The opportunity to take a trip to Costa Rica landed on our laps when James' best friend invited us to their wedding. After the year we had taking an adventure trip was just what we needed. So, we jumped at saying YES! We will be there! Of course the adventurer that I am had to seek ways to maximize our stay in this beautiful country. I did not regret every move we made. We're we nervous traveling with a 4 and 6 year old! 100%! But also knew this was an amazing time to live our dreams of showing our kids culture and beauty in our world. Here is our day by day Itinerary and our experiences! We hope it helps you plan your own family trip or ease your nerves when thinking about taking your little ones on this kind of trip.
Travel Day
This was a big travel day for our family.
My husband and I were a little nervous about the amount of travel it was going to take and how well our children were going to be. Our destination was a little town almost at the end of Costa Rica, Called Pavones. This cute little surfer town was accessible by car or flying by a small charter flight to Golfito then another 1.5 hour by car. We opted to take the small charter flight and then drive. The last 35 mins of driving to the city of Pavones, Dirt roads with lots of potholes. We passed by many motorcyclists to small tractors driven by horses. The remote town with a town center of just 1 block provides ultimate tranquility and relaxation. Allowing you to appreciate your natural surroundings. Animals roam in peace and humans live around them. Filled with wild horses of all colors, tropical birds such as beautiful colorful parrots fly above your head as you take your daily strolls to the market, The ocean is filled with dolphins jumping. Nights are filled with the sound of all types of critters. Howler monkeys are heard throughout the day and of course amid views surfers living the PURA VIDA Life! There’s no other way to enjoy the life down there. There are small hotels and resorts that offer wifi and AC. Although not all do.
We were hosted at Pavones Point, in a 3-bedroom condo with beach and pool views. We were on the ground floor with direct access to the beach and the pool a few steps away. Pavones Point also has 2 bedrooms if you do not need that much room. We had a full kitchen with amenities to cook, which we did a couple times for breakfast. There are small town markets that have some groceries for your basic needs.
The first night we arrived at Pavones, we were all hungry and tired and then to realize we still needed to walk a little to get to dinner, made us all irritable. We didn’t rent a car or any atv or motorcycles as that is how some get around, but a lot of the stores and markets are within walking distance. We saw this an opportunity to get our bodies moving. First restaurant we ate at was Ebenezers. They serve your typical Costa Rican dishes. We ate the Cheeseburger, grilled chicken with rice and beans, Steak with rice and beans and chicken fingers. All were delicious! Highly recommend the steak with rice and beans
The nights come early and fast. There aren’t many streetlights, so if you are walking in the night to grab a bite into town, bring a flash light. Some host will have flashlights in your room.
June 25th- Dolphin Quest Excursion and Bon Fire Pizza Party
We had an early morning reservation to see dolphins! We were hosted by Amy, the owner of Dolphin Quest which is a remote retreat center only accessible by boat. We took an 1 hour boat ride into the ocean to find bundles of dolphins swimming together. Then taken to the retreat center for some superfood brunch. Most of the food served at brunch was home grown on their grounds, and everything was amazing. The kids had a hard time eating some of the food since there wasn’t your typical menu, but filled their bellies with delicious season rice. Amy’s son took us on a botany tour around the property and filled our heads with knowledge on the vast amounts of plants and their usage for them. It is incredible what plants can do for our health and wellbeing. All in all the experience at this place is like no other experience you will ever have. They host lots of groups and yoga retreats here. Amy’s quote of the day and for the rest of the trip that summed up everything about Costa Rica, is “It’s a place where nature still takes over”. And it truly is. The lush greenery and the sound of nature surrounding you makes this place one of the most magical place we have ever visited and are thankful and blessed to experience it.
That evening we were hosted for dinner at a local pizza restaurant called, La Pina. Situated in front of the beach with big hanging swings making great photo props, a bar and the sunset made this dinner just perfect. Once the sun went down and the rain settled, a bon fire was started that made it a perfect end to our first full day in Costa Rica. Pizza was light and crispy.
Wedding Day
The whole reason why we have come to Pavones was to watch our friends get married in their magical place. They are both avid yogis and surfers making this destination the perfect place for them. We can all see why they chose Pavones as the place to host their most important day of their lives.
We started our morning getting breakfast in town, at the local café called De La Suerte. Serving typical costa Rican breakfast with eggs, salad, salsa and platanos. They also have quick pick ups such as Vegan bars, smoothies, and fruit juices. The fruit in Costa Rica is exceptional, specifically the papaya. I was obsessed with eating the papaya and now on a hunt when arriving home to find a ripe papaya to satisfy my craving. Huge cups of smoothies are served and can feed 2 people. After breakfast we took a stroll on the trail behind the beach, sat and watched the surfers ride the huge waves. Along the small trail, we spotted tons of parrots hanging out of the trees, it was such an incredible site. After our walk it was time to get ready for the wedding.
It was a midday wedding, and we were escorted to a house of top of the mountain where the ceremony and reception was hosted. The ceremony was the most beautiful ceremony we have ever witnessed. They included their guest in a promise to support their marriage, everyone took an oath. The sound of the howler monkeys in the background with the birds and the scenery of beautiful costa Rica from the top of the mountain was breathtaking.
