Things to do in Costa Rica with kids

Last updated on April 16, 2026

Costa Rica is a dream family holiday destination and perhaps one of the most memorable adventures you can have as a family. Think sloths in the trees, jungle hikes to waterfalls, ziplining through the canopy, days on the beach, and plenty of time to relax. It’s fairly easy to travel around, and there’s a huge variety of landscapes and experiences, from cloud forests to tropical beaches and active volcanoes.

We spent three weeks exploring Costa Rica with our two sons, aged 4 and 7, and fell head over heels for the country. It’s incredibly family-friendly and packed with adventurous things to do with kids, but it’s also the kind of place that parents love too.

This post rounds up our favourite family-friendly activities across Costa Rica, from night walks and wildlife tours to surf lessons and sloth-spotting. You’ll also find suggestions on where to stay and some tips for making the most of your Costa Rica family trip.

Is Costa Rica good for kids?

Costa Rica is amazing for kids. There’s so much for children to enjoy, from the abundant wildlife and exciting outdoor adventures to child-friendly accommodation and warm, welcoming locals. Our boys were in awe of the animals we saw – sloths, monkeys, toucans, crocodiles, tree frogs, coatis, and more  – and there were loads of activities they could get stuck into.

Many hotels offer family rooms, kid-friendly pools, and on-site activities like butterfly gardens or mini trails. And while it’s an adventurous destination, you can do it in a way that still feels relaxing. Most travel is by road, and it’s easy to self-drive. Just try to take it slowly and allow plenty of time to soak it all in.

Bridges and Balloons’ favourites

Here are some of our Costa Rica highlights with kids:

• Spotting sloths in the wild in La Fortuna
• Surf lessons in Santa Teresa
• A magical bioluminescence tour at Isla Chiquita
• Wandering the hanging bridges at Mistico Park
• Staying on a cacao farm (Finca Amistad) and making chocolate at Two Monkeys
• Doing a coffee tour at El Trapiche
• Staying at some incredible hotels, including our kids’ favourite, Si Como No

The best things to do in Costa Rica with kids

Explore the jungle in Manuel Antonio National Park

Manuel Antonio is Costa Rica’s most famous (and busy) national park for a reason. The jungle is teeming with wildlife and the beautiful beach inside the park is great for a post-hike dip – although it is a little rough, so be careful with little ones. We saw sloths, monkeys, iguanas, bats, and even a sleeping boa.

You can visit alone, but we recommend going with a guide as the animals are so hard to spot. You also get to use their viewing scope, which is essential for seeing far away creatures, like sloths up the trees.

If possible, I also recommend doing a private tour as kids often get restless waiting around with a group. And try to go early in the day to beat the heat. Note that the park is closed on Tuesdays.

Rainmaker Park is another well-reviewed alternative to Manuel Antonio. See more things to do in Manuel Antonio.

Walk the hanging bridges

A novel way to see the jungle is from Costa Rica’s many hanging bridges. We went to Mistico Park, just outside La Fortuna where you can follow a route of six or eight bridges through the canopy, sometimes with epic volcano views. Admittedly, the gaps gave us (okay, me!) a moment of pause, but the kids thought it was the best playground ever and it has a perfect safety record (I’m just a bit scaredy cat!).

You can cover the Mistico self-guided trail in about 1½–2 hours without a guide, though a guided walk will boost your wildlife sightings.

See more things to do in La Fortuna with kids.

Another good place to experience hanging bridges is Monteverde, where you can explore the cloud forest. They have them at both Selvatura and Treetopia, as well as a variety of other adventures, which brings me onto the next point…

Go ziplining

Ziplining is one of Costa Rica’s signature adventures, and there are plenty of places to try it. Monteverde has two fantastic zipline adventures at Selvatura and Treetopia, where you can speed through the misty cloud forest. We didn’t do it this time as our youngest wasn’t quite old enough, but lots of places have family-friendly setups with tandem rides and even zipline “bunny slopes” for younger kids. It’s a thrilling way to see the jungle from above, and older kids often say it was the highlight of their trip.

