Explore Costa Rica: 10 Day Itinerary
Costa Rica: 10 Day Itinerary
Costa Rica is a beautiful country in Central America with epic jungles, expansive beaches, active volcanoes, rich biodiversity, and some awesome adventure activities for the whole family. The beautiful scenery in Costa Rica makes it a nature lovers paradise, but the many amenities and family friendly activities make it accessible for a wide range of travelers.
Our family has spent quite a bit of time in Costa Rica. We are Canadian so it’s a short 5.5 hour direct flight from Toronto and the country is well set up to cater to tourists. You can definitely get off the beaten path for a more rustic adventure, but if you want to have an exciting family trip without any extreme adventures, Costa Rica is a great place.
In fact, we like it so much we decided to purchase a property! Buying real estate internationally is a whole other thing and a learning adventure in and of itself. We rent out our place on AirBnB if you’re interested!
There are two main airports you can fly into: Liberia or San Jose.
Since we normally stay in the Guanacaste Province in the Northwest part of the country, so Liberia is our go-to airport.
There are many tour companies and transportation options available if you aren’t interested in driving on your vacation.
We prefer the flexibility of exploring on our own timeline and being able to pack car snacks and listen to audiobooks so a rental car is necessary for us….or maybe it’s a luxury, but either way it’s our preference.
Driving in Costa Rica is definitely different than driving in Canada or the US. The roads are typically only 2 lanes with narrow shoulders, so speed of traffic is slower. The main roads are kept in pretty good condition, but as soon as you get off the main highways, road conditions are unpredictable (i.e. big pot holes, flooding). If you plan to do any exploring off the beaten path, or even to any of the popular hiking locations, a 4X4 is a must. I also wouldn’t recommend driving a small car since having clearance on potholes is helpful!
Unfortunately, renting a car in Costa Rica is super expensive!! The majority of our travel budget goes toward a car so maybe I haven’t unlocked the secret to this quite yet, or maybe I need to let go of this luxury? I know we could compromise on this by renting a car for just specific adventures, but I can’t seem to give up the flexibility of being able to explore when and how we want. Having wheels is freedom, so to me it’s an unavoidable cost of travel in Costa Rica.
One thing I learned after my first trip to Costa Rica is that the big rental sites DO NOT include the cost of mandatory insurance coverage. If you see a great price for a rental car on Expedia and you book it, make sure to actually double it because you will be paying more when you go to pick up your vehicle. Here’s why: Costa Rica requires mandatory Collision Damage Waiver coverage as well as third party liability.
Most quotes from third party sources don't include this, so you need to add between $25 and $40/day to the quoted price. In most cases the cost of insurance basically doubles the cost of the rental. Be prepared!
One travel hack for renting a car is to get a letter from your credit card if you have auto insurance on your VISA/ MASTERCARD. If you provide a letter with proof of coverage for Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) or Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) as I believe these terms are interchangeable, the rental company can waive the mandatory purchase of coverage and it will save you about $10-15/day.
The best local companies in Costa Rica are:
If you book directly on their websites, you will see the insurance requirements and can get an accurate price rather than booking through a third party.
You can also find the usual companies in Costa Rica like Avis, Enterprise, National, Alamo, etc.
Quick note that none of the rental cars are on site at Liberia airport, so you have to get in a shuttle that will take you to your rental car location. There are lots of people out front of the airport offering taxis and shuttles, but just say where you have booked your reservation for your rental car and you will get pointed in the right direction. People in Costa Rica are very helpful, and other than exercising the usual amount of caution when travelling, you don’t need to assume that every person at the airport is trying to swindle you.
Once you have your rental car you can head out on your 10-day trip in Costa Rica!
When to visit Costa Rica?
There are two seasons in Costa Rica: Rainy (Green) and Dry.
During the rainy season, it is still possible to visit and enjoy all there is to see as it often only rains for a few hours in the afternoon. However, this time of year (especially Sept & October) are more prone to storms and indirect effects of nearby hurricanes, usually resulting in heavy rain and floods. Since most of Costa Rica has dirt roads, that can make traveling through different parts of the country a challenge for a few days after a big storm. The rainy season (or the green season to Costa Ricans) makes the whole country very lush and beautiful, and it lasts from May- November. Many businesses close for a few weeks in October since this is their lowest season. If you travel during this time, you may find some great deals on accommodation, car rentals, and tours, but also be aware that some restaurants and tours are may be unavailable due to decreased demand.
