Travellers' reviews about Costa Rica

We were recommended to use Evaneos by friends who holidayed in Costa Rica in 2016. We followed similar locations but our holiday was less active and more nature orientated though we loved sea kayaking and snorkelling at Manuel Antonio. Our highlight was probably Tortuguero, though difficult to choose! We travelled from San Jose to Tortuguero followed by Selve Verde Lodge at Sarapiqui River, Arenal, Monteverde and Manuel Antonio with drivers collecting us and taking us from place to place to enjoy the ride!

Costa Rica is a beautiful country with an enviable record on ecology. We especially liked whitewater rafting on the Rio Balsa, watching a green sea turtle lay eggs on the beach, the La Paz Waterfall gardens, and the hanging bridges.

We flew into Liberia airport, then spent two nights at Rincon de la Vieja, two at Monteverde, two at Arenal, two at Sarapiqui, two at Tortoguero and finally, took internal flights back to Guanacaste for four nights at Flamingo beach before flying back home from Liberia. None of the transfers were too long and included comfortable private vans and a couple of boat transfers and small internal flights which added variety and a different view of the country.

Costa Rica lived upto my expectations of having great wildlife and geography with beautiful beaches and lots of outdoor adventures.We knew where we wanted to stay in the 2 weeks and Sandy organised all the accomodations, , boatrides ,nature guides, rafting, tours, plantation tours, private transfers. All was very flexible if ever anything needed to change due to weather, timings, which made the trip very stress free.

The destination was completely wonderful, honestly couldn't fault it. The travel agency, couldn't have been more helpful. Couldn't recommend it highly enough. The tour guides were wonderfully informed and I wouldn't have spotted any of the wildlife if it wasn't for them

It was full of fun and adventure! We were able to see a diversity of cultures, climates, wildlife, geography and people. It was a combinatiin of activities and relaxation, and a range of accommodation, all very different. We feel that we saw a true picture of a wide cross section of Costa Rica!

Because of arrival times, we spent the first night in Turrialba, before continuing to Liro Lodge on the Caribbean coast. We loved it here. As there was no access to wi-fi or TV, we were able to make the change from the real world to holiday mode. We spent time exploring the jungle and becoming acquainted with the local wildlife, including howler monkeys and leatherback turtles (or at least their tracks). From here it was on to Arenal, which is more commercialised but opened up opportunities for an array of adventures. I'd definitely recommend the zip wires. Monte Verde next and the cloud forest. Fantastic scenes on the journey to and from the area and we managed to see the Quetza and toucans. Finally, we spent some time winding down on the Pacific Coast in Manuel Antonio. Great beaches and the Pacific water was warmer than the Caribbean, which was a pleasant surprise. A fantastic holiday!

Wonderful diving with the great dive shop Agua Rica! He was kind enough to not charge us for the day we missed becsue we could not find the place. After the diving the birds and animals in Monteverde are the most memorable. Soo many hummingbirds. I loved it! We'll long recall the volcano hike and the times in the park in San Jose with jazz music for all. Lovely! The whole trip was wonderful!

From the moment we contacted Alex & Fransisco we felt as if they were going that extra mile to give us a holiday that we really wanted. Initially we were tempted to go to one of the big tour companies offering holidays to Costa Rica. We are so glad we chose Alex & Fransisco for that personal touch. The travel arrangements from the airport, where we were met by Alex & our driver,(having had several delays) through to our various destinations was first class with private mini bus transfers. The chosen Hotels were excellent, most rooms having 2 extra large beds. Our first destination, Sarapiqui, was brilliant, it had a real jungle feel. Waking up the first morning after arriving in the dark was a revelation. Our rooms over looked a lovely lake where there was what seemed to be, a Roosting Tree with a vast selection of wildlife making amazing sounds. The zip wire experience was truly exhilarating & the jungle walk surrounding the hotel was amazing. Next we were off to Tortuguero, our favourite place, only accessible by boat. We saw our first sloth there plus many other things such as exotic plants, trees, birds & wildlife. The enormous iguanas strolling around the pool were incredible. The hotel Tortuga lodge was the best of the holiday. We then travelled to Arenal, volcano country, passing through phenomenal scenery. The small town of Fortuna was great for food and the hotel had the most amazing hot springs to swim in, it was really very hot water just like a bath!! The cloud forest in Monteverdi was wet and cloudy, as the name suggests & also extremely windy. The sky walks were brilliant & the zip wire here was very challenging. We were way above the forest canopy amongst the voluptuous greenery, birds and wildlife. The coffee, sugar & chocolate adventure and the night walk were fascinating seeing many nocturnal creatures. Then to the Pacific coast for our chill out time. The weather there was hot and sunny. The Manuel Antonio National Park was incredible and we saw no end of wildlife & the beaches at the end of the park are absolutely beautiful. We stayed in a lovely hotel overlooking the Pacific Ocean where we cruised on a catamaran whilst following Dolphins. This was the perfect place to end our holiday which we will never forget. The Costa Rican people were lovely, so friendly & welcoming and everyone seemed so proud of their spotlessly clean country & how it has become the most bio diverse nation on the planet, which was a real eye opener.

