Please note the tour price reflected on the brochure is subject to change. Due to seasonality, and taxes prices of the tour are subject to change without due notice. Please consult with the operator directly for the recent price.
Costa Rica Family Vacation

Overview
Highlights (Bullets)
- Visit to Irazu Volcano & the Sarapiqui River
- Evening visit to Baldi Hot Springs, with dinner
Short Description
Costa Rica is a tropical playground for families, providing endless opportunities for adventure. Spend six nights traveling from volcano to beach while you learn about nature, conservation, and sustainability in this Central American country.
Kick off your vacation with a visit to Irazu Volcano, Costa Rica's highest active volcano. While an eruption is unlikely, kids will be amazed by the volcanic crater with a green lagoon in its center. From there, travel to the Sarapiqui rainforest in the Heredia province and enjoy a boat tour on the river. Known for its rich biodiversity, learn about Sarapiqui's wildlife from an expert as you visit a butterfly garden, serpentarium, frog sanctuary, and botanical garden.
Your next destination is Arenal Volcano, a must-see for any traveler to Costa Rica. Positioned within the country's fertile northern lowlands, the Arenal Volcano area offers a wealth of outdoor activities like zip-lining and canopy walks. Kids can glide through the rainforest by zip line and see incredible flora and fauna up close at an ecological park.
End your tropical tour on the central Pacific coast at a family friendly resort in Puntarenas. Spend your days lounging on the beach or take an additional day trip to Tortuga Island. This Costa Rica trip will be one your family talks about forever!
Destinations
Costa RicaActivities & Interests
Culture History Homestays & Cultural Immersion Hot Springs Relaxing Retreat Ruins & Archaeology Short Cruise Wildlife viewingItinerary
Day 1 Welcome to San Jose!
Arrive at Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) where you will meet a Swiss Travel representative. You'll be provided with all the necessary documentation, itinerary and main contact information. Transfer to San Jose where you'll spend your first night in Costa Rica.
Day 2 San Jose - Sarapiqui
Early in the morning, depart from San Jose to the Sarapiqui Rainforest area. On the way, you will visit ruins of Cartago City and learn about the history of this colonial city that was once the capital of Costa Rica. From there, embark on an exciting tour of Irazu Volcano and the Sarapiqui River. Spend tonight in the peaceful and lush rainforest!
Day 3 Sarapiqui - Arenal Volcano
Spend the morning in Sarapiqui enjoying the hotel's activities (extra cost). Surrounded by biological reserves, Sarapiqui is a haven for eco-tourism as well as family tourism. Enjoy tubing, guided walks, or horseback riding from your hotel. In the afternoon, transfer to the Arenal Volcano area. If weather conditions are good, you will be able to see the greatest natural attraction in the country: Arenal Volcano.
Day 4 Arenal Volcano
Today you will embark on two tours in Arenal. In the morning, enjoy an exhilarating zip line tour through the rainforest. Then visit Natura Ecological Park and see Costa Rica's incredible wildlife up close.
Day 5 Arenal Volcano - Central Pacific Coast
From Arenal, travel to the central Pacific coast capital of Puntarenas. This region of Costa Rica is home to both wet and dry tropical rainforests, sun-dappled sandy beaches and a variety of wildlife. With so much biodiversity packed into a small geographic area, it’s no wonder the coastal region is often thought of as Costa Rica in miniature. Popular beach destinations like Jaco, Montezuma, and Santa Theresa are great places to ease into your coastal adventure. At night, head into Puntarenas City for a taste of coastal cuisine.
Day 6 Central Pacific Coast
Today, enjoy the amenities and activities at your resort or consider taking a day trip to Tortuga Island. Embark on a catamaran and feel the sea breeze as you approach the island's pristine beach and swaying coconut palms. Spend the day kayaking, snorkeling or sunbathing in this exotic locale.
Day 7 Central Pacific Coast - San Jose
Your amazing Costa Rica family vacation ends today. You will be transferred to Juan Santamaria Int’l Airport (SJO) for your departure flight back home. *Please note: When choosing your flights, please select one with a return flight that departs no earlier than mid-day, in order to accommodate the transfer time (apx. 1.5 hours) from Central Pacific to Juan Santamaria Int’l Airport (SJO).
