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See our Activity Level Guidelines to check if this holiday is right for you.
See our Activity Level Guidelines to check if this holiday is right for you.
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 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.
Begin your adventure in San José, the culture-rich capital of Costa Rica. A complimentary transfer from the airport to the hotel is available. Check in and take it easy, there’s plenty of excitement on this trip, so today’s all about relaxing and easing ourselves into the adventure.
Around 7.30pm, say hola to your tour leader and fellow travellers during a short briefing and dinner together. Our main briefing takes place tomorrow morning due to the late arrival of some flights today.
Want to explore San Jose further? Secure pre-tour hotel nights through your sales representative.
Accommodation: Studio Hotel (or similar)
This morning your tour leader will host the main welcome briefing when we gather as a group to get to know each other and learn more about the adventures ahead.
Today we drive to the area surrounding Arenal Volcano. Following a large eruption in 1968, Arenal was the most active volcano in Costa Rica until recently when it entered a resting phase. There is a lot of geothermal activity in this area, with natural hot springs, waterfalls and Lake Arenal waiting to be discovered.
We visit La Fortuna Waterfall, a 215ft (65m) cascade plunging into an emerald pool. A short rainforest trail brings us to a steep set of steps that we must descend to reach the waterfall and then ascend to exit – this takes around 20-30 minutes and is rewarded with a swim in the emerald pool. It is possible to visit the lookout point and wait for the group if you prefer. There is plenty of time to see what animals you can spot in the forest along the way; keep an eye out for colourful toucans in the trees!
Accommodation: Arenal Paraiso (or similar)
After breakfast, we head to the Balsa River for an exhilarating white-water rafting excursion. The rapids here are graded II and III and have nicknames such as Magnetic Rock and Dredges – prepare to get wet and wild! No experience of this activity is needed as a full safety briefing and instruction is given before getting into the rafts. Tropical scenery flanks the river and we may spot monkeys, toucans or other animals in the forest. There is also a stop for drinks and tropical fruits along the way.
On our return to La Fortuna, we stop to enjoy a delicious lunch at Vida Campesina, a traditional country estate that allows visitors to experience typical country life in Costa Rica. Lunch is made with ingredients harvested on the property and prepared on a wood stove in traditional style.
Accommodation: Arenal Paraiso (or similar)
From Arenal, we travel to the Tilaran mountain range in the Central Highlands for a taste of the Costa Rican cloud forest. Reaching Monteverde involves a fast boat across Lake Arenal, which is incredibly scenic and takes roughly 30 minutes. We then complete our journey by shared land transfer, climbing into the hills towards Monteverde, whose name literally means Green Mountain. The high altitude in this Central Highlands region supports a complex ecosystem where plants thrive, particularly orchids of which there are some 400-plus varieties here. Our journey takes about 3hr 30min in total, including the lake crossing.
Around 6pm, we have a night walk to experience the forest in the dark. This gives an entirely new perspective on the cloud forest habitat, with many pairs of eyes staring back at you! We may see sloths, armadillos, porcupines, possums and coatis and will surely hear a cacophony of insects and amphibians.
Accommodation: Monteverde Country Lodge or Montaña Monteverde (or similar)
Today we visit Selvatura Park, where 850 acres (345ha) of protected land are dedicated to nature and adventure. We begin with the hanging bridges excursion, a system of treetop walkways through the forest designed to let you experience the beauty of the cloud forest and observe its many inhabitants. We also visit the butterfly garden, which has one of the largest exhibitions of butterflies in the world. After, it’s time to try aerial manoeuvres on a zip-line adventure through the treetops! Before you fly, guides teach you the proper technique, including how to position yourself and hold the cable correctly, enabling you to safely embark on this adrenaline-pumping adventure above the trees.
Accommodation: Monteverde Country Lodge or Montaña Monteverde (or similar)
We travel to the Samara region on the Pacific Coast, one of the best-kept secrets in Costa Rica! The broad, shady bay is backed by coconut palms and the water is calm and safe for swimming thanks to a coral reef just out to sea on which the normally large Pacific waves break before reaching the beach. There are plenty of facilities in this area but there’s a noticeable absence of big resort hotels, which makes for a nice atmosphere. Our hotel faces onto Carrillo Beach in the neighbouring bay to Samara. We have a free afternoon here to enjoy the facilities and discover the area.
