We have so many good things to say about our family vacation to Costa Rica! This was our first international trip with our kids and we’re convinced it was the best possible destination for their first passport stamp. It was relaxing, enriching, and fun all of us. So today we’ll answer all of your questions: where we stayed, what we did, and how we navigated a foreign country with young kids.
When you have little kids (ours are 5 and 9) it’s tempting to default to the low-stress, easy-to-plan vacation. So part of our goal with this trip was to break out of that rut, and step outside of our travel comfort zone. It was nerve-wracking to do, but we’re SO GLAD we did it!
Why Did We Choose Costa Rica?
We zeroed in on Costa Rica because:
- It would be warm in January when we’d be traveling and
- We’d recently heard from 2 different friends who had vacationed there and really loved it.
Those two factors were enough to make us dig a little deeper into what Costa Rica has to offer. The more we learned, the better it seemed as an option!
Costa Rica has lots of great lodging and activity options. Plus they’ve got really cool wildlife that excited the kids, like monkeys and sloths. The deal-sealer was that Costa Rica was a relatively easy/quick flight from Virginia – at least compared to a lot of other international options.
Our kids have been on several 2-hour-ish flights to Florida, so we trusted they could handle something a little longer. But we didn’t want to push it to some 8-hour transatlantic flight to Europe quite yet. Our 6 hours of flying time involved 1 layover each way, so it was nicely broken up into two shorter, more manageable flights.
Where Did We Go In Costa Rica?
We spent 6 nights in Costa Rica, splitting our time between two different Airbnbs, each for 3 nights. This wasn’t our original intent, but it ended up being GREAT because we got to experience two different areas with different vibes. We chose the towns simply based on lodging availability and proximity to the airport in San José.
Our first Airbnb was in a town called Esterillos Oeste, which was about 2 hours from the airport in San José. It’s a small beach town on the Pacific Coast that felt more like where locals came for a beach day, not American tourists. Aka, it wasn’t super touristy at all.
Our second Airbnb was about an hour away from the first one in Manuel Antonio (which is also the name of the uber-popular National Park that is there, shown below). It was definitely denser with restaurants, shops, and tourist activities. More on the Airbnbs and the towns in a moment.
There are certainly plenty of other places to go in Costa Rica (it’s about the size of West Virginia, btw) – especially if you really want a specific experience. There are hot springs near the volcano in Arenal and popular rope bridges in the Monteverde Cloud Forest. Those are both north of San José, closer to the airport in Liberia. So if those activities sound better for your family, consider flying and staying further North.
How Long Did It Take To Get There?
Our flights from Virginia to Costa Rica totaled about 6 hours each way, but the full door-to-door travel time did feel somewhat long. Part of this was because we had a very early flight on the way out (had to wake up at 4am). That, combined with the fact that the towns we stayed in were about 2 hours from the airport in San José, meant we basically also had a short road trip tacked on after landing.
So all told, each way involved about 12 hours of travel and effectively ate up 1 whole day on each end of our week. I do think it was actually easier on everyone that it was broken up so much (driving, flying, layover-ing, flying, driving, etc) but we still armed ourselves with markers, notebooks, activity books, and fully charged iPads to make it easier on the kids (which makes it easier on everyone).
Did You Rent A Car?
Yes, we did rent a car! Our rental car was from a company called Payless (booked through Expedia) and it was no different than renting a car in the United States. We chose to rent a car for two reasons:
- The flexibility a car would give us to explore at our own pace and
- So we would have appropriate car seats for our children. We brought a booster seat in our checked duffle bag for our 9-year-old and rented a car seat from Payless for our 5-year-old.
Some roads in Costa Rica are unpaved, steep, and/or rocky, so we took someone’s recommendation to rent a car with 4-wheel drive. We definitely experienced roads like those (like the neighborhood roads leading to our first Airbnb, seen below) but we never needed to engage the 4WD.
If you don’t want to rent a car, there certainly are hotels, resorts, and tourist companies that offer shuttles to and from the airport. We’re told Uber is available, as well as red taxis that are clearly marked with yellow triangles.
What Was Driving Like In Costa Rica?
Driving in Costa Rica was generally A LOT easier than I anticipated. Overall we felt like people were pretty relaxed, polite, and slow drivers. Even on highways, the max speed limit was only about 80 kmh (about 50 mph). You still drive on the right side of the road too, like we’re used to.
