Costa Rica With Kids (Part II): Getting to the Papagayo Peninsula

For Spring Break 2018, my family of four traveled to Costa Rica and spent one full week at the Andaz Papagayo. To read about why we chose Costa Rica with kids and booking logistics, visit Costa Rica With Kids (Part I): Why Costa Rica and Booking Logistics. 

The Papagayo Peninsula, located on the North Pacific coast of Costa Rica, consists of 15 miles of coastline and 15 separate beaches. The Papagayo Peninsula is home to not only the Four Seasons Resort Costa Rica and the Andaz Papagayo, but also the Peninsula Papagayo, a collection of resort homes and Central America’s first environmentally friendly luxury resort and real estate project. Located only 30 minutes from Liberia Airport, the Papagayo Peninsula has become an increasingly popular tourist destination and, despite plans for new development, government mandate provides that 70% of the land in the Papagayo Peninsula must remain natural.

How to get to the Papagayo Peninsula?

There are a few options to get to the Papagayo Peninsula. Flying into Liberia Airport, which is only 30 minutes away, is the easiest option. But, it’s also possible to fly into San Jose International Airport and board a 40-minute flight hopper to Liberia (driving from San Jose Airport would be a 5+ hour long endeavor).

My own personal journey to the Papagayo Peninsula wasn’t quite as simple as I was traveling solo from Washington, DC with my two children (ages 3.5 and 8). Not only would it be my first time crossing international borders on my own with the children, but I was tasked with a long layover in Houston (4+ hours), some last minute check-in issues, significant luggage to haul and manage, and, most importantly, a 3.5 year old who doesn’t nap on the go (but who still very much needs his nap).

Preparing to Travel (Vaccines, Packing, Travel Insurance, Minor Travel Consent Form):

Months before our scheduled departure, I made an appointment with a travel vaccine clinic to ensure that my children were up to date on their needed vaccines. Luckily, they were both already vaccinated for Hepatitis A and B, but they both needed their typhoid vaccines for our trip (my husband and I were already vaccinated from our trip last year to Africa).

The weekend prior to our scheduled Thursday morning departure from Washington, DC to Liberia, I took a quickly inventory of clothing items and made sure that everything we needed was clean. Utilizing Catherine’s Ultimate Packing List, I was able to quickly identify what items we would need as I tracked down items throughout our house and began compiling them in my staging area: a laundry basket located in the corner of my bedroom.

My biggest concern, whenever traveling to a foreign country, is that I have sufficient minor first aid materials and basic medication in the event of illness. As a mosquito magnet, I’ve also developed my own “outdoor survival pack” that travels with us when appropriate.

Although the Nurse Practitioner at the travel clinic recommended that I look into travel insurance, given that we were traveling with young kids, I declined to purchase travel insurance for a few reasons: we would be staying at a resort that caters to international travelers, we have quality health insurance that covers us world wide, and we have premium credit cards that provide different levels of emergency health coverage, including the American Express Platinum Card which provides free medical evacuation coverage. Note: this was a personal decision to not purchase travel insurance for this specific trip. It is by no means a recommendation as to what you should do when faced with your own international trip. 

As I was traveling internationally with children on my own, I insisted on having my husband complete a notarized minor travel consent form, identifying him as a parent of our two children and authorizing my travel to Costa Rica with both kids. I also carried with me a copy of his passport and his travel itinerary, indicating that he would be meeting us in Costa Rica for the week. Spoiler alert: I didn’t end up needing any of these documents, but I was happy to have them just in case and I wouldn’t risk traveling without them.

Our Fourteen Hour Long Travel Day:

The night before our scheduled 11am flight out of Reagan Airport, I attempted to check in, but despite entering our passport information, was informed that I could not complete the check in process as I needed to provide proof of our departure from Costa Rica. As you may recall, we had booked two one-way trips on different airlines, so I could not complete check-in until I showed a gate agent our return itinerary. As you can imagine, traveling solo with both kids and knowing that my husband would already be en route and unreachable by the time we were scheduled to depart Washington, I panicked just a little bit and barely got any sleep.

The day of our trip, I found myself packed and ready to go well before we needed to leave for the airport. Nonetheless, despite knowing I would end up with three hours to kill at the airport, I decided to just head to the airport to complete the check in process just in case. One quick 15 minute Uberx+Car Seat ride to the airport later, I found myself standing in front of the United counter. Luckily, there was almost no line and a very helpful agent checked our passports, confirmed my return itinerary, entered her magical override code, and before I knew it, we were checked in and waiting at our gate 2.5 hours prior to our departure time.

