samcat

My husband and I are considering a trip sponsored by the NC Zoo to Costa Rica, February 18 - 27. The itinerary follows. Cost is $4,270 per person. What do you think of the cost/value of this itinerary?
Thanks for your help!


Feb 18 – Charlotte, NC/San Jose

Feb 19/20 – Rainforest Aerial Tram/Tortuguero National Park; accommodation Evergreen Jungle Lodge (B,L,D daily) Also visit Tortuguero sea turtle research center

Feb 21/22/23 – Sarapiqui River Rafting/Arenal Volcano; accommodation Montana De Fuego (B,L;B,B,) Also day trip to Tabacon Hot Springs Spa and Resort, dinner included.

Feb 24/25 – Monteverde Cloud Forest; accommodation Fonda Vela Hotel (B daily). Includes guided tour of Cloud Forest Reserve; lecture by Debra Hamilton DeRosier on her research and conservation work with the endangered three-wattled bellbird.

Feb 26 – Sarchi/San Jose, accommodation Hotel Bougainvillea (B,L,D)

Feb 27 – San Jose/Charlotte, NC

Includes roundtrip air from Charlotte to San Jose; A/C motorcoach transfers; Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge boat tour; naturalist guide Rudy Zamora accompanies trip in C. R. “Renowned waterfowl conservationist Mike Lubbock” founder of Sylvan Heights Waterfowl Park in Scotland Neck, NC, will be NC Zoo escort for trip.

Samcat

kencolian

I think it is very expensive. We took a family of 3 for about that 2 yrs ago, and last summer for 2 weeks of school and a week of touring for less than the 2 of you will pay.

hipvirgochick

I would suggest you google some of those tours and start a spreadsheet pricing those things out on your own. Many package tours I've looked at seem quite high to me, and yours is no exception. I've always looked at them for sources of information and itinerary ideas, but never used them. Caravan tours has been the cheapest I've seen at $995/pp for 10 days (excluding airfare).

I think we spent aroud that much for 2 of us for a 17 day trip (not including airfare), and that included an intra CR flight, Interbus for transportation and some nice hotels in 4 areas, plus tours.

samcat

Kencolian & Hipvirgochick,
Thanks for your responses. I'm not really surprised at that info. Will search further!
Samcat

hansboomer

Wife and I last year did an 8 day to CR....wonderful as always....air, rental car, good hotels, food, etc...totaled about $3,000. Have a great trip regardless of whether you "tour" it or go it alone. We always prefer the road less traveled!

emavejess

My family of 5 just did 15 days in CR for a total of $6000

This seems very steep unless the zoo is doing it as some sort of fundraiser.

Whatever you do, have a wonderful time.

Kinkazote

Since there seems to be two escorts and another lecturer, as well as motorcoach service throughout, it's hard to compare the cost of the trip with costs of more ad hoc vacations. If you really want all thoses services and escorts, it's probably not a bad price--there's hardly anything to compare it with. However, I can't imagine that it would be better than a random selection of the extremely competent local guides readily available in country.

Arranging it yourself and picking the things you really want to do will probably save you half.

qwovadis

caravan.com

Does a fully escorted
10 day tour from $995

to all your areas with great local guides better hotels tons better value.

all your areas+manuelantoniopark.com

much less than what you are paying

for a better travel experience.

For me they are the best for an escorted tour experience.

Either way have fun,

shillmac

$8,000 buys us about 6 weeks in Costa Rica, doing a variety of activities at a variety of locations with hotels from upper budget to moderate to a few high (quite a bit more high end than those you have mentioned). Frequently that price also includes 2-3 weeks of Spanish school before my husband arrives.

I agree that it sounds as though it may be a fund raiser for the zoo. The price is extremely high for a 9 night trip. As another poster mentioned, Costa Rica is blessed with a multitude of outstanding guides.

Looking at the itinerary and doing a rough estimate in my head, it looks like about a $3000-$3500 trip for 2 people.

samcat

Thanks to all of you for your truly helpful posts!
I'll let you know what we do.
Samcat

Dana_M

I agree with the others, that this seems expensive and is likely a fundraiser for the zoo.

When planning our upcoming trip I did as hipvirgogirl suggested. I put a spreadsheet together and priced out what it would cost if I put it together on my own. I then compared those prices to a couple of escorted tours. I did a "gut check" against Costa Rica Expeditions and International Expeditions. I found the tours much more expensive than an unescorted tour, even with guided transportation added in.

I've heard Costa Rica Expeditions does a good job, although I've never used them. They offer a trip similar to yours for about $2,000. International Expeditions is in my home town, and I know several people who rave about their trips. I find them very expensive, though, so haven't used them either. They have a similar trip for around $3,000. Neither of these trips includes international airfare.

If you deduct around $700/person for airfare from your price of $4,270/person, then the Costa Rica portion of trip is costing $3,500/person. I think that is probably double what you could do it for on your own. You will also have more flexibility traveling without a group.

samcat

Thank you, Dana, for your detailed and thoughtful answer. I have work to do!
Samcat

RAC

Per person? Yikes that's steep. It seems like you're staying in some nice places, but still.

Break it down like this:

Airfare should be between $370-$570/person.

Hotel room per night should run no more than $100 per person.

So, at most you should be paying $1600 or so for flight and lodging. That leaves another $2600 or so for meals and tours, which sounds exorbitant.

jacarroll4

Our family of 4 just got back last week and paid much less but it was also "green" season. However, the only rain we had was at night.

We stayed at Tabacon Resort and the Hot Springs were included. If you just go for the evening you will be disappointed in the visitors buffet they provide. They have a wonderful restaurant for overnight guests at the hotel. While staying at Tabacon, we went on a day trip on the Sarapiqui and it was wonderful. I would recommend Wave Expeditions located in La Fortuna. New company ont the block so prices are a little lower and the guides are bilingual.

Check into to TAM travel which is a native travel agency that can arrange hotel, tours and transfers. Our agent was Andrea Iberra.

jacarroll4

Also, try flying into to Iberia Airport on the north side of the country. It worked better for us rather than going thru San Jose but we also wanted beach time in the Quanacaste area. The drive will be shorter Tabacon from there.