One Week Costa Rica Family Itinerary For Guanacaste Airport

If you plan to fly into Guanacaste Airport for your Costa Rica family vacation, here is a fantastic itinerary for you.

This Costa Rica family itinerary for Guanacaste Airport goes to Samara, a beach town, and Bijagua, a small farming town near the rainforest. Families love this itinerary as it goes to slightly less touristic, yet still very family-friendly destinations.

We have designed this itinerary for 7 nights and 8 days to work for spring break. If you have more time, we will show you how to adjust it.

This post has affiliate links which we may earn a small commission from if you choose to purchase.

How to Get Around this Costa Rica Family Itinerary for Guanacaste Airport

This itinerary will require you to rent a car in Costa Rica for your vacation. It is much easier to travel between destinations with your own rental car.

You will also need a car to get around to visit various attractions, especially Bijagua. Nearly all of the hotels are located on the outskirts of this small rural town, so it is not easily walkable.

Type of Car

The best car to rent is a 4×4 SUV for this itinerary due to the destinations. A high clearance 2wd SUV can work in dry season for families with 1 or 2 young kids with light luggage (December through April). However, in the latter half of the rainy season, such as August, September, October and November, you should rent a 4×4.

For older families or bigger families, you will need a large full size SUV for 5 or less passengers. If you have even more people, you will need to rent two or three SUVs, or a 4×4 9 passenger van.

IMPORTANT: Children up to 12 years of age are required to have a booster seat or child seat in Costa Rica. Car rental agencies will have seats for rent, but you need to check if they have infant seats for babies less than 1 year old, as some do not.

Save some money on your car rental with our Costa Rica car rental discount and get our freebies such as like free baby and booster seats in the link.

Costa Rica Family Itinerary for Guanacaste Airport Map

Below is our interactive map for this one week Costa Rica family itinerary for Guanacaste Airport. You can see the driving route and our recommendations.

You can open the categories using the left hand side bar.

If you decide to fly into San Jose International Airport instead (airport code SJO), check out our Costa Rica Family Itinerary for San Jose International Airport.

Day 1: Land at Guanacaste Airport, Travel to Samara (2 Hours)

Fly into Guanacaste Airport and pick up your car rental. Drive 2 hours to Samara, a mellow beach town in South Guanacaste. Take Route 21 and Route 150 for fully paved roads.

About Samara: Samara is a small beach town that has decent tourist infrastructure, beautiful beaches, surfing waves and good restaurants. It’s kind of like Tamarindo (another surfing beach town that’s popular with families in Guanacaste) but less touristy and less of a party town.

Hotels in Samara for families: Hideaway Hotel, Sol Samara, Locanda Samara Beach, Samara Pacific Lodge, Villas Verdes, Villas Kalimba. All these hotels have family rooms and/or apartments.

In case 2 hours is too far for your family, an alternative beach town is Playas del Coco. It’s only about a 25 minute drive from LIR and is very family friendly. It is not a surfing beach nor is it as quite as pretty but it has beautiful sunsets, a very relaxing atmosphere and fun boating trips.

Day 2: Beach Day

Today’s a beach day!

If your family is interested, you can take a surf lesson. Samara is a good beginner surfing beach. There are schools right on the beach.

Usually classes are shared lessons of around 4 people per instructor. We highly recommend to book a private surf lesson as it’ll be more fun to go with just the family.

If surfing doesn’t peek your interest, then grab towels, sunscreen, a cooler, snacks, a big floppy hat and enjoy the beach. You can swim with the kiddos, build sand castles, get your steps in, work on your tan and have a great beach day.

Travel tip: Bring a collapsible cooler. Many rental car agencies offer a cooler for rent. One of our benefits of our Costa Rica car rental discount is a free cooler with your rental.

When you get hungry, there are many beach front restaurants with good food and drinks. We enjoyed Gusto Beach (yummy cold drinks and food).

One thing you can’t miss is the sunset. Samara beach has absolutely incredible sunsets. We highly recommend getting some family photos done during sunset time.

If you are here during the Olive Ridley turtle nesting season (June through December), you can book a night time turtle watching tour to Ostional Wildlife Refuge. 1 hour drive per way. High car/4wd required.

Something to know: There are a lot of off leash dogs and stray dogs in Samara. Do not let your kids pet or go up to any of them. Most are friendly, but you never know.

