Costa Rica Family Escape

Awaken your senses on a magical escape full of activities the whole family will love

Enjoy an unforgettable family adventure in Costa Rica, where natural wonders combine with exhilarating activities for all the family. Zip wire across the cloud forest and go white-water rafting on the Balsa River. Swim at La Fortuna Waterfall and take a boat trip to see dolphins off the Pacific Coast. We stay in comfortable, well-located hotels (most with swimming pools), which means you will leave this action-packed week refreshed and with a full appreciation of Costa Rica’s most famous saying: pura vida or pure life.

People, Places & Planet

We work hard to create trips that improve life for the people and places we visit and look after the planet we explore. Find out more about our sustainable travel ethos and practice here and find out about the work of the Exodus Travels Foundation here.

Some sustainable travel highlights of this trip include:

People

How this trip helps improve life for local communities.

• The use of a local guide means our customers will be well informed about local traditions and cultural-social sensitivities.
• This trip brings income and opportunity to the destination community through the inclusion of locally owned hotels and restaurants, the emphasis on eating locally produced food, and by supporting other local enterprise.
• We use fairly small, family-run and locally staffed establishments, which ensures we are benefiting local communities.
• Although this is primarily a nature-based trip, we incorporate as much benefit to local people as possible. One way to support local people and boost the economy is to buy crafts in some of the remote regions we visit. Purchasing locally made handicrafts encourages cultural exchange and provides a significant form of alternative income.
• Our local guides are careful to explain that any souvenirs made from animal parts, shells or local hardwoods should not be purchased.
• This is a small-group tour, meaning we have a low impact on the environments and communities we visit and ensure we do not disrupt or lead to the displacement of local people.
• Our local operator is very involved in supporting community projects. Our local operator cares about our impact on the destination, which is why we carry out several actions. For instance:
  • Celebrating International Tourism Day 2019 by cleaning a beach at Guacalillo, recollecting 330lb (150kg) of waste.
  • Collecting plastic lids and donating them to Fundación ProParques to develop walkways to improve accessibility for people with mobility problems in the country’s protected wild areas.
  • Establishing an alliance with the Recycling Program of the Municipality of San José, from May 2015 to December 2020, that led to recycling 43 tons of recoverable resources. During the pandemic, staff continued the recycling process from their homes.
  • Purchasing souvenirs from local artists to promote local arts.
  • Running beach days with older adults living in care homes.
  • Eliminating single-use plastics in our operation.
  • Reducing printed documents by having all the information in a secure drive.
• Our local operator continuously develops activities for the benefit of personnel who work for the company through its human resources department and the Brigada Pintando Sonrisas. Since it is part of the TUI Group, different activities are carried out, such as More 4 You, which has the purpose of creating strategic alliances that promote health among collaborators. In addition, the New Work project is responsible for promoting healthy spaces that promote the work environment of the staff.
• The local staff are given the option of free therapy with BetterHelp, the world’s largest provider of online therapy.
• In 2017, Exodus Travels introduced the Inspiration Project, where we’ve worked with our partners to take more than 6,000 children in 30 countries on a day of adventure and exploration. Each inspirational day out is designed to introduce young minds to the wonders of our world and their place in it. From visiting cultural heritage sites to natural wonders, each trip has been packed with firsts – their first time leaving their own village, their first time seeing the sea, their first time visiting a busy city. We continue to operate these days out to inspire children to protect and preserve the world as they grow up.

Places

How this trip helps protect and conserve local landscapes and nature.

• Read about our commitment to nature protection and restoration here, including our rewilding commitment for every customer who travels.
• By travelling in a small group, led by a local guide, we ‘tread lightly’ to minimise our impact on local resources and the environment.
• Our local operator has an animal welfare policy that requests suppliers to comply with the minimum conditions of animal welfare.
• Our local operator has been awarded by the Costa Rican Tourism Board for their sustainable tourism practice and dedication to improving sustainability standards. This means efforts are made to rationally use water and electricity, provide adequate waste management, and positively impact communities, among many other actions.
• Most of the accommodation and restaurants we visit on this trip use locally sourced food.
• Vegetarian options are available if notice is given, which include a variety of fresh fruit, vegetables and rice.
• We travel responsibly using appropriate methods of transport; therefore, depending on group size, a minibus/coach is used.
• Our trips adhere to ABTA’s industry-leading animal welfare guidelines to ensure the best possible practices with regard to working animals and wildlife viewing. Our animal welfare policy can be found here.
• We work with our partners on the ground to proactively eliminate or reduce waste, for example eliminating all single-use plastic water bottles and instead providing refills for reusable bottles.

Planet

How we seek to keep the carbon footprint of this trip low.

