Can you recommend any Costa Rica Tours?

[sm4125]

We're looking for some tour ideas & recommended tour providers in Costa Rica for Nov. 9-13. Last time we only went to Port Limon on a cruise ship. This time we have a few days. Any suggestions? I appreciate any help you can share with me.

[patseacruiser]

I was in Costa Rica a few weeks ago and used JJ Tours. We had a great tour. He has a degree in ecotourism and very knowledgeable about the vegetation, history and people of Costa Rica. Thoroughly enjoyed his tour.

[pilotdane]

If you will in Costa Rica where will you be located? The activities will vary considerably depending on your location.

[sm4125]

We are flying in to San Jose and haven't booked our hotel or tours yet. We were thinking of using one vendor for the whole trip. We had a great tour provider for a day trip while we were in Port Limon in April 2009, but I don't remmeber the company name. The guide gave us a bus tour to te Dole Banana Plantation, Zip Line tour, a farm to see sloths, and a narrated trip around neighborhoods & local stops. She was great. I wish I'd kept her name and contact info.

[sm4125]

Thanks. I'll check on this.

[pilotdane]

Do you plan on staying in the San Jose area and take day trips out from there or do you want to do a bus tour where you stay in a different town every night? Is there anything in particular you want to see?

 

Costa Rica is a very safe and mostly easy country to get out and explore on your own so a tour guide or packaged tour is not needed if you want to get to know one area. If you want to bounce around and see a lot of the country then a packaged tour might be a good route.

 

I am very fond of the Lake Arenal area. It is much cooler than the beaches and is usually quite comfortable day/night without air conditioning. There is a lot of climate diversity as you move around the lake so you can see a lot of different plants and animals in a geographically small area.

 

Volcan Arenal pretty reliably puts on some type of show and you can often hear it chuffing and see red hot rocks rolling down the side (clouds often blanket the mountain so if you just stop for a few hours you might have bad luck and not see anything, if you're there for a day you can pretty reliably catch a show). And, there are some truly incredible spas and mineral baths in the area (though I'm not a fan of La Fortuna, too touristy). The northwest end of Lake Arenal has world class for wind surfing and kite boarding and hundreds of large windmills line the hills in an odd tropical paradise meets the future sort of way. The NE side is quite lush and rain forest tropical with many small resorts & hotels linking the road.

 

If you want some beach time and want to see monkey & other animals I'd hop on Sansa Airlines to Quepos and get a room somewhere close to the Manuel Antonio National Park. Most flights from the US arrive early enough that you just go right from your international flight to Sansa which is right next door and it's a 20 minute flight to Quepos. The Quepos to Manuel Antonio strip is touristy but I love it. There are some incredible restaurants, the beach is amazing and the Manuel Antonio park is very accessible. Live a little and take a surfing lesson while your there. It makes for a very easy, relaxing trip.

 

If you want to really see untouched jungle or do a premium vacation I'd hop a plane down to Golfito (it's much too far to drive in a week's vacation) and stay at a resort somewhere around Golfo Dulce. The waters in the gulf are out of this world and dolphins/porpoise will swim along your boat to check you out. It's more pricey to get down there and some of the resorts are downright opulent but you are rewarded for getting a bit off the beaten path.

[sm4125]

We live on the Intercoastal Waterway in Florida, so we often see dolphins and other marine life in our backyard, and the beach is just minutes away. Ideally, we'd like to see some Mayan ruins, historical buildings, the volcano, mountains, and things off the beaten path. With your experience in Costa Rica which area would you recommend we stay in? Do you know of a tour provider than might have a 3-5 night tour that features some of these things? Thanks for your help!

[patseacruiser]

I guess I misread this and didn't realize you weren't looking for a 4 hour gig. I do know tour operators but have to look through everything but you can google adventure costa rica and see tour operators that have adventure tours for anything from a day to a week and longer.

[pilotdane]

I think Costa Rica is too far south for Myan ruins. I think they only got as far south at Guetemala or Honduras and the best/most popular ruins are in Mexico. Costa Rica also lacks a lot of the old colonial influence that created interesting old buildings, forts, monasteries and churches. There are interesting & old buildings but and I don't think they have any "man made" UNESCO sites. It's really a country about natural beauty.

 

I've never done a packaged tour but several friends of my parents have used Leo Rodriguez. I don't have his phone number or E-mail right now but I should have that for you shortly. I think Leo is most familiar with the northern half of the country.

 

You have the choice of flying into either San Jose or Liberia. Flights are generally less expensive into San Jose and would give you the best options if you want to take a puddle jump somewhere but Liberia (my choice) may be a better option if you are touring the northern half of the country.