Accommodation: Nammbu Hotel or Leyenda Hotel (or similar)
Today, we take a boat trip offshore from Carrillo Beach in search of dolphins. You could be lucky enough to see spotted dolphins, Central American spinner dolphins or common bottlenose dolphins, which all inhabit this area year around. Feel the ocean breeze and enjoy the scenic coastline as we search for these playful animals who love to swim in the bow wave of the boat! As we make our way back along the coast, we anchor near the shores of Isla Chora, a delightful white-sand beach full of hermit crabs and iguanas. This is a great spot for a refreshing swim and a chance to observe the underwater world by wearing a mask and snorkel. Beneath the surface teems a lively world with huge marine diversity. In total, today’s excursion lasts around four hours, with the rest of your time at leisure to enjoy the area.
Accommodation: Nammbu Hotel or Leyenda Hotel (or similar)
Our adventure ends after breakfast, either at Carrillo Beach or at Liberia Airport if you join the group transfer. Check the Joining Instructions for more information on transfers.
But if you don’t want the adventure to end, speak to your sales representative about extending your stay and enjoy more time in Costa Rica.
Saturday 04 Apr 2026 to Saturday 11 Apr 2026
This departure is available for new bookings and has reached the minimum number of passengers required to go ahead. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
This departure is available for new bookings and has reached the minimum number of passengers required to go ahead. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
£ 2599 (excl. flights)
Saturday 25 Jul 2026 to Saturday 01 Aug 2026
This departure is available for new bookings and has reached the minimum number of passengers required to go ahead. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
This departure is available for new bookings and has reached the minimum number of passengers required to go ahead. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
£ 2599 (excl. flights)
Book with £ 649 deposit
Saturday 01 Aug 2026 to Saturday 08 Aug 2026
This departure is available for new bookings and has reached the minimum number of passengers required to go ahead. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
This departure is available for new bookings and has reached the minimum number of passengers required to go ahead. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
Usually £ 2599
Now £ 2339
Book with £ 584 deposit
Saturday 08 Aug 2026 to Saturday 15 Aug 2026
This departure is available for new bookings, and will be guaranteed to go ahead once it reaches minimum numbers. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
This departure is available for new bookings, and will be guaranteed to go ahead once it reaches minimum numbers. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
£ 2599 (excl. flights)
Book with £ 649 deposit
Saturday 13 Feb 2027 to Saturday 20 Feb 2027
This departure is available for new bookings, and will be guaranteed to go ahead once it reaches minimum numbers. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
This departure is available for new bookings, and will be guaranteed to go ahead once it reaches minimum numbers. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
£ 2599 (excl. flights)
Book with £ 649 deposit
Saturday 27 Mar 2027 to Saturday 03 Apr 2027
This departure is available for new bookings, and will be guaranteed to go ahead once it reaches minimum numbers. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
This departure is available for new bookings, and will be guaranteed to go ahead once it reaches minimum numbers. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
£ 2599 (excl. flights)
Book with £ 649 deposit
Saturday 03 Apr 2027 to Saturday 10 Apr 2027
This departure is available for new bookings, and will be guaranteed to go ahead once it reaches minimum numbers. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
This departure is available for new bookings, and will be guaranteed to go ahead once it reaches minimum numbers. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
£ 2599 (excl. flights)
Book with £ 649 deposit
Saturday 31 Jul 2027 to Saturday 07 Aug 2027
This departure is available for new bookings and has reached the minimum number of passengers required to go ahead. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
This departure is available for new bookings and has reached the minimum number of passengers required to go ahead. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
£ 2599 (excl. flights)
Book with £ 649 deposit
Saturday 14 Aug 2027 to Saturday 21 Aug 2027
This departure is available for new bookings and has reached the minimum number of passengers required to go ahead. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
This departure is available for new bookings and has reached the minimum number of passengers required to go ahead. Please click Continue to proceed with booking or contact our Sales team for assistance.