• Read about our climate action here, including our carbon reduction and compensation commitments.
• An example of ecofriendly accommodation on this trip is Studio Hotel, which has LED bulbs for energy saving and low-consumption air conditioners, solar panels to heat water throughout the hotel. It also has the Ecological Blue Flag distinction, which rewards the effort and voluntary work in the search for conservation and development in accordance with the protection of natural resources, the implementation of actions to tackle climate change, the search for better sanitary hygienic conditions and the improvement of the public health of the inhabitants of Costa Rica.

Tips for sustainable travel on this trip

• Leave no trace: We do all we can to ensure we leave no rubbish behind in the wild and beautiful places we visit; we ask that you do the same. If there are no recycling facilities in-country, we’d ask you to consider bringing recyclable materials home with you.
• Plastic waste reduction: Please bring your own reusable water bottle on this trip; filtered water will be provided where tap water is not drinkable.

Visa

Costa Rica

Travellers from the UK, US and EU normally do not need a visa to enter Costa Rica; however, proof of onward travel may be required – we suggest you take a physical copy of your flight details in case officials ask to see them.

Please note, visa requirements often change and it is your responsibility to obtain any required visas for this trip. Therefore, we recommend that you check with the nearest embassy or consulate of your chosen destination(s), including any countries you may be transiting or transferring through.

Some local governments provide guidance on what visas their citizens need. To help, we’ve gathered a selection of useful links below.

• Australia: www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/americas/costa-rica
• Canada: www.travel.gc.ca/destinations/costa-rica
• United Kingdom: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/costa-rica/entry-requirements
• USA:  www.travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Costa-Rica.html

Vaccination

Costa Rica

There are no required vaccinations. However, you may want to consider vaccinations for tetanus, hepatitis A, rabies and typhoid. The risk of malaria is slight, but you may wish to consult your doctor or travel clinic for further advice.

Many travellers will also require a yellow fever vaccination certificate if arriving from a country with risk of yellow fever transmission, Tanzania and Zambia. Please check all requirements and travel vaccination recommendations with your doctor or travel clinic.

Dengue and zika, both viral diseases spread by mosquitoes, are known risks in Costa Rica. There is currently no vaccine or prophylaxis available, so we strongly recommend you take the usual precautions to avoid mosquito bites.

Eating and Drinking

All breakfasts and two lunches are included in the price of the tour, allowing you plenty of flexibility for non-included meals to be taken as a family or with the group.

Costa Rican specialities include gallo pinto, a black bean and rice dish considered a staple part of the local diet. Soups, stews and fresh fish are also common, and most hotels offer international menus. There is a lot of fresh fruit in the tropics – you may need to share your bananas with monkeys from the hotel gardens!

Please inform us before departure of any special dietary requests, vegetarians can usually be well catered for.

Weather

Costa Rica is 10 degrees north of the equator and has an almost perfect tropical climate. The average temperature is 12C-22C (54F-72F) in the highlands and 22C-27C (72F-81F) in the lowlands. There is a rainy season from May to November when there are daily downpours, though these are usually quite short and there is still plenty of bright sunshine, so the midsummer is not necessarily a bad time to go. December to April is the driest time of the year but expect some rain. Many areas visited on the trip are hot and humid throughout the year.

Is this trip for you?

This trip is rated Activity Level 2 (Leisurely/Moderate). It has been designed for children aged 13 to 16 years’ old but is also suitable for those aged nine to 12 years’ old.

Our Family Activity levels are aimed at children in the primary or ‘Designed for’ age group. We are confident it is also suitable for those in the ‘Also for’ age range; however, if your child is in this secondary category, they may find it a little tougher. Please see the Family Activity levels on our website for further information. When grading our trips, we consider multiple factors: the pace (how busy an itinerary is) and the level of activity involved. Then there’s the amount of travel time and the weather. Costa Rica can be hot and humid, which can be tiring.

This trip aims to show you the best of Costa Rica using a mixture of buses and boats. While the driving distances are not huge and most roads are good, some sections are of poor quality/potholed, which can result in slower driving times. Most drives are not longer than four hours and all drives include regular stops. On some travel days, we depart early in the morning to ensure we optimise the time at our next destination.

There are some dangerous insects and snakes in the jungle, although incidents are extremely rare. Advice from the guide must be heeded at all times – it is the responsibility of parents to ensure children listen to the guide and don’t stray from paths.

The trip involves a walk to reach La Fortuna Waterfall that has some steep steps. There are also several included activities, such as white-water rafting and a zip-wire canopy tour: experience of these activities is not required as a full safety briefing is covered at the start, and all necessary equipment is provided. Please be aware, some activities may be changed as a result of the weather.

All the accommodation is comfortable with private bathrooms and everywhere has air conditioning apart from the lodge in Monteverde. For further details, please see the accommodation section below.

Following a review of all our trips we have categorised this trip as generally not suitable for persons of reduced mobility. However if you are a regular traveller on such trips, please contact customer services to discuss the trip and your personal condition.