You seem to be more the independent type. So my suggestion is choose a nice hotel in the Guanacaste area and try the restaurants around you. It is nice to have choices and dont feel trapped to eat in the hotel because you paid for it.

The Flamingo area is beautiful with choices of different beaches and all the tour offers. I just had family here with a 5 year old, they enjoyed the sailing and snorkeling trip on the catamaran and they went to Palo Verde National Park on the river trip to see crocodiles, feed monkeys which came on the boat and see a lot of birds. They stayed in a priv appartment on the beach with a pool for the kid.

There is also the Rincon de la Vieja National Park not too far, that offers a adventure trip including horseback riding, great canopy tour and hot springs.

Family friendly Hotels in that area are the Flamingo Beach Resort or the Flamingo Marina Resort. If you are not on a budget you might want to splurge on the Paradisus Conchal Resort.

Thanks for the reply infocat!!! Now we're looking at costaricavacations.com at their family vacation for 8 nights. ANy comments?? You live there right? What are some of the best tour companies that can plan our whole trip....a little time here....a little time there....

OOps, I mean vacationscostarica.com is where we're looking into family vacations tours.

Thanks

We just got back and here are my suggestions:

1. Get one or two Costa Rican travel guides (Moon Guide, Fodor's, etc).

2. Get to Arenal from SJ on Interbus through an on-line reservation. They'll pick you up from the airport and take you directly to your destination on a modern bus. Sign up for tours before leaving, especially the Volcano hike followed by one of the hot springs. The Cano Negro wildlife refuge is great as well for... wildlife. Try www.anywherecostarica.com for tour reservations. Without the tours, there is nothing to do in Arenal unless you really know the area well. The tour bus will pick you up at your hotel each day and the tour guides can be really interesting.

2. Playas Grande/Flamingo/Conchal in Guanacaste are great and the latter has all sorts of activities. The snorkling in Conchal is especially amazing and surfing in Grande is exciting because of its location. You can choose beach activities once you get to the area. Various activity companies setup on Conchal each morning and you could rent surf/body boards in one of two surf shops located before the Grande entrance.

3. After Arenal, travel to the beach on Interbus and get a car in Tamarindo to explore the different beaches. Make each beach a day trip (Flamigo half-day because it's quiet). Tamarindo has some really great restaurants, which you may want to explore in the evenings or for lunch. Having a car will allow you to move around freely and everything is reasonably close.

4. As far as the hotels go, anything above the $100 point is quite comfortable. If you want luxury on the beach, Paradisus in Conchal can't be beat, but be prepared to pay a pretty penny. Arenal Lodge is nice as well, but there are many cheaper option in La Fortuna. You shouldn't be spending any time in a hotel anyway other than to sleep. anywherecostarica.com can help you reserve some hotels, but the Costa Rican travel books have most of the options available in specific areas. If a hotel doesn't have a web-site, stay away. There are a few lousy hotels out there and you don't want that to ruin your vacation.

Hope this gives you some ideas.