Off-the-Beaten-Path Costa Rica Family Tour
What to expect on this itinerary
Connect with the indigenous culture and explore wildlife-filled nature during this adventurous 7-day family journey through Costa Rica. Featuring local experiences and beautiful off-the-beaten-path locations, this handcrafted tour will show you the natural splendor Costa Rica, which is a land of authentic and often surprising scenes. Meet Bribri Indians, savor a cultural farm-stay experience, paddle through the jungle in search of monkeys, and search for sea turtles on Caribbean beaches.
Customizable Itinerary
Turrialba – Costa Rica’s Volcano Heartland
Costa Rica’s volcanic heartlands epitomize the local saying of Pura Vida. This is a country that instantly seems exotic and new but is also quick to make you feel at home. Today’s experiences will be customizable and can be adjusted after you arrive, depending on how you feel. The journey to Turrialba will lead you by Poas and Turrialba, which are two volcanoes that offer a superb variety of hiking trails. By trekking through forests, you can search for quetzals and waterfalls. It is also possible for your guide to drive you to Poas’s summit, where you can admire fumaroles, mini geysers, and mud that spits and surges.
What's Included:
Turrialba – Cultural Exchange on a Farm
Puerto Viejo – Sloths and Howler Monkeys
Puerto Viejo – Indigenous Jungle Experience
Tortuguero National Park – Encounters with Hatchling Sea Turtles
Tortuguero National Park – Jungle Canoe Ride
Tortuguero National Park – Departure
Trip Highlights
- Enjoy an incredible day with an indigenous Bribri community, where you can experience a very unique culture and lifestyle
- Venture by flashlight onto Tortuguero’s beaches for a thrilling search for sea turtle hatchlings
- Experience a Costa Rican working farm during a cultural exchange in Turrialba, which is one of the country’s least-visited regions
- Discover magnificent wildlife in Tortuguero National Park and the Jaguar Rescue Center, which is also home to howler monkeys and strange sloths
- Lounge and play on breathtaking Caribbean beaches, where an off-the-beaten-path atmosphere is part of the fun
- Ride through the wild in a wooden canoe and experience the wonders of a surreal wildlife world
- Savor Costa Rica’s active volcanos and learn all about fumaroles and thermal power
Detailed Description
Costa Rica creates a rare paradox. This is a country where so much remains off the beaten track, and authentic experiences are part of the everyday schedule; it is also a country where offbeat locales and activities have been made accessible. There are few other countries where you can take your family off the beaten track without needing long journeys or any steps beyond your comfort zone. Over these seven days, you will be canoeing through the jungle to a Bribri Indian community, exchanging ideas on a rural coffee farm, and finding breathtaking Caribbean beaches void of footprints.
This seven-day family tour is handcrafted to celebrate indigenous cultural experiences and serene nature excursions. It will take you off the beaten track to Turrialba, the Belli Bamboo Parkland, Puerto Viejo, and Tortuguero National Park. Whether you are searching for sea turtles or spending time with a local family, your Costa Rica tour will be a celebration of local authenticity. By skipping popular destinations like Arenal and the Pacific coast, you can indulge in an adventure to places where few other foreigners tread. With stunning family lodges and sucure transport connections, this will be a 7-day experience that is suitable for all ages.
To begin your journey, you will fly into San Jose and transfer directly to the volcanos, which are majestic cones that peer down as you ride through green landscapes to Turrialba. After a customizable day on the volcanos, you will spend day two experiencing a family cultural exchange that will teach you about the everyday life of a working coffee farm. It is a beautiful place to be, and everyone can be involved in different elements of farm life, from roasting coffee beans to working with horses. By traveling further east on day three, you can seek out sloths and monkeys in the Jaguar Rescue Center before settling in to two nights on the Caribbean sand.
Puerto Viejo is the starting point for a cultural jungle adventure, and it will take about 90 minutes to reach the Bribri Indian community on a journey down the Yorkin River in a canoe. Once in the village, you can discover local life, from the art of palm thatching to learning the language and exploring everyday traditions. Part wetland wilderness and part Caribbean coast, Tortuguero will provide a dazzling final destination, where the experiences focus on intimate connections with rare and unique wildlife. A canoe cruise will then showcase one world, and, out on the beaches, you will be searching for sea turtles, including hatchlings that emerge after dark. This is the part of Costa Rica that most are yet to know of, and these seven days will include many new and intriguing experiences.
