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.
Our trip to Costa Rica with kids did not involve much by way of pre-planned activities. Although our vacations are typically scheduled down to the minute to maximize experiences, our stated goal in traveling to Costa Rica was to spend time together, relaxing as a family. That said, there was one thing that we knew, with absolutely certainty, had to be done: ziplining.
Ziplining is so essential to any Costa Rica experience that I knew we had to do it. Admittedly terrified of heights, I had no interest in ziplining, but my almost nine year old is a bit of a daredevil and I knew he could persuade his dad into nearly anything. That said, the difficulty with ziplining as an activity was that we also have a very active not quite four year old, who very much so believes that he can and should be able to do whatever his big brother is doing. After a bit of poking around online, I settled on an outing to Diamante Eco Adventure Park with kids!
My best description of the Park is that it is essentially a Costa Rican amusement park/zoo all tied up into one. The Park offers a number of activities, including ziplining, horse back riding, and ATV rides, to name a few. The Park also offers numerous animals, a butterfly conservatory, and even a hot buffet lunch, if you’re so inclined.
The cost of admission is not cheap and varies depending on what activities you want to participate in. The plan was for my husband and oldest son to zipline, while my younger son and I visited with the animals, so we knew we needed to at least have those two options available to us. After perusing the various passes, I decided that the Adventure Pass made the most sense, as it includes ziplining, admission to the animal part of the Park, access to the beach, and a buffet lunch. The plan was to spend the day there so even though it was seemingly rather expensive at $118 for an adult and $95 for my older son (children under 5 are free), we went ahead and purchased our tickets.
The drive from our hotel to the Park took about one hour. About 20 minutes from the Park, we started spotting large and colorful signs that pointed us in the correct direction. Upon arrival, we confirmed with the security guard posted at the bottom of the driveway that we were visiting for the day, at which point we drove up to the parking area outside the main entrance.
After parking, we spotted the shuttle bus and quickly climbed on. The main entrance is located at the top of the hill directly above the shuttle bus in the above picture. I had some difficulty during the ticket purchasing process in terms of trying to figure out exactly how the day would go. Specifically, the online ticket purchase requires you to select a time for your zipline adventure. We were running slightly behind schedule and so we arrived 10 minutes after our selected time. I was quickly assured this was not a problem as we were checked in and queued for zip lining.
There are five ziplines at the park, but unfortunately, my son was just shy of the 85 pound minimum required to go on the Superman, which the Park claims to be the longest biplane in Costa Rica. Because he was unable to do the Superman, there was one other zipline he could not go on, as he had to return via the Superman. Although this meant that he was only able to go on three ziplines, his spirits were not dampened as he got weighed and outfitted.
With my husband and oldest son off on their zipline adventure, my youngest and I set out to explore the animals. It was a quick shuttle bus ride to the zoo entrance and we were off.
My little one and I enjoyed the various habitats, in particular the frog room. It was an open room with various frogs located around the room. We simply wandered around and tried to peek behind plans and leaves to find resting frogs/toads. We also loved the butterfly conservatory, but it was extremely stressful and it was completely packed with butterflies and I was terrified my little one would step on one. Luckily, we managed to spent quite a bit of time there, admiring the various species of butterflies, without causing any harm.
We were in the zoo for about 40 minutes when my husband and older son joined us. The last station on their abbreviated circuit of three ziplines conveniently dropped them off in the middle of the zoo. We spent about 90 minutes walking the zoo before deciding it was too hot and time for lunch.
Back at the main entrance, we scoped out the buffet and sat down for a bite to eat.
The buffet options were modest, but there was plenty for everyone. The meat options included BBQ chicken and ribs, and plenty of rice and beans and fries. My kids also happened to love the pizza (of course).
After lunch, we decided it was time to leave. Although we had planned to visit the beach, it was clear that the heat had gotten to my youngest son and that he was struggling to keep it together. A quick shuttle bus ride down to the parking lot and we settled in for the hour long ride home.
Final thoughts?
I enjoyed our visit to Diamante Eco Adventure Park and it was a good way to spend the day. My oldest got to experience the zipline and my youngest enjoyed seeing “Costa Rica animals,” as he affectionately called them. Every single employee at the Park was helpful – from the hostess that greeted us to the individuals scattered throughout the zoo, offering to give us a mini tour of the various habitats. In fact, my husband and oldest were so taken in by the “cats” habitat that the employee there ended up giving them a 20 minute tour and explanation of the animals and their daily routines.
In hindsight, I did not have to pay for the full Adventure Pass and could have saved a few dollars by opting for the Discovery Pass (which does not include ziplining, lunch, or beach access) and is $76 cheaper. But, since we had originally planned to visit the beach and knew that we would be eating lunch at the Park regardless, we went ahead and purchased the more expensive pass just to have more options available to us. That children under five are admitted for free definitely helped ease the pain in that regard.
If you’re thinking about visiting the Diamante Eco Adventure Park with kids, I can highly recommend it. It’s a clean facility and the employees are all top notch. From the extremely affable hostess to the focus on safety with respect to the ziplines, our family was able to enjoy a day outing with plenty of fun and entertainment for everyone.
I hope you enjoyed following along on our Costa Rica With Kids adventure!