Costa Rica to Panama with Kids: Crossing Sixaola to Bocas del Toro — Carenero, Bastimentos & the Bridge That Changed Us Costa Rica to Bocas del Toro with Kids: How to Cross the Sixaola Bridge, Island-Hop to Paradise, and Come Home Slightly Sunburned and Completely Satisfied In which we navigate a pedestrian border crossing over a river, discover that boat taxis are a perfectly acceptable school bus alternative, snorkel in a national marine park, encounter a snake of non-trivial dimensions, and conclude that Panama is best appreciated with tropical fruit, a cold beer, and sufficiently low expectations about the surrounding rubbish situation. The Bocas del Toro archipelago sits on the Caribbean coast of Panama, just across a small bridge over the Rio Sixaola from Costa Rica. In a straight line it's roughly 40 miles from Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. In actual travel time, given that you cross an international border and then board a boat, it takes around three to fo...

Costa Rica Surf Spots: The Complete Family Guide to Beginner, Intermediate & Advanced Breaks Costa Rica Surf Spots: The Complete Guide to Waves, Wipeouts & Why Our Kids Are Now Better Surfers Than Us In 2016, we made what we thought was a brilliant family decision: pack up and move to Costa Rica for its nature, warm climate, and family-friendly Pura Vida lifestyle. What we didn't anticipate was that our children would immediately become obsessed with surfing while my wife and I remained exactly where we started: firmly planted on our rears in the sand, nursing margaritas and documenting our failures on GoPro. Now, eight years later, our family can't imagine life without surf forecasts dictating our weekends. Somehow, between the escalating wipeouts, surprise encounters with crocodiles near our favorite break (more on that existential terror later), and the realization that my eight-year-old has better barrel rolls than I do, we've collected enough lo...