Children love exploring Monteverde. Everyone can go on the hiking trails and hanging bridges. Guided night hikes with flashlights are available. Older children will love horseback riding and zip lines. There are butterfly gardens, a serpentarium, an insect museum, a frog pond and many opportunities to see wildlife.
Lake Arenal is adjacent to the Arenal Volcano. Older children will love learning to windsurf, wakeboard or kayak. Horseback riding and zip lines are available, as is an impressive butterfly garden. There are sightseeing pontoon boats, which can take you to the cloud forest bypassing a long bumpy car ride. Several hotels feature multiple pools with volcanic hot springs. An hour drive northwest, the entire family can enjoy a gentle raft trip on the Corobici River viewing crocodiles, caymans and all sorts of wildlife.
Arenal Volcano offers all terrain vehicles (ATV) and mountain bikes. Older children can rappel or go canyoning. Near the Poás Volcano is the La Paz Waterfall Garden with waterfalls, butterfly, bird, monkey snake and frog exhibits.
Costa Rica has many beaches on both the Pacific and Caribbean sides. Playa Hermosa is a protected beach on the North Pacific. Manuel Antonio National Park on the Central Pacific can almost guarantee your children will see monkeys in the wild. Teens may be interested in learning scuba diving, para sailing, jet skiing, surfing or sport fishing. Everyone will love snorkeling and going on whale and dolphin watching trips. Turtle watching while they are nesting is also very popular. Children will enjoy the beach, with all the standard beach activities.
In San Jose, children may enjoy a visit to the Gold Museum, which offers the history of Costa Rica. Outside they can see the National Theater and buy bird food to feed the pigeons at the Plaza de la Cultura.