Day 3: Ziplining and Sunset Sailing Tour

Today is an adventure day! In the morning, you’ll go ziplining at Wingnuts that’s right in town for epic views of the beach and dry forest as you fly over the tree tops. We recommend the 8 AM ziplining time slot, so it won’t be so hot.

Then you can head back to your hotel to freshen up, cool off and go to the pool.

In the afternoon, you’ll go on a sunset sailing tour which boards at 3 PM with Samara Sea Tours. You’ll board a catamaran to sail peacefully along the coastline to see the various bays, beaches and inlets from Samara.

Along the way, you may see turtles, dolphins, manta rays or whales. Then you’ll sail back to the beach under a beautiful sunset sky.

You’ll get back around 6 PM. Head back to your hotel to shower and freshen up for dinner.

In case your group doesn’t want to go on a boat or if any of the parents or kids are prone to seasickness, enjoy the pool with the family instead. We do not recommend the sunset sailing tour during the rainy season, especially if anyone gets seasick easily. If your group still wants to go on a boat, you can go the morning catamaran snorkeling tour and then go ziplining in the afternoon.

Another option is to do an ATV tour through rivers in the dry forest to a small waterfall with a natural slide (Jungle & Waterfall ATV & BBQ with the company Outback). Must be over 16 to drive their own ATV. Kids must be at least 5 years of age to ride as passengers. 4 hours.

Day 4: Kayak and Beach

For your last full day at the beach, you’ll kayak to Isla Chora and then go snorkeling at the island. It’s about a 30 minute kayak paddle to the island. Then you’ll get to snorkel and hang out at the island for a couple of hours.

The best time to do the kayak is in the morning, when it’s not as hot and the water clarity is better.

In the afternoon after lunch, head over to Playa Carrillo, just a 5 minute drive from Samara. This beach is in my opinion, more beautiful than Playa Samara as it’s not developed and very tranquil.

Besides building sand castles, swimming and taking a nap under the palm trees, we recommend walking to this viewpoint, called Puerto Playa Carrillo Mirador.

Don’t forget to bring some food, snacks and drinks. There are picnic tables under the palms trees.

Day 5 Travel to Bijagua (2.5 hours)

Today you will drive to Bijagua, about a 2.5 hour drive from Samara. Sleep in and leave at hotel check in, usually at 11 AM.

The route you want to take is via Route 150, Route 21, Route 18, Route 1 and Route 6 to Bijagua.

Here are some places to stop along the way to make this a fun road trip.

Nicoya Colonial Church: Said to be the oldest church in Costa Rica. It’s inside the local park so you can let the kids get out some energy and run around. You can also get food at La Tortilleria Nicoya for yummy local food and see what the Nicoya Blue Zone city is like. 45 minutes from Samara.

Restaurante Mi Finca: A nice place in Limonal that has clean bathrooms, a bakery and coffee shop and lots of trees with free flying Scarlet Macaws. 1 hour and 45 minutes from Samara.

Centro de Rescate Las Pumas: This is an animal rescue center with a variety of animals in rehabilitation. There can be jungle cats, toucans, parrots, monkeys and other animals. You can take an hour guided tour so the kids can see the animals up close and learn about conservation and the environment. 2 hours from Samara.

To see a waterfall, you can add a 30 minute detour to Catarata Llanos de Cortes. This is a gorgeous waterfall in the dry forest with a swimming hole. Easy walk from the parking lot.

Why Bijagua?

Bijagua is the tiny rural town near Tenorio Volcano National Park which protects tropical rainforest and a volcano. This area is perfect for one or two nights with kids so they can experience a rural Costa Rican town and lifestyle.

Before you check into your hotel, we highly recommend getting some snacks, drinks and supplies at the supermarket. There is a Pali and another supermarket in Bijagua center.

Recommended hotels in Bijagua for families: Casitas Tenorio B&B, Rio Celeste Hideaway Hotel, La Carolina Lodge and Celeste Mountain Lodge.

Day 6: Rio Celeste Hike in Tenorio Volcano National Park

Today you’ll visit Tenorio Volcano National Park to see the amazing Rio Celeste river and waterfall. Rio Celeste is a sky blue river that runs through the tropical rainforests of Tenorio Volcano.

This 6.5 kilometer hike (4 miles roundtrip) is one of the most beautiful hikes in Costa Rica!

You can visit the park at any time. I found that during all our visits, mid morning gave us the best weather. However, mid-morning is also the busiest as that’s when all the tour groups arrive. To avoid big crowds, go when the park opens at 8 AM.

