If you are dreaming of a trip where you “do” with your kids instead of supervising them, Costa Rica is the ultimate participatory family adventure travel vacation. Don’t let the word “adventure” scare you, Costa Rica with kids doesn’t need to be all thrills, or all animals, or all beach for that matter – you can fit a taste of everything into the right itinerary.

Costa Rica is easy to access with two international airports, Liberia and San Jose.

Costa Rica is an increasingly popular adventure family travel destination. With good reason! The list of thrilling things to see and do is long and Costa Rica has done a phenomenal job of protecting and preserving its vast natural resources for the world to enjoy. From National Parks and Biological Reserves, to beaches on both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, to six active volcanoes, the biggest challenge in enjoying Costa Rica with kids is deciding what to do.

We just spent a week in Central America with Kensington Tours and learned first-hand why families love to vacation in Costa Rica:

We’re in Costa Rica this week with the award-winning tour operator Kensington Tours. Extraordinary family travel moments are the norm here — I can’t wait to share all the details of our experience.

In the meantime, here’s a peek at a highlight from our family trip in Costa Rica. We saw not just one, but three different Quetzal birds in Monteverde.

Twenty three years ago, George and Karen Harrison bought a stunning piece of beachfront property in Montezuma, Costa Rica. Using ox carts to bring in materials, they built what is now Peaks N’ Swells, a professionally coached surf camp run by their daughter, Hillary.

We booked our first family surf camp in 2011, and within weeks of our return home had already decided to return the following year. In and of itself, the camps are incredible …

Exploring places off the beaten path is one of my favorite things about traveling. But planning a family vacation with a tour operator makes that a little difficult. It’s hard for a destination to have that undiscovered, almost exotic allure when you’re walking in a group of 30 or more. Hard, but not impossible.

When we went on our family trip to China, Guilin amazed us all. It was the part of the tour that lead us to the Li River, in other words, tourist central …

I was in my front yard catching up on everything I didn’t do while I was on vacation when my neighbor asked me about my trip to Costa Rica and if I would go back again. I didn’t even hesitate to answer, “In a heartbeat,” I said. Her next question was of course, why?

And I have to admit I hadn’t really thought about it until she asked. On our trip, there were two parents, one grandparent and two borderline tween girls.

Kids and kritters go hand in hand and can often guarantee a family trip’s success. Lucky for parents, animals are pretty much everywhere. And when I say animals, I’m not talking about just big wow factor animals. My girls have been mesmerized by pandas in China, charmed by “sweaters on legs” (also known as sheep) in Northern Ireland and enthralled by snails in France. Yes, snails. Nothing surprises me anymore.

So along comes a trip that is all animals all the time. I expected Costa Rica …

Beginning in the 1970’s, Central America gained a big following among surfers and hard-core eco-explorers; especially Costa Rica, because over a quarter of its land is set aside as protected nature preserves. Even so, most families did not consider a trip to Costa Rica, Panama, or Central America in general as a viable option for traveling with kids—until recently.

I’ve been traveling to Central America since the early 1990’s and twice in the last four years, I’ve taken my wife and kids on guided tours to Costa Rica and Panama.

Costa Rica has a lot going for it as a family vacation destination. This tiny Central American country between Nicaragua and Panama is different enough to feel exotic, but safe enough that you won’t worry about bringing your kids there. Since it’s due south of Florida, you won’t have to worry too much about jetlag either.

My husband and I took our kids to Costa Rica for a whirlwind week last March. It was a great trip, but we didn’t relax much.