer to where we would be staying with friends for the next 5 days. We clicked on directions listed on airbnb and drove there. Same problem, three images with what to look for and a non responsive host, we spent another 30 minutes trying to find it to no avail in darkness.The neighbors started to think we were casing the area. Called airbnb again and canceled, thankfully they offered a 40% reimbursement. We ended up driving back to the Hampton’s with swallowed pride, they still had a room left. We finally settled in at midnight with the kids energized to play when we woke them up to get them out of the car as they thought it was morning. After minor coaxing, they brushed, showered and went back to sleep.

Monday- Costa Rica with Kids– Day 2/Night 2: Travel day/Ease into things.

This was a travel day with no major plans. I had work meetings all day. (product call out for those of us that can’t survive without dual monitors. My wife bought this dual monitor for me for Christmas and it has come in handy when I travel or when I am just working on the move). The goal was to get to our Airbnb, meet up with friends and settle in.Highly recommend if possible, travel with friends that have kids the same age or close to yours. It helps break up the attention from Mom and Dad to their Friends-Mom-Dad in that order. Also we made sure our locations had a pool. As it turns out,our kids like pools better than the beach. We stayed at a resort called Villa sol. It was right on Playa Hermosa with great views and a great sunset view.

The highlight for the kids was the shuttle they provided to get you from the pool or beach to your unit. As luck would have it, we were the top most unit, which had very very very steep hills to get to. So going up and down felt more like a roller coaster ride in an open canopy car and sometimes we questioned our safety but the drivers were experts and drove those hills on a daily basis. We used this evening to go grocery shopping and get situated for the next few days. We did 99% of breakfasts at home and 50% lunches out. Dinners were cooked at home for the first 4 nights which allowed for lunch leftovers the next day. A good way to save on dining costs when trying to feed everyone and not be wasteful. This strategy worked out well.

Tuesday- Costa Rica with Kids– Day 3/Night 3: Beach Day and Pool Day

Our friends who had been there for 3 weeks prior to the visit had devised a system of early outdoor activities to beat the sun, and afternoon pool time. I also had to Work today so I missed out on the beach activities. Cheers to my wife for holding down the fort while I worked. From the reports I received, the beach was great, Clear waters and shade which is important as the sun is out early and quite sharp even by 8am. The kids spent the afternoon and loved it. It was a very kid friendly pool with a wading area for the kids and a 4-5 ft area for adults. I missed the fun, but officially on vacation by the end of the day.

Wednesday- Costa Rica with Kids– Day 4/Night 4: Diamanté national Park

This was our first outing outside the resort, Diamanté national park was a very short 30 minutes drive from where we stayed You have to sign waivers for all your attendees. This is where you pay for the adventures you want. We chose the wild life sanctuary tour but they had other options inclusive of zip lining. Zip lining looked fun but based on your time of the year you visit, you might to consider zip lining in the rainforest, Diamante landscape is on the drier side with limited greenery(but beautiful coastal views). Our friends found a zipline in the rainforest that allowed 4 year olds to go on. They did it and recommended the rain forest zip lining in MonteVerde or La-Fortuna.

Diamante also had other activities, see full list here. The highlight for us at Diamante were the Jaguars, we got to see two jaguars during feeding. They are much shorter and muscular than we expected. All the kids loved it. We also got to see sloths, monkeys hovering in trees, cool frogs, beautiful butterflies in their sanctuary and toucans up close( I mean by your face close). There was also a playground which the kids played at while we waited for the canopy bus back to the main lobby. Diamante was a win for everyone. If you are traveling to Costa rica with kids and in Liberia, Diamante is a must stop.

We stopped by a soda(Food Cart/local cantina) called Hello Hanny. The food was decent but better than most of the local places we ate the day before. For a family of 4, we spent $41 dollars to eat with 4 entrees and appetizer and 4 drinks(Fruity drinks with local fruit). There was a group of 3 women sitting next to all of us,they were celebrating the birthday of one of them. When they started singing happy birthday, We sang along. 5 or less minutes later, we were very surprised to receive 2 pieces of a chocolate Baileys cake.(Win for the adults).

We drove back home and settled in for nap time. went through the routine and put the kids down for nap/quiet time(aka adult peace time). After nap, the kids requested pool time and that’s what we did. It was an afternoon of teaching the kids how to swim,and playing water Football(American not the real Football).

