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Costa Rica Family Escape: Tortuguero & Arenal 21 Nov, 2025

FAMILY VACATIONS / Costa Rica

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Amazing Experience

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Overview

Trip Overview

This 8-day trip to Costa Rica is designed with all ages in mind. Making the most of Costa Rica’s incredible biodiversity, it’s packed with educational fun for kids and memorable experiences for parents, bringing together the best of Costa Rica.

 Spend your arrival day in San Jose, either relaxing or enjoying the sights, sounds, and excitement of Costa Rica’s capital. The following day, your journey to Tortuguero, on Costa Rica’s west coast takes you through Braulio Carrillo National Park, ensuring a picturesque journey. Then board your boat, arriving at your lodge in time for lunch. The afternoon takes you to the car-free oasis of Tortuguero Village.

Then, it’s time to explore the Mawamba gardens, with your guide along to explain some of the plant and animal species you’ll see, as well as local conservation projects. After lunch, a boat tour takes you through the Tortuguero Canals, which are used for transportation while sustaining a wide array of wildlife year-round. There’s so much to do and see in Tortuguero, you’ll probably want an extra day, either to relax or explore some more, so one is included in this itinerary, to spend at your leisure.

 From the Pacific Coast to Costa Rica’s most famous mountain, it’s time to get your adrenaline pumping in the Arenal Volcano region. Again, you’ll transfer by boat and bus. Since Arenal is a high-energy kind of destination, start with two of Costa Rica’s most inspiring exports, coffee and chocolate! You’ll learn about the history of both in Costa Rica, before meeting one of its most adorable and adaptable creatures, the sloth. Explore La Fortuna with your guide, keeping your eyes peeled for sloths, along with toucans, poison dart frogs, and other species

 Ready for some adventure? Your last full day in Costa Rica will see you swinging through the treetops! Okay, we exaggerate, but not by much. Under the supervision of your guide, take an aerial adventure through the rainforest, descending via eight zip lines, taking in the best views of the rainforest with plenty of opportunities to observe the wildlife enroute.

Return to San Jose for your onward flight.

Highlights

Departures

Departs from Costa Rica daily

 

Trip Includes

  • Private arrival and departure airport transfers
  • 1 night in first-class accommodations in San Jose
  • 3 nights in first-class accommodations in Tortuguero
  • 3 nights in first-class accommodations in Arenal
  • Shared bus & boat transfer from San Jose to Tortuguero (max 42 guests)
  • Small group touring at Mawamba Lodge (max 18 guests)
  • Entrance fee to Tortuguero National Park
  • Shared boat & bus transfer from Tortuguero to Arenal (max 42 guests)
  • Small group Coffee & Chocolate tour (max 11 guests)
  • Small group “Meet the Sloths” adventure (max 11 guests)
  • Private-guided canopy adventure with Tarzan swing
  • Breakfast daily (excluding day 1), 4 lunches, 4 dinners

 

Trip Excludes

  • Travel insurance
  • International, domestic airfare & airfare taxes
  • Meals and beverages not explicitly listed as included
  • Gratuities
  • Optional excursions
  • Items of a personal nature
  • Visa fees, if applicable

Summary

Terms and Conditions

Prices are "from" per person based on twin/double share accommodation and for travel in low season (advertised pricing based on 4 September 2023 departure – alternative dates available). Seasonal surcharges and blackout dates may apply. Limited seat/spaces and all pricing is subject to change and availability. Rates for single or triple travellers are available on request - please inquire.

San Jose Juan Santamaria Airport to San Jose

 

Hotel Presidente San Jose

1 Night Stay

Meal Plan: Full Breakfast

In the heart of Downtown San Jose, Costa Rica, the Hotel Presidente is located on the corner of the Central Avenue Pedestrian Boulevard and Seventh Street, just 20 minutes from the San Jose, Costa Rica International Airport.

Hotel Presidente San Jose

Depart early this morning from San Jose. Drive through Braulio Carrillo National Park, where you have the opportunity to see beautiful views and abundant vegetation. On the way, stop for breakfast at Selva Tropical Restaurant where you can enjoy a butterfly garden with a variety of tropical flowers. After breakfast, continue to Cano Blanco dock passing banana plantations along the way.

At Cano Blanco, you will board the covered boat to the lodge, passing the Tortuguero canals arriving at the lodge in the early afternoon. At the lodge, the staff will be waiting for you with a refreshing cocktail, your rooms will be assigned and the guide will explain the afternoon activities after lunch - the visit to the Turtle Museum of the Caribbean Conservation Corporation and to the colourful Tortuguero town.

You will return to the lodge around in the evening. The remainder of the day is at leisure to enjoy the pool and bar.

Meal

Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch

 

Laguna Lodge - CT

Laguna Lodge is a rain forest ecotourism lodge located along Costa Rica's northern Caribbean Zone. This region is the most important nesting site in the entire western half of the Caribbean for the green sea turtle. The lodge offers 80 standard rooms with views to the gardens and forest that surround it.

