Last spring break we took our kids on spring break to Maui, Hawaii and since then, we hope to take our kids on an epic adventure every spring break until they graduate from High School. This year we decided on Costa Rica. My good friend, Melissa, at Travel Made Joyful created the travel itinerary for 10 days in Costa Rica. We cannot say enough good things about our experience working with them!
We flew into the Liberia airport, spent 4 nights in La Fortuna (Arenal Volcano), 2 nights in Monteverde (Cloud Forest), 4 nights in Nosara (Beach/Surf), and flew back out of Liberia. Here is what we did, where we stayed and the food/restaurants we enjoyed!
Our 10 days in Costa Rica
Where we stayed: Casa del Rio Boutique Hotel
We absolutely love this cute boutique hotel! This hotel had two separate rooms for our kids. It has two pools, a hot tub, a water slide, a soccer field, a spa, the kindest staff, and they serve the most amazing breakfast every morning. We love it!
La Fortuna Activities
This was so much fun! There are options of doing a chocolate tour, a coffee tour, or both. We did just the chocolate tour and our whole family loved it! It was super educational and interactive. Our guide was so fun and energetic. We were welcomed with fresh pineapple juice and then taught how chocolate is made from bean to bar, we made our own bonbons and hot chocolate, and even lucked out and saw a few howler monkeys along the way! Our kids got chocolate crepes at the little restaurant and they were to die for!
We absolutely loved the Natural History Guided Tour at Mistico Park! We got to observe Costa Rica’s wildlife as we hiked ground-level forest trails and suspended bridges. The park is a private, family-owned nature reserve that’s home to a vast array of birdlife, monkeys, reptiles, and tropical plants. We learned about the area’s rich biodiversity from a naturalist tour guide, explore different levels of the rain forest, and enjoy amazing views of Arenal Volcano.
This is a rather short excursion, depending on how much time you decided to spend swimming and climbing rocks around the waterfall. It’s absolutely beautiful! It takes about 20-25 minutes to get down to the bottom of the waterfall, and a bit longer to hike up it! the hike back up is quite the leg workout! The waterfall is quite powerful, and the current by the waterfall made me a little nervous with the kids. The rocks surrounding the waterfall are pretty hard to navigate and we had a few falls on the rocks. I would suggest moving down to a little pool of water to the left of the waterfall. It’s much more calm and relaxing… especially with kids. Take a picture in front of the big waterfall, but swim in the pool of water to the left of it!
We loved, loved, LOVED the Baldi Hot Springs! It’s a resort you can stay at, but we just bought day passes with lunch for a day! The food is an all-you-can-eat buffet style in a big dining room. Baldi Hot Springs in La Fortuna are the largest hot springs win the world. There are 25 thermal water pools filled by crystalline waterfalls, a natural sauna, swim up bars, and so many fun water slides! We spend a lot of time going down the water slides! The kids loved it too!
La Fortuna Food
Equus Bar & Grill: Known for their BBQ / Cool rustic feel / Lennon was obsessed with the cat 😉 This is the restaurant we stopped at on our way from the Liberia airport to La Fortuna.
Pollo Fortuneño: Ambience is 👌🏼 / Very family friendly / The ceviche and the citrus gin and tonic, phenomenal!
Lava Rocks Cafe: Guacamole with fried plantain chips and the Mariscada Lava Rocks WAS AMAZING.
We stayed at the Koora Hotel for two night in Monteverde and it’s so cool! It felt very spa-like and serene. Our room had it’s own little bungalow (not connected to any other rooms) built into the canopy of the rainforest. There were monkeys playing outside our balcony when we first arrived. It was spectacular! The restaurant that is part of the hotel is absolutely amazing. The food was amazing, but the view was even better.
One thing that was super cool was that the property includes 4 km of trails through the Aguti Reserve that allows you to enjoy the many species of animals and plants. Common visitors are monkeys, coatis, and a wide assortment of birds. We hired the Aguti Reserve the first day we arrived. One thing that I did not love about the property there are only two small community pools that were always occupied. We tried a few times to go swimming and they were always being used. They are so small that you would feel a little awkward using them at the same time as other couples or families. Our kids were a little bummed. lol
Monteverde Activities
The Mistico Night Walk was one of my kids’ absolute favorite experiences from the trip. We had two options for times – 6pm or 8pm. We decided to go at 8pm after dinner. Our tour guide was very nice and knowledgeable about all the creatures we saw. You never know what you will end up seeing, but we got super lucky to see snakes, frogs, birds, a porcupine, and a sloth!!
