I’ve often been asked where I vacation when I live in Costa Rica?

The answer is simple: In other parts of Costa Rica (usually) when I am not visiting family and friends in the states.

Sometimes it’s hard to figure out what to do with smaller children, especially when travelling to another country. I truly recommend that if you are travelling with smaller children (under 5) that it’s best to do less drive time in the car. The drives here can be long and windy sometimes (perfect example as you head to the Arenal region).

We currently live near Playa Conchal in the northwest coast of Guanacaste. We decided to take a little two hour road trip to Tilaran on the south end of Lake Arenal and stayed at a home in a development my friend is selling. What a nice place!

We had plenty of room to run around and spread out. So, that is #1 on my list with children-rent a home or condo when that option is available. I will not take my children to a hotel until they are a little older (they are 2 and 4 now). They are boys. They like space!

My husband and I decided to visit Sky Trek/Sky Tram the following day, which is about 1 hour north of Tilaran. Since the boys are little, we did not do the canopy tour (which is the best in the country in my opinion). We did, however, take a hike in the rain forest (called Sky Walk) through some amazing scenery and across some very high suspended bridges.

The boys also enjoyed the butterfly garden and how the butterflies were everywhere. My older son Kian particularly loved the amazing Blue Morpho butterfly where you can see pretty much everywhere in the Arenal lake region.

The boys really liked the activities. Elijah, my 2-year-old, loved the hike, but after ten minutes he asked me to pick him up. I had a very sore right arm at the end of the trip! One can forget how heavy a 2-year old can be…

The highlight of visiting Arenal for me is always catching the Arenal Volcano on a clear day. Arenal Volcano is the most active volcano in Costa Rica and has the largest lake as well. Truly, I think that the Arenal volcano is just majestic! It’s worth a visit and travelling there is half the fun.

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Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.