[pilotdane]

Here is the contact info for Leo:

 

 

LERA TRAVEL

Nature Tours & Transportation

 

Telephone: (506) 378-0001

Beeper: 224-2400

 

leratravelcr@yahoo.com

[bandpthoma]

We are just back from the Panama Canal cruise and used Okey Dokey Tours in Puerto Limon. Very nice, very informative, and very reasonably priced. Even received a discount for being a cruise critic member. Our tour guide was Ray and he was very knowledgeable about his home country. You can google okey dokey tours in costa rica for the website giving a description of the different tours that are offered. Enjoy!

[justforkicks]

We just came back from JOS and did the 6 in 1 tour with Greenway Nature Tours. jackie our tour guise was outstanding, I would recommend her to anyone. they also give a 10% discount to cc members

[dj127]

We did a cruise in January and used "Okey Dokey" tours. We were very pleased with them. Several people from CC signed up for our tour. I was the organizer - we had a group of 22 in all - 2 vans. I would highly recommend them.

dj127

[auern4]

Seems like a silly question, but do they pick you up at the ship?

[Holly2]

We used a private tour guide who picked us up at the ship and took us wherever we wanted. We decided on the canals and national park and beach. it was great and not any more expensive than a packaged tour. Our guide was Jorge -- his email is posted on another thread.

[mytime53]

Other than cruise stops, I've been to C.R. twice, once for 2 weeks and once for 10 days. Had a wonderful time both trips. If I could only recommend one place it would be to go to Monteverde (I was in search of the elusive quetzal, and I got to see one!). We also really enjoyed the Arenal area (staying at Tabacon was very enjoyable) and the Quepos/Manuel Antonio area. Someday I want to go back and see more!

[pilotdane]

Did you get any photos of the resplendent quetzal? It is the one bird still on my list that I have not seen.

[mytime53]

Did you get any photos of the resplendent quetzal? It is the one bird still on my list that I have not seen.

 

Yes, I did...it was a juvenile, but still gorgeous. I'm hoping to return to Monteverde in the near future and spend more time searching....

 

the photo is on my other computer...I'll post if I remember it later

[Rackytoronto]

We just came back from Celebrity Equinox Western Caribbean Cruise and we did a fabulous tour in Puerto Limon with Lucky Tours, Eduardo Humphries. The traditional farm tour is a full day and not for the faint hearted or handicapped. The roads at the end are dirt and bouncy and the tours requires walking. This is a real working farm for sugar cane,macadamia nuts ,coffee and if totally interactive. We rode an oxen cart, squeezed sugar cane and even did a replay of the famous "I love Lucy chocolate line scene" with macadamia nuts. Afters we had a lovely local lunch on site and had the opportunity to buy coffee and nuts. This is truly an unusual tour and well worth it.

[ringettechamp]

We used JJ tours in March on Jewel of the Seas. We had a great time and went to the Jaguar Rescue Center, Cahuita National Park (great beach), the canals, banana plantation etc. The tour lasted 8 hours and included lunch.

[Aussie Gal]

We have just returned from a cruise on the Royal Princess which included Puerto Limon. We used Oscar Brown Tours and had a great 4-5 hours with Oscar. He was very reasonable priced and he can be contacted on: http://www.oscarbrowntours.com/

 

Jennie

[mudman49]

We just returned from the Carnival Fredom with our stop in Costa Rica. We too used JJ tours and had a great day with JJ. We stopped at the Jaquar Rescue center, Cahutia Park and the beach had an excellent lunch which was included. I can't say enough about JJ he was extremely accomadating. He's definitely the best and very reasonsibly priced.

[TWO4THESEA]

We just came back from Celebrity Equinox Western Caribbean Cruise and we did a fabulous tour in Puerto Limon with Lucky Tours, Eduardo Humphries. The traditional farm tour is a full day and not for the faint hearted or handicapped. The roads at the end are dirt and bouncy and the tours requires walking. This is a real working farm for sugar cane,macadamia nuts ,coffee and if totally interactive. We rode an oxen cart, squeezed sugar cane and even did a replay of the famous "I love Lucy chocolate line scene" with macadamia nuts. Afters we had a lovely local lunch on site and had the opportunity to buy coffee and nuts. This is truly an unusual tour and well worth it.

 

Hello: We are booked on the Equinox in January. First time on this ship. How did you like it? Any Pros or cons you'd like to share? Any advice?

thanks in advance.

[scapel]

We're looking for some tour ideas & recommended tour providers in Costa Rica for Nov. 9-13. Last time we only went to Port Limon on a cruise ship. This time we have a few days. Any suggestions? I appreciate any help you can share with me.

 

You might enjoy a whitewater tour on the Pacuare River. I think Tropicale tours ran it out of San Jose. To see the river watch the movie "Congo" the short portion that is shown in this movie is the section they take you down on the Pacuare. At least class 4 rapids. You wear a helmet. Great fun.

[Loonbeam]

I'll add a vote for JJ. He was a pleasure to deal with and very reasonable. The only issue we had was out of his control, not enough guides on the zipline we used which caused a delay which he worked hard to make up.

 

(I really need to finish my excursion review post)