At Treetopia, you can also ride a gondola through the canopy, and they have a fun “bike zip line” where you can cycle on a cable above the trees!

See the blue river at Rio Celeste

One of my favourite places we visited in Costa Rica was Rio Celeste in Tenorio Volcano National Park. The river is naturally turquoise and is just as impressive as its photos. Two of the best ways to experience it with kids are to do a tubing adventure or hike to the waterfall.

Kids as young as two can join a tubing tour, but we opted out because we felt our youngest (4) was a bit young and not a strong enough swimmer. The trips are guided and generally last a couple of hours, floating in giant rubber rings and riding the white water of the Rio Celeste.

Instead, we hiked to the waterfall, which takes around 30 minutes each way from the entrance to the national park along an easy, flat path (although that didn’t stop our kids from moaning!). Once at the top, there are 200 steps down to the waterfall. Our kids made it halfway, and the view was still spectacular from there. Be sure to book park tickets in advance. They don’t sell them at the gate and the signal is patchy, so do it before you arrive. You can book through the SINAC website.

If you stay at Hideaway Rio Celeste, you’ll have access to a private section of Rio Celeste where you can swim – special as it’s forbidden in the national park.

Go on a wildlife night walk

Seeing as so many of Costa Rica’s creatures are nocturnal, one of the best ways to see wildlife is by doing a night walk. It might be a bit late and dark for really little ones, but this tends to be a hit with older kids.

The tours normally last around 2 hours, but some hotels offer shorter options around their own grounds. We did this at Hideaway Rio Celeste and saw tree frogs and snakes!

Take a surf lesson in Santa Teresa

Costa Rica has world-class waves and is a great place for kids to try surfing. Our kids had the first surf lessons out there in both Santa Teresa and Nosara. I particularly recommend Toro from Blue Surf Sanctuary in Santa Teresa, who is incredible with kids and really helped quell all our nerves. You can do a sort of build-your-own surf retreat at Blue Surf Sanctuary, choosing as many surf lessons and other activities as you like.

The towns of Nosara and Samara are also good options for surf lessons, both with a family-friendly vibe. Jaco is popular, but we’d recommend sticking to the Nicoya Peninsula, which is far more charming and chilled.

Relax at the hot springs in La Fortuna

La Fortuna’s natural hot springs, courtesy of the nearby Arenal Volcano, aren’t just the realm of adults and there are plenty of family-friendly options. We loved unwinding at our hotel El Silencio del Campo, which had its own network of pools. Other options you can pay to visit independently are the luxurious Tabacón and The Springs resorts, or the slightly more down-to-earth Paradise Hot Springs. Baldi Hot Springs is a favourite with kids as they even have water slides, but this is less tranquil than the others.

There’s also a free hot spring option at El Choyin (near Tabacón). It’s a natural stretch of river with warm thermal water. Expect a more rustic experience – no changing rooms or facilities – and it can get crowded at peak times, but it’s a great budget option and feels very local.

Do a bioluminescence tour

The southern coast of the Nicoya Peninsula is a hotspot for bioluminescence. We did a tour at our resort, Isla Chiquita, where even just trailing your hand through the water created a trail of light. It was otherworldly and something the kids are still talking about months later. If you get the chance, this is a must – a true bucket list experience for all the family.

Stay on a cacao farm and make chocolate

For a sweet and educational treat, visit a working cacao farm and make your own chocolate. We experienced this in two different ways: staying on a cacao farm at Finca Amistad in Rio Celeste, and doing a chocolate-making workshop at Two Little Monkeys in La Fortuna. We could have done a workshop at Finca Amistad too, but the one at Two Monkeys is specifically for families, so we went for that one.

Both experiences were beautiful. Finca Amistad is one of Costa Rica’s biggest cacao farms, providing beans to international companies as well as making its own line of chocolate and you can stay in cute cabins on site. It’s a really special, off-the-beaten-path adventure.

And we had a blast at Two Little Monkeys. The hands-on workshop includes making hot chocolate and colourful chocolate treats, and you can also tour the beautiful garden where the cacao and other crops grow.

