genoise

Has anyone every taken the OAT (Overseas Adventure Travel) tour to Costa Rica? I'm looking for some feedback before we book. It's 13 days and there are a lot of 2 night stops. It goes to San Jose, Sarapiquis, Chachagua, Arenal, Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge, Guancaste, and the Pacific Coast: Puntarenas and Monte de la Cruz. Is this too much or a good sampling of the country? Thanks for your help.

jackandann

We have not been there, but it is on our list for the future. Grand Circle and OAT have recently added a feature to allow travelers to post reviews of their trips on their website. Two reviews have been posted for this trip. These are really posted by the travelers, not advertising by Grand Circle/OAT. Just click on "Travelers Reviews. We have taken 8 Grand Circle and 1 OAT trip over the past 6 years and have another OAT trip scheduled for September.

Jack and Ann

PIPERPAT

We took this trip - Real Affordable Costa Rica - with OAT last year and absolutely loved it. It is a good sampling of the country. There is a good variety of places to visit and lots of fun activities. The accommodations in the rain forest lodges were really beautiful. We enjoyed it so much that we're going on OAT's other Costa Rica trip in June and taking our 16 year old grandson.

sandys

We have taken several OAT tours, and have been extremely satisfied with the quality and value of these tours. OAT tours have no more than 16 tour participants and their tour directors have always been excellent. We have gone to Peru and Australia with OAT, and have booked their tour to Croatia and Slovenia in September. We have also traveled with their sister company, Grand Circle and have been very satisfied with those tours.

OAT tours tend to be more active - with many 2 night stops. You will see many interesting sights, meet interesting people, and feel that you really understand the country that you are visiting.

The tour to Costa Rica sounds like an excellent sampling of the country. We were there on a private tour around 15 years ago, and loved the country and the people.

If you have any additional questions about OAT or Costa Rica, I would be happy to answer them. You can email me at [email protected].

iron

My husband and I took this trip in 2004 and enjoyed the itinerary and the trip. We had never traveled with OAT - we were on the trip with 12 other friends that had traveled with OAT to many countries. They were very disappointed with the tour guide and the accomodations, etc. and after the trip tried to contact OAT about the problem. One couple lived in Boston and tried to see someone in the OAT office - they would not see them, or would not answer any of their letters. I know these people never traveled with OAT again.
We have since traveled with OAT to Ireland and Peru/Machu Picchu/galapagos Islands. Ireland was great but the last trip to Peru and Galapagos was very disappointing. Bad hotels and inexperienced tour guide in the Galapagos -everyone on the trip became ill, etc. etc. and we will never travel with OAT again.
Also do not bother to spend the money to purchase the travel insurance. It is a waste of money.
We were involved in a bus accident in Quito, Ecuador after arriving back from the Galapagos due to the driver running a red light and had to go to the emergency room, was laid up in bed for 2 days with bruised ribs, sore backs, etc. and we have not been reimbursed 1 cent as of yet and have not received one call from OAT since our arrival back in the states in March. We are still waiting to hear what the insurance company will pay after our insurance pays and we received no reimbursement for trip interruption while we were unable to participate with the tour group for two days.

OAT deals in numbers - Even though with 3 trips and approximately $26,000 spent by us - they don't care if you move on they always have someone new to book. Check them out with the BBB of Boston under OAT and Grand Circle - many many complaints -

NGail

Genoise, are you still considering this trip? We just returned from it last week and had a super time. The guide was great and the itinerary fast-paced but doable - and we saw and enjoyed tons. Ditto for the pre-trip to Guatemala.
It was our third OAT trip and we've been happy with them all, though we have read of other travelers having pretty bad experiences. Hopefully, they've cleaned up their act since Iron's awful trips.
BTW - it seems half the people I know have gotten sick on Galapagos trips, ho matter which company they went with.