£ 2599 (excl. flights)
Book with £ 649 deposit
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View Details
We stay in four hotels during this tour for a total of seven nights.
In San Jose, we stay at the modern four-star Studio Hotel, conveniently located near the airport for an easy arrival transfer at the start of the adventure.
In Arenal, our accommodation is normally the Arenal Paraiso Hotel. This property is close to Arenal Volcano and has large natural grounds with wonderful views of Arenal Volcano. Rooms are comfortable and well equipped. There are several natural pools fed by spring water.
In Monteverde, we stay at the Monteverde Country Lodge, a three-star property providing cosy, comfortable and warm accommodation. This property doesn’t have a swimming pool or air conditioning as it’s in an area of Costa Rica that is typically much cooler.
By the Pacific Coast, we stay at either Nammbu Hotel or the Leyenda. Both are by Carrillo Beach and have a swimming pool.
Worth knowing
This trip is rated Activity Level 2 (Easy & Moderate). For more information on our trip gradings please visit the Activity Level Guidelines page.
Though this trip has been designed for 13 to 16-year-olds, it’s also suitable for nine to 12-year-olds. Our Family trips are aimed at children in the primary age group, so if your child is in the secondary age group, they may find it a little harder. If you have any queries about the difficulty of the trip please do not hesitate to contact us.
This trip aims to show you the best of Costa Rica using a mixture of buses and boats. Most of the roads we travel on are good quality. However, some roads have a poor surface and this can result in slow driving times, particularly following heavy rain. There are also some longer drives on the itinerary; when rest stops and meal breaks are taken into account, a 4-hour drive may take 6-7 hours in total. Costa Rica can be hot and humid, which can be tiring.
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 has private bathrooms and everywhere has air conditioning apart from the lodge in Monteverde. For further details, please see the accommodation section.
Start hotel: Studio Hotel, 50 metros norte de la Cruz Roja, San José, Santa Ana, 10901
Phone: +(506) 2282-0505
Recommended arrival time: You can arrive at any time today, but we recommend by 6pm to join the optional welcome dinner at 7:30pm.
Airport: San Jose Airport (SJO)
The start hotel is approximately 30 min drive from the airport. Exodus provides free arrival transfers to the start hotel from the airport for all customers. If you would like further information on joining this trip, please speak to your sales representative.
Please note, unless specified otherwise, the transfer is to the start (or pre-tour) hotel and will be on the date on which the tour starts; transfers to other hotels in the same city and/or on different dates may attract an extra charge. Transfers should be booked with your sales representative at least two weeks before the tour starts.
There’s a group departure transfer to Liberia Airport (LIR) for customers who Exodus booked onto a chosen flight to London, UK. Please speak to your sales representative if you wish to join. If the group departure transfer does not suit your flight time, speak to your sales representative to arrange an alternative transfer.
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
All breakfasts, two lunches and one dinner 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!
Vegetarian and vegan options are limited but food is plentiful and tasty – please inform us before departure of any special dietary requests.
Costa Rica is 10 degrees north of the equator and has a tropical climate. The average annual temperature is around 26C (79F) in the lowlands and 10C (50F) in the highest mountain regions. However, it’s essential you prepare for the time of year in which your departure takes place.
Dry season (December to April): This is the driest period of the year and can get incredibly hot; on the Pacific side, temperatures may exceed 37C (98F). If passing through areas of dry tropical forest it can be hot, dusty and dry. Prepare for some rain even during this time of year.
Rainy season (May to November): Expect daily downpours, although these are usually quite short and there is still plenty of sunshine. Typically, there are sunny conditions until approximately 1pm-2pm and then a build-up of cloud from around 3pm, resulting in late afternoon rain (most likely showers between 3pm-5pm). Usually, the sky clears by 6pm.
As a certified B Corp, we’re on a mission to improve our social and environmental impact across all our adventures.
We do this through our innovative Thriving Nature, Thriving People plan.
