All About Our Costa Rica Vacation

When we moved to Utah 6.5 years ago, we decided that we would do a “Winter Escape Trip” every winter – I’d grown up in Las Vegas, and we’d spent a lot of our marriage in Arizona and Texas, so coming back to a real winter was definitely a change.

Usually those Winter Escape Trips have been close by – a few days in St. George or going to stay with my parents in Las Vegas.

But nearly a year ago, cheap tickets to Costa Rica (which has been on our list for several years!) came up for February and we jumped on them!

It was a delight to pull out swimsuits, shorts and sandals and hop on a plane for warmer weather!

Here’s what our Costa Rica vacation looked like:

Day 1:

• Our flight had gotten moved much earlier so we packed up the night before and then woke up around 4:00 a.m. to head to the airport (I HATE a super early flight!). We flew to Houston, spent an hour or so at the airport lounge during our layover and enjoyed a free lunch (details about how we get all of our family into the airport lounge with a single credit card here), then caught our flight to San Jose.
• We landed, went through customs (very quick!), collected our luggage and went to get our rental car. I didn’t realize that booster seats were required for everyone under 12, so we rented two of those from the rental company too. We headed to our Airbnb, dropped off our luggage and then headed to dinner at an Indian restaurant nearby and also picked up groceries for breakfast at the supermarket in the same parking lot.
• Even though we were only one time zone off from home, the early morning and long day made it feel like we were somewhat jet-lagged and we were all VERY ready to go to bed.

Day 2:

• We woke up to a beautiful sunny morning, ate our breakfast foods, showered and packed up to head out for a day of adventure. Our first destination was Monteverde to visit the Cloud Forest and do some zip lining. I don’t usually love road trips or lots of driving, but driving in Costa Rica was GORGEOUS and as we went, we listened to the full-cast audio of Tress of the Emerald Sea which we all enjoyed immensely.
• We arrived at El Establo Mountain Hotel and got geared up for our zip line tour. It was just the six of us along with five or six guides and we had the best time. Not only was there zip lines, but we also did a vertical rappel, several suspension bridges and finished with the massive Tarzan swing. It was so fun and the girls were VERY into it.
• Afterward, we stopped for lunch which was pretty good and explored a few of the little shops around before hopping back in the car to drive a few more hours to La Fortuna where we’d be spending the next couple of days. When we got close, we stopped at a grocery store and picked up some dinner, breakfast, and snack foods.
• Our Airbnb was SO fun – the bedrooms and kitchens were indoor, but the living areas were all outdoors and it was like you were right in the middle of the jungle. It was spectacular and so unique. There was also a pool in the backyard and we all quickly changed into our suits and jumped in.
• Afterward, we played some of the games that were at the Airbnb and then I read aloud to the girls before we all went to bed.

Day 3:

• In the morning, we woke up, had some breakfast and the girls swam again while Bart and I read by the pool. Eventually we were ready to head out on an adventure and we got some lunch at La Jarra and then went to meet up with our tour guides for tubing down the Rio Celeste.
• The weather was beautiful, the water was just about perfect and we had the best time tubing down the river. We stopped halfway to do some natural mud masks and swing on the rope swing and then finished up where they had towels and fresh fruit waiting for us (the pineapple was INSANE).
• We went back to our Airbnb, got showered and dressed (a few of the girls did another quick swim!) and then hung out for a bit before heading out to find some dinner. We had planned on going to a place called Tasty’s but we could NOT find it so we stopped at a little bakery and picked up 4 or 5 pastries and then went to another restaurant with good reviews. After dinner, we headed back and tried all the pastries before heading to bed.

Day 4:

• The next morning was nice and relaxed (we were doing some laundry before we left so we weren’t in any hurry). After some reading, games, and general lounging about, we finally packed up and got on the road. This was our longest drive of the trip and it was one of my favorites. We sang loudly along to Disney songs for an hour or so and then listened to more of Tress.
• We stopped for lunch at a hilltop restaurant with stunning views and an attached butterfly garden.
• When we arrived in Manuel Antonio, we checked into our resort, went for a twilight swim and then ate dinner at the resort’s restaurant before heading to bed.

