Costa Rica Family Travel
Costa Rica
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Apr 9 - Apr 24, 2023
Our family of 4, including two kids, aged 9 and 11, just had a wonderful trip to Costa Rica with kimkim doing much of the heavy lifting in terms of planning. Highlights would be our day spent at Rincon de la Vieja's adventure park, Hacienda Guachipelin as well as a hike to El Tigre Waterfall near Monteverde, which was not booked with kimkim.
kimkim pros: Overall, it was easy to review different activities and hotels prior to booking via the kimkim website, which made the stress of planning a vacation much less. Communication was easy with Jessica via the kimkim website. Having activities booked ahead limited time scrambling trying to book activities when we arrived. Almost every activity that we booked through kimkim was high quality with an excellent guide with only one or two exceptions.
kimkim cons: The variety of activities and hotels that kimkim offers on their website are not exhaustive and we realized once we arrived that there were better options available in many cases. No special attention paid to flight arrival times or transfer arrival times relative to hotel check in times. You do pay a premium for having a laid out itinerary before you go-we realized that had we booked the activities independently from kimkim, the cost would have been about half, in general.
Overall, we would recommend kimkim's services. Having a laid out itinerary prior to arriving decreased the stress and increased the amount we were able to see and do on our 2 weeks vacation. Unfortunately, you pay a bit more of a premium for this peace of mind but it was a positive experience.
Day 1: We arrived to Liberia at 0600 and drove 1.5 hrs to Blue River Resort via CR Ride. The driver was excellent. Feedback for kimkim would be to pay special attention to the flight arrival time and hotel check in. We arrived at our hotel at 9 am after an overnight flight and check in for the hotel was not until 2 pm.
Blue River Resort is a beautiful destination off the beaten path. Cabins are basic but comfortable. Restaurant on site was ok. It is close to Rincon de la Vieja but it's on the north side of the volcano and to get to the activities at the adventure park, it's a 1.5 hr drive around the volcano to the National Park. Not the location we were expecting and we would not recommend this hotel for anyone that is planning to spend time going over to do activities in Rincon de la Vieja National Park.
Day 2: Day at Rincon de la Vieja National Park. Big highlight for our family. We were expecting a 2.25 mile hike and a hot springs visit but when we arrived, we were informed that we had a full day planned- ziplining, horseback riding and tubing down the rio Colorado. Although it was a surprise, we agreed and had a great time. These were large group activities. Ziplining included 9 cables over beautiful canyons, a Tarzan swing and an option to rappel and climb at one point. There is an option to do the zip lining tandem with your kids, if needed. After a short 5 minute break, we walked down to the stable and hopped on a horse for a 45 min trail ride, which the kids really enjoyed. The tubing, which was a short 5 min drive to the starting point in the rio Colorado, was so fun! There were some small rapids and some slower sections and we managed to see a white faced monkey and lots of little creatures, like frogs and spiders along the way. Overall, the guides at Hacienda Guachipelin were excellent throughout the day. Unfortunately, because we were not expecting a water activity, we were not prepared to get our hiking shoes wet, but shoes are mandatory during the tubing. We ended the adventure day with the Rio Negro hot springs. The hot springs boasted "mud baths" but seemed to only be mud mixed in a 5 gallon pail and handed out in bowls to be rubbed all over our bodies.
Day 3: We were set to head back to Rincon de la Vieja National Park for a self guided hike that was planned via kimkim but with the drive being so long around the volcano and it being a 3 hour detour to our next destination, we opted to forego this activity. In our opinion, a local specialist planning the trip should have foreseen both the poor location of the hotel in relation to the activities planned as well as the major detour this day of hiking would have been, knowing our next destination. Instead, our driver picked us up from the hotel and we headed towards La Fortuna. On the way, our driver suggested we go to Rio Celeste for a 4 km hike to a waterfall. We paid $38 US for entry to the park. It took us about 2.5 hrs there and back. There were multiple flights of stairs down to the waterfall then onto a lagoon where the natural water meets the blue water (from the minerals from the volcano). Challenging hike in parts and some difficult terrain but worth the impromptu stop. The driver with CR Ride was amazing and stayed with our things in the car all day.
Our hotel in La Fortuna was the Country Inn Arenal. This place was in a very convenient location for the respective activities planned during the next few days. Beautiful grounds, swimming pool, breakfast included, walkable to grocery store.
Day 4: Hanging Bridges in Mistico Park and La Fortuna Waterfall with Jacamar Tours. 16 other folks on this tour. We walked 2.5 miles on paths, stopping along the way to look at venomous vipers, a boa, hummingbirds, and other creatures. Our guide, Diego, was super knowledgable but not overly energetic. There were a series of 6 hanging bridges, all various lengths and heights from the ground. They offered amazing views of different layers of the canopy. We then took a 10 min drive over to La Fortuna Waterfall. There are 2 areas to dip in the water. This is a fairly developed area, which comes with high numbers of tourists and guides. Both the kids and the adults in the group enjoyed getting in the water! Next we went to a small farm owned by Jacamar Tours to eat lunch. TIP: Lunch seemed to consistently be served around 2 pm so if you're travelling with kids or you get hangry easily, bring some snacks.
