The best things to do in Costa Rica with kids

This time of year is always my favourite point for dreaming of travel, for writing lists of countries I’d love to visit – and those lists always seem to include a trip to Costa Rica with kids.

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It’s somewhere I’ve been tempted by for a long time and the past 2 years of travel restrictions have only made me more determined to get globetrotting again as soon as I can – no surprise ‘catch-up’ travel is tipped as one of the biggest trends for 2022.

The other big trend? Turning to travel specialists to help navigate the minefield of tests, restrictions and requirements… Because while I love plotting my own trips, if you’re venturing off the beaten track, it pays to have an expert on hand to help plan your Costa Rica family holidays.

And because one size doesn’t fit all, especially when you’re travelling with kids, I love Original Travel’s approach – tailor-made itineraries, with a destination expert to help turn the wishlist into reality, a travel concierge on hand when you arrive to ensure it all goes smoothly, and expert guides to help you get more than a superficial experience.

Plus, of course, there are so many tempting things to do in Costa Rica with kids – volcanoes, beaches on two separate coasts, rainforest and cloudforest, amazing wildlife and activities to try. And that’s just for starters.

Visiting Costa Rica with kids

One of the best things about a family holiday in Costa Rica is that there’s something for all ages in this tropical playground – plenty of adventure and chance to get active in Costa Rica with teens, but soft adventure and fun itineraries to suit younger kids as well.

Venture to a volcano

With over 200 volcanos in the country, you can’t visit Costa Rica with kids without seeing at least one – a couple you could even drive right to the rim.

Deservedly the most famous is Arenal, with a string of different ways to explore around this peak.

Take a cable car into the trees, spotting some of the country’s wildlife (including sloths!) along the way, before walking on the hanging bridges – suspension bridges leading through the forest canopy – and following a tunnel and trails into the rainforest. For a bit more adrenaline-fuelled fun, you can also come back down on a zipwire.

Or Tenorio Volcano National Park, around two hours from Arenal, is another great spot to explore the volcanic landscape, with trails leading through jungle, past waterfalls on the Rio Celeste and to natural hot springs.

See cloudforest

Step into the misty canopy of one of Costa Rica’s cloudforest reserves, with several to choose from across the country.

The Monteverde Cloudforest is one of the best places to spot the eye-catching quetzal – although despite being bright green, with metre-long tail feathers, they’re still an elusive sight.

You can wander over hanging bridges in this 26,000 acre biozone too, some as much as 2,400 feet up, where you’re sure to see some birds and possibly howler monkeys as well.

This is a great option if you’re visiting Costa Rica with younger kids, with a sky tram to ride here as well. Or you’ll find some of the highest and longest ziplines to try too, flying back over the valley.

As a fun bonus, Original Travel lets you borrow a GoPro to capture your adventures – perfect for recording your zipwire flight.

In the Central Highlands Cloud Forest, La Paz Waterfall Gardens are easy to reach from capital San Jose, and ideal with younger kids.

Paved trails link five waterfalls as you wander through the cloudforest (and rainforest), with over 100 species of animals in the park – keep your eyes open for jaguars, pumas and ocelots, as well as spider monkeys. There’s also a hummingbird garden and butterfly farm here.

Explore a rainforest

Costa Rica’s rainforests are home to more than 100 species of tree, as well as giant orchids and sloths, plus more monkeys and birdlife.

Corcovado National Park is the most unspoiled but also the most remote: Bijagua is also off the beaten track and with the three volcanic peaks in the background and dramatic blue river, it’s a beautiful spot to visit.

If you’re lucky, you can even see tapirs here, as well as toucans and views of Lake Nicaragua.

Or Manuel Antonio National Park is more accessible, with a jungle full of animals as well as a coral reef off the gorgeous beaches.

You’re almost guaranteed to spot monkeys as you explore (and don’t leave snacks in your bag on the beach when you swim, as they and the raccoons which live here are practised furry little thieves!)

Hit the beach

With two coasts, you’re never going to be short of beaches – you could even get a taste of both during one trip, plus there’s sea kayaking and snorkelling on offer as well.

Along with Manuel Antonio National Park on the Pacific coast, you’ll find gentle waves along the Guanacaste coast such as Playa Flamingo and Playa Conchal and the sands on the shores of Culebra Bay in the Gulf of Papagayo.

Or for some of the best places to lounge by the Caribbean, Cahuita National Park has pristine white sands and mangrove creeks, plus some fantastic snorkelling on the reefs off the shore – all to a backdrop of howler monkeys in the jungle.

Original Travel also provides Sharky & George packs full of games and activities for kids aged three to 10 (and reading recommendations and music playlists before you travel to discover more about the culture – a perfect soundtrack while you’re chilling out too)

Go surfing

If lazing in the sun doesn’t tempt, Costa Rica is also a fantastic place to surf – Tamarindo on the Guanacaste coast is ideal for families and beginners, with other watersports for those who prefer another way to ride the waves.

