ROOTS & RHYTHMS
The drop-off kids programme on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica that digital nomad families have been looking for
Roots and Rhythms: 23rd August - 11th September 2026
Roots & Rhythms — Sun 21 Feb – Fri 12 Mar 2027
Roots and Rhythms — Sun 16 May – Fri 5 Jun 2027
Roots & Rhythms — Sun 22 Aug – Fri 10 Sep 2027
· Three weeks · Ages 10+ · Maximum 12 · Lunch included
9am drop-off. 3pm pick-up. The Caribbean coast is yours in between.
This is what slow travel with children aged 10 and above actually looks like when it works.
Your child arrives independently every morning and spends the day 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday in one of the most genuinely immersive kids enrichment programmes available on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Cacao farming. Sloth conservation. Afro-Caribbean cooking. Indigenous storytelling. Latin dance. Community service. Nature crafts. Real experiences led by educators who have spent their lives on this coast.
You have six hours. Work. Walk the reef pools. Sit in a coffee shop and work uninterrupted. Swim. Rest. Explore Puerto Viejo properly for the first time.
Pick up at 3pm. Head to the beach together. Your child comes home full of things to tell you. You come home having actually done something too.
Nobody compromises. That is the design.
Built for families who are doing both
Roots & Rhythms exists because worldschooling and digital nomad families with children aged 10 and above told us the truth that working remotely while also facilitating your child's education is exhausting and nobody is doing either thing well.
Most drop-off kids programmes in Costa Rica are activity based. Good fun, genuinely. But not the kind of thing that changes a child.
Roots & Rhythms is different. It is a structured, place-based worldschooling programme not a holiday club, not a camp where children spend three weeks going deeper into the culture, conservation and community of the Caribbean coast than most adults who visit here ever do.
For digital nomad families in Costa Rica looking for a kids programme that takes the question of what your child is experiencing completely off the table because what they are experiencing is extraordinary this is it.
Why Puerto Viejo and the Caribbean coast
Most digital nomad families researching Costa Rica with kids default to the Pacific coast. San José, Tamarindo, Santa Teresa — the infrastructure is good and the worldschooling community is visible.
The Caribbean coast of Costa Rica is different. Slower. Less polished. And for families who stay long enough, consistently more significant.
Puerto Viejo de Talamanca sits on ancestral BriBri Indigenous territory at the edge of one of the most biodiverse coastal ecosystems in Central America. It is also the heart of an Afro-Caribbean community descended from Jamaican workers who came to build the railroad in the late nineteenth century and stayed to build something far more enduring a culture of food, music, language and belonging that exists nowhere else.
For a three-week slow travel stay in Costa Rica, the Caribbean coast offers something the Pacific rarely does genuine depth. A place that rewards the families who slow down enough to let it in.
Roots & Rhythms is built for exactly that kind of stay.
What your child does every day
9am to 3pm · Monday to Friday · Lunch included
Every day in Roots & Rhythms is distinct. The programme is designed so that no session repeats across the three weeks and children who join both Roots & Rhythms and Seeds & Stories for the full summer encounter entirely fresh experiences throughout. Six weeks on the Caribbean coast and something genuinely new every single day.
Cacao — beyond chocolate With Ancel, children explore the cacao plant beyond the bar — its use in facials, drinks, body products and the wider cultural and ecological significance of a crop that has shaped this coast for generations.
Afro-Caribbean cooking and culture With Vic a Caribbean man whose family has farmed this coast for over a century children cook, work on the farm and explore Afro-Caribbean daily life from the inside. With Carling a local Caribbean woman who has been cooking this food her whole life children learn patties versus empanadas, tortillas, local drinks and treats.
Sloth conservation — real field work With Olivia and the Sloth Conservation Foundation, children track sloths through the forest and record data that contributes to real research or plant trees and install rope bridges to protect sloth habitat. Real science. Real stakes.
Coastal conservation and ecology With Susana children study the Caribbean coastline, its coral reef systems and the conservation story of this particular stretch of Costa Rica.
Indigenous culture and ancestral knowledge With Juanita — a BriBri Indigenous elder children sit with stories passed down through generations. With Derek at his community outreach centre, children participate in real community service alongside an Indigenous community leader whose connection to this land is not a programme resource. It is simply his life.
The natural world With Kiawe at the botanical gardens and cacao farm, children learn to read a landscape the names of plants in multiple languages, the ecological relationships between species, the living knowledge of a place that tourism rarely reaches.
Art, music, movement With Federico, children discover Caribbean music and rhythm as cultural expression. With Andrew, mixed media art processes and celebrates everything the programme offers. With Enzo a local dancer children explore Latin dance as community, movement and one of the most direct ways to understand a place.
Conservation and sustainability A plastic recycling workshop that turns the environmental conversation into a hands-on encounter with the reality of waste on this coastline and what communities are doing about it.
Water and jungle safety With Mike and the Caribbean Guard team the local water safety organisation built by and for this community —every child receives a thorough ocean safety session. A jungle safety session covers how to move through wild spaces, wildlife awareness and snake safety.
What you do while your child is in the programme
Six hours on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Yours.
For digital nomad families and remote workers in Costa Rica, Roots & Rhythms solves the equation that slow travel with kids usually can't. Here is what those six hours can look like:
If you need to work: Puerto Viejo has reliable wifi in multiple cafés and coworking-friendly spaces. Six hours of focused, uninterrupted remote work in a beautiful place without the guilt of a child sitting beside you watching something on a screen is genuinely achievable here in a way it rarely is when travelling with children.
