14 Nights Best of Costa Rica, Volcanoes and Pacific Coast 26th December 2023

Highlights

  • Get off the beaten track and see the local side to Costa Rica most tourists miss
  • Discover incredible wild spaces, dense jungles and pristine beaches
  • Thrilling adventures, zip-lining, river rafting, horse riding
£3755 pp
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What you'll do

Arrive in Costa Rica

Arrive in San Jose airport, where you will be picked up and driven to your first accommodation Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Hotel and Nature Reserve, located in the Alajuela Province. The laid-back colonial city of San Ramon has been dubbed the ‘City of Presidents and Poets’. It has played an important role in Costa Rica’s history as it has been home to many local literary heroes and political leaders and is surrounded by lush rainforest, coffee and sugar cane fields.

Relax and enjo...Read All

Volcanoes and Hot springs

Today you will set off on your Costa Rican adventure making your way towards La Fortuna you will first stop at the Poás Volcano, an active volcano with a crater over a mile across and 1050 feet deep.  It has erupted 40 times in the last 200 years and you will have time to enjoy the impressive main crater with its sulphur fumaroles.

You will then continue to La Paz Waterfall Gardens, and enjoy an amazing traditional buffet lunch. You will hike the trails surrounded by lush tropical ra...Read All

Tenario Volcano Hike and Celeste Waterfall

Today you will explore the area around Tenario Volcano National Park  and visit the Celeste Waterfall

The area is best known for the beautiful Río Celeste meandering through the forest, whose turquoise waters are caused by the emanation of suphur and the precipitation of calcium carbonates. Primary cloud forest and rainforest covers the park, which abounds with flora and fauna species, rivers, waterfalls and thermal hot springs.

There is the opportunity to climb through the cl...Read All

Arenal Volcano National Parkand La Fortuna Waterfall

Today you will explore the area around Arenal Volcano. A visit to La Fortuna Waterfall and The Volcano hike is a great combo for the day.

The day will start late in the morning, at 11am so you can have enough time to enjoy a nice breakfast, explore the surroundings of the hotel and relax a little before your pick up. We recommend you to wear your swimming suit for the waterfall visit.

The excursion starts with a slow paced hike down through 500 steps that open the way to t...Read All

Free day ( Optional Visit Juanilama: Cheese Tour and Waterfall Hike)

 

Today is a free day – there is an optional activity if you would like to include it please let us know.

After a delicious breakfast, you’ll visit Juanilama, a small rural town where you will the chance to live the daily life of a rural community. You will experience a tour of the village and activities designed to show true Costa Rican culture, the traditions of the people, and their respect for nature. This visit is led by a small group of empowered women who lea...Read All

Arenal Lake Crossing to Monteverde

Today you will travel between Rio Celeste and Monteverde by crossing the Arenal Lake. You will be driven to the lake, where you will board a boat and sail for approximately one hour to take you across to Monteverde. This service is not only the fastest, but also the most scenic way to travel, where you can admire the beautiful views of all of the mountains, sky and the colossal Arenal volcano during the crossing. When you reach the other side of the lake, you will be picked up and driven to y...Read All

Explore Monteverde: Canopy and Coffee Tour

You will have the entire day to enjoy the area, including the small and quaint town of Santa Elena, filled with tasty restaurants and independent artisan shops. The nearby forest hosts a remarkable amount of biodiversity: a walk through a cloud forest in Monteverde reveals a lush garden of mosses, ferns, flowers and epiphytes growing thickly on every tree. Clouds drift in and settle among the slopes, providing the plants with the continuous moisture that they require. Dangling roots and vines...Read All

Ferry to Drake Bay

Today you will see many different ecosystems as we leave the Dry Forest of the north, drive through the transition forest, arrive on Lowland Rainforest, and pass the Mangrove swamps of Sierpe before getting to the Pacific coastline.

In Sierpe you board a boat that will finally take you to your next destination, Drake Bay.

You take a boat through the Mangrove out to sea and sail down the Southern coastline to reach the bay. You’ll be met by your local guide and travel to ...Read All

Corcovado National Park

 

Today you will visit the Osa Península and Corcovado National Park.

These are considered the most biologically diverse places on Earth and the jewel on the crown of Costa Rica’s national parks! A must see for wildlife and nature lovers, Corcovado is one of the less accessible parks in Costa Rica, and this means less tourists visit this area, making it all the more appealing.

This wild, untamed region is home to the only tropical primary lowland rainforest in...Read All

Sail to Cano Island

Today you’ll take a boat trip to the wonderful, untouched Caño Island, the gem of the South Pacific of Costa Rica! The waters around Cano island are renowned as one of the worlds best snorkelling and diving areas, with amazing coral reefs and some of the most abundant and varied marine life in the world.

The island itself has Pre Columbian architectural remains and it is believed to have once been a pirate hideout and some say it was the inspiration for Robert Stevenson’s ...Read All

Sierpe River Mangrove cruise and on to Manuel Antonio

Today you will visit the Sierpe Mangrove either by boat, or by kayak if you prefer.

Then you will head to the Central Pacific area of the country and Manuel Antoni. Its beaches are beautiful and the National park is well known for its biodiversity in a small area you can easily spot monkeys, sloths, coatis and others, so there is an optional visit for those who want to explore its trails.  However, the white sand beach and the warm ocean will give you the opportunity to relax and enjo...Read All

White Water Rafting and 'Tico Style' Lunch

Today you will enjoy a white water river rafting trip.You and your fellow rafters, together with your guide, will work as a team and build your way up to a breathtaking yet manageable adventure – teamwork makes the dreamwork!  Starting with a 4×4 ride into the tropical rainforest, you will arrive at  the village of Silencio, and to a typical Tico restaurant, where you will pre-order the food you want for lunch. Then you will go to the starting point of your white water river raft...Read All

Today you will enjoy a morning of deep sea fishing off shore try your hand at catching Blue Marlin, Black Marlin, Striped Marlin & Sailfish, you could even be in with a shot at a Billfish Grand Slam!