Day 5:

• The next morning, after the included breakfast at the hotel, we had surfing lessons booked (one of the things we were all most excited about). The driver picked us up and drove us to the beach and we sunscreened up and put on rash guards before heading into the water. It was so fun and I was surprised how easily we all got up (helps to have someone timing all the waves and giving you step-by-step instructions all along the way).
• Afterward, we sat by the beach under the umbrellas (and in the beach chairs!) they’d provided and the little girls played in the sand and water while Bart and the big girls and I read in the shade. By the time we were heading back, it was clear that our sunscreen efforts had not been up to the Costa Rica sunshine (and the reflection of it on the water!) and everyone was pretty fried on the back of our legs where they’d been exposed to the sun pretty much the whole time we were surfing. Yikes! Our February Utah bodies were not ready for this!
• We came back to the hotel, bought some aloe vera and showered. Then we watched a movie as a family before walking to dinner. We have something of a tradition in our family of going to a Korean restaurant when we’re aboard (we’ve done it in London, Japan, Paris and other places) and this Korean restaurant had THE most stunning views I think I’ve ever seen. The food wasn’t the best Korean food I’ve had by a long shot but it was a gorgeous evening and I didn’t regret it for a second. Afterward, we walked down to a grocery store to get some Trits ice cream sandwiches (so many people raved about them!) along with some Costa Rican chocolate bars.

Day 6:

• Two of our girls woke up feeling not great and after breakfast we had some back and forth about whether we should all go to the Manuel Antonio National Park with our tour guide (booked through the hotel) to see animals. Eventually, we decided all to go and we loaded up in the tour guide’s van and drove to the national park. About 5 minutes in, Star was feeling TERRIBLE so Bart took her to sit on a bench in front of some fans at the entrance and ten minutes later, Ani walked back to join them. He ended up taking them back to the hotel in an Uber and they took a nap, while Ella and Tally and I did the whole tour. We saw a LOT of sloths, multiple monkeys, butterflies, dragonflies, bats, hummingbirds, and more – it was delightful!
• When we got back, it was time to check out, so we woke up the two sleeping girls, packed up the rest of our things and checked out. We stopped for lunch at an Indian restaurant called Namaste which was THE best meal of our trip by a landslide. It was DELICIOUS.
• We drove back to San Jose, checked into our Airbnb and then Bart and Ani headed out to get dinner for everyone. Once they got back, we all ate and went to bed before an EARLY morning flight back home.

Day 7:

• We woke up incredibly early, dressed and packed and then headed to return our rental car before arriving at the airport. We hit the airport lounge for some free breakfast and then boarded our flight.
• Everything went smoothly until we were coming into Houston where there was bad weather and we circled for an hour. That extra hour meant we missed our connecting flight (by six minutes!) and the next flight to Salt Lake was 8 hours later. So we spent most of our day wandering around the airport and hanging out in the lounges.
• We finally arrived home around 1:30 a.m., quickly unpacked and got ready for bed and slept in a LOT the next morning, glad to be home.

And here are some of the questions about our Costa Rica vacation that came in on Instagram:

How did you choose what location to stay?
This was the hardest part of Costa Rica in my opinion – there are so many cool things to see and they’re not close together so you’ll either need to drive quite a bit or be okay with only seeing part of the country. We decided that we’d rather get a little taste of a bunch of parts of the country and do more driving on this Costa Rica vacation.

Were your children a good age for Costa Rica or were there a lot of things they couldn’t do?
I felt like they were a GREAT age (ages 7-14) – there was nothing we wanted to do that they couldn’t do!

Would you recommend someone going to Costa Rica with a newborn?
I feel like this would not be my trip of choice with a newborn. One of us would have had to sit out pretty much all our activities – surfing, ziplining, tubing, etc. I’d WAY rather do Europe with a newborn.

