Traveling with children to Costa Rica can be quite an adventure. With the right combination of things to do and good accommodations however, it can make for a wonderfully unique, nature-rich trip. I went with another family for two weeks. Total count: 5 children! Our first stop was in Palo Seco, Parrita, close to the Central Valley! The location we settled into was 2 hours from the airport and well off the beaten path. I highly suggest at least two GPS maps!
Flight to Puntarenas
Three of us (of the 9 total) flew out on American Airlines with a connection. Traveling with children to Costa Rica is no small feat. We left significantly late, thanks to a good catch by the pilot. Equipment that controls the rudder (kind of important, particularly navigating over the mountains of Costa Rica) was failing. Though maintenance said we were “good to go”, our pilot checked several more times.
Sure enough, it failed again. He essentially said it was “certain catastrophe” if we flew that aircraft and he elected to wait for another one. One major plus to flying out of an airline’s hub is their ability to quickly bring in replacement aircraft. Several hours later, we were on our way to Juan Santamaria International Airport. This is my daughter and me in the cockpit waiting for the next plane.
Scams in Costa Rica
We landed in the wee hours, and were quick to find our first scam. My daughter was exhausted and this was no time for stupid tricks. Watch out for this one! The rental car companies will give you a great price and then tell you that you must buy their insurance, or nothing at all is covered. The insurance is thousands of dollars in some cases. In other cases, they will find lots of things wrong when you return the car that are simply not true. Make sure you have your own coverage on rental cars and take your own photos. Document everything! Some time later, we rented a really poor quality vehicle from AVIS. I was trying to get the WiFi going and my daughter was passed out in the back seat.
Traveling with Children to Costa Rica: On Our Way!
Finally.. two hours later, along dirt roads and maps not working well (except Google, but it had the route backward) we arrive at the resort – the Clandestino Beach Resort. It was so late that the resort staff had gone home and the only person remaining was a night watchman. He showed us to “some room” that he presumed was ours.
We had some difficulty finding sleeping arrangements for my daughter. We also learned very fast not to drink the water from the tap! Satellite wasn’t so good, but my trusted iPad with a MiFi device to get Internet access worked. Air conditioning was decent, considering. This was a small, family run “resort” and not a hotel, so something to keep in mind.
The following day, the other travelers arrived and everyone enjoyed the pool, the bar (the children created quite a tab with milkshakes), the hotel dogs (the kids loved them) and the gorgeous sunsets. This place is truly in the middle of nowhere, so if you go be prepared to do nothing more than activities on the beach.
It is a wonderful to place to take beautiful photos, we had nightly visitors (crabs) and the grounds were stunning however.
This photo shows all there really is to do here.. so bring things for the kids! There are some small board games at the bar for the kids, which proved quite entertaining as they made up their own rules.
Food and Water in Costa Rica
By the third day, several of us weren’t feeling so good and had to make frequent stops to the restroom. Traveling with children to Costa Rica, I highly recommend bottled water for brushing your teeth, drinking and anything else ingestible. The water smells badly like sulphur, but the owner said she was installing a new water pump and filter that next week. Definitely protect your hair color! 😉
We stayed here about 6 nights and then headed off to our next destination in Costa Rica!
Check out my Luxury Trip Girl post on Manuel Antonio and our home rental – and working from a treehouse with monkeys nearby!