The only “challenges” were road signage and parking. Streets were often unmarked, so we had to rely heavily on watching our Google Maps navigation to make sure we were turning at the right places (I may have gone around a traffic circle a couple of extra times). And if there was signage, it was in Spanish so we had to make some educated guesses at moments. But again – driving was easier than we anticipated overall.
Parking was tough in Manuel Antonio because it’s a more congested area with narrow, winding streets (it’s fairly mountainous there). We had to give up on a couple of recommended restaurants because their few, cramped parking spaces on the road were full. We actually ended up walking to a lot of our meals in Manuel Antonio because the parking was so sparse. But again, overall it felt no harder to drive in Costa Rica than here in the United States, so we’d definitely do it again.
Just be warned that everything takes a bit longer to get to than you might expect because the speed limits are low and many highways are only one lane each way. It’s easy to get stuck behind a slow vehicle for a little while. We actually liked the leisurely driving pace though – it never felt stressful and rushed like people were angry about you, a tourist, trying to figure things out.
Was The Language Barrier An Issue?
Nope! Costa Rica is a Spanish-speaking country but English is commonly used. We could communicate in English with about 75% of the people we encountered. Signage and menus were often printed in both Spanish and English, or simply just English. In the few instances that required Spanish, we would simply use hand gestures and everyone was very patient with us. In fact, most of the locals who we met seemed to genuinely love visitors and often asked us things like “is it your first trip? Do you love it here? Have you seen any sloths yet?!“
We actually grew to appreciate those few language barrier moments, like when our kids couldn’t understand the little girl trying to play with them on the beach. It was a helpful reminder that we can’t always expect others to know our language in the world. The kids came home with an interest in learning more Spanish, along with some new words in their repertoire.
What About Currency?
Costa Rica uses the colón (plural: colones) but we found that SO many places/people happily accept the US dollar (USD). In fact, a few restaurants we went to had their prices listed in USD instead of colones. One grocery store asked me which currency I wanted to be rung up in. And I paid in USD at one toll booth and they gave me colones as change. So overall, paying in Costa Rica was simple because there were so many choices.
We traveled with a bunch of cash in USD and about $15 worth of colones too. But it turns out that as long as we had small USD bills and a credit card, we would’ve been fine without any colones at all.
What is the money conversion in Costa Rica?
$1 USD is equal to about 570 colones, meaning most prices in Costa Rica are in the THOUSANDS of colones. That can cause some sticker shock, like when your restaurant bill arrives with “25,000” listed as the total (which is about $43 USD). We quickly got used to seeing big numbers on everyday items, but it I did break out a calculator more than once to double-check my math.
The trickiest part was translating AND converting money when someone would ring us up. I’m good with understanding basic numbers in Spanish (uno, dos, even catorce!) but when someone’s rattling off 16,475 in rapid Spanish, I get a little lost. And then I still have to try to calculate what that means in USD.
So, for better or worse, we used our regular ol’ bank-issued Visa card for most of our in-store or in-restaurant purchases. We did incur about $40 in “international transaction fees” over the course of our weeklong trip, but frankly it was well worth it to not have to worry about currency conversions or hold up the line while we tried to frantically work out math equations in another language.
Is Costa Rica Safe?
We got this question a lot. We can confidently say that we never felt unsafe during our time in Costa Rica. We took common-sense measures that you’d take in any popular tourist area (locking doors at night, not leaving valuables in the car, keeping tabs on bags/wallets/kids, etc) but that was never because of any specific “threat” – except for the warning that monkeys like to rifle through bags at some of the beaches. Ha!
And speaking of monkeys, we never felt unsafe due to animals or other critters either. We spotted zero snakes, zero scorpions, and honestly zero scary, big bugs. Wait, scratch that, there was a big spider one night – but he was more fascinating than scary and he was outside. Didn’t bother us at all.
Long story short, we didn’t personally encounter any creature, person, or situation that made us feel unsafe in Costa Rica.
Our Airbnb in Esterillos Oeste
We hit the Airbnb jackpot because the two places we rented were some of the most amazing places we’ve ever stayed, anywhere. Again, we ended up in two different rentals because we couldn’t find one available all six nights that we would be in Costa Rica. We considered doing a hotel or resort, but we typically find that a vacation rental offers us more space, more privacy, and better sleep.
