This was our seA Magical Christmas in Costa Ricacond trip to Costa Rica with K...

Costa Rica | Dec 18 - Dec 26, 2024

This was our second trip to Costa Rica with KimKim, and it didn’t disappoint! The first time, a few years ago, was just me and my husband. When we decided to take a family trip last year, Costa Rica was the obvious choice, and everyone was on board.

We traveled over Christmas with our four adult kids, my mom, and her friend, ranging in age from 21 to 75. Our travel agent, Holden at KimKim, and Wilman at Serendipity were amazing! They planned and booked everything perfectly, and even helped us with a few changes while we were there.

Amazing Hotels
The hotels were incredible. Hotel Bosque del Mar was right on the beach, but it felt like we were in the jungle. We watched monkeys swinging from the trees right outside our balcony. The rooms were beautiful—like treehouses in the jungle.

Our second hotel, Hacienda Guachipelin, was more remote and surrounded by nature, right next to Rincon de la Vieja National Park. It had an adventure center on-site, which made it easy to book activities like ziplining, horseback riding, hiking, and river tubing.

Unforgettable Activities
We had a blast on every excursion! Some highlights:

Wetlands Boat Ride and Rum Tasting at Hacienda El Viejo: We saw so many crocodiles on the boat ride, and the ranch was gorgeous. Lunch there was the perfect break before rum tasting.
Fishing Charter with Patron Ocean Experience: This was everyone’s favorite. The girls won the fishing contest with a 55–60 pound roosterfish! We also caught enough Spanish mackerel for lunch, and a beachside restaurant cooked it for us. We had so much fun we did it again on Christmas Day!
Snorkeling and Scuba Diving: We split up for this one, and everything went smoothly.
The Perfect Family Christmas
This was the perfect first family Christmas trip. We loved the mix of activities and downtime to just enjoy nature and each other.

We can’t wait to go back to Costa Rica!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Bosque del Mar

Playa Hermosa

This hotel exceed our expectations. Great location right on the beach, but the hotel was in the jungle and the rooms felt like treehouses.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Staff was always friendly and helpful. The food was delicious.

Hotel Hacienda Guachipelín

Liberia

Loved this hotel for a variety of reasons. It was remote and in the jungle away from everything. Since we brought adult kids with us it gave us lots of down time to connect. They got to enjoy the happy hour at the bar every evening and we enjoyed all the activities we did as a group through their adventure center, including zip lining, hiking, tubing in class III and IV rapids, and horseback riding.

Authenticity & Character

Location

A little more remote than we expected, but then again that brought a lot of additional benefits.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Half Day - Fishing Charter

Costa Rica

Our favorite activity of the trip. So much fun we booked it again later in the trip.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport