money4mice

I am planning a trip this summer for my family, husband, 2 kids 9 and 11. We have no more than 10 days to spend in CR. Can anyone recoommend a tour comany that they have used to set up a guide, driver and itinary? Thanks.

AllisonL

Money4mice, Yes absolutely! Last summer we took our three teenage daughters to Costa Rica and used Ralph at Gaialinktours.com. He designed a great itinerary for us based on our number of days and budget. You won't be disappointed with his service. By the way, our Costa Rica trip was the best family trip that we've ever taken! Allison

Pura_Vida

If you want a private tour with a guide and a driver - I have used the following two companies for such trips. Serendipity is more geared towards adventures and aventours is geared towards nature. Serendipity
http://www.costarica-adventure.com/
[email protected]
or Aventours Costa Rica
www.aventourscostarica.com
[email protected]

Don't forget that CR is very doable without a tour/guide.

Have a great trip!

money4mice

Thank you for all your great suggestions. I did e-mail gaialinktours an am awaiting their info. I also have been in contact with Richard at Wildlands Adventures. Allison, how long did you go for? Thanks.

AllisonL

Money4mice, We went for 14 days and went to San Jose, Tortuguero, Arenal, Monteverde, and Manuel Antonio. I'm sure you'll have a great trip having 10 days. I just told Ralph at Gaialink the areas I was interested in, the # of days, and what class of hotel we wanted. He then sent us a tentative but detailed itinerary. I made a few changes and that was it! It was a very easy process. Allison

money4mice

AllisonL: those are the areas I have plans to see too. any suggeestions or deletions on hotels or activites that you think would be appropriate for us. my daughter is 11 and my son is 9. Thanks.

AllisonL

Money4mice, Well, it just depends on how adventurous your kids are. Our kids ar 15, 18, and 19 years old and fearless, so just about anything worked for them. We did river rafting, hanging bridges, sky walk, sky trek, hot springs at Tabacon, horseback riding at RioSparaiso, and lots of swimming in pools and at the ocean. In Tortuguero we stayed at the Laguna Rainforest Lodge. It is rustic, but very clean and comfortable. We went on a few boat trips exploring the canals and saw lots of wildlife. In Arenal we stayed at the Montana de Fuego resort. It is very well located for volcano viewing and the pool and grounds are very nice. My only beef about the place is that their restaurant is expensive and the service is slow. It seems to be a chronic problem for them. I've been told that the one next door (Arenal Paraiso?) has a better restaurant. We stayed at the Heliconia in Monteverde, which was fine. Our favorite spot, and most expensive, was the Tulemar Bungalows in Manuel Antonio. They have a couple of nice pools, a great beach, and it is walking distance from a few other restaurants if you don't want eat at their restaurant. Breakfast was excellent and I think that it was included in the room rate. We really enjoyed a tapas bar next to the Tulemar Bungalows called Cantina Salsipuedes. In Manuel Antonio they have a huge monkey population. We probably saw more monkeys in the trees at the hotel than we did on the rest of the trip! I believe we saw three different species... I'm sure your kids will love that! Everything on our trip was satisfactory to excellent and I can't think of anything to avoid. If I were to do it again, I might skip the horseback riding. Frankly, I just don't like riding horses because they kind of scare me! But the wildlife preserve, RioSparaiso, was spectacular. I would have just rather hiked up instead of ride the horses. Anyway, I rambling on. I hope this helps. Allison

money4mice

Thank you so much!!!!!I took notes from your info. We have Laguna Rainforest Lodge on our itinarary. Should we switch to the Totuguer lodge? or another. Thanks.

meadow_zephyr

www.centralamerica.com

AllisonL

Money4mice, I really liked the Laguna Rainforest Lodge and would definitely stay there again. It is located on a forested sand spit between the canal and the ocean. Most of the other lodges including the Tortuga, I believe, are on the other side of the canal, so they don't have easy access to the beach. When we were there, the sea was very rough (maybe it always is) so it wasn't good for swimming. However, we really enjoyed walking on the beach. Also, the little village of Tortuguero is located on the same side of the canal as the Laguna Rainforest Lodge. There is a little trail under some power poles that connect the two. Also, the Laguna Rainforest Lodge is short walking distance from a little, but nice, turtle museum. The pool here is nice and there is a very nice open air dining area that faces the canal. Allison