Thursday- Costa Rica with Kids– Day 5/Night 5: Beach Day 2

This was a repeat of Tuesday. Kids loved the beach a little more today,we built turtles,castles, volcanoes. I even convinced my son to go in the water with me, (I didn’t have his floatie nor my daughters) and they both got smashed by a big wave that knocked my daughter out of my wife’s hand. Thankfully it was a pushing towards shore quite a bit before pulling back and my wife was able to grab her by leg. Floaty on would have been a good measure for that situation as neither child can swim and are just barely getting comfortable being in the water.

Friday- Costa Rica with Kids– Day 6/Night 6: Boat Day(Favorite activity in Liberia)

This is a trip we booked earlier in the week not pre-planned. We booked a company called Marlin Del Ray which had a minimum of 10 passengers.(Kids under 5 are Free). We were not sure what to expect but were pleasantly surprised when we drove to Playa Coco. We walked to the meet up spot where we were chauffeured to a canoe like boat where all the guests walked through the water and boarded. (This was the boat before the boat). We then got helped onto a larger boat. Thankfully there were only about 16 people on board for a boat that typically has 75 people. This experience gave us that personal feel and we did not feel cramped. Drinks and lunch were included in the package. We boated😜 for one hour while sightseeing the different islands.

The kids loved sitting on the main deck net and watching birds. We got to our beach stop which was off an island. The big boat couldn’t get to shore due to its size. We had two options, swim to shore (maybe 100 meters) or take the small boat. Everyone was swimming to shore;for good reason, the water was clear, calm and beautiful. We succumbed to peer pressure. Thankfully after the experience earlier in the week, we brought the floaty’s for both kids and it made getting to shore exponentially easier as both kids were able to kick and doggie paddle to shore while exploring the ocean.(The little one needed a little shove occasionally). I was able to put on some flippers and glide through the water and cool off as well.

On the beach, we went snorkeling, went to into cave by the beach, and saw a bunch of pelicans dive into the water to catch fishes. We spent 1.5 hrs at the beach and swam back to the boat where the adults(minus me) jumped into the ocean from the boat. Despite being a strong swimmer, I don’t jump into large bodies of water(No particular reason). I simply stayed in the water and watched them jump. On our way back, Lunch was served, chicken, with red rice, beans, chips,cookies and tropical fruits(Mangoes, Papayas, and WaterMelon). The kids ate their weight in mangoes. We all sat on the deck at the edge of the boat(safely) and got splashed by the waves. This boat ride was a 3-4 hour event in its entirety. We drove back home and proceeded with our nap routine. Afternoon involved spending time in the pool.

We went out later in the evening to a beach front restaurant with a nice sunset view and spent time as a family.

Saturday- Costa Rica with Kids– Day 7/Night 7: Town day

We spent this day packing up and ready to go to La- Fortuna, where we spent the next 3 days. We drove into town to do some souvenir shopping, we didn’t find anything reasonably priced but stopped for ice cream. This was a low energy day. As a result the kids were bouncing off the walls, cue coloring books. We gave them all coloring books and it’s amazing how much they all settled down. The youngest did better with the paint coloring books as she isn’t coloring inside the lines yet.

Sunday- Costa Rica with Kids– Day 8/Night 8: Arenal Horseback riding.

We woke up early(6am) to load up the car and get the kids breakfast prepped. We said goodbye to our friends and drove 2.5 hrs to Arenal which is about 45 minutes from La-Fortuna. Hotel La Arenal was our stop, which is where our friend recommended horseback riding as it was kid friendly. We got to our appointment 10 minutes late, but the gentleman who was our guide was in no rush. I highly recommend booking your horse back riding here.

Our guides name was José and he didn’t speak any English but thanks to my wife taking Spanish in high school. She saves the day again. We were able to get by and understand him and vice versa through repeated gesticulation and head nods. He saddled us and loaded the kids on a towel in front of an adult and off we went. I had been on horses before but not for 1.5-2 hrs and with a Kid.

The horses were trained and knew the route. My horse was named Cecilia and My Wife’s was Tarantula(which he explained was a very crazy horse half way through our ride, so much for not raising my fear). He gave us the option of easy or hard ride, we chose the easy route because of the kids and time. This was a smart decision, because the easy route wasn’t all that easy. We toured the hills of Arenal, saw wild toucans and volcanic mountains and picturesque landscape of Arenal. Cecilla liked to eat and won’t stop eating anytime we got close to the grass. I had play catch up the entire ride which was fun and unnerving at the same time.

