We went to Manuel Antonio and the Osa Peninsula last spring break and had an amazing time. If you're looking for off the beaten path rainforest/nature, definitely check out the Osa Peninsula. We stayed at Tulemar in MA and Copa De Arbol in OP and really enjoyed both resorts.

We just went to Costa Rica over Spring Break with a 7 and 10 year old. I loved Arenal and so did the kids. The zip lining, the volcano, and hot springs were fabulous! We had a driver. The roads are winding. No way to avoid that.

Anonymous wrote:I would skip Manuel Antonio personally. Do Arenal + Guanacaste. The drive from Arenal to Guanacaste was pretty awful TBH. We were all really car sick from the windy roads, etc. and we don’t usually have issues with road trips.

The drive from Arenal to Guanacaste was awful? Windy? What year did you go? It is a fully paved highway.

Costa Rica has a lot of options. You can do it like the pp above that just goes and stays at resorts. Or you can really travel and adventure. The more adventure, the more driving. Osa, Turrialba, Monteverde, Cahuita etc. Or just have the Four Seasons pick you up at the airport and drop you back off at the airport. I do both frequently but I personally greatly prefer the former.

We flew to SJO and then got on a puddle jumper for a 20 min stunning ride to Tambor. From there we drove 40 min to Santa Teresa and loved it!

We did Rafiki Safari and they transported us to the MA area, Jungle for 4 nights and Beach for 3 nights and we kayaked in between the two. They transported us back to the San Jose area where we two nights at another place, and we just took Ubers around. I would not have wanted to drive there. THe van broke down twice, and the address are les than descriptive. When we went into town by the MA National Park, the owner of where we stayed gave us a ride there and we took a taxi back.

If we go back, of course I would want to visit another area so I would probably just focus there as well.

I wanted to go to Osa but that's a flight, and we couldn't make it happen.

Personally I thought Arenal was incredibly touristy. Billboards, much more developed that Manuel Antonio. Still had a great time in Arenal rafting, rappelling etc. But, it’s not like any of these places are undiscovered.
That being said, if you’re just going for beach, you can probably go to a beach area closer to Arenal if that’s your goal.
The drive to/from Monteverde is not great especially as you get closer. However, we just loved MV and I wouldn’t skip it.

Agree with PP.

Hated Arenal. LOVED MA. Never have ever returned to a second place in our lives for a holiday and we will GK back to MA. I mean for ya that's nuts. We believe there are too many beautiful places to see and experiences to have. It's a very big deal that we all loved MA. It helped that we stayed in Tulemar so accessed private beach. That is the bomb!

OP - the drive is unavoidable and what makes CR so unique. I avoided taking little ones there and waited till my were 11/13 to go. I have heard Arenal-MA sucks. I would hire a driver as well. We actually did a ton of driving but it was not Ava's as I imagined. I had anxiety like your DH did too prior, ultimately I'm glad we did all of it as we never thought we would return.

I may do Hermosa but Tulemar is basically our favorite place now. And I only stay 5 star resorts or really amazing places like viceroy sugar beach, rosewood myakoba, Positano palazzo Murat. We got engaged in Grace Bay Provincales and Tulemar is a place I like better than all of these. It's hard to explain but there's a reason they were #1 resort in world last yr on trip advisor.

MA has Quepos there are we loved the good so much. My boy who hates everything gained 3 lbs there. It's just a very very practical, non pretentious, interesting place from our daily lives in the DMV. A place we felt relaxed and still different.

Anonymous wrote:Also Manuel Antonio is not worth it. Just go to a US resort if all you are after is touristic crap.

I find this sort of attitude unnecessary. MA tends to get recommended to first time visitors and families for a number of reasons, and I doubt most are dimply seeking out "touristic crap." At least recommend an alternative that checks most of the same boxes (e.g., wildlife, beaches, family-friendly places to stay).