Our first Airbnb in Esterillos Oeste had two bedrooms in the main house. We stayed in the king bedroom and our kids happily shared the other bedroom with both a twin and full-sized bed. There was also a third bedroom with a private entrance on a lower level (the “Casita”) near the colorful mural shown above.
The casita was such a serene, secluded little space that would’ve been great had we traveled with the grandparents or another couple with a baby or something. But since we wanted to sleep under the same roof as our kids, we didn’t use the Casita at all. If six people rented this house it would be great though.
The outdoor space of this house was so relaxed, playful, and private feeling that we spent HOURS out there. There were houses on either side, but the lush landscaping made the yard feel so secluded – like it was our own little oasis.
The pool was inset into a raised deck, which almost felt like swimming in the jungle canopy. We literally had iguanas and monkeys visit us right there in the backyard! Iguanas would come sun themselves on the deck, and around 10 monkeys swung by one afternoon – walking along the railing right in front of us! Macaws even flew by overhead. It was like getting the quintessential Costa Rica experience without even leaving the house.
In case you want to see the ENTIRE space, we shot a quick video right before we checked out so you could see everything. Again, here’s the Airbnb listing for it. It really was such a beautiful place!
You can also watch it here on YouTube.
Our Airbnb In Manuel Antonio
The second Airbnb in Manuel Antonio was decorated like it was fresh out of a home magazine. It had 3 bedrooms in the main house and a separate Casita (seen below). Once again, we didn’t sleep in there because we all wanted to stay under one roof. With older kids or a second couple, the casita would have been awesome.
One of the 3 bedrooms in the main house was an un-air-conditioned loft which was just slightly too warm for us to sleep in overnight. We did have a couple of pre-bedtime family movie nights up there, which the kids thought were magical. The two downstairs bedrooms were air-conditioned so we slept in one and the kids used the other, even though they had to share a bed.
This house has INCREDIBLE outdoor spaces, all inspired by and decorated with items from the owners’ trips to Bali. There was a big outdoor dining table, a hammock swing that our kids were obsessed with, and a hanging daybed that inspired us to build this daybed at our current house. The pool was beautiful and slightly shaded which was nice. We used it every, single day.
We shot a quick little video of this Airbnb right as we arrived. Although we somehow forgot to pop into the bedroom where we slept, but you can see it on the right before I turn into the big bathroom with the tub. You can also see it in the Airbnb listing.
You can also watch it here on YouTube.
I should also add that the hosts of both Airbnbs were incredibly nice! Within hours of booking they each had messaged us with long lists of activity suggestions (snorkeling! ziplining! boat tours!) and offers to help plan anything we’d like. We ultimately only used them to arrange two activities, but they were crazy helpful in answering our general questions about our trip.
The first Airbnb is operated by a Canadian couple who now lives full time in Esterillos Oeste (we got to meet the husband during our stay). The second is managed by a local rental company, and the woman who greeted grew up in the same exact county that I did (Fairfax, Virginia) and has since moved full time to Costa Rica. Such a small world.
Things To Do With Kids In Costa Rica
Costa Rica is known as a destination for outdoor adventurers and thrill-seekers. So I’ll preface this by saying that our kids have zero interest in heights/things that go fast, so nothing like ziplines or rope bridges or whitewater rafting. Given their ages (5 and 9) that could all change down the line, but if you are vacationing with more-chill-seeking-and-less-thrill-seeking travelers, here are some of the activities/destinations we enjoyed:
Esterillos Oeste Beach
This was just about a 5-minute drive from our first Airbnb and there was easy and free parking right on the dirt roads that parallel the beach. We went for a walk here after lunch nearby (above – hence no bathing suits) and then came back the next day with bathing suits, towels, and a cooler full of snacks for a longer visit. The Pacific Ocean can be rough, but there were tons of shallow tidepools for our kids to play in. It was also fun just walking up and down the beach & hunting for shells and other little treasures.
Royal Butterflies
Royal Butterflies is a farm / butterfly sanctuary near Jaco Beach operated by an American family now living in Costa Rica. It was recommended by our first Airbnb host. One of the owners, Donna, greeted us as soon as we pulled in and gave us the friendliest one-on-one tour of the butterfly enclosure and surrounding farm. She let our kids pick starfruit off a tree to eat later, run through the shallow river that ran through the property, and even took us on a tour of the treehouse Airbnb that they’re currently constructing.
