volcanogirl

Hi, guys! Can you tell me what the Tortuguero portion of your trip cost? Getting there, staying there, meals, tours, and getting back to SJO? I'd just like to get an idea of costs. Also did you fly or go via land and canal? Thanks for your help!

hipvirgochick

Hi vgirl - For Turtle Beach Lodge the the 2 night itinerary below will cost me $329.00 including taxes (single rate) in June. They have some optional tours for a fee. I won't take the boat/drive option back to San Jose, so they're providing a separate boat transfer for me to the airport. For my airfare I paid the Loco fare on Nature Air.

DAY ONE

6-6:30 AM - Start your adventure with an early morning pick up in San Jose. Absorb the natural beauty of Costa Rica as you travel on a guided tour from the city into the Braulio Carrillo National Park and through the agricultural versatility of the Limon lowlands, including pineapples, rice, cattle, a tour of a working banana plantation and much more. (Times vary depending on pick up location).

7:30 AM - Experience a typical Costa Rican breakfast along the way.

10:30 AM - Arrive to port and transfer to the Turtle boat. Enjoy a scenic ride on the Tortuguero River and the Tortuguero National Park canals as you voyage to Turtle Beach Lodge.

1:00 PM - Receive a friendly welcome to Turtle Beach Lodge with a cool, fresh fruit cocktail and delicious lunch buffet, then settle into your airy room.

3-6:00 PM - Explore the most popular sight seeing attractions of the area including the Tortuguero village and a visit the National Park office to purchase entrance tickets.

7:00 PM - Buffet dinner in the candle lit Turtle Tavern and Restaurant

DAY TWO

5:15 AM - Rise and shine! Enjoy Costa Rican coffee, tea and cookies in the restaurant to start your morning.

5:30 AM – Join the guided Canal Tour and experience the awakening of the jungle surrounding the canals as the animals start their day.

7-8:00 AM - Replenish with a healthy, typical Tico breakfast in the Turtle Restaurant.

10:00 AM - Dress out in the jungle boots provided by TBL and explore the mysterious Tortuguero Jungle with your guide. Learn about the jungle flora and fauna as well as the animals that live in the tropical rain forest.

1:00 PM - Time for lunch at the Turtle Buffet.

1-7:00 PM - Free time. Schedule a canopy, garden, kayak or cerro tour, go fishing or horseback riding or just nap in a hammock on the beach or by the pool! Speak with your guide for times and other options.

7:00 PM - Buffet dinner in the candle lit Turtle Tavern and Restaurant.

DAY THREE

7-8:00 AM - Replenish with a healthy, typical Tico breakfast in the Turtle Restaurant.

8:30 AM - Check-out; please turn in your keys and any borrowed items, and settle your account at the hotel reception.

9:00 AM - Departure via boat on the canals.

10:30 AM - Transfer to the Turtle Bus and enjoy a safe voyage to your next adventure.

1:00 PM - Enjoy a typical CR lunch along the way.

3-3:30 PM - Drop off in San Jose. (times vary depending on drop off location).

rpowell

We paid $330 for a 2 night, 3 day trip with Mawamba Lodge in March. The daily line up is almost identical to the one above. We did the bus/canal transportation both ways since we had plenty of time. We got back to SJ around 4:00pm.

colibri

We went w/ Modesto Watson - Riverboat Francesca tours and stayed at Laguna Lodge on the 3 day/2 night package for $295 in February. Itinerary similar to hip's but we definitely wanted to take the boat back to the Moin dock for another 3 hours of awesome wildlife viewing. We had plenty of time with a 17 day trip.

Everything was included in this except a $10 admission fee into the national park on Day 2.

Eressea

vgirl:

I paid $313 for the following:

Turtle tours and canopy tours are not included although when I was there they cost about $60 and $40 respectively.

Went via land and canal.

Transport was included in the $313.

October 02
Tortuguero National Park Tour. Start the three days and two nights Tortuguero National Park. Overnight at the Pachira Lodge. (standard room, 3 daily meals, ground and boat transfers, visits to the park, museum,beach and town. No entrance fee inc.$10.00).

October 03
Full day in the area, enjoy the park and the surroundings. Overnight at the Pachira Lodge. Overnight at the Pachira Lodge (standard room, 3 daily meals, ground and boat transfers, visits to the park, museum,beach and town. No entrance fee inc.$10.00).