By the end, the kids were spent, we got off, had lunch at the hotel Arenal which had a nice view and play area for the kids to walk around while we waited for food. We drove to La-fortuna(kids,wife napped in the car), found grocery store, picked up some breakfast and dinner items, checked into our airbnb which had a clear shot of Arenal volcano in its view. We hunkered down for the afternoon where we made dinner and relaxed by the pool.

Monday- Costa Rica with Kids– Day 9/Night 9: Waterfall day

Typical breakfast morning, kids had Toast with yogurt and fresh mangoes. We drove to La-fortuna Waterfall which was only 1.5kilometers( ~ 1 mile ). Yes, we could have walked, but without sidewalks and so many cars, this was the safer route with kids. Typically, We are not big on waterfalls, but I would say this was a majestic waterfall surrounded by rainforest.

The kids loved climbing over rocks and playing in pools of water. There was also a swim area away from the waterfall in case you wanted to get fully wet.(you couldn’t swim by the waterfall due to the sheer force of water coming down). We did have to walk down 400 flights of stairs, Both kids made it down without any help. The way up was a very different story, My son climbed all the way up himself without any rest(proud dad moment). My Daughter was already tired from the walk down and playing. I had to carry her up which was a workout but one I was looking forward to. Highly recommend wearing grip shoes to minimize slipping on the rocks. We didn’t need the floaties here because we stayed in the waddle area.

The rest of the afternoon was nap time and downtown La Fortuna for Dinner. We liked to eat was Pollo Fortuneno, It had good vibes, an engaging environment for the kids and decent food. We also stopped for ice cream at Chocolate Fusion.(Must stop). Their Ice cream is on my top 5 ice cream places to go to. It is a no frills ice cream shop, just good ole creamy ice cream priced appropriately. The kids didn’t get Ice cream today as they were both “fill in the gap” with words you use to describe your kids when they push your buttons or stay up late throwing tantrums.

Tuesday- Costa Rica with Kids– Day 10- Chocolate Tour- La-Fortuna My personal Favorite

This was one of the highlights for us and the kids. We did typical breakfast at home stuff and drove to the chocolate tour. It wasn’t a name brand tour which you will see all over la-fortuna. and It wasn’t too touristy and was very authentic. I highly recommend this tour. It was about 25 minutes from La-fortuna. The company is called Two Little Monkeys– Family owned business supporting other local growers. We got there around 9:50am for a 10am tour.

The hosts were welcoming, we learnt about how cocoa is grown from plant to final chocolate with taste tests along the way. We also got to make our own take home chocolate from cocoa beans and learnt that nutrients for cocoa are actually in the nibs and not the powder. The powder is a by-product of the separation of the oils. We got a tour of the land and its thriving ecosystem.

The highlight for the kids is they got to build chocolate in hearts and turtles that they could take home. I also spent $80 on cocoa nibs, chocolate bars, and cocoa butter. I was sold on the chocolate and I love supporting small businesses. The afternoon was typical, nap , pool, and dinner. We stopped at a Mediterranean restaurant that had a playground in it. This was another win for us in costa rica, as the kids went to play within eyesight. We got to quietly stare at each other(Jk, we had adult conversations with minimal interruptions of “Mom”, “Dad”).

Wednesday- Costa Rica with Kids Day 11- Return to Liberia-

This was a low key day, I went for short run, typical breakfast routine with the kids, spent the morning in the pool as a family. Kids had a blast. Both kids got better at swimming/being comfortable in the water. We drove back to Liberia, We timed our departure around nap time which worked perfectly as both kids napped for two hours.

Oh, we almost got stranded because, I was confident I saw a gas station on the way out town. I was wrong. 40 mins later and running on empty, we were able to fill up in Arenal. Otherwise It would have been a long afternoon. We checked into our 3rd airbnb in Liberia by the airport. Casa Ana. This was truly a Gem.(We would stay here next time in Liberia). It was on a 25 acre property with a pool and kid playground area with the most comfortable sheets and bed we had slept on all trip. The kids played through the evening, we went to downtown Liberia which had a very different vibe from all the tourist areas. We had Mexican for dinner and walked around shops to find a toy for my son who finished his reading assignments.

Thursday- Costa Rica with Kids Day 12- Early Rise- Gas station – Car drop off – Board Plane- Home.

