Sometimes Google is not your friend. Now warnings are coming up about Zika and Dengue Fever. Maybe there’s a reason we always seem to end up in Hawaii. It’s close, cheap flights ( but kind of expensive otherwise), no scary stuff, lots of hiking and beach. I’m not much of an animal watching person, stay away, unless you are a little fuzzy dog.
Now I’m starting to consider other places. Was thinking of New Zealand, but we are trying to go somewhere that Delta flies to (we have free upgrade certificates, and that makes all the difference on a long flight), plus it seems like a long ways to go for just a week.
We’ve always wanted to go back to Israel. We have both been there individually, but just for a couple of days at a time. I have never been to Masada or the Dead Sea, and it is pretty easy to book day trips there and to Jerusalem, basing out of Tel Aviv. The flights are really inexpensive, even the top rated hotels look to be $200 a night or less. But one consideration is that it’s not terribly warm in Jan-Feb, maybe 50’s and possible rain, however, we could book mid Feb. Lots of hiking and sight seeing. Might fit my desire for a four star vacation for two star prices.
I won’t tell you about my daughter’s botfly experience when she was living there a couple years ago. >>
Hers was her arm and from the pix she sent me, not as bad as some of those, but still gross, disgusting, etc. It took weeks of treatment to go away.
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We were on the Osa Peninsula and loved it - Corcovado National Park and environs - lots of wildlife, kayaking, hiking, fishing …
Oh…botflies. 
We stayed four nights here: http://www.elremanso.com
It was fantastic. Lots of daytime adventures and wild deserted beaches. Beware of heat exhaustion and remember that darkness happens very suddenly.
Another time we went with friends and rented a villa up by the Liberia airport. Saw much less wildlife but had just as much fun.
Oh my, this weekend we were just talking about planning a trip to Costa Rica with the family. But the bugs… no way. We already had this experience in a Panama resort years ago. I had forgotten about it. It got so bad that when we were celebrating my MIL’s birthday and the waiter brought out a cake, a giant moth landed on it while we were singing happy birthday. At this point, we had gotten used to them and just waved it away. It was almost the size of my hand. It would have been good for Instagram if it existed back then. : )
My daughter who was 10 at the time, has never gotten over the fear of flying insects, much less large ones.
Anyhow, everyone I know who has gone has told me they loved it. Maybe I need to get more details.
HI is always lovely–lots of islands to choose among. 
It is great to have a local hiking guide so that you know what you are looking for, seeing and hearing. The birds, bugs and monkeys are amazing!
I just got off the phone with my husband, and said I was thinking of Israel instead, to which he said, “YES!” And he hadn’t even heard about the botflies, huge flying insects, deadly spiders, and poisonous snakes. So maybe I’ll be starting an Israel thread soon.
Delta flies to Cuba now, @busdriver11. It’s a place on my list. Would be nice in February. Bugs aren’t as big.
Cuba does seem interesting. However, I’m still a little creeped out about the political repression, and lack of freedom. Might wait awhile for that one!
My DH is going back to surf and he keeps asking me to go with him. I just dont have any desire to go there. I don’t surf and am really not into extreme sporting, or any sporting for that matter. I have no interest in zip lining, rafting, touring jungles, spiders, bugs…no thanks. I know it’s beautiful, but still.
I’d really like to see it all. I’m sure its beautiful. I just don’t want to come in contact with the bugs. DO you think that the Pope will lend me his Popemobile? I can ride around in it taking in all the scenery. Bonus is its air conditioned. I don’t do well with tropical heat.
Sounds like if you ever get talked into going, @conmama, you’d better book a nice all inclusive resort!
We tend to not be fans of group tours but did one for Costa Rica. Caravan Tours out of Chicago has an interesting one, took more than a week for travel et al, however. I recommend the company. We were able to see both coasts, different elevations and climates plus all meals etc. Learned a lot. Knew someone from there and it was cool to see his home country. Expensive there- high cost of living (which we didn’t notice because of everything included). We went to a hot springs for a day trip, were on rivers (snuck into Nicaragua for a few minutes on the water), saw a volcano, a west coast luxury resort, bananas being harvested/sorted/packed, learned about pineapples, coffee plantations and so much more. Learned how loud howler monkeys can be.
This was an ideal way to see the country in one trip. We had been to numerous resorts in Mexico, Bahamas, the Caribbean so it was refreshing to have an itinerary that covered a lot without needing to plan it ourselves or to just sit on a beach.
I had no bug issues in Costa Rica - just be aware when snorkeling about the sting rays and poisonous sea snakes
We were at an inclusive lodge that was focused on fishing but offered eco tours. DH fished every day and I fished one day and toured the rest with one day snorkeling. The area thing about all inclusive even if rustic is having a home base and a place to decompress. We found the guides to be excellent! I really liked knowing where I was eating breakfast and dinner, though. The thing about Costa Rica is that it isn’t a foodie paradise. There is rice and beans and chicken and fish but it is not a place (so far as ai know) where you will miss out horribly if you eat the dinner that you are served and are not out exploring. You aren’t going for the food.
I didn’t mean to disparage the whole country with my bug comments! I was just referring to the experience at the one particular resort that I recommended – Lapas Rios. The (beautiful, cool) giant insects ARE most definitely part of the experience at that particular resort. I’m sure there are lots of places in Costa Rica where you wouldn’t encounter them so much.
We did a family vacation in CR last december for 8 days. The kids were 20, 17 and 10 at the time. We all had a fantastic time. We arranged a private tour with a company called Adventure Life. I’m not a fan of tours where you have to wait around for other folks. This privately arranged tour was perfect and the price was very reasonable. We had our own bilingual guide for the week who was very entertaining and knowledgeable. We learned a lot about CR history and culture. We also had our own dedicated driver who took care of the comfortable van and was able to stay with our belongings while we were out and about to avoid theft.
We live on the beach in Florida, so we were not that interested in going to coastal CR. We concentrated our time hiking in the rain forest, exploring and hiking in Arenal, waterfall rappelling, zip lining, white water rafting and biking.
We weren’t spooked by bugs. The critters are all part of being in the rain forest.
Overall, a great family vacation. I would not have wanted to drive on those roads on my own. Plus, our great guide and excelling driver made the trip much more informative, safe and relaxing.