Day 5: Farm Tour with Eco Terra. This was a 3 hour farm tour to a small organic farm that keeps some cows, turkeys, chickens, goats and some rescue animals. The owner grows medicinal plants and restorative trees. We saw ginger, turmeric, taro root, cilantro, oregano, wild and commercial cocoa trees, and the list goes on. They generously allowed us to pick and sample whatever we wanted. Our small group was made up mostly of kids and some energetic adults. The activities of milking a cow, crushing sugar cane and making chocolate were all hands- on activities, which the kids loved! Amazing hospitality and generosity of this farm family. Would 100% recommend this tour.
Day 6: Arenal Volcano Hike and Tabacon Hot Springs with Jacamar Tours. This was a 2.5 km hike loop at the base of the north side of Arenal. Our guide was knowledgable about the history of the eruption of 1968. Total hike took about 2 hours, seeing new growth on the lava rocks along the way. We were then dropped off at Tabacon Hot Springs, which is a resort. We chose how much time we wanted to spend there and were told that someone would come and pick us up later in the day. It was strange knowing that we paid a tour company for a day of guided activities and we were simply dropped off. It poured rain almost the entire time but it was warm and we enjoyed the various hot pools around the site that happened to be in the natural river. Beautiful site, very much set up like a resort. This activity was definitely a crowd pleaser.
Day 7: Safari Float on the Penas Blancas River. 2 hours, 3 miles, float on a small raft. Our guide was knowledgable about the birds and animals found along the river and eager to point out wildlife. We saw a lot of different species of birds, a turtle and some howler monkeys. Boat was uncomfortable for 2 hours, sitting sideways but the family were shared this little adventure with was lovely.
We ended the day with a cooking class at the grounds of Desafio Adventure Company. We made a traditional Casado with Kathy. Kids loved it, it really was a fun experience.
Day 8: Transfer from Arenal to Monteverde via car and boat with Ride CR. The boat ride across Lake Arenal was really amazing and really only available to those traveller who did not rent a car.
Hotel in Monteverde was Los Pinos. This beautiful site with its own small system of hiking trails is a bit out of town and not walkable to anything of note except a small grocery store. It has a full kitchen which was great to make some of our own meals.
Day 9: We did not have any day activities planned via kimkim this day so we booked ourselves a ride to El Tigre Waterfalls. Highlight of the trip. Paid $30US per adult and $20US per kid to do a 8 km hike - "the big hike". Last 3 km was tough uphill but amazing day hike.
We ended the day with a "coffee experience and nighttime nature walk" with Coffee 'n Jungle. This was a weird experience and not one that we would recommend. The owner, Junior, buys most of his beans from other farmers. We learned a small amount about growing coffee, the drying process, and the roasting process. Because Junior had just cut down most of his coffee plants (which they do apparently every 6 years), and it was not harvesting season, there was not much of a tour. They do not grow cocoa in this area of the country, therefore the chocolate tasting was a mixture of cocoa powder which Junior mixed with brown sugar, powdered milk and peach liquor and then poured it on bananas. Junior was very sweet and friendly and was good with the kids but the educational component of the tour was limited and poorly organized. The nature walk was nothing more than an hour of walking around the cut down coffee plantation. Would not recommend this tour.
Day 10: Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve Hike with Ocotea Tours. This hike was through new and old growth forest. Our guide, Bernie, was also our driver and very knowledgable about plant life, birds and symbiosis in the forest. He was able to engage the kids and keep them interested. Overall, really great experience.
Day 11: Children's Eternal Rainforest Hike with Ocotea Tours. This was a 2.5 hour walk. Our guide, Guilliano, was great. Conditions were very dry. Overall, by this point, the kids were tired of walking around forests for the last few days and got bored with this hike but done at another time in the trip would have been a bigger success.
Day 12: Transfer from Monteverde to Tamarindo. 3.5 hour drive.
We booked Hotel Mar Rey without the help of kimkim. The options for hotels in Tamarindo were not great on the kimkim website. The activities that we had been super interested in doing in Tamarindo, like snorkelling, were not available through kimkim because the water was too rough. These activities, we realize now, could all have been booked once we arrived.
Day 14: Catamaran Sailing Adventure with Marlin del Rey. This was a 5 hour sunset tour including a 1.5 hr stop in the middle to swim and snorkel. There were about 35 people on board which was about half capacity. There was a bar on board and the drinks were included as well as a served chicken BBQ lunch mid afternoon. A big highlight was stopping in the middle of the tour and swimming and snorkelling in a secluded bay. Overall this was a great tour and a nice way to get away from the beach activities. Pros: shady interior of the boat, on-board bathroom, free drinks and friendly staff. Cons: it was a bit long for the kids.
Activity Review
Overall a really great experience. Pros: shady interior on the boat, on board bathrooms, free drinks, friendly staff, lunch included. Highlight for us and our kids was the stop in the middle to swim and snorkel in a secluded bay. It was a great way to get away from beach activities. Would 100% recommend.
