Our general rule is that we never hit the same destination twice. It’s such a big world with so much to see and do that we’d rather see and experience new places and things. However, Costa Rica is such a big, beautiful country with so much to see and do that it was definitely worth a second trip! For our first visit to Costa Rica in 2007 we stayed in Puntarenas and took various day trips to different areas. We got to see quite a bit but spent a lot of time in the car. This time we chose to stay a few days in two different areas so we could really have time to explore, relax and get more than just a quick taste of the area. Costa Rica is so large with such varied landscapes and climates, I strongly suggest exploring more than one section during a visit.
After a long day of traveling we arrived at our first stop, the Springs Resort and Spa in La Fortuna (the Arenal area of Costa Rica). This five-star property located on 165 acres and voted by CNN travel as one of seven resorts with the most spectacular views in the world, turned out to be one of my favorite resorts we’ve ever stayed at! Every single room has a stunning view of the Arenal Volcano! Waking up to the amazing view was definitely a surreal way to start the day. The Springs has twenty-eight hot springs on the property with temperatures ranging from 83-104F. One spring even had a water slide called the Monkey Slide built into the rocks! It may have been the fastest waterslide we’ve ever been on and the kids definitely had a lot of fun there while my husband and I did lots of soaking and relaxing in the springs. I love warm water so having it readily available was like a dream come true! Because the property is so large and there’s so many springs available we never had to compete for a spot and had springs all to ourselves 95% of the time.The Arenal volcano is only about 3.5 miles from the resort so our first full day was spent hiking over hardened lava and through the rainforest. It was neat to hike in a different environment than we’re used to and see some different animals and fauna while surrounded with amazing views. Plus, we got the most delicious empanadas we’ve ever tasted from a little restaurant on the property. We had hiked the volcano during our last visit but the volcano was still active then, so it was interesting to see the drastic difference of the landscape now that the volcano has been dormant for a few years. Since we love keeping busy and experiencing different things, I loved that the resort had the Club Rio Outdoor Center located right on property. A quick free shuttle ride down to the river and we were able to spend the day horseback riding, river rafting, rock climbing and soaking in even more hot springs. It was a really fun day! I especially enjoyed our horseback riding adventure that took us through the rainforest and even galloping through the river. I was glad we had our rental car for our trip to the volcano and nightly drives into La Fortuna for delicious and very reasonably priced dinners. This resort was definitely a splurge for us but after discovering the property I couldn’t resist a visit – turns out it was definitely a great choice!
After four days at the Springs Resort it was time to move on to our next adventure. A three hour drive on curvy roads up and over mountains led us to the Riu Guanacaste resort, our home for the rest of our vacation. It was crazy how quickly our surroundings went from warm and tropical to arid and incredibly hot! We spent our first two days relaxing poolside (unfortunately it was way too windy for the beach), having fun at the large waterpark and enjoying the all-inclusive amenities before setting off on new adventures. The Diamante Eco Adventure Park is located right next door to the Riu and a free shuttle service was offered from the resort, so that made our adventure seeking much easier! We did our homework before leaving home so we knew Diamante was known for having the only dual line zipline with ocean views and a 1 mile section that could be done in superman position! Diamante offers a few excursions and packages but we opted for their Adventure Pass which gave us a full days worth of activities. First on the list was ziplining. My husband and son were the only family members to have ever ziplined so this was a new adventure for most of us. We started with a short line to get a feel for it before being brought higher up the mountain and set up for our headfirst one mile long superman zip lining adventure. I’ve got to admit it was scary being strapped in and released headfirst but the view was amazing and it was definitely a once in a lifetime experience! From there we continued on to a few different lines making our way down the mountain. The last line brought us to a 30-foot free fall quick jump that led to a hanging bridge over crocodiles! Once across the bridge we found ourselves in the animal sanctuary with a family of howler monkeys in the trees above. I LOVE monkeys so I could have spent the rest of the afternoon standing there watching them! However, it was a really great animal reserve and I’m glad I moved on from the monkeys.We spent a good amount of time watching and interacting with various animals including beautiful blue butterflies, spider monkeys that yelled at us through their cage and parrots that mimicked my laugh. A buffet lunch was included in our ticket price so from the animals we went back up to the adventure center where we enjoyed a delicious authentic lunch with an amazing view. The pass also included entrance to a botanical garden which housed a replica of a typical farmhouse where hands-on cultural experiences with coffee, chocolate and sugar cane took place. We learned all about how chocolate goes from bean to bar and even got to mix up our own chocolate. Our youngest loves sugarcane so she was so excited to get to take part in the pressing of sugar cane into juice. It was a really great day filled with memories to last forever! Our last few days were spent relaxing at the resort and spotting wildlife like huge iguanas that even went in the pool, a racoon that appeared at dinner and wild howler and spider monkeys in the trees.
Costa Rica once again did not disappoint and I must say I think I’d even go back again! We still haven’t seen the Caribbean side or checked out any waterfalls. So even though it would be a third trip we’d be experiencing new things. This was yet another family vacation full of quality time spent together experiencing new things and making memories that will stay with us forever.
Take vacations, go as many places as you can. You can always make money, you can’t always make memories.
Great photos!!!
📸 😉
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