and they had a great time. People are nice, its safe, nice beaches, lots of wildlife or surfing, canyoneering, ziplines, etc. We've taken our kids to a decent number of other countries in Central America and Europoe and for an easy vacation with plenty of activities, Costa Rica is pretty awesome.

As B&B said above, Playa Del Carmen is another very good option - Xcaret, Xplor, Tulum, Chichen Itza, etc - but in my opinion that area and less so Cancun which is too touristy for my blood.