Starting Price
$2,100 per person (excluding international flights)
Your Zicasso trip is fully customizable, and this sample itinerary is a starting place for your travel plans. Actual costs are dynamic, and your selection of accommodations and activities, your season of travel, and other such variables will bring this budget guideline up or down. Throughout your planning experience with your Zicasso specialist, your itinerary is designed around your budget. You can book your trip when you are satisfied with every detail. Planning your trip with a Zicasso travel specialist is a free service.
What's Included
The starting price is based on travel during the low season for a minimum of two travelers staying in shared 3-star accommodations. Please inquire for a custom trip quote based on your travel preferences and travel dates.
Verified Traveler Reviews
Based on 559 reviews
Zicasso’s travel company did an excellent job helping us to plan our trip to Costa Rica. They offered very helpful suggestions about places to stay and tours to go on. They arranged all transfers, which operated flawlessly to get us from one place to another.
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It was a very well-organized trip. Zicasso’s travel specialist was exceptional. She helped organize the trip as per our needs. `She provided multiple options and was very responsive in providing help while we were in Costa Rica with food options and calling the hotel when we did not have phone signal. We had a wonderful trip thanks to the travel company. Highly recommended!
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Unforgettable Adventure Vacation Experience
This trip exceeded every expectation. From start to finish, it was the perfect blend of adventure and relaxation. The ziplining through the lush canopy was absolutely breathtaking—soaring above the trees with panoramic views of the cloud forest was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
White-water rafting was equally thrilling, with just the right balance of excitement and safety. The guides were incredibly professional and knowledgeable, and made the entire experience fun and secure.
The cloud forest tour was magical—walking through mist-covered trails surrounded by exotic wildlife and vibrant greenery felt like stepping into another world. ATV riding added an adventurous edge, allowing us to explore rugged terrains and hidden scenic spots we wouldn’t have seen otherwise.
Hiking around the volcano was another highlight—both awe-inspiring and humbling. The views were spectacular and the guides shared fascinating insights about the region’s geology and history.
To top it all off, the accommodations were exceptional—beautiful hotels with stunning views, comfortable rooms, and outstanding service. Every detail was thoughtfully curated, making it easy to relax after a day full of adventure.
We highly recommend this experience to anyone looking for the perfect mix of adrenaline, nature, and luxury.
The team did a truly amazing job!
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Zicasso’s travel company did an excellent job in organizing our family trip by ensuring our top five "must-do" activities were available, despite limitations due to our last-minute planning and very busy tourist season. They really did some outside-the-box thinking for us and delivered a wonderful experience.
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This was the best-planned multi-generational trip for our family of six! Zicasso’s travel company thought of everything and listened to all of the activities we wanted to do on this trip, and made it all happen! We all said that we would give the trip a 6/5 because we had so much fun!!!
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We had a wonderful time on our trip. Zicasso’s travel specialist was responsive to what we wanted to do and adjusted our trip to fit our budget. He included our interests and took the research out of it for us. We asked him to plan on a tight time crunch of less than a month and he made it with ease.
Costa Rica had so much to do and he kept us active, which we wanted. I appreciated how the travel company had a travel app for all of our itineraries and tickets, as well as an emergency contact to make adjustments during the trip. We used this several times to book things we discovered during the trip and it was a breeze.
Our favorite adventures from our trip were ziplining, the river tour, and the waterfall in La Fortuna. We also enjoyed animal tours, which says a lot, as I'm not an animal fan, but the adventure was wonderful and felt very safe. I would consider the Monte Verde night tour next time.
We enjoyed our resort in Manuel Antonio and the beach at Manuel Antonio. The view was incredible.
Our whole tour flowed seamlessly and Costa Rica was beautiful and full of adventures. We'd happily return and use the travel company.
The coffee and chocolate tour in Don Juan was wonderful. Additionally, all of our hotels were great. I'd highly recommend this experience.
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