Laguna Lodge - CT

Begin today with a morning tour to admire the awakening of the wildlife of Tortuguero. Return for breakfast. Following breakfast, take another boat tour to admire the canals of Tortuguero National Park. This is a wonderful and interesting experience where you can see abundant flora and fauna of Tortuguero National Park. Return to the lodge for lunch.

In the afternoon, there is an optional tour to the canals or you can stay at the lodge to explore the private trails of the lodge, visit the open butterfly garden, botanical gardens and trails.

Dinner at the lodge and night at leisure.

Meal

Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch

 

Laguna Lodge - CT

Laguna Lodge is a rain forest ecotourism lodge located along Costa Rica's northern Caribbean Zone. This region is the most important nesting site in the entire western half of the Caribbean for the green sea turtle. The lodge offers 80 standard rooms with views to the gardens and forest that surround it.

Laguna Lodge - CT

Your day is at leisure in Tortuguero to enjoy your accommodation facilities and explore the surroundings.

Meal

Breakfast, Dinner, Lunch

 

Laguna Lodge - CT

Laguna Lodge is a rain forest ecotourism lodge located along Costa Rica's northern Caribbean Zone. This region is the most important nesting site in the entire western half of the Caribbean for the green sea turtle. The lodge offers 80 standard rooms with views to the gardens and forest that surround it.

Laguna Lodge - CT

Los Lagos Hotel, Spa & Resort

3 Night Stay

Meal Plan: Full Breakfast

Los Lagos Hotel, Resort & Spa is located 6 km from Fortuna de San Carlos, on the road to the volcano and about 55 km from the Ciudad Quesada. The 92 rooms are divided in different categories: 23 standard rooms, 14 premium rooms and 49 superior rooms. Every room has air conditioning, ceiling fan, cable TV, safety box, telephone, terrace and mini fridge. The superior room has also a coffee maker. The hotel provides room service, bar, spa, conference room, laundry service, gift shop, restaurant, Jacuzzi, 2 pools trails, sauna and parking.

Los Lagos Hotel, Spa & Resort

 

Depart Tortuguero National Park

After breakfast, you will depart for Cano Blanco to board your bus transfer back from the canals. Stop en route for lunch at Tropical Restaurant in Guapiles, and then continue on to San Jose or connect with a transfer to your next destination.

Meal

Breakfast, Lunch

During this tour, you will enjoy the sights and sounds of Costa Rican wildlife on a relaxing Safari Float from La Fortuna to Arenal. This trip takes place on Peñas Blancas river. This peaceful tour allows you to enjoy the tranquility of Costa Rica's rainforest soaking in all the sights and sounds of this astounding tropical setting. Be sure to keep an eye out for a variety of monkeys, caimans, iguanas, Jesus Christ lizards and a wide assortment of colorful bird species. The river is home to small crocodiles that often duck in the water when you cruise past. Your naturalist guide will share the local history, knowledge of the plants and animals you encounter on the float. You will spend around two hours cruising at a relaxing paddle pace while exploring the riverbanks for rainforest inhabitants. After returning to the dock, you will depart for a tortilla making experience and visit a local family. At Doña Mara's home, you will get a better understanding of the meaning of "Pura Vida", a core philosophy held dearly by rural Costa Ricans. You will be welcomed with a tropical drink at the "rancho" and enjoy a delicious typical lunch prepared on Doña Mara's rustic wood-fired ground corn "masa". You will learn how to flatten the dough into perfect circles, ready for cooking and you will get to taste them. Upon completion of the tour, you will be returned to your hotel.

Private Sloth Tour

The Arenal area is well known for the diversity of its fauna, however, one of the most popular species is the sloth. During this activity, you will have the opportunity to admire two or three fingers sloths, these being the most popular species in the region, and you will also learn about their many unique quirks. Your guide will look for the best places to observe them in their natural habitat, leading you through beautiful open areas in La Fortuna and, with a little luck, you will spot many more species such as the multicolored toucan, the poison dart frog, iguanas, and monkeys, among others.

 

Private Night Experience with Dinner

This tour is ideal for those who wish to take advantage of the night and discover the nocturnal wonders of Costa Rica. You'll begin with a brief transfer to reach the small family project for reforestation and protection of wild species in their natural habitat: EcoGarden Arenal. Founded by Jose Adán Díaz for the protection of a wetland and reforestation of an area previously dedicated to livestock, the ecosystem has been created to allow many species of wildlife to have a suitable area for their nesting and reproduction free from human interference. On the property, you will enter a regenerating forest following a one-kilometer path with water mirrors that facilitate the appreciation of nocturnal fauna such as some active nocturnal birds and resting daytime birds, mammals, a variety of insects, bats, sometimes snakes, nocturnal butterflies, but mainly frogs, among which you can see the Hammer Frog and the Bull Frog, the smallest and largest in Costa Rica, as well as the beautiful Red-Eyed Frog and the spectacular Glass Frog. The tour leads around a lagoon inhabited by a pair of caimans that every year reproduce naturally in this same place, where their young can also be safely observed, as well as a huge number of specimens of the popular "Chocuaco" (Cochlearius cochlearius). Once the tour is over, a delicious typical Costa Rican dinner awaits you at the family home, next to the forest.

La Fortuna - Arenal to San Jose Juan Santamaria Airport

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