It was a perfect low-key activity for kids our age and cost us only $30 ($10 for anyone 6 and up).
Manuel Antonio Guided Tour
Manuel Antonio is Costa Rica’s smallest but most popular national park and it’s known for its exotic wildlife, including sloths! You visit go without a guide, but if you want to see animals: GET A GUIDE! We booked ours through our Airbnb host (she exclusively books him, so we can’t link to him) but we hear they’re all awesome. You can also hire one at the entrance of the park and there are several on Airbnb Experiences.
A guide is important because most animals are high up in the canopy or hidden in the jungle. The guide uses his or her expertise to spot them and brings a telescopic lens to get you a close-up look at them. Our guide even used his to take photos of the animals with our phones! We came home with pictures of everything from a mom & baby sloth (!!!) to monkeys galore, and even the most beautiful “rainbow grasshopper” (not a sentence I ever expected to type). Oh and a bat and a raccoon and a red & blue crab. So much to see.
The best moment was definitely the baby sloth who was hanging out with her mom. We stood there and watched them for a solid five minutes. It was amazing.
Our tour was about $140 total (for two adults and two children, including a park entrance fee and parking at a hotel near the front gate). They only accepted cash, so we’re glad we had lots of USD with us. The guided portion was about 2 hours, which might be a stretch for some kids, but we were treated to a spontaneous show by some playful monkeys towards the end, which boosted our son’s energy. Both of our kids name it as one of the coolest things we did during our trip.
That’s the photo I took with my phone zoomed in above, and this is the photo our guide took through his lens – just to give you a sense of how much better of a view we got of things thanks to the guide. Quite the handsome couple, eh?
Manuel Antonio Beach
After the guided tour in Manuel Antonio, we stayed in the park to swim at one of the park beaches. We had paid admission already, so why not? Many people told us the park beaches are less crowded than the public ones outside the park. Our guide pointed us towards the beach with the calmest water and it was one of the prettiest beaches I’ve ever been to in my life (we’ll get to THE prettiest one in a moment).
We didn’t stay super long because everyone was getting hungry and the park has strict rules about what you can bring in. There is a park cafeteria, but it seemed to be mostly pizza and pastries. The kids LOVED swimming here because it was warm, clear, and just the right amount of wave action. We almost came back the next day.
Playa Biesanz
Instead of returning to the Manuel Antonio beach, we stumbled upon Playa Biesanz while Googling and were intrigued by its description as Manuel Antonio’s “secret” beach. It sounded a bit off the beaten path, but it was our last full day and we felt more adventurous. We navigated to the right place thanks to Google Maps and spotted the “break in the fence” someone had described online.
Several locals were helping people park along the narrow road and holding hand-written signs that said they’d “watch your car” for 2000 colones (about $3.50). It felt a little like a tourist trap, but for $3.50 I didn’t really care. And I did appreciate their help parking since you have to hop two wheels over the curb. Then we followed another family through the break in the fence, down a hill for about a 10-minute hike. It was a little rocky and steep in places, but we easily did it in flip flops.
Biesanz Beach is easily the most beautiful beach I’ve ever been to in my life. The water was clear and calm. The sand was white and clean. Several locals along the tree line were selling ceviche, cocktails, coconuts with straws poked in them, and even kayaks and paddle boards to rent. We paid $10 (again, in USD) to rent two lounge chairs and an umbrella and had the most perfect last morning in Costa Rica.
It certainly wasn’t a true secret (there were locals and other tourists there) but it wasn’t nearly as populated as the other beaches we had been to. None of our photos capture how picturesque the whole thing was. It was one of those trip memories that we’ll still talk about when we’re ninety.
Miscellaneous Exploring
Besides those few “excursions,” we mostly spent our time exploring the little towns we were in, trying out different restaurants, going on little hikes or walks, stopping into local shops, and just relaxing at our Airbnbs.
We also really enjoyed shopping at the markets with the locals. There was tons of fresh food (picture Sherry screaming “THIS GORGEOUS FRUIT!!!!!!” while unpacking our bags from the market). And we loved cooking breakfast at our Airbnb and going straight from PJs to bathing suits. Also noteworthy: we ordered smoothies everywhere we went. And speaking of meals…
Where To Eat In Costa Rica With Kids
Some people worry about finding kid-friendly foods when traveling abroad, but we had no issue with it in Costa Rica. We found kid staples like chicken, quesadillas, hamburgers, pasta, or pizza at nearly every restaurant we dined at. They still sampled some of the more local or “adventurous” foods we ordered for ourselves, but it was nice to know they’d leave the restaurant with a full stomach by getting them something within their comfort zone. Here are some of the restaurants we enjoyed the most:
Tacobar in Jaco Beach
Tacobar is a fun, kid-friendly place with a wide-ranging taco menu. It’s located about 20 minutes from Esterillos Oeste. The food was great and the smoothies were even better. The kids also loved it because the bar area had swinging seats they could sit on.
