Costa Rica Adventure Family Holiday

Costa Rica truly is a stunningly beautiful country populated by gentle and enlightened people and its extraordinary wildlife is usually just outside your hotel room door and sometimes inside as well!. This trip was a perfect mix of stunning scenery, jungles and beaches from your dreams, activities that the whole family loved and magical wildlife encounters. Oh yes - and the food was amazing too.

As an ex trolley dolly I would consider myself a seasoned traveller used to travelling independently.  Taking my 11 year old daughter on this trip of a lifetime gave me back my sense of adventure and has inspired her to globe trot.  I met an American on a rickety boat in Thailand 20 years ago - he told me to visit Costa Rica as it was beautiful - well he was wrong, it is the most beautiful and magical country I have ever visited!!!!!!!!!!

We had an absolutely wonderful holiday in Costa Rica with our 9 and 10 year old daughters. Stunning natural beauty, fascinating insights from our group leader, and exciting outdoor activities all contributed to our enjoyment.

We travelled with children aged 11 and 14 and found ourselves in a lovely group of 4 families from across the UK. We totally lucked out with our amazing coach (and driver, Ohman) and our wonderful guide, Gustavo. Every day was different and we learned so much about where our food comes from, nature, and all types of wildlife. Accommodation was slightly basic at times but we coped and all pools were lovely. The 14 KM white water rafting is not to be missed and we also enjoyed the night walks and boat trips. Had an amazing trip on a catamaran and swam with tropical fish and the kids jumped off the boat back into the blue sea. We always felt very safe and well looked after with Exodus.

Family adventure trip - you moved on every couple days so you needed to pack wisely. There was a lot of boat trips and travelling around the country. There was a huge amount of wildlife to see so a pair of binoculars is good. Highlights were Tortugero National Park - truly remote location, beach at Cahuita and seeing Buttercup.

Travelling with young children for an adventure across central America may be considered as too much stress and anxiety for some or downright irresponsible by others. Our family holiday to Costa Rica could not be further from the truth. Travelling through the waterways of Tortuguero exploring extraordinary flora, spotting amazing spiders, astonishing birdlife and catching a glimpse of a caiman or crocodile the children could not have been more inspired. The excitement of being woken by a barking howler monkey troop, the fun had chasing off cheeky white-faced capuchin breakfast thieves or the thrill of the sight of smartly dressed anteaters, oddly shaped armadillos and raiding racoons before bedtime added to the magic. Adrenaline flowed through the entire family with grins as wide as the Panama canal white water rafting down the Sarapiqui river and zip-lining through the Monte Verde cloud forests. Night hikes opened a whole new world of weird nocturnal creepy crawlies, with strange headlight click beetles, striking venomous snakes, industrious leaf cutter ant colonies, poisonous dart frogs and glowing scorpion exoskeletons. Banana crossing! As we travelled through active volcanic landscapes, rested on idyllic beaches and explored tropical rainforest with new friends and families met on the trip the stories flowed, vocabulary grew and imaginations ran wild. Even the frequent pit stops for the obligatory small child toilet break were supplemented by encounters with giant iguanas, crocodile swamped river beds, cactus flower ice-cream, unspoilt natural views, delicious cakes and, of course, incredible coffee. Our energetic tour guide (Eddie) and reliable driver (Hernan) judged our group perfectly and were tuned in to exactly what we would appreciate when to make the most of our time in their country. At the end of adventure packed days and encounters with stunning wildlife the entire family cooled off in serene swimming pools or thermal hot spring bars and weary little heads slept comfortably dreaming of the next adventure. It seems no other tropical country has made such concerted effort to protect its natural environment and as Costa Rica’s tourists account for the largest sector of their national economy we have unprecedented power to protect this amazing country’s natural beauty and remarkable wildlife – spend wisely, avoid business that threaten their future and enjoy this enchanting, magical adventure!

