01 · NatureNature ExperiencesSloths, waterfalls and Río Celeste, with a local naturalist.Explore
02 · AdventureAdventure ExperiencesATV trails, Tenorio rafting and canyon waterfalls.Explore
03 · OceanOcean ExperiencesPrivate catamaran, sunset sailing and sport fishing in Papagayo.Explore
04 · BirdingBird WatchingPrivate birding days, sites and itineraries.Explore
05 · PhotographyBird & Wildlife PhotographyPrivate photo days planned around the light.Explore
One day or a whole trip across Costa Rica. Tell us your dates and what you want to see; we build each day around you, with hotel pickup.
Design your trip → WhatsApp +506 8540 7408Guanacaste, Costa Rica · 7 days · One beach hotel · Private
Crocodiles from a riverboat, snorkeling from a private catamaran, wild sloths in the rainforest and boiling mud on a volcano. Four guided days, a free day, and the same hotel all week.
Quick answer
This 7-day Costa Rica itinerary with kids from Guanadreams CR stays in one beach hotel in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Kids look for crocodiles from a Palo Verde riverboat, snorkel from a private catamaran, search for wild sloths in a Tenorio Rainforest reserve we choose that morning by where they are and walk past boiling mud at Rincón de la Vieja.
One base, four day trips, no packing and unpacking. Drive times are one way from a beach hotel in Playas del Coco or Papagayo.
Your beach hotelbase · 6 nights
Palo Verderiverboat · 1 h 20
Gulf of Papagayoprivate catamaran · from the beach
Tenorio Rainforestwild sloths · 1 h 45
Rincón de la Viejamud pots and hot springs · 1 h 30Tours start in the morning, when animals are active and the kids have energy. You sleep in the same hotel every night. On a private tour the schedule is yours: if the kids are done, we head back. Tap any photo to see it larger.
Playas del Coco bay, Guanacaste, Costa RicaSleep: your beach hotel · 30 to 40 min from LIR
We meet you at Liberia airport (LIR) and drive you to your hotel near Playas del Coco or Papagayo. No second flight, no long transfer. The afternoon is for the pool or the beach.
What kids love: swimming on the day they land.
A riverboat on the Tempisque River, Palo VerdeSleep: your beach hotel · about 1 h 20 each way
A covered riverboat takes you along the Tempisque River beside Palo Verde National Park, a wetland in the dry forest of Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The boat is shared with other visitors, usually 10 to 12 people and never full, and your guide stays with your family the whole time; a fully private boat can be arranged in advance for an added cost. Kids stay seated in the shade while the guide scans the banks for crocodiles, the trees for monkeys and the shallows for herons. No walking needed. A half day of about 5 to 6 hours door to door, lunch included. More on our Palo Verde day.
Look for: American crocodiles · howler and white-faced monkeys · iguanas · herons and egrets · Jabiru (possible in the dry season)
Private catamaran in the Gulf of PapagayoSleep: your beach hotel · pickup on the beach
Sleep in and swim. After lunch, a tender picks you up from the beach in front of your hotel anywhere in the Gulf of Papagayo (south of Flamingo, we drive you to Flamingo Marina) for a private half-day catamaran charter. The flat, stable deck is easy with kids: snorkel from the swim platform, with gear on board in children's sizes, or swim off a quiet beach. Non-swimmers can stay on deck. More on our private catamaran.
Look for: reef fish and rays · sea turtles · dolphins · brown pelicans and frigatebirds
Llanos de Cortés waterfallSleep: your beach hotel · about 1 h 45 each way
Pickup at 7:30 so Llanos de Cortés is the first stop, before the crowds that arrive after 10. When the river is safe, kids swim in the pool below the 28-meter waterfall. Forty minutes later you are in a private reserve in the Tenorio Rainforest near Bijagua, on the continental divide, where Pacific and Caribbean forests meet. Sloths and rainforest toucans aren't resident in the dry forest of the coast, so we drive to the nearest rainforest. The forest there is low, so sloths are closer and easier to spot than in tall rainforest. We call ahead and choose among several private reserves by where the sloths are and how the trails are that day. Lunch at a typical Costa Rican restaurant 10 minutes away; back at the hotel around 5 or 6 p.m., earlier if you want. See our Sloth & Waterfall Rainforest Combo.
Look for: two- and three-toed sloths · red-eyed tree frogs · poison dart frogs · toucans · howler monkeys · coatis at the waterfall
Playa Matapalo, Guanacaste, Costa RicaSleep: your beach hotel · no driving
Nothing scheduled. Kids sleep in after the long day, and if rain moved a tour, it goes here. Want more action? Add the Family Fun Four Pack near Sardinal: ziplining, horseback riding, ATVs and a wildlife rescue center on one property, about 3 to 4 hours (minimum four guests; the zipline lines are shared with other visitors). For kids from about 8, the La Leona waterfall hike is about 1 h to 1 h 20 on foot each way, ending with a rope-assisted swim into the cave (minimum four guests).
What kids love: a day with nothing on the clock.
Mud pots on the Las Pailas trail, Rincón de la ViejaSleep: your beach hotel · about 1 h 30 each way
Pickup around 6:30 so you're at the Las Pailas gate when it opens at 8:00. The easy first stretch of the trail passes bubbling mud pots and steaming fumaroles: a volcano at work, seen from marked paths, and we turn back whenever you want. After lunch, an afternoon in the hot springs of a hacienda on the volcano's slopes, or the Oropéndola waterfall if you'd rather. Las Pailas is closed on Mondays, so this day never falls on one. Rincón de la Vieja is an active volcano: we check the park the day before, and if it is closed we switch to Santa Rosa National Park or a hacienda with its own trails.