Or Playa Hermosa in Puntarenas is another great surfing spot – it’s worth knowing there’s also a Playa Hermosa in Guanacaste, but if you find yourselves in the wrong place by accident, there’s some great scuba diving here, so all’s not lost.

On the Caribbean coast, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca is one of the country’s top surf spots, home to the Salsa Brava wave – but you’ll find lessons for kids and beginners, so it’s not just for experienced surfers.

If you do venture down to Golfo Dulce, one of only three tropical fjords in the world (and the only place where northern and southern Humpback whales swim in the same waters), Playa Pavones is known for having the longest wave in the world.

Try rafting

Away from the sea, there are more watersports to try, including rafting – for a real thrill, you’ll find serious white water options, but if you’re visiting Costa Rica with kids, there are also gentler alternatives.

The Rio Saraquipi does have its own rapids but also quieter stretches of water where you can soak up the nature surrounding the river from your raft.

Or the Balsa River is ideal if you want more of a challenge, while still staying safe – rafting here is suitable for age 10+, with some white water as well as wildlife to spot.

Spot wildlife

Wherever you go in Costa Rica, you’ll be wowed by the wildlife – around 10% of the world’s bird population live here, around 1,250 species of butterflies, marine life galore on the world’s second largest coral reef system, plus those sloths and monkeys.

But while you’ll see some of the country’s natural wonders as you explore cloudforest, rainforest and beach, there are a few special experiences to plan into your trip.

Turtles

The chance to see turtles laying their eggs is just magical, and there are five main nesting sites across the country, split between the Caribbean and Pacific coasts.

With the longest nesting and hatching season, Tortuguero National Park is the best place to go, with sea turtles laying their eggs between July and September.

Birds

If you love bird spotting, Carara National park contains both dry and wet rainforest, and you’ll find half of all the bird species in Costa Rica here – over 400 different types.

Or Palo Verde National Park is home to around 250,000 birds during wet season: part wetland, part dry forest, you can also spot coatis and monkeys here.

Whales

Ballena National Marine Park is one of the best places in the world to watch humpback whales, as well as other cetaceans including bottlenose dolphins.

The whales migrate here between August and November, and again from December to April, on their journey between Antarctica and Alaska, so there’s a good chance of whale-watching for most of the year.

With nine miles of coastline – and a whopping 13,000 acres of ocean in the marine park – you’ll also find mangrove forests and coral reefs for some great snorkelling. There’s beach too, along with a strip of sand which looks like a whale’s tail at low tide.

Tree frogs

With their bright jewel colours, frog spotting in Costa Rica is a far cry from your local pond – the red-eyed tree frog might be one of the best known, but there are 149 species in total.

Harder to spot than you might think, there are a growing number of frog tours in Costa Rica. Arenal Oasis, the country’s only wild frog sanctuary has night walks with a naturalist guiding you along the trails in the rainforest.

More reasons to visit Costa Rica with kids

For the past few years, there’s been a growing focus on sustainable travel – and the pandemic has only highlighted that further, with companies and travellers looking at how our globetrotting can benefit rather than damage the destination.

And there are few places better than Costa Rica if you want to support sustainable travel. Named the second most sustainable country in the world (using 99.2% renewable energy), Costa Rica has also won the first ever Earthshot Prize award for its work in protecting and restoring nature, the latest in a string of accolades.

A quarter of the country’s wild lands are protected by law: 26 national parks, 58 wildlife refuges, 32 protected zones, 15 wetland areas, 11 forest reserves, and eight biological reserves, and you can choose to stay at eco lodges galore during your family holiday to Costa Rica.

These can be a great way to support locally owned accommodation and guides, rather than multinationals too.

Don’t forget your tour operator’s eco-credentials too. Original Travel absorbs 100% of the carbon footprint generated by air travel for its clients’ holidays (even if you book your flights independently).

It’s not just about planting trees to offset carbon either (although that’s a big part of it). The company’s foundation supports humanitarian projects across Africa, Asia and South America.

You can choose to donate your own time as part of your itinerary, especially at animal refuges in Costa Rica. At the Asis Project, which looks after anything from anteaters and sloths to monkeys and toucans, you can join a day of volunteering to help with daily tasks.

Or the Jaguar Rescue Center is an animal refuge that treats sick, injured and orphaned animals in order to reintroduce them to their natural habitats, especially birds, reptiles, amphibians and some small primates.

PIN FOR LATER: COSTA RICA WITH KIDS

Disclosure: created in collaboration with Original Travel – all opinions on visiting Costa Rica with kids and love of volcanoes (and sloths) are my own

Images courtesy of Depositphotos

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