IMPORTANT: To visit the national park, you must purchase park tickets on the SINAC website beforehand. They do not sell tickets at the door. Please do not miss your time slot. If you do, they will not let you in (unless it’s a really slow time of the year, like October and the park is not at maximum capacity).

The trail to the waterfall is very well maintained and is a paved trail.

FAMILY TRAVEL TIP: This national park is not stroller friendly. If you have toddlers/babies, you have to bring them in a child carrier backpack (the father in the pic has a carrier on).

In case you are not able to walk at least 6.5 km or 4 miles on a dirt trail carrying your baby, then you can walk just to the waterfall and back (~1.5 hours, 1.8 miles or 2.9 km). This trail is on a mixed concrete and dirt path. To get down to the waterfall viewing platform, it does require around 200 steps down and up.

After the hike, get some fruit, cold natural fruit juice drinks and food at one of the local restaurants right outside the park. We really like Soda El Pilon.

Since swimming is not allowed in the national park, you can visit the Rio Celeste Free Pool to swim and bathe in the sky blue river after getting some food. It’s just a 2 minute drive from the national park entrance.

We highly recommend to visit this free swimming hole. It is so much fun! Just be careful on the rocks, it can be a bit slippery. Also, do not dunk your head all the way in the water.

IMPORTANT: This area can rain heavily in the rainy season, especially May and December. Please bring appropriate rain gear and sturdy closed walking shoes.

Head back to your hotel, freshen up, shower, nap and head into town for dinner. A great option (of the few around) is Restaurante Pizzeria El Barrigon.

Day 7: Farm Tour + Finca Verde Nature Walk

For your last full day in Costa Rica, the family will get to experience nature and culture. First, if your hotel has a working farm (Casitas Tenorio B&B and La Carolina Lodge ), families can take a farm tour.

Kids can see cows, goats, horses and chickens up close and learn how to milk cows! It’s a fantastic way for kids to experience rural Costa Rican farming life.

This can take around an hour and the farm tours in the morning.

Then after breakfast, take a nature walk at the Finca Verde property. They have a large reserve with short nature trails through the rainforest, offering excellent opportunities to see animals in their natural habitat.

Sloths, monkeys and birds such as toucans are commonly seen here. The property has several sloths living in their forests, so you have an extremely high chance of seeing the national symbol of Costa Rica!

This walk takes around 2 hours. Your guide will show the kids all the interesting and cool plants and trees around and point out any other animals they see.

Then just enjoy the peace and quiet of Bijagua for your last night. If the kids still want to do something, there are night walks available in Bijagua. For the animal loving kid, this will be a fascinating experience as they’ll get to see the animals that come out only during the dark. This can be tapirs, various insects, snakes and spiders.

Day 8: Fly Home

Today you will go home!

Bijagua to Guanacaste Airport is about a 1 hour and 30 minute drive. Make sure to get to the airport at least 2 hours before your flight. Plan to leave at least 2.5 hours before, so you can grab some food on the way in Liberia and have time to return your rental car.

Important Things to Know About Traveling with Kids in Costa Rica

• If anyone has food allergies or medication allergies, write them down in English and Spanish.
• If anyone has a medical condition, write it down in English and Spanish.
• Bring all necessary medications and the prescription if they are prescribed medications. We recommend to find the Spanish name of the active ingredients.
• Get a prepaid SIM card so you can have a Costa Rican phone number in case of emergencies.
• If visiting for Christmas in Costa Rica, New Years or spring break, book your accommodation and transportation in advance, at least 2-3 months out.
• Bring anti-nausea medicine like Drammamine. Although these routes in this itinerary are not the curviest, there are some curves going up to Bijagua.

For more tips, read our post for things to do in Costa Rica with kids.

Costa Rica Vacation Checklist

• First time to Costa Rica? Read our First Time in Costa Rica guide.
• Not sure how to move around Costa Rica? Read our How to Get Around Costa Rica guide to find the best transportation method for you.
• Click the link to get our detailed Costa Rica Packing List so you know what essential items to bring.
• Do not forget to purchase Travel Insurance for your trip to Costa Rica.
• Stay connected by purchasing a prepaid SIM Card in Costa Rica. Get 10% off your Airalo eSIM package with our promo code “mytanfeet”
• Save money with Mytanfeet Deals for tours and hotels. Save more money with our Costa Rica Car Rental Discount.

Join our mailing list and get our free Costa Rica eBook!