Our family of five (2 adults and 3 kids, ages 16, 14, and 11) had a great time visiting Costa Rica in March 2024. I would love to share my itinerary and what I learned on our trip with you. Costa Rica is a beautiful country with so much to see and do.
First, here is our 7 full day itinerary (plus two days of travel). We chose to spend most of our time in La Fortuna/Arenal area and Quepos/Manuel Antonio area. Keep reading for all the details and tips about these places (including links), what I packed (with affiliate links), restaurant recommendations, the things that surprised me the most about Costa Rica, and other helpful tips for Costa Rica travel!
ITINERARY
Day 1: Arrive at San Jose International Airport around 8 pm. Rent a car through Vamos Rent-A-Car. Stay near airport.
Day 2: Leave San Jose by 8 am. Stop by La Paz Waterfall for pictures. Drive to La Fortuna. Drop off luggage at Airbnb. Grab some lunch. Sky Adventures Ziplining Tour at 2 pm. Bogarin Trail for sloths. Stay in La Fortuna.
Day 3: Mistico Hanging Bridges Park Tour: 7 am pick up. La Fortuna Waterfall. El Salto Rope Swing. Hot springs and dinner at Los Lagos Hotel, Spa, and Resort.
Day 4: Drive 1.5 hours to Rio Celeste. Reservation entrance time: 9-9:40 am. Frog Watching Night Walk Tour with Arenal Oasis Eco Lodge Wildlife Refuge at 5:40 pm.
Day 5: Drive 5 hours to Quepos. Stop at Catarata del Toro and hike down. Stop at La Casita del Café for lunch (views are amazing!) and by the Crocodile Bridge on the way. Stay in Quepos.
Day 6: Manuel Antonio National Park Tour: 7:30 am. Relax at Playa Espadilla Sur.
Day 7: Nauyaca Waterfalls 4x4 Economical Tour: 10 am. After lunch, relax at Dominicalito Beach. Biesanz Beach for sunset (but too cloudy that day for us).
Day 8: Relax in the morning at Biesanz Beach. Drive to San Jose. Stop in Jaco for lunch. Visit the San Jose Costa Rica Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Return rental car. Stay near airport.
Day 9: Fly out early morning. We set up a driver to take us to the airport through our Airbnb.
THE PLACES WE VISITED
La Paz Waterfall: So beautiful and a great stop from San Jose to La Fortuna (just on the side of the road). We didn’t pay to go in and do the hike. We didn’t want to leave our luggage unattended so we just took turns going to the waterfall.
Sky Adventures Zipline: Beautiful views of the lake and volcano. Great zip lines that are high and intense (7 lines). This is our 5th time zip lining and I think it felt less than an experience than the other zip line tours we have done. It seemed like they were just moving us through as fast as they could. You also have to hold on to the zip line with both hands (different than other zip lines we have done) so you can only bring a GoPro if you can attach it to your helmet. Maybe there are better zipline tours that give you the experience feel (like the one that includes rappelling looked fun). Wear closed toe shoes. Click here to book tickets to Sky Adventures.
Bogarin Trail: $20/person to enter. We did a self-guided tour. We probably should have gotten a guide for this but we still enjoyed walking around the beautiful grounds. We just didn’t see much (one sloth on the trail). Luckily there was a sloth and her baby right outside by the parking lot that we got to see up close. That was awesome! I'm also glad we timed this when the sun was setting over the volcano. So pretty!
Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park: I would get a tour guide for this. Go early! Our tour guide picked us up at 7 am for a 7:30 am tour. He said sometimes they have to wait 20 minutes for the bridges. We didn’t have to. This was a really great experience. Very cool to walk over and through the rainforest on the bridges. We didn’t see any sloths but we saw some monkeys. There are many tour options that you can choose from. We did this one from Get Your Guide – Green Vacations Costa Rica. Wear closed toe shoes and insect repellent. Be prepared for rain.
La Fortuna Waterfall: Pay attendant for parking. You can pay the entrance fee when you arrive, which is $20 per person. It's a 2 minute walk to the stairs and then 500 stairs down to waterfall. You can swim in the water at the falls. Wear water shoes. It was pretty impressive!
