Stay & Play

Family-Friendly Dreams Las Mareas, Costa Rica

by Susan Campbell

An hour and half away from Liberia, you’ll find Dreams’ family-friendly all inclusive tucked away on the lush mountains and scenic coast of Playa El Jobo, also in Guanacaste. It’s so large it appears as an entire village unto itself. Sprawling collections of seaside and mountainside blocks host 447 luxury suites and surround an incredible water circuit that spills seamlessly down many levels right to the sea.

We stayed in a Preferred Club Junior Suite Ocean View looking out onto massive tangles of greenery; it was like living in a jungle tree house! And we absolutely adored the massive balcony with couch lounge and oversized hot tub on the deck. We enjoyed lots of time on their beach and the snorkeling was superb. We saw a lot of tropical fish, rays, and the daily spectacle of the flying fish dance- when hundreds of them jettison out of the water in unison- was awesome to witness.

We mostly avoided the main pool by the beach as it was always full of children having a blast (loudly,) and opted for the more secluded adult-only pool level with its own bar and infinity terrace. And parents can get a break from their offspring as well since there are two excellent day camp options included- one for children and one for teens. Adults will also enjoy the late night disco “Desires” for carousing away from the kids.

Food and drink galore is included, and again 24/7 room service is well appreciated, as is the 24-hour Coco Café for snacks. But our favorite dining venue by far was the Asian Himitsu and their great teppanyaki table show- the flair was as good as the food! And since we were in the Preferred Club status we also had our own full service dining lounge and bar away from the crowds.

Though we could hear howler monkeys in the distance, the onsite primates were little white-faced ones, they hang around the spa area behind the main tower and though folks are advised not to feed them (no matter how cute,) we heard that they sometimes sneak into your room and help themselves to snacks if you leave the balcony door open! I also saw their resident ant eater stroll by one night, quite a surprise to see how large it was, and you’ll encounter a lot of raccoons and crabs at night as well. But as much as we were loving our room and thoroughly enjoying the property, we still wanted to see more of the region so we opted for an additional day excursion with Amstar.

www.dreamsresorts.com/las-mareas

Mega Combo Tour An Ideal Excursion For All Ages

An hour and a half drive by air-conditioned motor coach gets you to up in the elevated volcanic region of Rincón de la Vieja where an exciting day of fun in the jungle awaits with Amstar. The mega-combo excursion covers all the bases- horseback riding, jungle zip-lining, volcanic thermal springs and natural mud baths and a 400-meter rainforest water slide- the longest in the country. They also serve an excellent local lunch. We highly recommend it!

www.amstardmc.com/mega-combo.html