Work Hard, Play Hard: Unleashing the Ultimate Adventure in Costa Rica's "Pura Vida" Paradise

Ready to escape the daily grind and immerse yourself in the wonders of Costa Rica? We all work hard, but you have to remember to live life too and I can't think of a better place to visit than the small country of Costa Rica.

Two months ago, I shared how my wife and I sold our house and belongings and moved our 3 kids under 7 to Costa Rica for a year. As we settle back into life in the U.S., I keep getting questions about our time in CR—where to stay, what to do, and how to make the most of your visit.

Well, consider this as your ultimate guide to Costa Rica, for all of you workaholics (like me) that deserve a much needed break. Whether you're seeking breathtaking landscapes, thrilling adventures, or simply a rejuvenating escape on a soft-sanded beach, I've got you covered.

Even with work commitments and homeschooling our kids, my wife and I still managed to carve out time for our family to explore a lot of this mesmerizing country and created unforgettable memories along the way. Get ready to dive into a personally curated 10-day sample itinerary that will introduce you to some of the very best that Costa Rica has to offer.

Plus, I'll share some invaluable travel tips and insights at the end, ensuring you have everything you need to make the most of your tropical getaway.

If Costa Rica has been calling your name, pack your bags, embrace the spirit of adventure, and get ready to enjoy the "Pura Vida" vibes.

???? Heads Up! This post is really long. It's quite comprehensive as you'll see, so take your time as I've packed it with useful information from living in Costa Rica, not just visiting it. I think I've added a unique perspective that hopefully will make your visit a special one!

Sample 10-Day Itinerary (w/Flight Days)

Before I jump into an exciting 10-day itinerary, I want to mention that Costa Rica is largely an outdoor activity-based place to visit. Plus, it can be a very sweat-inducing experience because of the hot humid weather in many parts of the country.

If you don't enjoy sweating through your eyeballs while hiking through a jungle to a hidden waterfall, then perhaps this isn't the adventure for you! ?? Or at least simply stick to the relaxing beach resort experiences (which are amazing unto themselves.)

HEADS UP --> If you don't have 10 days for a vacation, have no fear. I have ideas to shorten up the trip down below.

Day 1 - San Jose

1. Fly into the San Jose Mineta International Airport
2. Grab your rental car
3. Stay a night by the airport

There are two international airports in Costa Rica to choose from; one in San Jose and the other in Liberia. I would recommend flying into San Jose since there are more flight options and it seems to consistently be cheaper (but not always). Plus, working counter-clockwise through the country is a great way to go.

We flew back and forth four times during our 1-year stay and every single one of those flights arrived late in the afternoon or evening, so I would recommend booking a hotel right next to the airport after a long travel day. They all offer free shuttles from the airport and breakfast.

But, if you get into the country in the a.m., go see some animals at the Rescate Wildlife before you stay the night.

We found the Hampton by Hilton, Holiday Inn Express, and Courtyard by Marriott to all be great hotels given they are American brands. Avis car rental company was particularly good to work with.

HEADS UP --> Some rental car companies in CR advertise cheap rates, but then charge you for stupid things afterward. Don't get caught up with that and stick to common rental car companies that you are familiar with—Avis, Enterprise, and Hertz. We particularly liked Avis who was right next to the San Jose airport.

LINKS

• Hotel - Hampton by Hilton
• Hotel - Holiday Inn Express
• Hotel - Courtyard by Marriott
• Avis Car Rental
• Rescate Wildlife Rescue

Day 2 - San Jose to La Fortuna

1. Poàs Volcano
2. La Paz Wildlife Gardens Nature
3. Extra Hike/Swim at Blue Falls of Costa Rica?

After a good night's sleep and some Costa Rican traditional breakfast (or waffles if that's what you prefer), drive to Poàs Volcano first. You'll need to book a slot ahead of time (link below). The Poàs Volcano is an active volcano right next to San Jose and has a breathtaking view from the crater's edge right down into a sulfuric bubbling stew.