Accommodation

Hotel Villas Lirio

 

Meals

Breakfast

Horse riding on the beach

Today you can relax and enjoy the hotel.

Either in the morning or the afternoon you will have the opportunity to horse ride along the beach in a two hour magical experience. You don’t need to be an experienced rider, the instructors and guides will tailor the activity to your experience level.

Your guide will collect you from the hotel and you’ll begin your beach horse ride on Esterillos beach. Depending on your experience, you will be able to trot, gallop and even s...Read All

Local Cooking Class

This morning you will check out and it will be time to depart for the airport for your flight home.

You’ll take home amazing memories of the best of Costa Rica- its forests, volcanoes, rivers, waterfalls and beaches but most of all the warmth of the local people you have met here and friends you have made.

Meals

Bre...Read All

What's included

Included

  • All transfers from San Jose airport and ferries
  • 1 Night Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Hotel and Nature Reserve BB
  • 4 Nights El Establo Mountain Hotel BB
  • 3 Nights Eco Lodge Aguila de Osa FB
  • 4 Nights Villas Lirio BB
  • Visit to Poas Volcano
  • Arenal Volcano & La Fortuna Waterfall with lunch
  • Tenorio Volcano National Park with lunch
  • Selvatura Park hanging bridges and zip lining
  • Don Juan Coffee Farm Monteverde
  • Drake Bay Bioluminescence tour
  • Corcovado National Park with lunch
  • Isla del Caño with lunch
  • Rio Sierpe mangrove tour
  • Savegre River Rafting with lunch
  • Horseback riding on the beach
  • Off shore fishing trip
Your local host

Roberto

I was born and raised in Costa Rica and have lived here my entire life. And ever since I could, I’ve been travelling the world. Soon after I left school, I travelled around Costa Rica and discovered every single part of it! Although, we do have a fairly small country, there’s an insane amount to explore, and I’m still exploring it today, seeking out new hiking trails, new lagoons, different viewpoints, that take you to places you hadn’t even knew existed before, it really is fascinating.

My deep knowledge of countries extends far beyond just Costa Rica as well, I’ve been lucky enough to have a broad knowledge of most of the other Central American countries, as well as, a lot of the South American coun... Read All

I was born and raised in Costa Rica and have lived here my entire life. And ever since I could, I’ve been travelling the world. Soon after I left school, I travelled around Costa Rica and discovered every single part of it! Although, we do have a fairly small country, there’s an insane amount to explore, and I’m still exploring it today, seeking out new hiking trails, new lagoons, different viewpoints, that take you to places you hadn’t even knew existed before, it really is fascinating.

My deep knowledge of countries extends far beyond just Costa Rica as well, I’ve been lucky enough to have a broad knowledge of most of the other Central American countries, as well as, a lot of the South American countries, allowing me to extend tours over there as well.

You might be surprised to know that I started out in a completely different field altogether, I studied engineering at university and worked in this industry for a little while. But, a little while later, due that passion for discovery and exploring new places eating away at me, I started my immersive travel company with a friend (14 years ago to be exact) and began having way too much fun helping people discover my wonderful country and the countries around it, so as soon as the possibility came around I just grabbed it, decided to leave engineering behind and have worked in the industry ever since.

What inspired you to work in travel?

As I’ve mentioned, I do have a bit of an obsession when it comes to showing people the beauty of Costa Rica. But apart from this, I’ve always been very much pro environment and have a keen interest in conservation. One of the best things about travel is that it can have a large component of conservation, at some point before I started working in travel, I thought I would work within conservation. So travel is a great bridge between my passions of discovery and conservation. Because if tourism is done right can help change both people’s lives and the world, and that’s really powerful.

What makes your experiences special?

Firstly, supplier and destination selection is key for us when choosing our experiences. If you get these right, you have a pretty good shot of having a truly authentic experience. So, we choose destinations that are not the same as all the other tour companies out there, those that are emerging or have something special about them, that most people don’t know about. An example would be, Drake Bay in Costa Rica, there’s a few things that everybody does e.g. the Corcovado National Park, a must visit for this area. But the difference between us and the other companies is that we use the local companies, that employ real locals, so this gives smaller companies a chance to compete with the large companies. When we choose hotels, we choose those that are sustainable, away from the normal ones.

And we always ensure the places/people we work with are committed to sustainability, it’s our mission to spread the wealth of toursim, to make sure money just doesn’t go to all the large companies, we think it should be shared equally to everyone in the country. So our suppliers are always real local people, that truly love their country and are trying to make an honest living out of it.

 

Roberto image

Location

The tour begins in San Ramon, heading first north to Arenal, west towards Monteverde, and down to the remote and beautiful Drake Bay, you’ll then come back up the pacific coast and stay in picturesque Manuel Antonio.

All transport is provided, including all ferries and transfers from accommodation to accommodation, and all your guided activities are included so you can simply relax and enjoy the stunning scenery unfold before you.

On your final day, you will be driven back to the airport in San Jose.

1 San Ramon

2 Arenal

3 Monteverde

5 Drake Bay

6 Manuel Antonio

FAQs

What clothes do I need to bring?

Lightweight cotton and linen clothing is recommended for most of the year, with warmer clothes for cooler evenings. Waterproofing is necessary during the rainy season. Loose-fitting clothing is best. Wear neutral browns and greens for bird and wildlife viewing. Always bring mosquito repellent for both day and night.

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