El Salto Rope Swing: Pay the attendant to park. Walk down to the river. It was very busy when we went. I think a lot of locals go here. But the kids had fun doing the rope swing a few times and then we left.
Los Lagos Hotel, Spa, and Resort: We didn’t want to pay the high fee for Tabacon (although this looked amazing and would have totally done this one without the kids). I feel like Los Lagos was still very nice and all of us really enjoyed it. It had many hot springs and didn’t feel too crowded. Great views of the volcano too. There are two slides into a pool for the kids. We decided to pay extra for the combination with dinner at their restaurant (food was ok). Just get the vanilla ice cream (flan and cheesecake were not good). $25 per person for hot springs, $47 per person with dinner included.
Rio Celeste Waterfall: Pay the attendant to park. Our timed entry was 9-9:40 am and that is the latest I would do it (we got there before 9 and there was already a line to enter). It was so much busier on our way back and we were lucky enough to have the platform all to ourselves (and we actually saw a line to go down to the waterfall since they only allow so many people at a time on our way back). The waterfall itself is unreal! So beautiful! After we saw the waterfall, we continued hiking to where Rio Celeste and Rio Buenavista meet. To me, this was underwhelming for the amount of effort it took to get there especially with it being so hot and humid. I would have preferred just going back to the car after the waterfall. We grabbed some fresh mango and pineapple from a stand in the parking lot after the hike which we all enjoyed. This took us 2 hours. Click here for the link to purchase tickets for your timed entry.
Frog Watching Night Walk Tour: Our guide did not speak English very well so it was difficult to understand. But he was so passionate about the living organisms there, which was fun. I honestly would probably skip this unless you are super interested in seeing frogs. I was on edge the whole time (it rained the whole time which didn’t help either). The boys enjoyed it though. Wear bug spray, closed toe shoes, and long pants (we also wore long shirts just to be safe)! Be prepared for rain (they did offer us umbrellas, which was nice). We booked the tour through Arenal Oasis Ecolodge and Wildlife Refuge.
Catarata Del Toro: This didn’t take long but it was about 450 stairs down plus a little hiking. We got there around 9 am and had the waterfall to ourselves. More tour groups were getting there when we were leaving. You can pay the entrance fee when you arrive. The mist from the waterfall does sting your eyes a bit because it descends into a crater. I was glad I had my sunglasses with me.
Crocodile Bridge: This was a quick stop on the road we drove on from La Fortuna to Quepos. We had read that someone got their luggage stolen here so my husband waited in the car while I took the kids to check it out.
Manuel Antonio National Park: We were told that people are going to try to get you to park earlier than you need to (they look like official parking attendants). Say no gracias and keep going to the official parking lot which will be on your left, almost to the end of the street. If that lot is full, there is a bigger lot right before that to your right. Pay the attendant to park. After seeing Mistico Hanging Bridges, this was somewhat underwhelming but we did see sloths, crocodile, deer, crabs, birds, a boa constrictor, and a lot of monkeys by the beach. We met our guide at 7:30 am but many in our group were late. We didn’t start the tour until 8 am. Everywhere I read said to start early but it was extremely busy early in the morning. Many tour groups were crowded around trying to see the same things. When we were leaving the park around 12:30 the paths were almost empty. If the weather is nice, I would almost start later. Our tour lasted about an hour and a half. We decided to go to Playa Espadilla Sur because it was less busy than Playa Manuel Antonio. The beach was still beautiful and we enjoyed playing in the water there. On the way back we saw lots of monkeys and even a mamma monkey with a baby on her back which was a highlight of MA. You can’t bring plastic water bottles in the park and you are not supposed to bring in food. They do check backpacks. There are many tour options you can choose from. We booked this one through Viator - Jade Tours. For this particular tour, you also have to pay for the entrance fee to the Park in addition to the tour. You can click here to book those tickets.