If you want to explore: Three weeks on the Caribbean coast with daily free time is enough to go deep. Reef pools at Chino Beach and near Villas Caribe. Cahuita National Park. The Kekoldi Indigenous Reserve. Hiking trails at Punta Uva. The kind of slow, unhurried exploration that travel rarely allows when children are beside you every minute.
If you want to rest: The pace of this coast makes that easy. The Caribbean coast of Costa Rica does not rush. Neither should you.
Pick up at 3pm: Your child comes home with stories, with tiredness earned from doing real things, and with an appetite for the afternoon. Head to the beach together. The southern Caribbean coast has some of the most beautiful reef-sheltered swimming spots in Costa Rica, and they are far less crowded than anything on the Pacific.
This is what slow travel in Costa Rica with a 10 to 17 year old can actually look like. Work done. Child thriving. Afternoon on the beach together. Three weeks of it.
Optional parent add-ons
During the programme, parents have the option to join one of the weekly children’s outings as a chance to step into the experience alongside them. These are optional and offered at an additional cost of $100 per adult, with full details shared on application.
There is also one featured field trip for children and parents together - there is an additional cost for all those participating.
Separately, we also curate a selection of optional add-ons for parents to enjoy outside programme hours — either on their own or together as a family at the weekends.
We never promise outcomes. Every child is different.
But here is what some parents have told us after their children completed the programme:
They noticed their child carrying themselves differently. More upright. More settled in their own skin.
They noticed their child talking about other people what someone else needed, how they helped, what it felt like to be useful.
They noticed friendships forming with a depth that surprised them connections made in three weeks that felt unlike ones built over years.
They noticed a quality of confidence that comes not from being praised but from having done something hard and real and knowing from the inside they were equal to it.
Not every child has the same experience. The environment is designed to make these things possible. What each child takes from it is entirely their own.
What children take home
“It has been life changing for my daughter. Whatever Cacao Coast gave her, it didn’t just light her up in the moment. It changed something in her that I think will stay.”
“Every cacao day was amazing. Making facials, making chocolate, grinding cacao at the farm — it’s something most people never get to do. The patty vs empanada cooking session was one of my favourites. The last day’s celebration was so special. Cacao Coast is one of the best things that has ever happened to me.”
“I realised I’m actually good at helping others — and that was something I didn’t expect.”
The community
At opening, closing and on cooking days, the whole Roots & Rhythms community children, educators and parents comes together. These moments are some of the warmest of the three weeks. Parents who arrive not knowing each other tend to leave with friendships of their own.
The WhatsApp group is active throughout the programme. Daily notes from the team keep parents connected to what their children experienced during the day.
Practical information
Programme dates:
Sun August 23 to September 11, 2026
Sun 21 February – Fri 12 Mar 2027
Sun 16 May – Fri 5 Jun 2027
Sun 22 August – Fri 10 Sep 2027
Duration: Three weeks · Monday to Friday
Hours: 9am to 3pm daily
Ages: Children aged 10 and above
Group size: Maximum 12 children
Structure: Drop-off — children arrive and attend independently
Location: Caribbean coast of Costa Rica · Puerto Viejo de Talamanca area
Included: All programme activities, all educator sessions, all materials, all field trips, lunch daily on all hub days
Additional costs: Optional parent days out $100 per adult · Accompanying parents on the field trip — additional cost · Full details on application
Language: English throughout. Some educators speak Spanish Kryol and Indigenous languages, the multilingual environment is part of the experience.
Packing: Sturdy shoes and sandals · Sun hat · Light layers · Reusable water bottle · Insect repellent · Reef-safe sunscreen · Light backpack · Rain poncho · Full list shared on application
Travel insurance: Mandatory for all participants
Is Roots & Rhythms right for your child?
Roots & Rhythms is for children aged 10 and above who are ready to step into a small group independently. They do not need to be outgoing. They need to be willing to try things that feel unfamiliar, to show up to a group that asks something of them, to spend a day doing things with their hands rather than watching things on a screen.
It is not for children who are not yet comfortable separating from their parents in an unfamiliar environment. If your child is 10 but not ready for that independence, Seeds & Stories where parents participate fully every day, may be the better starting point. We are always honest about this on our calls
Investment
Roots & Rhythms is priced at $2,800 per person.
Early access and family pricing options are available and for those joining across the season. Full details are shared on application.
Set on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, the experience is designed to hold the children fully, giving parents the space to shape their days as they choose.
We accept a maximum of 12 participants per programme. Every application is read personally by Claire or Sam. You will hear from us directly — not from a system, not from a team member.
Apply at the link below. Tell us about your family. We will come back to you with everything you need to make your decision
You can read verified reviews from our families at trustpilot.com/review/cacaocoastcr.com
Cacao Coast Classroom offers place-based worldschooling programmes on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Roots & Rhythms is our three-week drop-off kids programme for children aged 10 and above in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, running August 23 to September 11 2026. Designed for digital nomad families, remote workers and slow travel families in Costa Rica. 9am to 3pm, Monday to Friday. Lunch included every day. Programme includes cacao experiences, Afro-Caribbean cooking, sloth conservation, Indigenous storytelling, Latin dance, mixed media art and coastal conservation — led by locally rooted educators. Maximum 12 children. Apply at cacaocoastcr.com.