9-Day Best of Northwest Costa Rica from San Jose: Arenal Volcano National Park, Monteverde Cloud Forest and Guanacaste

An Exhausting Trip With Magnificent Highlights

Although there were breath taking experiences on this trip I would not recommend it for several reasons. According to our incredible tour guide Fico we were fortunate to see so many monkeys. We saw Howlers, Capuchins and Spider monkeys close up in the wild. We also saw an incredible number of bird species. I would have liked to know in advance how experienced you need to be with binoculars. We made a friend on the trip who is an experienced birder and wildlife photographer who shared his photos. Other wise we would not have managed to see them and capture photos. My main complaint would be the number of people on this bus trip. In order to process and move 27 people everyday we were up every morning between 5:00-5:30 and on the bus at 6:30. We spent so many hours on that bus with very little activity. Mostly people were between 60-75 years old but we had two young couples. Everyone complained about the lack of activity. Any scheduled down time or more lengthy hiking options vanished in the process of moving so many people with frequent but necessary bathroom stops. By the end I was so sleep deprived it was hard to appreciate much. In the itinerary they mention a turtle rescue research experience. In fact these turtles are almost extinct and definitely not available for viewing. Instead the morning was spent picking up plastic from the beach and sorting to increase awareness of how plastic are being incorporated into our marine life. People were very disappointed. This should have been a trip for maybe 15 people. I will always be grateful to our guide Fico and some of the experts we met along the way for sharing their vast knowledge but this trip was not worth so much money.

Amazing Trip - You won't regret using CA Tours!

Just returned from a 9 day trip arranged by CATours and it was an amazing time. We had private transport from SJO airport to our hotel in San Jose. Next was two days in La Fortuna, where we did the Mistico Park Hanging Bridges Tour. Next was the Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge where we saw many different birds, iguanas, cayman, bats (sleeping - it was daytime!) and just had a great relaxing time on the river cruise. Then we transferred via boat across Lake Arenal to a bus that took us to our next stop, Monteverde which I think was my favorite region. The cool nights were beautiful. Our final location was Manuel Antonio (Guanacaste). The sunset catamaran tour was one of the highlights of our trip. Not one of the giant party boats, but a much more relaxing one. Finally, private transport back to one last night in San Jose, and private transport to the airport next morning. Great staff. CATours responded very quickly to a few of my mid-trip requests to change things, and their drivers were excellent. They arranged a few wonderful suprises for us as this was an anniversary trip. Can't say enough about the entire experience!

Quero Regresar!

Sight seeing is gorgeous and perfectly scheduled throughout the trip! Nature Lovers must experience!! You start with tropical forest, then cloud forest and end with a nice couple days of relaxing in an all inclusive dry forest resort in Guanacaste. This is the best way to get to see many significant and beautiful parts of Costa Rica! The hotels that are offered in the package are also top-class, Kioro in Arenal, El Establo in Monteverde, and my family stayed at Riu Palace while in Guanacaste. Jorge was an amazing tour guide, he is very knowledgeable, helped improve my Spanish speaking skills and overall a pleasant man.

Amazing first time to Costa Rica

We had the best time in Costa Rica. We found our tour guide, Leidi Vargas, at the airport as she was holding a sign with our name on it. She picked us up at the airport and was available at our hotel and via text and email as we traveled around the country. She was very patient with us and explained everything we needed to know. Leidi arranged a trip to a national park, snorkeling, and transportation around Costa Rica. We always felt safe with all the drivers and guides. We had the best time and saw all kinds of animals. The hotels were amazing and the people were the best. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming to us. Once we parted ways and went to our second hotel she kept in touch with us via text to make sure we were enjoying ourselves and getting the resources we needed. Everything went according to plan, every driver and tour arrived on time and as expected. Can't wait to come back again!

Another beautiful area!

We stayed in Fortuna and viewed the Volcano from our cabina. It's a lovely area with massive foliage. This is a definite excursion in Costa Rica. I would love to go back and stay in the park.

Trip of a Lifetime!

Our 30th wedding anniversary trip to Costa Rica was amazing! Jose was the best guide, so knowledgeable, and an all around great guy. From San Jose, to Arenal, to Monteverde, and to Guanacaste, every minute was wonderful. We hiked, went on a safari cruise, did horseback riding and ziplining, kayaking... trip of a lifetime and can't wait to go back!

No much information between one tour...

<p>No much information between one tour and other. Transportation terrible. hotel terrible not air condition, not TV, and Not Wireless. To much waiting time from activities to activities.</p>

It was an excellent well organized...

<p>It was an excellent well organized tour. The tour company did not miss a beat, our hotel rooms were booked at every location and tours were timely with pick up.<br/> I was traveling with my mother who is 78 years old. They were incredibly respectful of her. Some of the activities were strenuous, and they ensured she was safe every step of the way.</p> <p>Good:<br/> We chose the 4 star option hotel package and the hotels were very nice. The tours were well done and the guides were friendly, knowledgeable and courteous. <br/> Advice:<br/> Be ready for long, bumpy van rides. The roads are rough and everything is spaced apart. <br/> In Monteverde you will do the sky walk tour, there are actually 3 things that you can do in the Reserve the sky walk, sky tram and zip lining. The sky walk is 2 hours and it is an active walk. I wished we would have done the zip lining at our own expense. People raved about it and how safe it was, and the sky tram was included with zip lining. <br/> The bad though not bad enough to reduce the rating:<br/> In Guanacaste we stayed at Cala Luna Hotel, elegant hotel and the food was incredible. Access to beach swimming was disappointing. The beach was close, however there was nowhere to swim unless you hiked.<br/> The Vida Aventura Nature Park tour, they could not do the tour on the day offered and we were lucky to have a free day and switched the tour. I had mixed feelings about this tour. There was no warning that it was going to be a 3 hour van ride each way we went through Liberia. Although fun, the zip lining did not seem all that safe and the trails to some of the lines were tough. The horse riding was great and very adventurous. The electricity was out so they could not fill the pools, so we drove to another hot springs location and it was a total let down. It was just pools in the direct sun that might have been natural water, but looked just like a pool with chlorine. So due to circumstances beyond their control we did not experience their hot springs or mud bath.</p>

Excellent trip! Hotel choices, the...

<p>Excellent trip! Hotel choices, the tours, and trips were all very well planned. The punctuality of tour guides was very impressive. We had a wonderful time and highly recommend it!!</p>

This felt like a bit of a gamble...

<p>This felt like a bit of a gamble because we had no idea whether would be in a van with 4 well-behaved adults or a bus with 20 obnoxious ones, but it turned out to be the former. Our tour guide was helpful and extremely knowledge. Arenal and Monteverde were great, the beach a bit overly tourist.</p>