Make sure to go as early as you can since it's common for the clouds to roll in and obscure a good view of the crater by 11 am or noon.

Once you park, it's about 1/4 of a mile walk up to the crater's edge with very little incline.

After Poàs, drive north to La Paz where you can see a variety of animals up close and 4 unreal waterfalls right in a row. A bus greets you at the bottom and drives you back to the car. While it's expensive, it's amazing to see everything Costa Rica has to offer—beautiful animals, gushing mountain waterfalls, and lush green jungle—all in a 3-hour experience.

The typical La Paz package also includes lunch onsite, so it's a great place to visit mid-day.

If you have any extra gas in the tank after both of those hikes, drive to Blue Falls of Costa Rica on your way to La Fortuna. They have 7 unreal aqua-blue waterfalls that you can swim in and cool off from the heat of the day.

If not, then head to your hotel in La Fortuna. We stayed at the Volcano Lodge & Spring and really enjoyed it. They had a natural hot spring on site and breakfast included. There are many hotels in this area, so do some research and specifically consider that some are far away from La Fortuna proper (in case you plan on eating out most meals).

LINKS

• Poás Volcano - Google Map - easy hike of 1/4 miles with very little incline
• Poás Volcano - Book Here (find the green "buy" button)
• La Paz Waterfall Gardens Nature Park - medium hiking, with most of it downhill
• Blue Falls of Costa Rica - medium to difficult hike
• Hotel - Volcano Lodge & Spring

Day 3 - La Fortuna

• La Fortuna Waterfall
• Kalumbu Hot Springs

Wake up early and hit La Fortuna Waterfalls first. It's roughly 550 steps down; definitely a leg burner! However, it's a classic jungle waterfall and you can swim at the waterfall or with the fish downstream (my wife's favorite). Either way, it's chilly and not for the faint of heart, but you'll have bragging rights. Even better if it's during the dry season and HOT.

Afterward, grab lunch in La Fortuna and then go soak at Kalumbu Hot Springs. It's a great place with some waterslides and hot springs of different temperatures. If you are traveling with little kids, this likely will be a highlight of the trip for them!

Or if you are staying at one of the many hotels/resorts in the area that have their own hot springs, go enjoy some relaxing hours soaking up the warmth.

HEADS UP --> If you are traveling with little kids, you have to stop in for pizza at Café Mediterraneo. They have an indoor playground for kids to play, so you get the playground of Chick-fil-a but amazing dining like a fancy restaurant. You won't regret it!

LINKS

• La Fortuna Waterfall
• Kalumbu Hot Springs

Day 4 - La Fortuna to Guanacaste

• Rio Celeste Waterfall or visit Sky Adventures
• Drive to Guanacaste

If you are interested in high adventure activities—ziplining, canyoneering, hanging bridges, etc.—then consider spending the morning at Sky Adventures. I have not been there personally, but some friends of ours have and they spoke highly of it. Google reviews are promising as well.

If heart-pumping ziplines or canyoneering down a waterfall aren't your things, then visit my favorite waterfall in Costa Rica, Rio Celeste, on your way to Guanacaste Province. It's an icy-blue color and absolutely gorgeous.

After your morning activity of choice, drive the rest of the way to Guanacaste province. You can stay anywhere up and down the coast, but we particularly enjoyed the Tamarindo to Playa Flamingo areas for access to most of what Guanacaste has to offer.

We stayed at The Westin Reserva Conchal. It's not cheap, but the all-inclusive experience and private access to the beach were unreal.

HEADS UP --> We also did a 2nd trip down to Nosara and Samara and had a great experience—there's a cool vibe down there. If you happen to be in the country from July to December, go see turtles hatching in Ostional National Park.

LINKS

• Rio Celeste y Los Te?ideros
• Sky Adventures
• Hotel - The Westin Marriott Reserva Conchal

Day 5 - Guanacaste

• White Water Rapids with RCR Rafting
• Relax at the beach/Playa Conchal if you are up north

One of the best activities we did in Costa Rica was a white-water rapids adventure with RCR Rafting. It was a 2.5-hour drive from The Westin Marriott resort where we stayed. The Westin had a tour guide shuttle us over, waited for us, and then drove us back as well so we could enjoy the experience.