Hotel Racho Coral in Esterillso Oeste
Located on the beach, this cool outdoor eatery is part of one of the local hotels. They’re known for their wood-fired pizzas but they apparently don’t fire up the grill until after 2pm, so go for dinner not lunch (like we did). But we ate some good seafood and went for a nice walk on the beach afterward.
El Mana in Esterillos Towne Center
After our misfire at Hotel Rancho Coral, we fulfilled our pizza promise to our son at this fun spot. We got the “Americana” pizza which was inexplicably a cheese pizza with one slice of mozzarella cheese and basil in the middle of each slice (kinda like a caprese salad). Sherry also got a shrimp ceviche that made her only want to eat shrimp ceviche the rest of the trip. Delicious. Also get a smoothie. Are you noticing a pattern?
El Avion in Manuel Antonio
El Avion was the restaurant recommendation we got the most before our trip! It’s built around a real old airplane on the side of the mountain. Beyond the novelty of a plane that you can walk through and eat in, the views from the upper level looking over the ocean were also spectacular. The food was good too. Again, get a smoothie.
La Mariposa Hotel in Manuel Antion
Another top recommendation, the restaurant at La Mariposa Hotel also has incredible views. We went for lunch but probably would do dinner there next time because I’m sure the sunset is breathtaking. Food was delicious and fresh.
We also grabbed meals at some of the smaller eateries along the main road in Manuel Antonio, like the Falafel Bar and a hamburger place that promised “The Best F-ing Hamburger in Costa Rica” (it was pretty darn good). We also shopped at the local grocery stores to cook breakfast at home every day, mostly eggs, fresh fruit, pancakes, or bacon.
About That Toilet Paper Situation…
The only thing that surprised us was the toilet paper situation. As the sign in our first Airbnbs said: the jungle plumbing systems in Costa Rica can’t handle toilet paper. So instead of flushing used toilet paper, it had to be disposed of in a tiny lidded trash can next to the toilet. This was true at stores, restaurants, everywhere – not just our rentals. It felt unusual at first, but by the end of the trip we were somewhat used to it. That’s probably TMI – but I figure I’d give you guys the heads up! We literally got home and it felt weird to flush it, so you adjust surprisingly fast.
Aaaaaaaand on that note, I’ll wrap up this monster post by saying once again that Costa Rica turned out to be the perfect place for our first international trip with kids. Everyone there was so friendly. The weather was great. The food was delicious. Please go and enjoy at least ten smoothies. Pura Vida!
Costa Rica With Kids: A Summary
If you’re like me and just want a quick list of what to do with kids in Costa Rica, here’s a quick bulleted rundown:
- Take a guided animal tour in Manuel Antonio National Park
- Swim in the waves at Manuel Antonio Beach
- Visit the Royal Butterflies garden & farm
- Eat on a swing at Tacobar
- Dine in a cliffside plane at El Avion restaurant
- Hike to the “secret beach” in Manuel Antonio
- Get lunch with a view at La Mariposa Hotel
- Get a fresh fruit smoothie
- Play in the tidepool at Esterillos Oeste Beach
Other Family Trips We’ve Taken
If you’re interested in our take on other destinations or are in search of family-friendly trips, you might also enjoy these posts:
- A Weekend In New Orleans With Kids
- A Weekend in Charleston, SC with Kids
- A Weekend in Palm Springs, CA with Kids
- 2 Days In St. Petersburg, Florida with Kids
- Our Trip to Mexico with Kids… and a Dog!
- A Daddy-Daughter Trip to South Dakota
- Hawaii with a Toddler
- A Guide to Our (Former) Beach Town: Cape Charles, Virginia
- Our Favorite Activities, Shops, & Eats in Richmond, Virginia
- Celebrating 10 Years of Marriage in Puerto Rico
- Our Favorite Spring Break Trip Yet