This ‘nature positive’ approach is designed to help nature and communities thrive in harmony through practical solutions, such as reducing carbon and waste on our trips, supporting conservation projects through the Exodus Adventure Travels Foundation, and rewilding 100 square metres for every Exodus traveller.
Glenda made the tour! She is an excellent guide, even in torrential rainfalls she found ways to keep us excited and smiling!
So many! The water water rafting, and seeing turtles lay eggs were stand out moments.
Brilliant!!
Have an awesome time (maybe bring more dollars than you think you need… for tips etc!)
We loved this trip. We saw so many colourful birds, plants and animals in such a short space of time. My teenager was happy the whole time, whitewater rafting, zip lining, dipping in the hot springs, sea or pool, spotting sloths, seeing a whale and loving being with other young...
Being in the rainforest and seeing a sloth and a toucan in the wild.
He was wonderful. He was knowledgeable and enthusiastic about Costa Rica. He was a genuinely lovely person, wanting to make everything perfect for us - and he succeeded.
You should go!
Thank you so much, Exodus. We had a wonderful trip to Vietnam with you 4 years ago, which we did not think could be matched. However, Costa Rica was equally as excellent at n every way.
After covid delayed our trip for two years we were rewarded with an amazing experience on the Costa Rica family adventure. With four other families and a wonderful guide (Glenda) and driver (Jose) we saw stunning landscapes, weird and wonderful wildlife and enjoyed fascinating tours, thrills and spills and beautiful...
Tortuego national park
She was amazing. Great fun but very organised and efficient.
Bring light weight running clothes as drying clothes in the wet season is tricky. Invest in a good poncho! Crocs would be a good additional item.
We originally looked at booking the longer Costa Rica Family Adventure as we thought the Family Escape (at 7 nights) may be too much of a whirlwind. However, we liked the fact that there were less distances to travel (as the Family Escape does not include a visit to the...
There were so many.... from waking up to the sound of howler monkeys outside your room, being surrounded by hummingbirds and having them land on your outstretched hand at Selvatura Park, conquering your fear of heights on the hanging bridges and zip wires above the forest canopy at Monteverde, seeing a sloth being rescued from overheard cables by the local fire service, hearing the sounds of the cloud forest at night as fireflies flit around around you, seeing a humpback whale for the first time, watching the sun set over the Pacific Ocean at Carillo Beach.... the list goes on!
From the moment we arrived at San Jose Airport, our group leader, Eduardo, made us feel incredibly welcome in his country. Knowedgeable and passionate about the history, culture and nature of Costa Rica, Eduardo soon shared his love of his country with us all. Within minutes of meeting us, Eduardo had memorised all our names and, refering to us "family", he ensured we got the best possible experience we could - asking us to write down our wishlist of things we wanted to do and see whilst we were in his beautiful country. Eduardo was an exceptional group leader: great with the children in the group, imparting his extensive knowledge with enthusiasm, sharing his photos with us on the WhatsApp group he created for us, treating us to chocolate and ice-cream on a daily basis and instilling in all of us a sense of the "Pura Vida"! We must not forget our driver, Cesar, either. He made sure we were safe on the roads and waited patiently for us after every excursion, always greeting us with courtesy and a smile.
We decided to book a 3 night beach extension - staying on at Nammbu hotel at the end of the trip - which Exodus organised, along with a private transfer back to San Jose airport. We were definitely ready for some rest and relaxation after a packed schedule, so this was really worth doing, plus it gave us a chance to do some additional activies - such as scuba diving (at Samara) and turtle watching at the nearby Camaronal Wildlife Refuge.
This is the first holiday we have booked with Exodus, and having never been on a small group holiday before, we were a little apprehensive.... how would the group dynamics work? We need not have worried! We were very lucky to be travelling with 3 lovely families alongside Vicky from Exodus (a bonus to have the Product Manager of this particular trip accompanying us!) Everyone got on really well, the children made firm friends, and the balance between time together as a group and time on our own worked fine. Overall, this was a truly wonderful family holiday in a beautiful country and we have many happy memories along with far too many photos!
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