Nauyaca Waterfalls: We had to book months in advance for the 4x4 Economical Tour to the falls for $32 per person. Our reservation was at 10 am. It’s about a 15 minute ride to the falls (or you can hike it but it’s all uphill). You have 2 hours to enjoy the falls. When we got to the falls, it was already very busy. It may have been because it was Holy Week break for the Ticos but I would maybe suggest going even earlier. It was super impressive though and fun to swim in. I think even more impressive in the rainy season. Click here to book your tour.
Playa Dominicalita: We heard this was less busy than Playa Dominical so we decided to go there. We were lucky enough to get a parking spot right as someone was leaving (not many spots). It was a beautiful beach with the warmest ocean water I’ve ever been in. The kids had fun playing in the waves. However, my daughter got stung by a jellyfish here. A kind, local woman gave us her lidocaine, which helped a lot. The pain lasted an hour or so.
Biesanz Beach: Pay parking attendant to park at the top of the hill. Walk down about 5 minutes. It’s a small beach. You can pay $20 for two chairs and an umbrella. You can also rent kayaks here. My husband got stung by a jellyfish here so be careful and bring lidocaine. This beach looked like where all the Ticos go.
San Jose Costa Rica Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: The only temple in the country. It was closed when we went so we just took a picture in the front.
RESTAURANTS:
Since we had the kids with us (and all they wanted was pizza, burgers, and chicken fingers...ha ha), we really didn’t try authentic Costa Rican food.
La Calle Street Food (San Jose near airport): Good burgers and fries.
Rain Forest Cafe (La Fortuna): ok food but good mixed fruit with leche drinks.
*Jungle Bowls (La Fortuna): Best thing I ate in Costa Rica! Highly recommend!
La Street Bistro (La Fortuna): ok food.
El Chante Verde: Great guacamole and chips and drinks. Cute atmosphere.
La Casita del Cafe (in the middle of San Jose to La Fortuna or Quepos): Beautiful views and a much-needed break on the way from La Fortuna to Quepos.
El Avión (Quepos): Ok food but beautiful view and great atmosphere (we loved the huge airplane). You can often see monkeys or sloths in the trees here.
*Emilio’s Cafe (Quepos): Good food and beautiful view. I got the Surf and Turf which was really good. I had read to be sure to get some dessert here so we got three different kinds to try and share. We got the Oreo cheesecake, key lime pie, and clementine flourless chocolate cake (per our server’s recommendation). The key lime pie was the best.
*El Pescado Loco (Dominical): Best fish tocos I’ve ever had. They were really busy when we got there so we waited for our food for maybe an hour! But the owner was really nice and friendly!
Vista Verde (Quepos): Not good but we ordered our food to go so maybe that’s why.
*Public House Jaco Grill (Jaco). Get the Cowboy Burger. It may have been the best hamburger I’ve ever had. The server was so nice. He brought me the wrong burger at first and wanted to make it right even though I said it was fine. He brought me a free smoothie while I waited for my burger to come out.
WHAT TO PACK!
Things I was so glad I brought:
Dry towels for all of us (we used these all the time at the beaches and waterfalls and to cover our luggage). We love these towels for our boat too!
Refillable Water Bottles (we used everyday). This one is my favorite water bottle for traveling.
Water shoes (a must!)
Sunglasses
Aloe Vera (this aloe vera is our family's favorite...and we get burned a lot having 3 red heads!)
Small Hiking Backpack (hydration backpack)
Snacks
Belt Bag (I used this everyday and kept our passports in it)
Advil
Bee Propolis Throat Spray (I bring this every time I travel now to boost our immune system)
Trail Runner Shoes (love these ones)
Packing Cubes (these have been life changing to travel with! It allows you to pack so much more)
Running Shorts (I got these ones for the trip and I loved them. Light weight, comfortable, and they have a pocket)
Things I brought that we didn’t use (but still glad I packed):
WHERE WE STAYED
Airbnb in San Jose: This was less than a 10 minute drive to the airport. It was also cheaper than a hotel by the airport and had beds for all of us and two bathrooms. San Jose is a little sketchy but I felt safe here with a guard at the gate 24/7 checking everyone who comes in.
