3-Week-Itinerary in Costa Rica

Costa Rica is one of the countries that never really was on my list, for many reasons and for no reasons at the same time. But as we started looking for a destination for a long road trip with the kids, it quickly came top of the list – Why Costa Rica?

• Easy and very safe to travel
• Orientated on wildlife and nature, with postcard like beaches
• Kids-friendly
• And though summer is not the best season to visit the country, it is not such a bad time altogether

Is the summer a right time to visit Costa Rica?

The answer is clearly yes, but… Yes, it is a good time to visit the country, and though you are in the short rainy season, it is mostly sunny with some short (but strong) downpours, mostly in the end of the afternoon or at night. Temperatures are pleasant. But… There is a significant but: from mid-August on, you enter the real raison season, and from that point, it heavily rains every day, at any time of the day, and it is cloudy most of the time. When organizing your trip, you should consider ending your trip around August 15^th, latest August 20^th. We clearly noticed that there were only few tourists left after August 20^th and almost none around August 25^th

How long should you plan for Costa Rica?

Well, that depends of course on how much time you have at hand… Consider the following:

• There is a lot to do and see in Costa Rica! And though distances are not that big, travel time should not be under-estimated. In my opinion, everything below 2 weeks is simply not doable! You will have to skip parts of the country / of the experience altogether
• 3 weeks seem a good middle point – That will enable you to see both coasts (and they are significantly different) as well as the center of the country.
• If you want to go a bit off the beaten tracks, and still cover the “highlights”, you will need 4+ weeks, as once again: there is a lot to do in Costa Rica.

Go off the beaten track

We remained on the “Gringo Trail” by and large, as we wanted to play it safe with the 3 kids. It is surely possible to discover the country more “off the beaten tracks”, but we haven’t tried, though some parts of our trip, like Curu Wildlife Refuge or Playa Corozalito near Samara, are more secluded.

What would we do differently?

• I would have loved to visit Corcovado National Park, which was high on my personal list. But after researching a bit, it seems completely unrealistic with the kids. Had they been 3 or 4 years elder, I would have tried!
• We could have spent one night less in Alajuela, combining in one morning the climb atop Volcano Poas (actually done mostly by car) and visiting right after La Paz Waterfall Gardens Nature Park. That would also have saved some travel time.
• Visiting Manzanillo Natural Reserve was clearly a mistake – The hotel recommended we visit Cahuita National Park, and we should have followed their advice!
• Curu Wildlife Refuge offered superb wildlife watching opportunities, but we should clearly have skipped sleeping in the park (that was absurdly expensive and really uncomfortable!). And the drive down and up the Nicoya Peninsula was long!
• We could / should have bundled activities in Dominical and spend one day less there. Beware that beaches, except in National Parks, are not suited for swimming (strong currents), especially with kids.
• If you want to save money, both Turtle watching and Whale watching is far cheaper near Samara than in Tortuguero (Turtles) / Uvita (Whales)