By Alexis Dorst
This February break, my family of 5 had an exciting and relaxing trip to Costa Rica. It satisfied all the adventure seekers (our 3 teenage daughters and my husband) and my need for warm weather.
Paula Bennett from Rico Tours (Austin, TX) booked our hotel rooms, transfers and tours in Arenal. All went smoothly. We were able to fly direct to Liberia from JFK on JetBlue. United also flies direct to San Jose from Newark.
Our first stop was The Springs Resort & Spa in Arenal which is gorgeous. Our rooms were huge and comfortable and had a great view of the volcanos. The girls loved that their room had 3 separate beds, and a hammock on the balcony. I definitely needed a rest after the long day of traveling, especially riding on the windy Costa Rica roads.
The geothermic pools at The Springs were amazing. They keep a couple of them chlorinated, but the rest of the 28 pools are natural. I rarely go swimming, but the pools are so warm I couldn’t resist.
The first morning we were there, we had a delicious breakfast and explored the hotel. Their area for activities is called Club Rio which we checked out. Unfortunately, almost everything there is for an additional fee and you must book a scheduled tour; all activities are guided by staff. We hiked a little, went in a couple of the hot springs there, and signed up for a couple of activities on Monday.
Jeff and the girls spent the afternoon zip lining while I had a massage. I don’t normally like massages on vacation, but my back was hurting from all the traveling. This was great and so relaxing. The spa is beautiful too. After my treatment I lounged in the waiting room and checked out the steam room and sauna. You could spend hours in there. I happily showered in the private rooms and by then, my crew was back. Jeff and the girls went to Arenal Canopy Adventure, about a 10-15 minute ride from the hotel. The staff were friendly and the cables and safety equipment were first rate. The experience included 8 zip lines and a Tarzan swing. They were back at the hotel about 2 hours after they were picked up.
Our second day was full of adventure. Pure Trek Adventures picked us up early for canyoning. My only complaint was that we made a lot of stops at other hotels on the way to pick up other participants. Then we met at an area and switched to open air 4×4 pickup trucks to take us further into the rainforest. I always knew I was sitting this part out, but my husband and girls loved the thrill of rappelling down the waterfalls. There were also 2 drops that were basically free falls. After this, we were whisked away to our next adventure which was white water rafting with Wave Expeditions in La Fortuna. We did this together and it was great. The Class 2 & 3 rapids were definitely rough in areas (which my family loved and I handled better than I imagined) and our guide was very knowledgeable and fun. One of the girls’ favorite experiences was floating down a calmer part of the river without the raft. After rafting, we dried off a bit and were taken to a small working sugar cane farm for lunch. Even my picky eaters said the food was great. We saw a presentation of how they make sugar cane and then we were taken back to our hotel.
Our last full day we spent at Club Rio. We went river tubing and took a tour of the animals. The resort rescues animals that were mistreated or have been injured. That night, we took a cab into town and had dinner at Pollo Fortuneño for barbeque. The food was delicious. There were several other places we could have eaten had we stayed longer. One of my favorite parts of this trip was that Costa Rica is safe and we were not confined to the resorts.
The next day, we took a van to Guanacaste province (4 hours). This was definitely one of the worst rides of my life. Bromine did not even help. However, our driver was very nice and stopped on the side of the road so we could see some monkeys resting in the trees and a group of Coatis. These animals freaked me out a bit because they resemble raccoons and would have definitely have come up to us if we had food. We also stopped at Tom’s Pan German Bakery which seemed to have every tour bus going to and from Arenal in the parking lot. However, my daughters said the brownies were delicious and we were grateful for the very clean bathrooms.
We finally made it to the Hotel Punta Islita (part of Marriott’s Autograph Collection). The hotel is in a remote coastal area about 2.5 hours south of Liberia, but the views over the Pacific Ocean are magnificent. Here, we had a two-bedroom villa with a generously sized plunge pool and private backyard. The rooms are rustic (especially after being at the luxurious Springs Resort), but very spacious and the private backyard cannot be beat. The space and privacy come at a cost, as the hotel is built into a steep hillside and our villa was located on stairways halfway between the main building at the top and the beach area below. It would be a difficult place to stay with small children or travelers who are not very mobile. The hotel runs a shuttle service between the beach and the rooms, but there are still a lot of stairs.
When we arrived, we had lunch on the beach and then returned later for a special pasta dinner (different cuisine theme each night). Again, the setting is unbelievable and private. It’s the only hotel on this part of the Pacific coast.
Besides the villa, the other positives of this hotel are the activities that are included. Unfortunately, horseback riding was fully booked by the time we got there. However we took advantage of the golf (executive course), cooking lessons, mixology, more zip lining and a monkey quest. There were several other activities that looked appealing, but honestly we were happy just enjoying our down time on the beach and lounging by our private pool.
We were truly sad for our vacation to end. All of us would highly recommend this trip to other families and look forward to the day we can return again.
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