RCR had water guides that were extremely knowledgeable, spoke great English, and really took care of us. There was enough rapid action that we got flipped over and soaked at one point—an awesome time.

Plan on booking in advance. Their typical package includes lunch (and it was really good).

I have found that most hotels and resorts will help you book excursions. I'm sure they get a kickback, so take advantage. They often have cheaper rates anyways with the volume of guests staying there.

After you get back, head to the beach, read a good book, or catch up on some sleep after everything you have done so far.

HEADS UP --> If you are staying at The Westin, Playa Conchal is the beach right in front of your resort. It is my favorite beach up and down Guanacaste. If you aren't at The Westin, I still think it's worth trying to get to it. You have to park by Brasilito Beach and then hike south around the point.

LINKS

• RCR Rafting

Day 6 - Guanacaste

• Surf or take a surf lesson at Tamarindo Beach
• Relax at beach

If you are a pro surfer, you know that people from all across the world come to Playa Tamarindo to grab some waves. I loved the consistent, predictable waves. If you haven't surfed, you can book a surf lesson. I saw some locals hanging around just in case someone needed a lesson. Take some money with you and go hit it hard.

If surfing isn't your thing, the beach is still amazing. You'll find a lot of great restaurants around the beach as well. It's a bit touristy, but for good reason.

Either hang out there all day or head to another beach of your choosing.

LINKS:

• Playa Tamarindo

Day 7 - Guanacaste to South Pacific

• Drive to Manuel Antonio/Quepos area
• Playa Biesanz

Wake up early and start your drive to the South Pacific Zone. The drive to the SPZ is about 4-5 hours depending on where you are coming from in the Guanacaste region.

Take your time since it's mostly a 2-way highway. The roads can be dicey and you never know when you'll need to pass a semi-truck but have to wait 20 minutes to do it with no good passing lanes!

When you are looking for a place to book, I'd encourage you to stay between the Jaco and Manuel Antonio/Quepos area. If so, you'll be within 2-3 hours of almost everything you'll want to do in this area, making day trips doable.

If you have time, go explore Playa Biesanz. It's beautiful and it feels secluded. There is "free parking", but a guy stopped us saying he would watch our car for us for a few dollars. I didn't mind helping the guy out, but you don't have to pay it.

After you park, find the little path down to the beach. It isn't far. You'll likely hear howler monkeys up above you!

LINKS:

• Playa Biesanz
• AirBNB - Casa Tranquilidad - We stayed here for 3 months and absolutely loved our time in Bejuco. It was by far the cleanest place we stayed in CR and pretty much bug free (which is almost unheard of).

Day 8 - South Pacific Zone

• Canyoneering experience
• Manuel Antonio beach of choice or hike in the area

I watched the kids one morning so my wife could enjoy a canyoneering experience and she couldn't stop talking about it. We booked it through TripAdvisor, but you can find Quepo Canyoning through almost any travel website.

Book ahead for this one because it fills up fast, and I'd suggest doing the morning one (I think it starts at 8 am) because it gets really humid and hot in this area by midday. They provide lunch!

In the afternoon, go enjoy another afternoon on the beach, or find a hike in the area.

The South Pacific zone includes some amazing mountains that flow right into the sea, so there is no shortage of hiking in the area.?

HEADS UP --> Manuel Antonio & Corcovado parks are a lot of hiking in humidity. That wasn't something we thought our kids would want, so we actually didn't explore the parks themselves and therefore I can't recommend what to do in the parks. Both have hiking and good beaches, so go to one of these parks in the afternoon if you are interested.

LINKS:

• Quepo Canyoning - 7 activities all in one

Day 9 - South Pacific

• Monkey Mangrove Tour
• Drive to San Jose
• Check-in at Hotel by the airport
• Dinner at Oxegeno Mall
• Return rental car

Before you head back to San Jose, go do the Monkey Mangrove Tour. Book ahead of time and go as early as you can in the morning while the monkeys are active.