We flew from the UK direct to San Jose. We had one very comfortable right at the Presidents Hotel. We transferred to Puerto Viego area on Carribean coast . Here we stayed at the Cariblue Hotel. We loved all the wooden fencing, balconies and arches here. The Restaurant was open on two sides. We had a second floor room in a lodge here with beautiful rain forest view, the dawn chorus all around us every morning. We saw our first sloth from the swimming pool and the beach was just across the road. Great hiking in this area particularly with Ricky in Gandoca Manzanillo reserve. Went snorkelling and saw a turtle. We moved to the Arenal Mania Hotel , where our room was enormous with two Double beds, a terrace with uninterrupted volcano view .Hotel case very cleverly laid out to maximise privacy and views. Beautiful hot spring pool and swimming pool and terrace restaurant. River float and night hike and hanging bridges were highlights....and more sloths. Final destination was Manuel Antonio area. Long transfer,Pacific coast is busier but wildlife still great in the national park. Good scuba diving , horse riding trip and loved the beaches. Lots of great places to eat and drink, El Avion bar, falafel bar etc.. La Mariposa Hotel is beautifully located above the beach with stunning views from the rooms restaurant and bars.

The trip was extremely well organised and all the pick ups arrived as planned. The Hotels were either Good or Excellent and all the trips were both very exciting and interesting.

After over twenty hours in a plane or in an airport followed by a 3 hour drive we arrived in our Arenal hotel. What great views and surrounded by amazing vegetation and birds. Like being in a zoo/botanical garden combined but on a vast scale. Mist rolling of the hills a swim in a thermal pool followed by a cocktail at the bar! Excellent hotel but this was just the first three days. Now the 'Hanging Bridges', white water rafting a guided nocturnal hike and walks in the forests clicking the camera every few seconds.Next stop Monteverde and the 'Cloud Forest', more walks then a two hour horse ride to watch the sunset with views over the rolling hills and the Nicola peninsular. The CuriCanche reserve with a very knowledgable guide where we saw the rare Quetzal. Finally four days at the Pacific coast and more walks. Overall a fantastic holiday with marvelleous memories for the three of us.

I spent twelve days in Costa Rica across 6 locations with shuttle bus transfers and tours and trips pre arranged. All of the accommodation was in good locations and the tours well organised and professionally run. I visited Isla Tortuga, Tortuguero, Cahuita, Arenal, Monteverde and Manuel Antonio with wildlife seeing opportunities in each which was my reason for visiting Costa Rica.