Airbnb in La Fortuna: This place had a great view of the volcano. I liked how each bedroom had its own bathroom. What I didn't love was the setup. The upstairs outdoor balcony area is connected to the downstairs living area so no A/C. Since it was so hot when we went, we couldn't enjoy the main living area together. I thought there would be some way to connect the two bedrooms upstairs without going outside but that is the only way. Still very nice and clean.
Airbnb in Quepos: Ok this place was amazing!! It was like our own mini resort (we did pay more for this one). We loved the pool, decor, size of rooms and bathrooms (each of the three bedrooms had a king bed and its own bathroom), seeing the monkeys in the trees, and the concierge service. All top notch!! The doors to the main living area/kitchen are all screeened so no A/C which was a bummer for us since it was so hot when we went. The bathrooms also have screens so no A/C in there either. But we would for sure stay at this place again. We really loved it.
OTHER HELPFUL TIPS
Directions:
Although we read everywhere to use Waze for directions, we pretty much only used Google Maps and it worked just as well as Waze for us.
Money:
We requested $400 USD worth of colones from our bank before we left and they mailed it to us. We used colones for parking (usually about 2,000 colones), tipping, and to pay the driver from our Airbnb to the airport (since we turned in our car the night before flying home). Most places took credit card.
Phones:
We used our phone company's TravelPass for the two adults’ phones for $10 a day. For our two older kids who have cell phones, we had them keep their phones on airplane mode so their phones wouldn’t get charged. They could use their phones when we had WiFi at the Airbnbs.
Concerns:
The three things I was most worried about were getting sick (from the water or food there), getting our luggage stolen, or getting bitten by something that carries a disease. We were fine with all of those but we were careful. Even though people say the tap water is fine there, we mostly drank bottled water. We brought our own refillable water bottles and bought ice and a big jug of water to refill. We were so glad we had our own water bottles and used them daily. We only left our luggage three times in the car: at a restaurant on the way from La Fortuna to Quepos where we could pay a parking attendant to watch the car, at Catarata Del Toro (private parking lot with a welcome desk overlooking the parking lot), and in Jaco where we ate lunch (we just made sure we sat where we could see the car). We also put locks on all the luggage while in the car and put an AirTag in mine and my husband's luggage…probably not necessary but we had them already (although I highly recommend putting an AirTag in your checked luggage). We also put our dry towels over the luggage when we left them in the car. We wore insect repellent on all of our hikes and at waterfalls. We did get a few bites but nothing terrible. The bummer thing is that two out of five of us got stung by jellyfish at two different beaches…not something I thought we had to worry about!
The things I was surprised the most about:
I didn’t realize jellyfish were such a danger there. Two out of five of us got stung by jellyfish in less than 24 hours. Luckily the pain only lasted an hour or so and a kind, local woman gave us her lidocaine which helped.
Two of the three Airbnbs we stayed at didn’t have air conditioning in the main living area/kitchen (they were both a part of the outdoor living). It was so hot that we couldn’t hang out as a family in those areas so we just hung out together in the bedrooms where it was cooler.
The roads: I had read that the roads were bad because of lots of potholes, which is true. They are also bad because most roads have only two lanes (one going each direction). We had to go into the other lane to pass slower cars. Because of this, if there is traffic, it could take a lot longer to get to your destination. We hit quite a bit of traffic from Quepos to San Jose. The roads are also very winding, up and down mountains, and some extremely steep and curvy. We rented a 4-wheel drive and were glad that we did. I had read to not drive these roads at night which I’m so glad we took that advice. Being from Los Angeles, I would much rather be in crazy traffic on the 405 than drive these roads. But the drivers there were very good and respectful.
The humidity: It was so hot and humid! We went in March which is apparently their hottest and driest month. Maybe other times of the year would not be so hot. If it is hot when you go, I would start all your excursions early.
The ocean temperature! Seriously the warmest ocean water I have ever been in. Loved it!
The hydrangeas! So many hydrangeas everywhere. I'm not sure if these are wild or if people plant them but so beautiful!
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Loved your thoughtful & detailed info about your CR Trip. Glad you & your family enjoyed your trip.
We’re there 1/2 time (6mos)…and always have visitors….I hope to pass along your vlog to share!!
Happy Travels!
So helpful and great tips! And beautiful photos Emily! Thank you.