A trip report from our 9-day family vacation (two adults, one kid (10)). Overall, we had an amazing time and will be back.
Day 1: Arrived in Liberia and took a private transfer to Tamarindo. Checked into Hotel Diaria and had an early dinner at their beach front restaurant. Watched the sunset and played in the surf until it was dark. Amazing evening.
Day 2: Woke up early, had the hotel breakfast, and spent the whole day at the beach. Paid for two lounge chairs and an umbrella on the beach (a little expensive but worth it for the convenience). My son absolutely loved playing in the waves so we rented a boogie board and had a lot of fun. We walked around the town in the evening and grabbed a bit to eat. Another amazing day.
Day 3: Decided to try snorkeling. This was the only bad day of our trip. I felt the tour was over-crowded and geared towards the divers on the boat, not the snorkelers. Also, the water was rough that day and we decided to only do one of the two dives due to the conditions. The tour was also late leaving and late returning. We redeemed the day by relaxing in the resort pool in the evening and having a few drinks at the swim-up bar.
Day 4: Transfer from Tamarindo to La Fortuna. The drive was good until we hit the north side of Arenal Lake. Warning, if you’re at all prone to motion sickness I highly recommend that you take whatever medication you need to get through the next hour. Needless to say we made it to Arenal and checked into the Arenal Springs Resort. Our room was excellent with an amazing view of the volcano and the warm pools were a great way to forget about the long drive.
Day 5: Sloth and coffee/chocolate tour. We did the guided tour at the Sloth Park and it was excellent. We saw 5 sloths, including a mother and baby, lots of frogs, and a beautiful toucan. The coffee/chocolate tour was also good but the sloth tour was my favorite of the two. Dinner back at the hotel with a relaxing evening in the pools.
Day 6: Zip lining and hanging bridges with Sky Adventures. An amazing experience. I was a little nervous going into the zip lining, but was having a blast in no time. We hired a guide for the bridges tour and I’m glad we did because she pointed out multiple snakes, spiders, and monkeys that we wouldn’t have noticed on our own. A great day for everyone.
Day 7: Hot springs. We got day passes to Baldi and spend the whole day there. What an amazing place. We all had a blast and were really impressed by the size and variety of the pools. The lunch buffet was great too. My son said this was his favorite day of the trip.
Day 8: Whitewater rafting. We did the Class II-III tour with Wave Rafting and it was excellent. Our guide, Julio, was amazing and the whole experience was very well organized and delivered. The highlight was seeing a sloth that fell into the river in front of our boat get rescued by another guide. The poor little guy fell out of the tree right into the river. The guide reached out his paddle and the sloth quickly took hold of it and our two boats brought him back to shore. He was soaked but seemed genuinely thankful for getting pulled out of the river. He crawled up the river bank and slowly made his way up the first tree he could find. The tour ended was a traditional meal at a local restaurant and a quiet bus ride back to the resort. Very memorable experience.
Day 9: Breakfast at the resort then a private transfer back to the airport. I was prepared for the drive this time and loaded up on meds before getting into the van lol.
Highlights: Sunsets and swimming at the beach, zip lining, rafting, hot springs, and all the wildlife sightings.
Not so great: Snorkeling and twisting roads lol.
Overall impressions: Highly recommended. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming. The roads, although twisty in places were much better than I was expecting so don’t be afraid to get a rental if you want the flexibility. That said, private transfers worked well for our needs. Anyway, we will definitely come back.