The Monkey Mangrove Chino Tour was great. They are fantastic tour guides and will help get monkeys onto the boat with you. They do it in a really great way so that the monkeys are NOT dependent on them to survive, which I appreciated.

Afterward, start your drive back to San Jose and grab lunch in Bejuco. There are several lunch spots to choose from in the little strip mall (with the big airplane).

After lunch, make the remaining 2 hour drive back to San Jose and check in at your hotel of choice by the airport. If you make it back in time, I'd highly recommend grabbing an early dinner at Oxegeno Mall. It's one of the fanciest malls I've ever been to. Then return your rental car by the airport and grab a cheap Uber back to the hotel.

LINKS:

• Monkey Mangrove Tour
• Grab lunch somewhere near here in Bejuco center
• Oxegeno Mall - Great dinner options with lots of American brands (TGI Fridays, Subway, P.F. Changs, and local cuisine as well)

Day 10 - Fly home

It's time to say goodbye to this beautiful place. Take the free shuttle from your hotel to the airport at least 90 minutes before your flight. You'll need to time it out though, since most of them run their shuttles every 30 minutes.?

General Costa Rica Travel Notes:

Now that I've presented a sample 10-day itinerary, let's talk about a few things...

Modify As Needed

• Obviously you can modify this itinerary as you see fit. With 3 little kids with us, we didn't do a lot of the "high adventure" stuff—zipline, canyoneering, scuba diving—so feel free to pepper those activities into the schedule.
• We particularly loved waterfalls, so you'll see a lot of those in my itinerary, but you can replace some of those with high adventure activities. More than anything, this gives you a framework to start with and you can build out your ideal vacation from there. But I will warn you... most of the activities in CR are outdoor-based and often in very hot/humid climates.

A Heads up on Lodging

• As you might expect, resorts and U.S.-based hotel chains were the cleanest and by far the nicest places we stayed. I think it's mainly because they have higher cleaning and pest prevention standards than a lot of the local hotels. Some Airbnb's and hotels can be iffy.
• If you get squeamish seeing a cockroach, spider, or ants on your bed or inside your place, then be careful where you stay. Even the best of pictures can look great at first glance. You can always reach out to the hotel/Airbnb to find out what they do to keep pests out.?
• And on that topic, there are a lot of pests in Costa Rica. The lush, humid climate is perfect breeding grounds for all manner of insects, so while no hotel is perfect, I can appreciate the ones that are trying to keep stuff out of your room.

The Food is just OK

• For all of you foodies out there, I have some very bad news! Costa Rica is not known for their food. It's often bland and we found "sodas" to be not very good at all (truly most were simply horrible!)
• Here's a quick trick... Go to Google Maps and scroll down to the review section for the restaurant you want to visit. If you see a lot of positive reviews from other expats/travelers in great/native English then it's likely a decent place ?? It's pretty easy to spot the genuine native English reviews versus the ones that are faking it!

You'll Spend More Than You Think

• CR is officially on the map. We spent more money in the last year than we ever have in any given year of our marriage. Everything costs money there, but you can go cheaper if you want to. Still, you get what you pay for and between flights, a rental car, hotels, and activities, you might be surprised to see a 10-day trip like this run between $5-12k per couple (or even more) depending on the extent of things you do and personal choices.
• If you see airfare in the $400-$600 range per person, round trip, that's a good deal. Air prices have increased everywhere, but especially to Costa Rica.

The Rental Car is WORTH IT!!!

• But, don't skimp out on the rental car. I know it's an expensive trip, but I promise...transportation services aren't cheap and the local bus is horrible.
• My advice is to stay at cheaper hotels and then fork out the money for a rental car (they are expensive). Overall, you'll feel better having all the freedom you'll want with your own car ready to go. You can thank me later.

