February 2022
Flights:
There are two major airports: Liberia and San Jose. I recommend Liberia for exploring more north and San Jose for the south. For us, traveling from the mid-west, it was a 5.5 hr flight getting there and 5 hours returning.
Transportation while there:
We chose to rent a car for the freedom to see and stay at several locations. We used Expedia to book with Enterprise and it worked great-we got a great deal. They have a free shuttle from the airport to the car rental locations which is easy to use. If you stay in one area they have several options of transportation to many of the popular daytime tours etc thus you could definitely go without a car if desired. If you do rent a car make sure to download these areas on Google Maps to use offline. The Wi-Fi is iffy in most areas and you will often not have service while driving. You could also print off all maps of planned travel if needed. Driving was fine for us, at times the roads felt a bit crazy but we made it. Watch for dogs roaming about and potholes. If you do rent a car all companies place a hold on your card for over 1,000 but as long as you return the car in good condition that goes away.
Lodging:
This will depend on where you want to explore, here is where we stayed:
La Fortuna/Arenal Volcano area: (about 2.5-3 hours from both airports)
great location, very reasonable, amazing hot spring options. Good restaurant/food options-not all meals are included in the booking price, but breakfast is! We stayed 2 nights and thought that was perfect.
Extremely pricy but totally worth it for a night or two! Amazing hot springs to explore and recreational options right on site. Good food options, no food or drink is included in the booking cost. Great customer service here too! This was our favorite lodging experience while we were there! We liked Baldi hot springs just as much, but the lodging was much nicer at the Springs but you definitely pay for it. They filmed a season of the bachelor here, I never saw the show but obviously must have some beautiful views/location because of that!
A quick Google search will find several other great options as well. With kids, we try to select a good quality option which at times means we pay a bit more but both of these places were more than lodging, they were also awesome experiences.
North-West Coast area:
I had friends love the Tamarindo or Playa Conchal area. We stayed more north near Playa Hermosa but that was not our favorite part of the trip. If you want an authentic local vibe check out Del Coco or Matapalo area/beaches.
Westin Reserva Conchal for an all-inclusive resort. This is about an hour from the airport. I have a cousin who stayed here and had great reviews.
The Riu is located in the Matapalo area. I would recommend paying more for the rooms at the Palace versus the Guanacaste. The rooms are much nicer and worth the upgrade in cost. The Riu is all-inclusive, drinks were fine, and food was eatable but not the best we have had.
Our must-see and do’s:
Hot springs in Arenal volcano area- our favorites were at Baldi and Springs resort and are included when staying at the resorts.
Hanging bridges in the rainforest area- We did Mistico Arenal hanging bridges, we did a self-guided tour and took about an hour or more to walk the whole park.
Zip lining! This was our favorite with Sky Trek company in Arenal. They were fantastic! The equipment and staff seemed very safe. They were great with helping the kids too! They offer a go cam on your helmet and also take photos you can purchase afterward. We luckily had a clear day for it and had great views. If you can book early it’s less expensive. I had booked and was able to easily change our day to a great weather day once we were there and could see the weather forecast. It does rain in the rainforest but usually only last a few minutes at a time.
La Fortuna Waterfall: this was worth the walk/stairs, you do have to pay and can book online before going. As with any reservation make sure to have a screen shot of the reservation on your phone in case you can’t access your email due to lack of wifi access upon arrival.
Rio Celest Waterfall-amazing color! This was a great stop about half way when driving back from the Arenal area to the west coast.
Activities we also looked into but didn’t get around to- hiking in the area around Arenal Volcano, chocolate or coffee tour.
There are so many activities you can do. Take a peak at mytanfeet.com – they list activities for all areas of Costa Rica. I found her website to be very helpful during our trip planning process!