What kids love: mud that boils. Look for: White-throated Magpie-Jays · Turquoise-browed Motmots · Long-tailed Manakins
Sunset over the Gulf of Papagayo30 to 40 min to LIR
A last swim, then a private transfer to Liberia airport, timed to your flight.
Built for kids from about 5. Every day also works with toddlers, grandparents and anyone who doesn't hike.
| Day | Ages | Walking | Time in the vehicle |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Arrival | Any age | None | 30 to 40 min one way |
| 2 · Palo Verde | Any age | None, seated on the boat | About 2 h 40 round trip |
| 3 · Catamaran | Any age | None; snorkeling optional | Pickup on the beach |
| 4 · Tenorio Rainforest | Any age | Short path to the waterfall pool; easy, well-kept trails in the reserve | About 3 h 30 round trip |
| 5 · Free day | — | — | None |
| 6 · Rincón de la Vieja | Any age | Easy first stretch of the Las Pailas trail; we turn back when you want | About 3 h round trip |
| 7 · Departure | Any age | None | 30 to 40 min one way |
Optional extra for kids from 10: white-water rafting on the Tenorio River. Kids' prices: under 3 travel free, ages 3 to 5 pay half on land tours, and from 6 they pay the adult price. Private boat charters like the catamaran are priced per boat, so kids don't change that price; on ATVs and ziplines every rider pays the adult price.
Guanadreams CR is a family business too, running private nature tours in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, since 2014.
One closed price for your family, with a day-by-day proposal within 24 hours. Tell us your dates, your hotel and the kids' ages. Lodging is not included; we recommend where to stay.
A 50% deposit confirms the trip and the balance is due seventy-two hours before day one. Free cancellation up to seventy-two hours before the start; inside that window the trip is not refundable. If we cancel for safety, you get a full refund. On peak dates (December 15 to January 15, Holy Week and Thanksgiving week) the trip is paid in full when you book and the window is longer — see our booking terms. No card surcharge.
Minimum four guests. Sloths in the Tenorio Rainforest in the morning, then about 1 h 30 to La Fortuna and an evening in hot springs. Next morning, Arenal's hanging bridges or a swim at the La Fortuna waterfall, then about four hours back to your beach hotel. It uses the free day, and La Fortuna gets more rain than the Tenorio Rainforest, so we decide with the forecast. See La Fortuna Overnight.
Normal rainy-season rain doesn't cancel a tour; storms do. Day 5 is free so a tour can move, and Palo Verde, on the dry Pacific side, is the safest day to swap in.
Las Pailas closes on Mondays and the volcano is active: we check the day before and switch to Santa Rosa National Park or a hacienda with its own trails. In October and November Llanos de Cortés closes often; we replace it with a chocolate tour or hanging bridges near the sloth reserve.
If the captain calls off the catamaran for wind or swell, we move it to the free day or refund it in full.
Seven days works well from one hotel: four guided days, a free day, and the arrival and departure days. For Guanacaste, Costa Rica, we usually recommend 7 to 8 days. With 8, add a second free beach day. With 6, drop the free day. To add Arenal Volcano, turn days 4 and 5 into one night in La Fortuna.
In a private air-conditioned vehicle, so you never rent a car or drive. For families of up to six, your guide is also the driver; from seven, a separate driver comes along. Every seat has a seat belt and every vehicle we use is insured and operates with ICT and CTP permits. We pick you up at your hotel lobby each morning and bring you back the same day.
Sneakers or closed shoes for the rainforest and Rincón de la Vieja (not flip-flops), swimsuits, a light rain jacket, hats, insect repellent and sunscreen. Pack a change of clothes for the waterfall and hot springs days. Our What to Pack guide has the full list.
This itinerary runs all year. December to April is the dry season in Guanacaste, Costa Rica; from December the Papagayo winds cool the sea, so we snorkel in sheltered bays where the water stays clearer. May to November is the green season. Normal rain doesn't cancel a tour, and in October and November, when the Llanos de Cortés waterfall often closes, we have a swap ready.
One hotel on the coast of Guanacaste, Costa Rica, for the whole week: Papagayo, Playas del Coco, Playa Hermosa, Conchal or Tamarindo. All-inclusive resorts work well, and we pick up at the lobby. From Papagayo, Coco or Hermosa no drive is longer than 1 h 45; from Conchal or Tamarindo, the rainforest and Rincón de la Vieja days add about 35 minutes to an hour each way. We recommend hotels but don't book them.
On this trip: a riverboat in Palo Verde to look for crocodiles and monkeys, snorkeling from a private catamaran, a swim at the Llanos de Cortés waterfall, wild sloths and frogs in the Tenorio Rainforest, and boiling mud pots and hot springs at Rincón de la Vieja. On the free day you can add ziplining, horseback riding and ATVs, or the La Leona waterfall hike for kids from about 8.
Costa Rica is one of the safest countries in Latin America. On this trip you don't drive, a guide is with you on every land tour, and every vehicle we use is insured and operates with ICT and CTP permits. Swim at calm beaches, not big-surf ones like Playa Grande or Avellanas, and keep away from estuaries, where crocodiles live. Touching or holding wild animals isn't allowed, and monkeys are best watched from a distance.
We quote one closed price for your family, not a price per activity, and send it within 24 hours. It covers the private vehicle and guide, entrance fees, the boats, lunch on land tour days and taxes. Children under 3 travel free and ages 3 to 5 pay half on land tours, and with four or more travelers airport transfers are included. Your hotel is booked and paid separately.
Tell us your hotel, your dates and the kids' ages. We reply with a day-by-day plan and one closed price within 24 hours.