Our short three hour flight from Washington to Houston was a breeze, but I knew that I still had two big hurdles to overcome: our extended layover in Houston (4+ hours), and our late arrival to Liberia Airport, well past my three year old’s ordinary bedtime and likely without him having taken any kind of nap.

American Express Centurion Lounge to the rescue! Earlier this year, I decided to add the American Express Platinum card to my arsenal of travel credit cards. Although the card comes with a hefty $550 / year annual fee, the card’s benefits (including complimentary access to Centurion Lounges for the cardholder + 2 guests) were sufficient to outweigh the heavy cost and I was eager to try out a Centurion Lounge for the first time.

The Centurion Lounge was just what we needed. To enter, I just showed the hostess my Platinum card, Driver’s License (as proof of identity), and boarding pass and we were on our way. I quickly deposited my youngest in the empty kids’ room (he’s old enough to play independently, so as long as I can remain visual contact on him, I have no problems leaving him in an empty play room), deposited my oldest on a seat with his iPad, and went off to explore the food and drink offerings.

I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed the food and drink offerings, but I was disappointed that the food was geared exclusively for adults and there really wasn’t anything for children – not even milk.

We spent a total of three hours in the Centurion Lounge and my kids were happy and safely contained the whole time.  Although they didn’t eat anything other than a roll from the buffet, they played and kept themselves occupied and I enjoyed the rare opportunity to have a cocktail and eat a meal in peace. The only out of pocket cost of this visit? The $2 tip I left the bartender.

With 1.5 hours left before our departure to Liberia Airport, I hauled the kids out of the Centurion Lounge and made our way to the gate. As they hadn’t had anything to eat yet, I simply stopped and grabbed them two slices of pizza, which they happily ate at the gate.

Our flight to Liberia from Houston was uneventful. The only complication was that my preschooler was beyond tired at this point as he had not napped at all. He was absolutely frenetic during our 3.5 hour flight and nothing would appease him, until he discovered the joy of tearing apart the in flight magazine. Although I don’t typically allow destruction just for destruction sake, I ended up letting him tear apart the in flight magazine page by page – I figured it was better than the alternatives – loud shrieking and kicking.

After he completely shredded the magazine, I requested a trash bag from the flight attendant and we burned another hour or so, just picking up each and every single piece of trash from the floor. As I was busy tying up the now completely filled trash bag and shoving it under our seat, I turned around and discovered that my little one had passed out sitting up in his seat. With less than an hour left of flying time, I knew deplaning was going to be rough, but I let him sleep and just hoped for the best.

Clearing Customs in Costa Rica and Arriving at the Andaz Papagayo:

Although I was juggling two rolling suitcases, an eight year old, a carry on backpack, a purse, and a sleeping 40 pound 3.5 year old, clearing customs in Costa Rica was a breeze. Although we were one of the last to get off the plane and arrived at Immigration when there was already a long queue in front of us, an immigration agent quickly came up to us, asked how many were in our party, and brought us to the front of the queue where there was an agent waiting to process families with children or special needs. We, along with two or three other families, were pulled from the long queue and processed very quickly, allowing us to enter Costa Rica and proceed to baggage claim. Note: My little one woke up crying while we were in line, and the immigration agent was very sympathetic. In between sympathetic comments and questions regarding where we were staying and the intent of our trip, she missed stamping my older son’s passport. If you’re a passport stamp hoarder, be sure to double check. 

After obtaining our checked bag, we went through baggage inspection, and then exited to the public terminal space. I will admit, I was devastated to enter the public terminal space and not see my husband waiting for us. The fear that something had happened, or that there had been some kind of mix up that would require me to manage the kids and our baggage while attempting to track him down and secure transportation to the resort was almost more than I could handle at that precise moment. Happily, I looked beyond the automatic door and saw that he was just outside the airport’s entrance waiting for us. Whew. I learned later that even though there is plenty of land space around Liberia Airport, that the terminal parking is quite a bit away from the terminal and requires spotty shuttle transport. He decided to just drive to the terminal and park outside the exit door, but of course, he did not want to stray too far from the car.

The drive from the airport to the hotel was approximately 30 minutes. As it was well past 10pm local time at that point, it was dark. Luckily, with our long travel day behind us, our exploration of the Andaz Papagayo and the Papagayo Peninsula could wait until the next day.

Looking for more? Continue reading Costa Rica With Kids (Part III): The Andaz Peninsula Papagayo Review (Accommodations, Concierge, Dining, Onda Spa, Cambi)…