Luxury Costa Rica Family Vacation Review: Arenal National Park, Cano Negro, Playa Coyote, Playa Camonral, Kayaking, Surf Lessons

Because it rained heavily during our Arenal Volcano national Park Hike tour, we added the "Hike and Nature" on a free day: We thought the hanging bridges were underwhelming- filled with tour buses and loud noisy groups so the chance of seeing wildlife was zero. It was reduced to a nice walk across 6 hanging bridges only.The water fall and organic farm lunch of this excursion were extremely worthwhile though with a demonstration re sugar cane and other agricultural products of the area. 

We thought Punta Islita was a little too isolated, and the food and service there re food/bar was not nearly as good as Nayara- we were spoiled in Arenal. The villas  at Punta Islita while cunningly designed with plunge pool  were sparsely and not very comfortably furnished, with outdated bathrooms, and odd lighting that made reading difficult. Big variance in view here- we were off to the far left looking at greenery and up against the road leading to resort= trucks and motorcycles start up the hill at 6 am= a noisy side of the resort. We did rent a car for 2 days through the hotel to explore beaches on either side of Punta Islita- that was fun and interesting, though again, isolated- we did not see a soul driving up to Playa Coyote and over to Playa Camonoral, the beaches were empty except for us! As a result you are pretty dependent on the activities of the hotel. Samara seemed too far for an excursion or dinner off site, easily a 40 minute drive each way, only if the water is low and you can ford the river of the shortcut. Longer with high water.

We would have listened to the recommendations re surfing lessons- anybody on the Pacific side who is interested should do this as these beaches are stunning with beautiful surf!