Hellobee Boards

Manuel Antonio National Park is amazing! It’s small, so would be manageable with kiddos. There’s a little tourist/beach town next to the park, too, with restaurants, hotels and a few resorts. We stayed here https://www.arenasdelmar.com/ in 2017 and it was AMAZING and about a half mile walk down the prettiest beach I’ve ever seen to the park. 110% recommended, unless you’re uncomfortable with hills because the property is very hilly. The beach is beautiful and there is so much wildlife both within and outside the park, we only spent 2 days of 5 in the area exploring the park, but saw monkeys and sloths and so many other animals every day (including a troop of capuchin monkeys that commute through the property every afternoon and a sloth with a baby about 12 feet above my beach chair one day). We also spent some time near Arenal Volcano, which was definitely less touristy/more remote, but drive through the mountains from San Jose to Arenal was epic. The resort we stayed at in that area (Nayara) was incredibly secluded and romantic and also full of wildlife. But romantic doesn’t sound like the vibe you’re going for.

Good luck! I’m itchy to travel again, but not ready to commit to something just yet.

@Jess1483: We also went to a similar area as @karenbme:, Manuel Antonio and near the volcano. It was an amazing trip! my brother and I were teenagers, but I think that it would be great with younger kids, too. The monkeys in the national park get so close; some of them jump on people's coolers to try to get to their food!