We had an amazing 2 weeks with a lovely balance of seeing such a range of nature - turtles, toucans, caimans, crocodiles, hummingbirds, monkeys, frogs, snakes just to start the list - and adventure experiences - white water rafting, cloud walking, ziplining, bathing in thermal springs. Our guide was knowledgeable, organised and had a great sense of humour.. he made sure that the itinerary suited the group's needs. Would definitely recommend Costa Rica - ideal itinerary for teenagers and pre-teens..

From the moment our amazing adventure started we did not want it to end. Now 5 months later we still don't want it to end. Sadly it did back in January (so many tears when it was time to go home) but the memories we have are secure and will last a lifetime.

Excellent Family Trip, it did exceed expectations: outstanding nature and exciting adventure alternate and often combine together to make this holiday unforgettable. Caymans, sloths, toucans, crocodiles, rainbow and mangrove boas, capuchin monkeys, owler monkeys, squirrel monkeys, green iguanas, hummingbirds, blue and white herons, white ibis, blue-jeans poison dart frogs, brown pelicans, tanagers of all descriptions, scarlet macaws, snake-birds, huge rhinoceros beetles, silky anteaters, orb-weaver spiders, palm pit vipers, river turtles, green kingfishers, ctenosaurs, cat-eyed snakes, coatis, kinkajous, bats, blue crabs, all sorts of butterflies, lizards, stick-insects and raccoons are some of the animals we have seen in their own environments, which range from adventurous jungles to idillic beaches. The Sarapiqui River Rafting has been unanimously agreed to be the best of the action activities, but the zip-lining in Monteverde was not that far away! It is a perfect holiday for a family with young teens between 12 ad 15 years old.

Wow, just back from our 2 week adventure. I don't usually do reviews but this one is definitely worth a few lines! Firstly, our guide Edward absolutely made the trip for us. Enthusiastic, unfappable, great with kids. Very knowledgeable about all aspects of the country, particularly wildlife and specifically birds (Edward is a trained and expert ornithologist and took keener members on a couple of early morning twitching trips). Edward gauged the needs of our diverse group really well, and made just the right number of decisions for us to keep it relaxing without being constraining. A special word for how he dealt with a favourite cuddly toy being left in a hotel (when we noticed about 200 miles away). Edward's connections, organisation and determination led to a reunion the next day! Costa Rica, generally, delivers exactly what it says on the tin. Amazing wildlife and landscapes. The big highlights for us were the additional paid-for trips. White water rafting was exhilarating, with just enough thrills to feel edgy for our 9 and 11 year olds, whilst feeling completely safe and in control. Zip wire near Arenal volcano was similarly exciting. As someone with an intense dislike of heights (I feel wobbly in thick socks - and seriously, struggle to stand on a step ladder) I'd encourage anyone like me to go for it. The start and interim platforms are deep in the trees, so don't feel at all exposed or high. And the "zippy" bits are, yes, high above the valley, but high enough for the drop to be abstract and so fast there's no time to look down! The only slightly tricky bit for me was the walk (down a spiral staircase - think of a fire escape) at the end. Tips: - Everyone accepts dollars, and debit cards work everywhere too (including all the restaurants). - It's wet in August! (as everyone kept reminding us - it's a rainforest...). Doesn't interfere with the enjoyment at all but anything that gets wet, will stay wet and then smelly. If we went again we'd take 7 days worth of clothes and get them washed (i.e. and also dried) at a couple of hotels. This was fast and efficient when we tried it. - We travelled 1000 miles on fairly slow roads (so, a bit more than 20 hours in total) over the 2 weeks. For younger kids, bring activities for the coach. Feedback for Exodus (other than the obvious "it was all great and Edward is amazing") Cahuita didn't really do much for us and also featured the weakest of the set of hotels. Nothing specifically bad about it (so don't worry, prospective bookers!) but maybe drop that (and the 2 long-ish transfers) for more time around Arenal? The last 36 hours felt a bit flat/wasted. Maybe have an early start, drive straight from Dominical to the airport on the last day, and have an extra night in Dominical? Overall, and excellent trip, well worth the money, and we'll be back for more in the future!