All-Inclusive Costa Rica Vacation

This trip from Vacation Express includes round-trip airfare and a 5-night, all-inclusive resort stay at an oceanfront property in western Costa Rica, just minutes from Puntarenas and one hour from the capital city of San Juan.

The vacation includes:

• Round-trip airfare from 8 cities
• 5-night, all-inclusive stay in a standard or deluxe room at DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Hotel Central Pacific-Costa Rica
• All meals and beverages (both non-alcoholic and alcoholic)
• Kids’ club for ages 4–12 and teens’ club for ages 12–17
• Non-motorized water sports, including kayaking and surfing
• Daily activities, including karaoke and pool aerobics
• Nightly performances, including acrobatics, impersonations, and dances<p>

DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Hotel Central Pacific-Costa Rica

Sunsets are spectacular at this DoubleTree property, which overlooks the Gulf of Nicoya in western Costa Rica. You can watch the sky fill up with bright oranges, reds, and pinks from the resort’s private pier or from a black-sand beach created by millennia of volcanic activity. Caña Brava, a restaurant specializing in local seafood, has great views of the setting sun, too, from an open-air dining room facing the ocean.

There are numerous dining options at the all-inclusive resort, including a buffet with local and international specialties and a Latin American eatery. A pair of swim-up bars let you enjoy cocktails without ever leaving the pool, and you can get drinks and snacks at El Pelicano until 1:30 a.m. every night.

The resort’s black-sand beach was designated a Blue Flag area by the Costa Rican government, meaning it meets strict water-quality and sanitation standards. You can explore the clear waters on a kayak, surfboard, or raft you’ve cobbled together from coconuts. It’s also worth taking a soak in in four outdoor pools surrounded by rustling palms.

Each standard and deluxe guest room provides a comfortable retreat near the resort’s pools. For a bout of deep relaxation, head to Heliconia Spa to indulge in a facial, massage, or body wrap in oceanfront bungalows.

Puntarenas, Costa Rica: Surfing Beaches and Tropical Rainforests near San José

You’re never far from a beach in Puntarenas. Costa Rica’s biggest province occupies a long, thin section of the country alongside nearly 500 miles of Pacific coastline. Overlooking the Gulf of Nicoya, the town of Jacó attracts surfers from all over the globe thanks to its consistently big waves and good breaks. The best wave chasers make beelines for Playa Hermosa, a 6-mile stretch of black sand that’s considered one of the top surfing destinations in Central America.

Though beaches are a big draw, Puntarenas also has a wide variety of national parks and nature reserves—part of the reason Costa Rica has become such a popular destination for ecotourism. Just a few miles inland from Jacó, Carara National Park is the country’s northernmost tropical rainforest. The park provides shelter for poison-dart frogs, two-toed sloths, and hundreds of scarlet macaws (a rare sight in most parts of the country). Los Quetzales National Park lies to the southwest in the neighboring province of San José. The park features 14 ecosystems in the Cordillera de Talamanca mountain range and is named for one of its most colorful inhabitants: the quetzal, a lime-green and scarlet bird.

The Costa Rican capital of San José is located about 60 miles northeast of Jacó. By day, the big city bustles with open-air artisan markets and street vendors selling tamales and pupusas (corn tortillas stuffed with cheese and meat). By night, flashy discos can be found in all flavors, from ultrasophisticated to full-on rowdy. Wandering the streets of San José, you’ll encounter a confluence of architecture styles—part Spanish, part Moorish—and some of the older neighborhoods still have homes made of wood and adobe.