What's genuinely worth the drive, how long it takes, and whether it works with children.
Prices below are rough guides from operators' own listings and move with the season — treat them as "from" figures. Where something is seasonal or has a genuine catch, we've said so rather than leaving you to find out on the day.
Five minutes from the house. Avellanas has beginner peaks and a reef point, and the schools on the beach teach all morning. Tamarindo's beach break is gentler still if you have a nervous first-timer; Playa Grande is the third option.
The infinity pool above the surf, loungers, a bar and a kitchen. Five dollars a person. Walking straight onto Avellanas instead costs nothing — and in front of Lola's the swimming is better than it is below the club, where the rip is strong.
Par 72, designed by Mike Young, with the fifteenth played beside the beach and long closing holes into the wind. Tee times through the club; afternoon rates are usually cheaper than morning.
Stables inside the community, and a long trail system through the dry forest and down to the shore. Beach rides run about an hour, and the operators take beginners and children.
Three and a half to five hours with snorkelling, swimming, food and an open bar. Dolphins and turtles are common; humpbacks turn up in season. Children are usually half price or free, which makes this one of the better-value family days.
Inshore half days are calm enough for beginners and children — roosterfish, snapper, jacks, mahi. Offshore full days go after sailfish and marlin, which are released. Boats leave from Tamarindo.
A gentle boat or kayak trip into the mangroves of the Tamarindo wildlife refuge. Howler monkeys, crocodiles, herons. The easiest wildlife outing in the area and the one small children enjoy most.
Volcanic islands about half an hour by boat from Flamingo. Rays, white-tip reef sharks, turtles. Giant Pacific mantas are most frequent from December to May. Certified divers can do two tanks instead.
Las Baulas National Marine Park protects one of the Pacific's leatherback nesting beaches. Night visits run roughly October to February, peaking in December and January, and only with a registered guide — the beach is closed to everyone else after dark. Expect a wait of up to four hours for a sighting, which is why it works better for teenagers than toddlers.
Mass nestings of olive ridley turtles, most frequent and largest from August to October and usually starting about a week after a full or new moon. Two hours or so south on rough road, and a guide is required. Daytime visits work for younger children.
A Ramsar-listed wetland with one of the densest bird populations in Central America, plus crocodiles, monkeys and iguanas along the banks. The boat is about ninety minutes; the whole outing runs most of a day, and often pairs with Guaitil.
Two hours north, and the best full day in Guanacaste. A guided walk past fumaroles and bubbling mud in the Las Pailas sector, a waterfall you can swim under, and hot springs and volcanic mud baths in the afternoon. Several adventure lodges nearby run the whole thing as one package.
The famously turquoise river, about two and a half to three hours each way. A four-mile round trip with 253 steps, and no swimming inside the park. Worth knowing: a landslide in 2025 affected access to the lower viewing platform and parts of it have remained closed, so check the current state of the trail before you commit to the drive.
An hour away, and the easiest yes for a mixed-age group. An ocean-view zipline about a mile long, an animal sanctuary with big cats, sloths and monkeys, a hanging bridge, ATVs, and a beach with kayaks and snorkelling. Buffet lunch included in the day pass.
Three and a half to four hours each way. It can be done in a day, but you'd spend eight hours driving to arrive at the worst time for wildlife. If the cloud forest matters to you, go for a night.
An hour east, past Santa Cruz. Chorotega families shape, polish and wood-fire pottery the way it was made before the Spanish arrived, and they'll let you try painting a piece. Small, unpolished, and genuinely worth the detour — usually tacked onto a Palo Verde day.
An open savanna park south of Liberia with giraffes, zebras, camels and antelope roaming loose, and hand-feeding on the jeep tour. Frankly a bit strange in Costa Rica, and small children love it.
Two to five hours through the back roads toward Conchal, Brasilito and Playa Minas, or along the beach at Avellanas. Doubles let a child ride with an adult.
Forty-five minutes north, and the beach that photographs best in Guanacaste — the sand is crushed shell rather than grain. Calm water, decent snorkelling, easiest access through Brasilito.
The one everybody means when they say they're going to Avellanas. Wood-fired food, tables in the sand, famously a resident pig. Closest thing to an institution on this stretch of coast, and a ten-minute drive.
Twenty minutes, and the range you'd expect from a town that surfers and expats built: seafood on the sand, Argentine grills, decent coffee, and a night or two of noise if anyone in the group wants it.
The beach club kitchen for lunch, and the JW Marriott's restaurants for a dinner where nobody has to drive — a steakhouse, Asian, and casual poolside food, all within the community.
Automercado in Tamarindo has the best range and the highest prices, Super Compro is cheaper, and the roadside stands between here and Santa Cruz have better produce than either. If you're arriving from Liberia, PriceSmart is on the way and worth a stop for a big group — though it needs a paid membership, and a US Costco card won't work.
Five bedrooms inside the gates, five minutes from the sand, ninety from the airport.