Review of Costa Rica Tour After extensive research we decided to take a chance with a French tour company called evaneos-travel.com that we discovered on the internet. Through their website we choose a local tour company Costa Rica Treasures. You choose the basic tour and adept to you own requirements another plus point no credit card charges. We choose the Costa Rica Nature and Adventure package which included San Jose, Tortuguero, Arenal, Monteverde and Manual Antonio which we added extra days to chilli out by the Pacific The agent we dealt with was called Sandy who assisted and guided us through every step of the way even with minor details. We must emphasise how delighted we were and how much we appreciated the personal touch with Sandy who took on board all our personal itinerary requests throughout the entire time and she showed extreme patience and understanding. Many, many thanks again to Sandy for all the time and effort, truly appreciated. Upon our arrival at the airport in San Jose our driver Carlos Soto, who also drove us back for the return trip from Manual Antonio back to San Jose airport, greeted us. He spoke excellent English and provided us with a brochure and a copy of our daily itinerary, plus 24-hour contact information, as well as vouchers for all the pre-paid hotels and activities for the next two weeks. He provided a running commentary on the sights from the airport and offered insights into the Costa Rican culture. He had a sense of humour and was entertaining, sociable, and a joy to spend time with. When we arrived at the hotel he made sure that our reservations were OK and explained about the safety aspects with the traffic and to be careful in the city. On the return journey we had another interesting drive pointing out places and things of interest and then stopped halfway to have a break with a delicious cup of Costa Rican coffee. The transport arrangements for picking us up and transporting us to the next venue were second to none. Always on time, extremely drivers who made this part of our holiday as great as the actual places we stayed in. All our drivers were excellent, very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about their country. We must recommend another outstanding driver, Alba (such a lovely lady, you almost felt we had a made a genuine friend) from El Sol Tours Monteverde who was a very competent driver, very knowledgeable and courteous. She interacted with us and we had very interesting talks with her about life in Costa Rica. All of our tours and transfers went smoothly and the hotel choices for us were superb. We enjoyed staying at such a wide variety of lodgings from the rustic Mawamba, to the touristic Arenal Springs, the top class Belmar Hotel to fantastic views from La Marisposa. It really gave us a feel for the range of accommodations as each lodging had a different character that helped define our tour and will stay in our memories forever. The guides on every tour were remarkable with a wealth of information about the wildlife and plants of Costa Rica. They were knowledgeable, enthusiastic and were excellent communicators. They knew the birds by their song and could spot so many different animals, birds, insects and plants long the many trails we took. The tour guides were all really great at making sure you enjoyed the activity and we truly enjoyed the tours a lot more because of their professionalism and attention to detail. A very special mention must also go to Jason our guide for the tour at Curi Cancha Monteverde. He was incredibly knowledgeable and as excited to be seeing the various plants and animals as the group he was leading. Jason was first class and could scarcely have been better briefed and more informative and made sure that we enjoyed the activity. We also appreciated the phone calls from you while we were in Costa Rica asking if everything was OK and were we on the tour and of course dealing with minor issues. Costa Rica Treasures was an excellent choice and has played a considerable role why our tour in Costa Rica was so enjoyable. You helped us create an amazing itinerary, which packed in everything we wanted to do into our wonderful adventure tour to Costa Rica. We loved the diversity of the tour in regards to the places we visited and the all activities. Every place we visited was so special and so different, every person we meet made us so feel welcome; in fact Costa Rica totally enchanted us all. We will have no hesitation in recommending your Costa Rica Treasures and our experience with you has confirmed our belief that it is better to consult a local travel specialist for any future trips. The agency did us proud and helped to make our holiday so enjoyable and stress-free. In every way, your travel agency exceeded our expectations. We would highly recommend Costa Rica Treasures to our friends and everyone. What else can we say but “PURA VIDA” and thank you all you Ticos and Ticas in Costa Rica for such a memorable holiday that your country will always be one of our very special places that we have visited and will stay in our memories forever. This was the trip of a lifetime! Thank you! Gracias de nuevo mis amigos Saludos Anthony y Caroline Peter y Pearl

diversity of costa rica, from carribean to pacific coasts. Portuguero was absolutely amazing from the wildlife, Evergreen Lodge and the guides Arenal - OK never saw volcano due to cloud Monte Verde - very disappointing, Cerra Lodge near Cerrarra National Park. The park itself, usually ignored, was quiet and full of wildlife (to yourself). Very special. All our accommodation was really high standard (MV exceptied), Plaza Yara in Manuel Antonio very cool. Loved driving in Costa Rica, Some roads were interesting but not enough to put you off, but the freedom it provided was fantastic. Aquila De Osa was good but a bit busy; not lucky on the sealife sightings.