Reception was held in front of the house with a tent and a boho seating decoration vibe. It was great night for all and also a great way to end our 2 full day in CR.
6/27- Rest day
This day we spent roaming around the main town and being poolside. We all needed a day to sit back and just enjoy every min of this vacation. Dinner was hosted at the local pizza restaurant. Here we were getting used the exchange rate and how much costed we accidently ended up ordering 4 pies of pizza costing about $70 worth….oops. We definitely ate it up the next couples days and were actually thankful we had it during the travel day the next day.
6/28- Travel day
Travel day! Our next part of the trip was going to be spent in La Fortuna. We again, took the charter flight into San Jose, rented a car and drove 3 hours to la fortuna. Viewing all the tiny towns as we pass by. Roads were all paved but there were lots of curves along the way. When we asked locals how long it take, they usually say 2.5 hours, but since they started the construction near the airport, you might sit in traffic for awhile. They seem to only let one lane at a time go through going both ways.
3 hours later we arrived at our new home for the next 3 days. Lost Iguana resort and spa. The service in this place is exceptional. The front desk new how hungry we were and set us up a reservation at their restaurant right away. The first thing we did was eat and then got escorted to our room right after. Restaurant food was also delicious. Our room was the standard room with a balcony that opens up to a front view of the volcano. Reception is easily contacted through whatsapp where they were able to help us book our excursions for the next couple days.
6/29- First full day at La Fortuna
Every room at Lost iguana gets free breakfast, with 4 dishes on the menu. All delicious. After breakfast, we took the nature trail on property. You are truly surrounded by jungle on this trail. We were unprepared with how unkept it was. The trails aren’t like the trails in US. There are patches of grasses, leaves and mud where it is difficult to see if there are any reptiles or critters underneath. I was a little nervous because of how unprepared we were, we could have used longer pants and sleeves to protect us if we did get bit by anything. BUT we all made alive with no bites, and it ended being one of the harder hikes we have taken with the kids without a carrier. The kids had some complaining but made it through with lots of encouragement and bribing. All in all we thought they did GREAT! I mean it wouldn’t be a Miranda vacation if we didn’t take a hike together. The elevation on that trail was pretty tough and I would say for a medium hiker.
After, we took the kids for a quick dip in the pool. One of the bribes we made during the hike. They have 2 pools on property. Including a hot water pool with a swim up bar. After, We decided to take a drive to the town to eat lunch and shop. La Fortuna is definitely more a tourist attraction, you see lots of souvenir shops and tour guides kiosk. We booked a chocolate and night walk tour this evening. The city is filled with both locals and tourist of all ages.
Lunch was eaten at a fast food place and grabbed some crispy chicken with fries and coke. We found a really cute organic coffee shop where we sat down and shared a coffee and a dragon fruit pie. There are a few good vegan and vegetarian restaurants and shops. I was really surprised and excited to see pitaya and acai bowls available here.
We had a 6pm chocolate and night walk tour. The front desk person told us we had a high probability of seeing a sloth! The chocolate tour was both interesting and yummy. Along with learning the steps in making cacoa, we witness all types of critters from tiny spiders to big bull frogs to YES seeing 2 sloths! The first one was pretty hidden in the tree and hard to see their face. The second one was upper active and were able to the sloth climb to the top of a branch and reach and cross to a different tree. We could not get a pictures or video since it was so dark, but those memories will forever be with us. The kids were able to taste the seeds of a cacao plant, it was sweet, then make their own bars of chocolate, we had dessert with banana and chocolate, some coffee beans and chocolate made from this land. It was a great experience for both adults and children.
6/30- Our trip is almost over! Mistico Hanging bridges
Breakfast at lost iguana and a full day again of hanging out in our room and hanging with our kids. We emersed ourselves in giving them 100 percent of our attention. Playing the games they like to play and just being with them. There was some pretty heavy thunderstorms in the morning, which is normal in Costa Rica. So it became the perfect day of snuggles and love.
Lunch was hosted at the restaurant on property and then we headed to the reception where we met our guide, Caco, who picked us up and took us Mistico Hanging bridges, 2 mins away. The tour guide in both our tours is 100 percent worth every penny. When we took the hike on property, we tried paying attention to what could be around us, we heard birds and frogs but could not spot any animals not critters. Most tour guides were raised in Costa Rica and have trained eyes to spot those Monkeys and sloths from 500 feet away! He had a binocular and talked us through some of the amazing plants, critters, and even found us howler monkeys and a SLOTH! That’s 3 sloths we saw on this trip! We saw a beautiful toucan as well along the trail. The hanging bridges took about 2.5 hours to get through with both kids and even with one that fell asleep while sitting on top of my husband’s shoulders. It was super fun going through all bridges and a bit scary. We even got to see a waterfall on the trail.
After the tour we drove into town to eat dinner.
7/1- Travel day, testing day and getting ready to leave this beautiful country
Testing took at about 1.5 to get through. Results was given through email and quickly. The city of San Jose, is pretty crowded and not as attractive after seeing what we saw the past few days. We stayed at a doubletree Hilton by Caricari and YES! We love their cookies.
7/2- Travel day back home.
Ate a fulfilling buffet breakfast, then headed to the airport for lunch and making our way back home, ending our amazing trip to COSTA RICA!!
A place where we all left a piece of our hearts and would need to retrieve again soon!
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