Costa Rica Active Family Adventure

Day 1: San Jose

Kick off this multi-sport Costa Rican adventure with a warm Tico welcome after passing through customs. Transfer to Hotel Xandari Plantation, where you can stroll through the gardens with your family or relax by the pool before turning in for the evening. We highly recommend adding a night at Xandari Plantation to relax and enjoy the hotel’s pools, restaurant, and waterfalls.

Accommodations: Xandari Plantation

Day 2: Arenal Volcano - Vida Campesina Farm and Hotsprings

Day two begins with breakfast and orientation with your Costa Rica family guide. Travel by private vehicle through scenic mountains and rich agricultural land to experience rural life in Costa Rica. Meet local farmer Don Erasmo Gonzalez and his family and learn about local life on the Gonzalez farm.

Sample freshly-squeezed sweet cane juice from a hand-operated sugar mill (seasonal activity) and learn about typical Costa Rican crops, like coffee, bananas, and various tropical fruits and vegetables. Your family will walk around the farm with Don Gonzalez and his family to meet cattle, chicken, sheep, and rabbits. You’ll learn about the conversion of organic waste to biogas and organic fertilizer, dig into the garden to harvest vegetables before moving to the kitchen to make fresh tortillas to enjoy during a delicious Costa Rican lunch!

Continuing on to La Fortuna Hotsprings, enjoy a dip in the Eco Termales, a series of four pools of varying temperature including one with a cascading hot waterfall. This piece of paradise is owned by Dona Mireya and her family who will treat you to a "Tico-style" dinner served under an open-air rancho. Drive time: 3 hours

Accommodations: Arenal Nayara, Mountain Paradise Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 3: Zip-line Canopy Tour and Horseback or Mountain Bike

This day of exploration starts with a 1-3 hour horseback riding adventure (depending on abilities and interest*). You’ll ride through fields, streams, and rainforests around the base of Arenal Volcano en route to a spectacular lookout where you can marvel at the majestic volcano. Keep a keen eye out for wildlife along the way, like monkeys, sloths, iguanas, butterflies, and flowers. *Mountain biking is available upon advance request instead of horseback riding at no additional cost.

Ride the Sky Tram gondola to the highest point of Arenal Reserve for the Sky Trek, one of the most exhilarating zip-line canopy tours in Costa Rica. This zip-line system comprises 8 cross-sectional cables with a total length of 1.75 miles, reaching elevations between 66 and 660 feet. After a day of exploring, relive your adventures over a delicious dinner at a local restaurant in La Fortuna.

Accommodations: Arenal Nayara, Mountain Paradise Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 4: Arenal Volcano - Hanging Bridges and Optional Canyoneering

Cross a series of hanging bridges that wind through the rainforest surrounding the Arenal Volcano. Keep your binoculars and camera handy as your guide identifies an abundance of wildlife among the forest. Be on the lookout for some of the 250 species of birds and mammals in the rainforest, like toucans, mot-mots, howler monkeys, coatimundis, sloths, and white-collared peccaries.

Gear up to rappel down a lush jungle canyon and tropical waterfalls in the afternoon. After suiting up with safety gear, you and your family will canyoneer down a series of stunning waterfalls. Make your way down progressively taller falls until you reach the grand finale: a 210-foot, three-stage waterfall! A waterproof camera is recommended.

Those not joining the canyoneering tour will stay at the hotel to rest, relax poolside, or take a short hike around the gardens.

Accommodations: Arenal Nayara, Mountain Paradise Hotel

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 5: Manuel Antonio - Local Lunch and Outrigger Kayaking or Paddle Boarding

Pack up and prepare for a long but fun transit day from the highlands to tropical Pacific Beach! Take a break to view huge American crocodiles basking in the sun at the Tarcoles River Bridge. Experience the spirit of "Pura Vida" firsthand as members of the Tarcoles community open their doors to you and serve a local Tico-style lunch. At Don Urbano and Dona Miriam's simple casa, you’ll sample Urbano's fresh catch of the day, prepared Tico-style. Keep your binoculars handy, as there’s a good chance of viewing scarlet macaws as they feed on almond trees near the house.

After lunch head straight for the calm bays of Manuel Antonio, where you and your family venture out in stable eight-person outrigger kayaks, which have been used for centuries for exploration and ocean transport. Glide beneath sea cliffs filled with pelicans and frigate birds and over clear tropical waters, then haul out onto a secluded beach for swimming and snorkeling after your paddle. For those interested in paddling independently, single kayaks, double kayaks, and stand up paddle boards are also available for use (please request in advance). Arrive at your family-friendly hotel in Manuel Antonio in the late afternoon and spend time exploring the area or relaxing. Drive time: 4.5 hours.

Accommodations: Hotel Parador, Villas Si Como No

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 6: Manuel Antonio National Park

Pack your water bottle, sunscreen, and binoculars for an exciting eco-tour exploring Manuel Antonio National Park. This small, biologically diverse rainforest reserve is composed of three long strands of magnificent white-sand beach bordered by a vine-draped jungle teeming with wildlife. Be on the lookout for a slow-moving sloth perched in a tree. Rustling branches could signal the presence of howler monkeys, white-faced capuchins, and spider monkeys. Sharp eyes may catch the Central American squirrel monkey, known locally as the mono titi, that’s found in very few parks around Costa Rica.

After lunch, your Costa Rica tour guide bids you farewell. Relax on the beach, surf, or sea kayak along the Pacific coastline during the rest of the day. You’ll have the chance to ride horseback at a local reserve or just relax poolside (additional activities not included).

Accommodations: Hotel Parador, Villas Si Como No

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 7: Rafting Saegre River Class II & III

A 1.5-hour drive south of Quepos brings you to the river put-in where you’ll maneuver paddle rafts together down the Savegre River, considered one of the cleanest waterways in Central America. After a safety briefing, you’ll move through the mild rapids of “Boca Diablo” and “Washing Machine", then drop into the “Screaming Child” rapid before disembarking for lunch at the nearby Silencio Lodge. Experience both relaxation and pure action floating through the beautiful forested watershed. From Silencio Lodge, it’s a short 50-minute drive back to Quepos.

Accommodations: Hotel Parador, Villas Si Como No

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 8: San Jose for Departure

Bid your farewells and take a short transfer to the Quepos airstrip where you will board a twin engine charter flight (25 minutes) direct to the San Jose International airport. Upon arrival, you will be met by a driver waiting to take you to the terminal. Note that your flight back home must depart after 11:00 a.m. in order to connect the local flight with your international departure.