The dry season lasts from December- April and is typically very hot and dry. Hiking is less muddy during this time of year, but tourist attractions tend to be busier since the North Americans flock south.
Now that you have some background info, let’s look at a great 10-day Costa Rica Itinerary! This particular itinerary explores the norther pacific coast of Costa Rica and heads to the interior to see Arenal volcano and Rio Celeste.
Arrival: Liberia Airport
Days 1- 3: Tamarindo
Tamarindo is a lovely small town on the beach and a popular tourist spot. It’s about a 45 minute drive from Liberia through rural areas that will give you an opportunity to sightsee some local housing, farms, and vegetation.
If you stay right in Tamarindo there are plenty of restaurants and shops to visit along the main strip. The big hotel is the Tamarindo Diria. There are many smaller condos, hostels, and hotels as well. We always stay in Villareal which is a super small area right at the intersection of the main road from Liberia and the road leading to Tamarindo beach. It’s a convenient location (if you have a car) because you can head out to other beaches or adventure activities, without having to drive the extra 5-10 minutes on the beach road which can often be quite busy during high season. However, it also means you aren’t in a good location for walking to restaurants or the beach.
While staying in the Tamarindo area you must visit the beach! This is the main attraction. The beach is long and stays very shallow for a long ways out. The water level on the beach changes dramatically with the tide since it’s is such a gradual descent into deep water. At low tide there are plenty of tide pools for the kids to play in.
This is also the ideal learn to surf beach. The waves are pretty gentle, and it’s a nice sandy bottom. There are plenty of surf schools to book a lesson.
While hanging out on the beach you will undoubtedly see someone living out their dream of riding a horse on the beach. The horses go up and down all day long, with each new rider having the experience of a lifetime. You can live your dream too!
Take the family to eat at Joe’s. They have a great kids menu and it’s right on the beach. There is even a play structure within sight of the patio and lots of room for the kids to roam.
Another great family friendly restaurant is La Baula Pizza restaurant. They have an awesome play structure for the kids as well, if you have little ones that prefer not to sit idly for too long.
If you have a car, you can drive out to Hacienda Pinilla and go to the beach club. They have a big pool and restaurant. There is also the JW Marriot with many restaurants. It’s about a 10-15 minute drive from Tamarindo, just be aware that the road to Hacienda Pinilla, which is a pretty high end gated community, is FULL of potholes.
From Tamarindo you can take a day trip to the Congo Trail for family friendly zip lining. My 4 and 6 year old kids took part and they both had an amazing time. The guides are fantastic, and since the kids are propelled by their own body weight, they don’t go that fast on the lines. They had an absolute blast, and although I was nervous it would be too scary for them, it was one of those things that looked way scarier than it actually was. I would highly recommend it!!
The congo trail also offers horse back riding and ATV tours, and when we took the kids the 4 of us rode in a super fun dune buggy while the other adults got to ride their own ATV. It was a super fun thing to do with the kids and the whole family!
The other cool thing to see is the animals. They have a wildlife enclosure with crocodiles, howler monkeys, snakes, lizards, turtles, and more. There are also the wild monkeys that come to visit as well.
Visit the night market in Tamarindo for some local shopping!
Places to Stay:
Many great AirBnB options in the area, like ours!
Wherever you choose to stay, make sure that it has a great swimming pool!!
Days 4-7 La Fortuna
Once you have had your fun at the beach, it’s time to head into the jungle!
You have to be prepared for this drive because it’s about 4 hours long. There are some nice hikes along the way to help you break up the drive.
Llanos de Cortes Waterfall is a great stop on the way for a short hike a beautiful waterfall.
The route you choose to La Fortuna matters. If you take the route that leads you around Lake Arenal, it is very scenic but they are curvy narrow roads. The road the takes you towards Rio de Celeste is much straighter and doesn’t have the cliff features.