We decided to do the canopy zip line tour at Salvature Park in Monteverde. It may seem a little scary or intimidating, but OH MY GOSH, it’s so worth it. It’s truly an experience like no other. We did a zip line tour in Hawaii that I was not crazy about, so we almost didn’t do this. Melissa told me how amazing it was and we decided to give it a go. You can’t even compare it to the one in Hawaii. It’s so much cooler.
With specialized climbing gear, your flight through the forest is truly a breathtaking experience. It also provides a unique vantage point of the cloud forest that was once reserved for birds and scientists.
The tour has 13 cables, including a 1 km cable (amazing!!!!), 15 platforms, and one Tarzan Swing, this means you will be soaring through the cloud forest canopy for a total of 2.2 miles of pure fun. This tour includes some special add-ons including the optional Tarzan Swing for some additional adrenaline.
Monteverde Food
We stopped at Cafe & Macadamia on our way from Monteverde to Nosora and I would highly recommend it! Their menu is extensive and the view is breathtaking. They had so many fun fruit drinks and baked goodies! We got the pizza and it was fabulous!
We had dinner at the restaurant in the hotel, Kiré, which means “light” in Maleku. The restaurant is inspired by the local population as part of the identity of Koora and raises the standards of its artisanal products to the maximum. There is an international inspiration as well, combined with influences and ingredients from Costa Rican cuisine. Kiré offers three meals a day, ranging from the most traditional dishes to vegan and vegetarian alternatives. Breakfast is included in your stay and absolutely fabulous. Lennon’s sloth hot chocolate creation was so cool! (Seen in the video below)
The last night we were in Monteverde we had to go eat at Tree House! They have a great menu and live music EVERY NIGHT starting at 7pm. How cool, right? The restaurant has a huge tree growing right in the middle with lots of birds hanging out. We highly recommend checking it out if you are in Monteverde.
We loved staying at Hotel Guiones in Nosara. The rooms were so cute and each room has a covered patio with an outdoor kitchen and a hammock. We loved pool, restaurant, and outdoor community gathering space. It is in walking distance from the beach, restaurants, and shopping! A fabulous breakfast was included every morning and the staff was so kind.
Nosara Activities
I am an adventurer by heart and anything active is my travel love language. I absolutely loved surfing. We took a lesson with Nosara Surf School and it was great! The kids has one instructor and Logan an I had another. Nosara is considered one of the best places in the world to learn how to surf due to the consistency of its waves and that along the 7 kms beach there’s good waves for all, from beginners to the most advanced surfers. We all caught a few beginner waves and even ranted boards from the next morning to try again! We are obviously very much beginners, but really enjoyed learning!!
Nosara Food
The food is Nosara might have been my favorite of the entire trip. Our stay at Hotel Guinoes was included in the our stay, so every morning we ate at the hotel on the resort called El Local. We loved the fresh fruit, yogurt and granola! Other restaurants we visited were:
Pacifico Azul: Serves traditional Costa Rican food, combining fresh seafood and locally grown produce to create a delicious and unique menu. They offer vegetarian and gluten free options and extensive wine and cocktail lists.
Howler’s: Amazing tacos and margaritas!! Loved the laid back atmosphere!
Luna: We had a sunset dinner on the beachfront restaurant and it was my favorite dinner of the entire trip. The food was amazing and the view was incredible. It was also the most expensive dinner of the trip! lol
Destiny: Destiny Cafe & Restaurant is in La Negra Surf Hotel and offers a delicious, diverse and healthy brunch menu with vegetarian, vegan, keto and gluten-free options like fresh juices and smoothies, and cloud coffee. A favorite among locals and visitors, Destiny Café is the number one brunch destination in Nosara!
Pura Pizza: After our $$$ dinner at Luna (worth every penny) we decided to tray a cheaper option, so street pizza it was! We fed the whole family for $20 and it was absolutely delicious!
We went to both Wok You and Taiyaki Japanese Ice Cream in the little shopping and restaurant area of Nosara. They were both quick, easy and delicious!
Other suggestions:
Posada Margherita: Fantastic homemade pasta, pizza, seafood, and gelato
Al Chile: Delicious Mexican-style food all day long. All dishes are made from scratch with the freshest seasonal ingredients from local suppliers. Their bar is one of Guiones’ favorite places to meet up with friends and enjoy a margarita a surf session.
Love smoothie bowls? Check out the Nosara Smoothie Bowl Bible!!
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Our trip was absolutely amazing! 10 days in Costa Rica offered a great amount of time to see some highlights of the country. It was a perfect amount for our family. An we could not have done it without the help from Travel Made Joyful!