October 04
Morning tour into the canals, start your way out by boat and then by ground, after lunch, ground transfer back to San Jose.

I got back to SJ around 3 pm.

ShellD

Hey there....we went with the Watsons in July of last summer. Did the 3 day/2 night, but took Nature Air back to San Jose. We didn't want to spend the time on the boat back, this way we were back in San Jose by 8 am and off to the Peace Lodge and touring their grounds early.

We paid $225/adult and stayed at Laguna Lodge. Everything except the $10/person national park fee was included. I believe the fee for the Turtle Nesting was additional, but it was minimal. We went out on the canals at least 3 times over the course of the time we were there. All meals were included and beverages with meals were included. Any beverages that did not come with the meals, as well as alcohol were extra.

In addition to the canal tours and turtle nesting, we had an afternoon to go to the Turtle Conservation museum (very small) and walk around in Tortuguero which was a nice experience.

I really liked Laguna Lodge and would not hesitate to stay there ageain.

If we were to ever go back, I would take the drive/boat to Tortuguero and definitely fly back to not lose a full day on the return.

Shell

hipvirgochick

I'm assuming that most places offer kayaks to use at your leisure, but if that's important to you, you might want to confirm that also. That was a plus for me besides the location on the beach inside the park.

It's tough choosing though, good luck! It seems like there are a handful of places that are all great choices.

colibri

VG,
Make sure whichever company you choose actually does a tour from the dock to the lodge. We left from the Moin dock (near Limon) and stopped frequently for wildlife viewing. Another couple at Laguna heard us talking about what all we had seen while we were at lunch after our arrival. It seems whichever company they came with strictly gave them a boat ride to Laguna, not a guided tour. They thought we had been there for a few days instead of an hour or two!

volcanogirl

Thanks everyone for all this information - it's exactly what I was looking for. You guys are awesome!

shillmac

We did the 3 day/2 night with the Watsons for about $278/adult in 2007. Had the boat transfer back to Moin, with Fran transporting us by van back to SJO. We have no experience with other tour companies, and I am sure some of the lodging options are a little more upscale than Laguna Lodge (although we thought it was fine--we were never in the room). That said, I think it would be very hard to beat touring with Modesto. Very hard. He is an excellent guide and wonderful personality, pleasant and good humored.

rivet

We have been to Tortuguero 3 times, each time a different route in. Always fly out...saves time and it is cool to see the canals from above.

1st trip.
San Jose to Totuguero by bus, pick up at the hotel. Ate breakfast at a restaurant in Guapiles and toured their butterfly enclosure. Bus drove past banana plantation then boat to Laguna Lodge. The boat trip was brief, maybe 20 25 minutes and we stopped for a bit of wildlife on the way to the lodge but the objective is to get you to the lodge for lunch and another boat tour follows later that day and the next.


2nd trip.
Met the bus group at the restaurant (8am) and had arranged for rental car to be picked up there ( we had stayed the night before at Selva Verde). Easy transition and got the bus then the boat to the lodge with our tour group. Again not a lot of viewing along the way but lots later after lunch and the next day.

3rd trip.
Went with Fran and Modesto Watson following our visit to Puerto Viejo. We met Modesto at the docks at Moin, dropped the rental car there. It was well marked from the road and we had no difficulties. Fran picked up the rest of our tour group in San Jose and met us at the docks. I had heard this couple referred to as Mrs and Mrs Tortuguero, but actually some of our other lodge guides from previous years were just as knowledgable.

At any rate, the things you see on a given outing can make the tour seem better. What I really enjoyed about the Watson tour was the 3 hour boat ride from the docks. We laughed about it being a 3 Hour tour... We had a look at a kind of graveyard with gigantic boats abandoned from drug runners, and later drove slowly up to the point where the canal water and ocean water mix, saw some interesting scenery and birds, some howlers. On our trip, Modesto drove slowly often and spotted while Fran gave a few comments. The other guides I have had were more enthusiastic and just as informative. In my opinion, the best wildlife viewing is in the park. Modesto and Fran are interesting dinner companions and they gave a better rate than Laguna Lodge.