Do a coffee tour

Costa Rica is famous for its coffee, and El Trapiche in Monteverde offers one of the most family-friendly tours. Our guide Jeffry was warm, engaging, and brilliant with kids. We walked through the coffee plantations, tasted raw beans, saw the traditional processing methods, and made our own sugar toffee. The tour also includes a taste of local coffee and chocolate, plus a snack at the end. It’s a great intro to Costa Rican farming with lots of hands-on fun. I was worried the kids would be bored, but they loved it.

Do a sloth walk in La Fortuna

Top of many kids’ wish list for Costa Rica is seeing sloths and there are many sloth tours you can join, especially in La Fortuna. Choosing a reputable trail can be tricky –some outfits relocate sloths into their reserves, and there are even stories of taxidermy “models” in the trees! After a lot of digging, we settled on the Bogarín Trail. It’s right off the main road yet feels wonderfully remote. On our two-hour, easy-going walk we spotted five sloths, a tree frog, a poison dart frog, owls, and more. Our seven-year-old was riveted; our four-year-old found the heat a bit much. If it’s hot, aim for an early start, and definitely hire a guide—they’ve got the viewing scopes and know where to look.

Other good choices are Ecogarden Arenal for a sustainability-focused visit, and Proyecto Asís, which combines a wild sloth walk with a sanctuary tour, so close-up encounters are guaranteed.

Visit a sloth sanctuary

If you’re desperate to see sloths up close, it’s worth visiting a sloth sanctuary as the ones in the wild are often high up in the trees (unless you’re lucky to see one come down to the ground for their weekly poo!). Proyecto Asis in La Fortuna is an option, and we liked the sloth sanctuary at Selvatura Park in Monteverde. It’s a small but nicely designed indoor habitat where rescued sloths live in large enclosures, designed to mimic the forest canopy.

While spotting them in the wild is more exciting, this guarantees sightings and gives you time to observe their quirky, slow-moving charm. It’s a calm, gentle activity, ideal for younger kids or a rainy day.

Float on a gentle jungle rafting trip

For families with older kids (and little ones who don’t mind sitting still), a calm rafting excursion on the Peñas Blancas River is a lovely way to spot wildlife from the water. We passed on it – two hours afloat felt a bit too long for our youngest –but for children with a bit more endurance, it’s a serene, scenic adventure.

See the crocodiles at Tarcoles Bridge

If you’re driving along the Pacific Coast, don’t miss the stop at Tarcoles Bridge. It’s known for the huge crocodiles that gather in the river below and you can view them from the bridge above. To be honest, I’m not sure I recommend this as I truly hated the experience and didn’t feel safe. The bridge is super high and the railings would be easy to fall through onto the crocodiles below. All I’ll say is, be careful!

See sea turtle nesting across Costa Rica

Costa Rica is one of the world’s premier spots for witnessing sea turtles come ashore to lay their eggs – with four species nesting there: olive ridley, leatherback, green, and hawksbill. Whether you choose the Caribbean shores of Tortuguero or the Pacific beaches of Ostional, Playa Grande, or Gandoca-Manzanillo, you can share the sand with these prehistoric mariners under the stars.

Guided night tours are mandatory at all official refuges, both to protect the turtles and to enrich your experience with expert commentary. Peak nesting seasons vary by species and coast, and we just missed them in April.

Go whale watching

Costa Rica’s Pacific shores are prime for humpback sightings. Northern humpbacks pass Marino Ballena National Park from December-March, while southern pods visit the Osa Peninsula and Caño Island from July-October. Like with the turtles, we just missed this in April, but if you’re there at the right time of year, this would be incredible. Bear in mind that the tours are quite long at around 3-4 hours, so might be tricky with very little kids depending on their patience!

Stay somewhere extraordinary

Costa Rica has some incredible places to stay with kids, from volcano-view treehouses to island glamping escapes and family surf houses. I’ve put together a full guide to special places to stay in Costa Rica, but a few favourites include Isla Chiquita, Si Como No, Hideaway Rio Celeste and Blue Surf Sanctuary.

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