Did you continue homeschooling during the trip?
Nope – we just took the week off. (This is the same as when our kids were all in full-time public school. We didn’t take school work with us).

How did you manage riptide concerns? We had a scary experience there.
I’ve heard this is the case at some places in Costa Rica, but it didn’t seem to be an issue at the beaches we went to and I wasn’t worried about it all.

If you had to choose between Costa Rica and Hawaii which would you choose?
SO many people have asked this, both online and in person and frankly it’s hard to choose. I think Hawaii is easier and more convenient to get to from SLC (I couldn’t find ANY direct flights to Costa Rica from SLC ) but the time change is harder in Hawaii. I also think overall Costa Rica is more beautiful, but I like them both and I hope to visit them both again!

How do you handle sick kids?
We’ve been lucky to almost never have sick kids when we travel although we did this time. I think you just have to adjust the best you can in the moment depending on the kind of sickness you’re dealing with. In this case, Bart took them back to the hotel for a nap.

Did you rent a car? How was driving?
We did rent a car for the whole trip and driving was fine. Many roads are MUCH slower than in the US as you get off the major freeways, so it takes longer than you’d expect to get somewhere based on distance, but other than being a bit slow, it was no problem at all to drive. We used Google Maps and had zero issues.

How did you book this trip? Points for flights and points for hotel?
We got cheap flights almost a year before this trip (which we paid for in cash, not credit card points) and then we stayed mostly at Airbnbs which we also paid for normally. I’m just not enough of an expert with credit card points to maximize those.

Did you book on your own or through a travel agent? Who is the trip planner? You or Bart? Where do you get information from when planning?
We booked on our own for everything. Bart and I trade back and forth planning – he did the vast majority of planning for this trip because I was so underwater with Q4 work. And we just google a lot, watch a bunch of videos, ask for recommendations and decide what appeals to us. (I have a post about how we plan our trips here).

Can you drink the water, eat fruit/ salad without worry? Did you see vegetarian food options on menus?
Yes – unlike much of central America, you can drink the water in Costa Rica. And the fruit is the BEST part of the food in Costa Rica! None of us are vegetarians so I wasn’t looking specifically but I think you’d have little trouble eating as a vegetarian in Costa Rica.

What did you pack?
We packed fairly lightly – mostly just shorts/light pants, tees, and swimsuits!

Did you feel safe?
Yes! I never felt unsafe in Costa Rica – everyone was SO friendly and nice and even out walking around at night, I never had a sense of being unsafe.

Where is Costa Rica on a scale from $ to $$$$?
Frankly, Costa Rica felt fairly expensive. I remember being in Japan and feeling like the food was pretty cheap and Costa Rica did NOT feel like that to me. And when your main activities are excursions/tours, it adds up pretty fast.

What was the weather like?
It was great! It is fairly humid and warm, but it wasn’t CRAZY hot! I’d say in the 80s most days.

What airport did you fly in and out of?
We did San Jose because that’s where the cheap tickets were for. Next time we’d probably do Liberia and explore other parts of Costa Rica.

Highs/ lows for each family member
For Ella (14): High was tubing; low was getting sunburned

For Ani (12): High was zip lining; low was surfing (in large part because she got so sunburned)

For Star (9): High was zip lining and tubing; low was getting sunburned and sick

For Tally (7): High was seeing the animals in Manual Antonio National Park; low was surfing (I had no idea!)

Anything you would have done differently?
Probably would have packed our wetsuits (we have them for boating) for surfing. The sun was just BRUTAL and sunscreen couldn’t hold up against it even for 90 minutes of surfing.

Any other questions about our Costa Rica vacation? I’m happy to answer!

If you liked this post about our Costa Rica vacation, you might also like these other posts:

• A Week in Maui
• Our 11 Favorite Travel Games
• How I Think About Budgeting For Vacation