I agree with Shillmac that the rooms at Laguna Lodge are simple and reasonably priced, but I like the rooms. It is close enough to the town to walk along the beach or along the path just adjacent to the beach. There is no internet for guests at Laguna, so you can either walk in or get a lift in the boats, no problem. Swimming in Tortuguero, even going in the water is not recommended because of the fierce undercurrents. The lodge has a nice pool, adequate buffet and the ambience keeps us coming back to see the tree frogs and fat toads that hang out by the pool.

colibri

Good point on some of the comments above - find out where the boat puts in. I believe (but am not sure) that some may leave from a dock around Squirres or other locations further north, thus giving you a much shorter boat ride. Leaving from the dock at Moin gives you three hours on the rivers and canals up to Tortuguero.

If your time in CR is limited you may want to fly back out. We are usually there for 2 1/2 or 3 weeks and I wouldn't want to miss the three hour boat trip back for anything.

Laguna Lodge is not upscale, but suited our needs just fine. We spent very little time in our room other than sleeping/showering.

We lucked out weather-wise with only one night and early morning showers, but if you were there for three days of non-stop rain (as does happen!) it may not be quite as fun.

rivet

True, the 3 hour boat ride is great, and with 3 weeks I would do the return trip as well, rather than fly out.

Good point about the weather. I guess we have been exceedingly lucky in Toruguero so spent most of our time outdoors as well. Only one day of rain in those trips and the animal viewings were dismal that day.

volcanogirl

Do you guys know if there are weight limitations on luggage if you go by boat like there are when you go by air?

ShellD

I'm almost positive there are weight limits for the boats on the luggage, but I can't remember what we were told. Since we flew back, we had the limit anyway, so we didn't worry about it. But I do remember reading about a baggage limit for the boats at some point. They're very small boats, so if it's not a weight limit, there may be a number of bag limit per person.

colibri

I don't know if we had a specific weight limit with Modesto, but we were told to just bring small carry-on bags and stored our larger bag at the Don Carlos - for $1! There were seven of us together and a Dutch couple met us at the dock, so we were in one of Modesto's 12 seaters for the trip up to Tortuguero. We then used a smaller boat for our touring in the park.

rivet

I can't remember if there were any weight restrictions with Modesto, in fact I had some extra luggage - close to 40 pounds- as I had been in Honduras prior to Costa Rica and ended up with extra books, coffee etc . My carryon was pretty heavy too as I could not resist a bottle of double expresso vodka at the duty free in Guatemala City, my exit airport. Only 12 bucks. I thought we would have had that gone long before meeting up with the Watsons ,as Tortuguero was in the middle of the CR trip, but Imperials tasted so much better so i was forced to drag it along.

Modesto has fairly large boat, The Francesca, and there is lots of room for luggage at the back compared to the other lodge boats, or maybe it was that there were a lot more people in the other boats so the luggage seemed more crowded. With the Watsons, we had about 8 people in our group, and we dropped the others off at their accomodation and then Watsons joined us at Laguna. I got the impression that they stay at Laguna regularly when overnighting in Tortuguero. For the tours, we would pick up the other guests from their lodges before heading out.

Oops back to your question volcanogirl...

When we flew out of Tortuguero, the weight limit was the published 25 pounds. If you have more than that, I have seen people get charged extra, but by that point the heavy bottle was no longer an issue and I had more room in my carryon. When the luggage is weighed in Tortguero, they use a fish scale - hook the baggage on and lift it off the ground. It always seems like an approximation of the weight, but it maybe its accurate, and Victor, the attendant, is liberal in his estimation.

The best idea, as colibri mentioned is to store your luggage if you are returning to San Jose after the Tortuguero portion.

rpowell

We heard about the weight restriction so stored our larger bag in our hotel and just packed our backpacks for the 2 nights. We were surprised that many people brought ALL their luggage with them, huge suitcases, strollers, and all. We had two boats for Mawamba lodge and one was used for the luggage.

volcanogirl

Thanks, everyone!

I have a dumb question - and I can't believe I don't know this, but if something is listed as a "charter" flight, does that mean it's a private flight that has to be booked just for you, or is it a regular flight like on Nature Air or Sansa? I really appreciate all your help.

volcanogirl

We decided to just go with Sansa rather than doing a charter, so we can save some $. We love Cano Negro, so I'm thinking we'll really enjoy Tortuguero. I've wanted to go there for a long time. Our boat is putting in at Cano Blanco.

Did you guys think it was worth going into Tortuguero town? It doesn't look like there's much there.