6 reasons you should be taking your kids to Costa Rica

Is Costa Rica family-friendly? Well, apart from the jet lag which will take a day or so to get over, there are loads of reasons to go to Costa Rica for a first family adventure holiday. You can fly direct from the UK. So once you’re on the plane you can sit back and enjoy the ride. There are no visas. So no queues at the airport, you’ll be at your hotel in no time.

If you decide to self drive, the roads are generally excellent, the distances short and cars are top quality, supplied with booster seats and anything else you need. And then there’s the locals. They love sharing the paradise they call home – particularly with curious kids.

If your kids love TV programmes like Blue Planet they’ll be utterly fascinated here. Costa Rica is incredibly bio-diverse, a stack of unique ecosystems: cloudforest, rainforest, pristine beaches, and volcanic peaks. Over a quarter of the country is protected too. Just a few of the wildlife highlights include watching endangered turtles hatch from their eggs and hiking with a guide through untouched rainforest to marvel at green macaws, iguanas, monkeys, and sloths. Go on a night walk to see snakes, spiders, and tarantulas that glow under ultraviolet light. Paddle a canoe deep in the Amazon jungle to watch out for caiman and river otters and hop aboard a boat to watch dolphins frolic in the sea.

Costa Rica often feels like a developed country. Everything works, the roads are safe, people stop at traffic lights, if your kids are getting really grumpy there’s fast food and cinemas. But beneath the sophistication there are fascinating traditions that differ massively from ours. Some of the best memories we’ve brought back from family holidays in Costa Rica involved getting to know local people. Your encounters with ‘Ticos’ as they call themselves will be a highlight of your family holiday to Costa Rica.

The last thing you want is your kids running riot around the pool whilst couples tut at your over the tops of their paperbacks! Costa Rica has a great selection of places to stay that are ideal for families. They’re great value, comfy and friendly without being remotely posh. Flip flops are just fine at dinner, no problem to eat early and get the kids to bed. Many of our lodges in Costa Rica have safe, well looked after pools ideal for a splash after a busy day of exploring. And you can even turn the accommodation into part of the adventure. How about sleeping under a mosquito net in a tribal hut in the forest or drifting off to the sounds of the jungle in a treehouse?

The catch phrase you hear everywhere is La Pura Vida. It means ‘pure life’ but it’s really about having a laid back approach to things. This sunny outlook is tied to the eco-paradise that Ticos live in. They love being surrounded by nature’s beauty and it’s something kids learn about in school from a young age. Long before it became trendy, caring for the environment was a fundamental facet of daily life in Costa Rica. It’s genuinely inspiring. You’ll meet guides who are utterly passionate about the places and species they show you, visit animal sanctuaries dedicated to protection and preservation, stay in lodges with top notch eco-credentials and even discover organic farms where practices are focused on sustainability.

Have we been sounding a bit worthy up now? Well don’t worry! There’s also heaps of excitement and adventure to be had on a Costa Rica family holiday. Grumpy teens will be shouting with glee as they zoom through the jungle canopy on a high-speed zip wire or dare themselves to step out on a high-level treetop walkway. The long regular breaks and warm seas mean Costa Rica’s beaches are ideal for learning to surf too.

Want to get the pulses racing some more? Hire a quad bike to explore further afield or paddle a kayak far into the untouched jungle. More still?! How about hiking the slopes of a volcano and then chilling out in a natural hot spring?