Berginc

Has anyone used "Costa Rica Nature Escape" as a tour company? It seems daunting to book my own tour, is there another company anyone out there reccommends?

Thanks

volcanogirl

It's actually surprisingly easy to book everything yourself. We did it just based on using this board and have had 2 great trips. If you have an idea of what you'd like to do and see, you will get loads of help and suggestions. If not, Pat Hewitt is a travel agent who is always on these boards who could probably help you.

hipvirgochick

Have you done any type of independent travel before? I only ask because this forum offers a wealth of information, very specific to your needs, and you can easily plan a wonderful trip with less cost and more flexibility. You could start my posting a thread such as "What do you suggest for a first time to CR" and then state some of your main interests, time frame, budget, etc. and I think you will be pleasantly surprised at all the information and suggestions you are given. I've never used a tour company myself, but have planned lot's of trips as a single traveller, group trips, alone with daughter, etc. so I'm happy to try to answer any questions you may have.

You've chosen a beautiful country to visit.

ShellD

I agree, you can probably plan and book the trip on your own. What I found to be very helpful was browsing the various "tour" web sites to get an idea of the packages that they offered. I even got quotes from a few to see what the price ranges were. I initially planned on using a tour company but I soon realized that between guide books, the research I could do online, and the help I could get here, that I could book our own trip. I'd never booked such an extensive trip on my own, and it turned out great. The one thing I did was get trip insurance - you just never know what could happen!

I'd read as many posts as you can to try to get an idea about the locations and hotels and then check out some of the CR travel web sites - just search on "Costa Rica travel packages" and see what's out there....then ask away!

I found planning to be half of the fun! I'm still planning, and I don't even know if I'm going back

volcanogirl

Berg, I also always use tripadvisor.com when I want to check out hotels. I get ideas here and then pop over there to read all the reviews and see pictures of the places. You can get a pretty good overview of places by looking over there. Let us know what you're interested in, and we'll try to help. There's tons of people on here who would love to plan your trip for you!

cmerrell

Hi Berginc,

I'm having Pat Hewitt (who volcanogirl mentioned above) make some of my arrangements for an upcoming trip. He's been very nice to work with. Please note that this is not a formal escorted type of tour. Pat is helping out with hotel, car and airfare bookings.

If you are interested in an escorted tour, there's a fairly recent review here from someone who went on a Caravan tour earlier this year. If you do a search on 'caravan', you should be able to track it down.

Costa Rica really is a pretty user-friendly destination, so don't be concerned about booking things yourself if that's your preference.

Pumpy

I too am using Pat Hewitt for our hotel & transportation needs. Very nice and CR knowledgeable guy!

Berginc

Thank you all for the ideas. I usually book my own travel. I guess my concern is wasting time figuring where to go etc.