Shrink the Trip As Needed

• Don't have as much time or vacation budget saved for a 10-day trip? My advice is to skip Guanacaste altogether. You can still find awesome relaxing beaches in the South Pacific Zone and you can cut your trip easily down by 2-3 days.
• Simply head south somewhere between Jaco and Manuel Antonio/Quepos after La Fortuna. La Fortuna is a must in my mind. It was by far our favorite area of Costa Rica with how much you can do in the area.
• In fact, we could have easily stayed for 10 days just in that area. You could still run to the beach (3 hours away), do the white water rafting (90 minutes away) and enjoy a plethora of other activities in the area too (chocolate & wine tastings, animal rescues, etc.).?

Rainy Season Shouldn't be Feared, Just Respected

• Yes, it rains a lot in Costa Rica! Specifically between May and November. It particularly can be bad in south Guanacaste near Nosara/Somara and then down near Dominical/Uvita in the South Pacific Zone (in fact, they had a record 450 inches of rain last year... yes you read that correctly).
• However, for most of Costa Rica, the rainy season brings a few hours of rain in the afternoon, with sunshine still almost every day. Get out early and then you'll have clouds rolling in around noon and rain typically between 1 - 7 pm for a few hours.
• September - November 15th are by far the wettest months for most of the country and are the months I would not go back. But outside of that, a little rain actually is nice to cool off the temperature.?

And Because of the Rain, The Ideal Time to Visit Is...

• November 15 - December 15 OR May 1 - July 15
• These periods of time are in the "dry-to-wet transition periods", meaning it's starting to rain for a few hours a day but not for full days at a time (September - November 15th).
• For most people, they read that these are within the rainy seasons so they want to stay away altogether and I think it's a mistake. You can typically find a good airfare deal during these months because of it.
• Plus, there are less people during these times.
• You can still go to CR anytime between Nov 15 and July 15, but the months of January, February, March, and April are basically dry and so there are lots of travelers and costs go through the roof.

The Caribbean Side of Costa Rica

• We never got over to the Caribbean side. We had a chance to, but got turned off by it given all of the crime that they have over there. Some of our close friends had their car broken into 3 times in a 48-hour trip there. Go at your own risk.

Other Activities to Consider

If that isn't enough to mull over, here are a few other things to consider or add to the itinerary as you see fit.

South Pacific Zone

• Jaco Beach has consistent waves for surfing
• Bejuco Beach is really quiet
• Playas Mantas is stunning and we saw white-faced monkeys there every time we went
• The sweet cheese rolls at Pachis Pan in Jaco are incredible
• Dominical/Uvita had really cool vibes and a lot to over, including the world-famous Parque Nacional Marino Bellina (the whales tale) - For some reason we never got there, but it looks very cool

La Fortuna

• We really enjoyed the Místico Arenal Hanging Bridges
• Bogarin Trail was NOT worth the money
• Butterfly Conservatory was incredibly cool, and not just for kids

Guanacaste

• If you can hit Ostional Nacional Wildlife Refuge at the right time of year, you can see baby turtles hatching and I hear it's awesome

San Jose

• Rescate Wildlife - the best animal rescue (zoo) in the country. La Paz was a close 2nd
• The drive from Atenas to Orotina is breathtaking

Pizzeria La Finca was our #1 restaurant in Costa Rica

• The best farmers market can be found in Atenas on Thursday from 12 pm - 9 pm and Friday from 9 am to 12 pm
• Parque Acuatico Villas Fantasia (aka a waterpark) has water attractions for people of all ages - we went 3 times and would have gone again!
• Hang out in the swimming holes at Minas del Aguacate and you can find bats underneath the bridge

Conclusion

Bottom-line, you can't go wrong in Costa Rica. No matter what you do or see, you'll have a great time. If you have any questions above and beyond this article, send me a DM here on LinkedIn or on X/Twitter

Happy to connect and talk through your upcoming vacation. We loved our year-long journey through Costa Rica and got to experience and see a lot, so hopefully I can help provide some insights to help you plan out your dream Costa Rica vacation.

Pura Vida!

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