Availability
18,296 Great Value Vacations Travel Reviews & Ratings
Costa Rica Family Vacation
Company Reviews
Most organized and easy to use site!
Good value and ligit package.
I love discounted and the reservation…
Too many flight changes
So was adequate, but took away from the enjoyment
We had an amazing time in Iceland
WARNING!
This company seems like the right choice based on price. BEWARE! DO NOT USE! They are not helpful prior to trip. They mislead you when you speak with customer service. We took a trip to Ireland and were told by customer service that the hotel was in Sligo and Cork after asking prior to our trip. When we arrived, the hotels were both over one hour out in very small towns. This is one hour to the city we were told we were going to by customer service and one hour back.
The rental car we got prior to trip with our package, we paid to upgrade to a larger car. Then we paid extra to have an automatic car. When we arrived, we were told that we could have paid much less by just doing it onsite at Dublin airport. The car rental was in shock for how much Great Value charged us for the car rental.
You can save a lot of money if you book this Ireland trip on your own. And save many headaches. The kicker to all of this is when I got home and tried to speak with customer service. The lady told me she could not do anything to help me. I must instead email a supervisor. I did have email communication with GVV and they were quite snappy and rude. They refused to help me in any way. I asked them to change their wording so that the next customer would not be misled like we were. I would NEVER recommend nor use this company. There are too many reputable tour groups out there.
Please don't waste your money on a company that does not care about you.
**Edited**
In response to the reply that GVV gave to my negative review.
It is pleasing to see how quickly you can reply to a negative review. If only you were so quick to respond to my queries prior to my trip.
To begin, my review is public. However, it is NOT OK to include my name when replying to a review when the name was not included by me in my review of you.
Next, when responding to my review you must be truthful. For you to say: "We are not surprised to receive this review as we did not agree to your request for a cash refund in exchange for you not posting a negative review." is false. In my initial phone call to customer service I was told to tell you what I wanted. Since you never asked, in my email communication toy I stated "I will be happy to complete your survey with my negative concerns and complete multiple reviews on your company if you choose to not correct this grand misleading mistake. I do not want to receive a discount for a future trip. I believe some money back to me is fair due to the amount of gas money and time I lost for travel due to the poor locations of the hotels."
I did not say I was disappointed with the hotels in Cork and Sligo. I said I was angered that I was misled by customer service prior to my trip when they did not inform me the distance to the cities on the tour. I asked if they were centrally located and was told that they were. Again, when I arrived, I discovered that they were over two hours round trip, without traffic. My initial communication to you was to inform that this was misleading. Your company seemed to be defensive of my comments from the start.
I called customer service before the trip because you switched my hotel in Dublin. My original hotel was one 45 minutes away from the city. You switched me to a hotel that was in Dublin after finding the original hotel was unable to host us. The new hotel in the city was centrally located. Great news. But the closest parking garage was 3/4 mile away. Perhaps you could suggest a hotel in the future that has closer parking so that when your flight is at 7am one does not need to walk the streets of Dublin at 5am.
My complaint to you is the absolute disdain and lack of concern that you have for customers after the trip. Even after my trip was booked I was unsuccessful at receiving any positive support.
I do not want this communication to continue. You are trying to prove your point as I am mine. But keep in mind, you should not use the name of the consumer if they did not disclose first themselves. Please check
in house legal for affirmation. Also, please be accurate and truthful when disclosing your side.
Just as you had to get the last word to our email thread by sarcastically stating "dully noted".
Your lack of professionalism speaks volumes. Perhaps this is why you get so many complaints and low stars on your reviews.
Details
Flight & Transport Inclusions
Roundtrip air to/from trip start & all internal transport
Group Size
Independent
Accommodations
- Radisson San Jose
- Hotel Hacienda Sueno Azul
- Volcano Lodge & Springs
- DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Hotel Central Pacific
Trip ID#:
Greatvaluevacations-PK
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