The other beautiful hike on the way there or back from La Fortuna is the Rio de Celeste waterfall. The waterfall is supposed to be one of the most photographed on earth because of the striking blue colour of the water. In fact, this is an optical illusion, but the beauty is real.
It is about an hour drive from La Fortuna and the waterfall itself is reached at the end of a reasonable hike and A LOT of stairs. The stairs are no joke. I saw a lot of people struggling or opting out of the descent down to the main viewpoint of the waterfall. If you are physically able, do the stairs. This place is one of the most beautiful on earth. It is well worth it for the views of the breathtaking blue water. It is the opinion of my 6 year old daughter that this is where mermaids must live.
You can hire a guide for the hike to help you see the wildlife. We opted not to hire a guide, but since there were many guides on the trail, we would often benefit from their presence and what they were showing those on their tour. We saw monkeys, lizards, birds, and a snake. I am not a fan of snakes, in fact I have a bit of a phobia….but this was totally fine. I know Costa Rica has a lot of snakes, and poisonous ones at that, but you don’t see them often unless you are really looking off the trail. I was glad to have one pointed out to me just to remove the mystery a bit.
Once you arrive in the town of La Fortuna you’ll get a view of the Arenal Volcano. As you can see from the photo, it almost looks like what you would build for a science project. It’s very different than the vast volcanoes in Hawaii. This one is small and active, and really quite picture perfect.
The rain forests that surround Arenal offers some beautiful scenery and great guided hiking through Arenal Volcano national park.
My daughter and I took a 2.5 hour horseback riding tour Don Tobias Horseback riding and it was AMAZING. Whether you are experienced or have never ridden before, these guys are fantastic and give you a very authentic experience riding through the jungle of the volcano.
You can vist the sloth trail for a night hike and a view of these amazing creatures!
Visit the La Fortuna waterfall!
There are lots of resorts and hotels in La Fortuna. Since the active volcano creates natural hot springs, many of the resort hotels provide access to the hot springs.
We stayed at Baldi Resort & Hot Springs. It has beautiful private rooms and well kept grounds. The big super fun benefit of this hotel was the waterslides for the kids (and adults). These waterslides are no joke though, you can get some serious speed! They have slower and smaller ones for the kids and there are heigh requirements, but it was a lot of fun. They have restaurants on site, and a buffet. We stayed here for 2 nights and it was definitely a highlight of our 10 days in Costa Rica.
The natural hot tub experience is unbelievable. As you enter the resort, there are pools all throughout the grounds, and as you walk uphill (up the volcano) the water temperature gets warmer. We spent hours going from pool to pool enjoying the hot springs. On this visit we were there during the raining season in early October, so even in the rain it was one of the best things to do. The hot springs in the hot weather of the dry season may not be quite as enjoyable, but since you are in the rain forest part of the country it may cool down enough in the evening. The hotel does have cold pools throughout so you can cool down!
Days 8-10
Stay in the Sardinal District, Playa Hermosa. Here you will find more tropical beaches.
Here you are closer to Liberia and more hiking options nearby. The ponderosa adventure park is nearby for more wildlife encounters, and you can enjoy one of the many resorts. If you are visiting at the right time of year you can visit the Sea Turtles nesting on the beach!
A popular tourist spot is the La Leona Waterfall. This an incredible adventure! You get to swim (they provide life jackets) and hike your way to a secluded waterfall. The hike itself is not strenuous, but there is lots of uneven ground and slippery rocks. It’s a beautiful hike through the forest. A guide is mandatory for this location. If you are there during the dry season, this tour is amazing! During the rainy season the water level is pretty high and currents can be pretty strong, so I would avoid it with small kids, but if you have experienced active adventurers you can give it a go! You want to go in the morning since it rains most afternoons. Don’t miss this classic Costa Rica experience!
Costa Rica has many excellent guided tour options, with wonderful local guides.
The best option for tours is to plan your full day adventures, what you want to explore on your own, and then book your tours. If you plan to explore through booked tours, you might not need a rental car!
Costa Rica is among the best places in the world to visit. There are so many activities tailored to tourists, that it is easy to have a fun filled vacation beyond your hotel.
Happy adventuring!
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