Note, food in Liberia airport is exorbitantly priced. I paid 5$ for a small empanadas and they charged $6 for a bag of yam chips, Lesson is pre-pack lunches before the airport if you have an early morning flight and a long flight to your end destination.(Alaska didn’t serve lunch but sold food for purchase which is not suitable for my palette as a i am picky with quality of food)

Cost Summary

Event	Cost(US dollars)	Comments
Activity	$586.12	This is likely on the lower side as we didn’t partake in a lot paid activities
Breakfast	$14.32
Car Rental	$1066.72	This was the lowest we could find for the duration we stayed
Dinner	$419.4	About $100 could be saved
Flights	$2607.6	You could save $600-800 here. We added an extra day after booking.
Gas	$78.28
Groceries	$189.15
Lodging	$1568.57
Lunch	$339.68
Meds	$6.01
Phone	$26
Souvenir	$90.14
Grand Total	$6991.99

All in all, for under $7000 you can go to explore the beautiful country of Costa Rica with kids(Family of 4) for 10 days. Based on travel season and frugality, you can potentially reduce the cost of travel to $5500-$6000.

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Abbreviated version of traveling to Costa Rica with Kids.

Planning and Pre-Travel

Review the official Costa Rica website: https://visitcostarica.com/
Consider using the Alaska Air credit card and companion fare for cheaper flights, especially if flying out of the West Coast.
Pack essentials for flights and downtime, including tablets with educational apps, coloring books, crayons, swimsuits, floaties, and sunscreen.
Check the expiration date of all passports before booking your trip.

Flying to Costa Rica with Kids

Pack enough entertainment for the flight, with a mix of educational and screen time.
Consider using airline credit cards that cover travel auto damage waiver for car rentals.

Car Rentals in Costa Rica

Renting a car in Costa Rica can be expensive, especially with name-brand companies. We rented a 2WD Suzuki mini SUV from Vamos Rent-a-Car for $1000 for 10 days.
Make sure to bring your own car seats if you don’t want to pay extra for them.

Our Itinerary in Costa Rica

We spent all of our time in Liberia and La Fortuna.
We stayed at Airbnbs throughout our trip, with varying experiences.

Day 1: Arrival in Liberia.

We arrived very late, picked up our rental car, and encountered some difficulty finding our first Airbnb due to inaccurate information.
We ended up staying at the Hampton Inn that night.

Day 2: Travel Day and Relaxation.

This was a travel day with no major plans.
We stayed at Villa Sol resort in Playa Hermosa, which had a great pool and offered a shuttle service to get you from the pool or beach to your unit.

Day 3: Beach Day and Pool Day.

We enjoyed the beach and pool at the resort.
The highlight for the kids was the pool with a wading area and a deeper area for adults.

Day 4: Diamanté National Park.

We visited Diamanté National Park, a short 30-minute drive from Liberia.
We opted for the wildlife sanctuary tour and got to see jaguars, sloths, monkeys, toucans, and other animals.
The park had zip lining and other adventures.

Day 5: Beach Day 2.

The kids built sandcastles and volcanoes at the beach.
We recommend using floaties for young children who are not yet comfortable in the water.

Day 6: Boat Day (Favorite Activity in Liberia).

We booked a boat trip with Marlin Del Ray, which included drinks, lunch, and snorkeling.
We were pleasantly surprised by the small group size and the opportunity to swim in the clear, calm water.

Day 7: Town Day and Relaxation.

We spent the day packing up and getting ready to travel to La Fortuna.
We did some souvenir shopping in town and had ice cream.

Days 8-10: La Fortuna Activities

We went horseback riding at Hotel La Arenal with a guide named José.
Visited La Fortuna Waterfall, a majestic waterfall surrounded by rainforest.
We took a chocolate tour with Two Little Monkeys, a family-owned business.
We enjoyed downtime at the pool and explored downtown La Fortuna.

Day 11: Return to Liberia

We relaxed by the pool in the morning and drove back to Liberia for our flight home.
We stayed at Casa Ana, a beautiful Airbnb with a pool and playground area designed just for kids.

Day 12: Departure Day

We recommend pre-packing lunches for your flight home if you have an early departure.
Food at the Liberia airport is expensive.

Cost Summary of Trip to Costa Rica with Kids

Total trip cost for a family of 4 for 10 days: $6991.99.
This breakdown includes flights, car rental, lodging, food, and activities.
This cost can be lower or more based on choices. We consider our choices to be middle of the road. You can potentially reduce the cost of travel by traveling during the off-season and being more frugal.

Conclusion

Traveling to Costa Rica with kids can be a wonderful experience. With careful planning and budgeting, you can create a memorable trip for your entire family.

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