Costa Rica Nature Getaway

Costa Rica Getaway tour

This tour takes you to some of the most beautiful areas of Costa Rica, including the famous Tortuguero National Park, Arenal Volcano, Monteverde Cloud Forest, Sarapiqui Region, and to the scenic Manuel Antonio Beach. Activities such as hiking to the lava flows at Arenal, Canopy tour and hiking in the Monteverde Cloud Forest and at Manuel Antonio National Park are included. The tour can be offered either with a car rental as shown or using our private transportation service. It is ideal for family vacations or for nature lovers. Highlights include bird watching, beach relaxation and some adventure activities


ITINERARY: 12 Days / 11 Nights

(Day 1) Arrival - San Jose
Reception in San Jose from international flight and transfer to your hotel. Depending on flight times, we use the HOTEL BUENA VISTA or the ADVENTURE INN.

(Day 2) Tortuguero National Park
Around 6:30 am, before breakfast, you depart for the Caribbean Coast. You have a delicious Costa Rican breakfast enroute. Also during the travel, you can admire the biodiversity of an astonishing protected area in Costa Rica as we drive by Braulio Carrillo National Park, a primary forest in 95% of its extension. Be our special guest in a banana processing and packing plant and learn more about one of Costa Rica’s prime products (subject to availability). Board a comfortable boat upon arrival to the port and let this extraordinarily exotic paradise enchant you, as you travel along the Tortuguero Canals. Have a one-in-a-lifetime experience in this unique place surrounded by a great variety of flora and fauna of breathtaking beauty. A refreshing cocktail and delicious lunch will welcome you to Pachira Lodge. After lunch, a visit to the museum, the beach area, and the small and picturesque town of Tortuguero is included. (B/L/D)

(Day 3) Boat Tour through Tortuguero Canals
Free morning so you may take your time enjoying the private nature private trails, hike Tortuguero Hill, swim at the turtle-shaped swimming pool, or just relax. In the afternoon around 3pm, you explore nature at its best with a guided boat tour through the canals. There are a network of scenic navigable waterways that cross Tortuguera Park from southeast to northwest. The canals and marshes are the habitat of 7 species of tortoise. They also provide shelter to the endangered West Indian manatee (Trichchus manatus) and the rare crocodile (Crocodylus acutus), a unique paradise of magnificent flora and fauna. Dinner and overnight. (B/L/D)

(Day 4) Sarapiqui
After breakfast, transfer to Cape Blanco. A van will take you to El Ceibo Restaurant where you will enjoy a succulent lunch. After lunch, a driver will pick you up and will take you to Sarapiqui where you will stay one night at La Quinta de Sarapiqui . La Quinta de Sarapiqui is a small hotel managed and owned by a Costa Rican family. This hotel is known for offering the best-personalized services of the area. Spacious rooms with natural ventilation, fan, and private bathroom with hot water. Free afternoon to visit the butterfly garden, the frog garden and exhibition of organic plantations, or you may visit La Quinta’s maximum attraction: The Rain Forest Jewel Museum, where you will appreciate a combination of art and science in an exhibition of thousands of insects from all over the world. Take your time to relax at the refreshing swimming pool, beside the river, accompany by the sounds of nature. (B/L)

(Day 5) Arenal Volcano
Free morning before leading to your next destination. Arenal. We recommend taking the White Water Rafting tour or a boat cruise on the Sarapiqui River, or you may prefer a guided hiking at La Selva Biological Station. Around noon, a driver will pick you up and will take you to Arenal Volcano area where you will stay at Arenal Springs hotel for 2 nights. (B)

(Day 6) Hiking tour and Hot springs
Today you will have an exciting guided hiking tour at the Arenal Volcano National Park where you will have the chance to know the history of this amazing volcano as well as some of the flora and fauna of this region. Around 5:00 p.m.. Prepare yourself for a relaxing time at Eco Termales. Eco Termales You enter a private gate and travel 1 km through deep woods before seeing fairy lights twinkling through the darkness. To preserve the intimacy, it’s by reservation only. Dona Miry Hidalgo Murillo has an open air kitchen where she prepares a delicious traditional Costa Rican dinner with beef from their own cattle. You will feel like guests in her home as she chat with you. Her parents were among the founders of Fortuna and owned the farm long before discovering their hot springs. The pools are in the middle of lush jungle and their cattle farm; clean hot spring mineral water enters the large pool and flows out the other end, down the river. There are 3 small pools where cascading falls give a natural massage. Behind one waterfall is a natural sauna. Back to your hotel. (B/D)

(Day 7) Monteverde Cloud Forest
After breakfast, a van will pick you up and will take you to Lake Arenal where you will board a boat towards Rio Chiquito, crossing the lake. Upon arrival, another van will meet you and will take you to Monteverde Region in a 2.5 hour trip and transfer you to the at Heliconia Hotel for the overnight. (B)

(Day 8) Hanging Bridges
After breakfast, is an exciting guided tour at Selvatura's Tree Top Walkways, consisting of a 2 mile trail that crosses through the Monteverde Cloud Forest. It is one of the best ways to observe the cloudforest, having the time to observe each of the forest levels. There are eight different bridges with lengths between 170 feet and 560 feet and heights between 40 feet and 260 feet. Each bridge has a width of five feet, the widest bridges in Costa Rica and a capacity of up to 80 people per bridge making them both the longest and strongest bridge systems in the Monteverde Cloudforest. The hike usually takes about 2 hours. The shuttle transportation has various return schedules back to your hotel. So, if desired you can spend the day at the 500 acre park and independently enjoy some of Selvatura’s other attractions (http://www.selvatura.com.) Optional attractions at Selvatura Park include: Canopy zipline of 15 cables and 18 platforms up to 300 feet high. Butterfly Garden, one of the world's largest live butterfly exhibitions hosting more than 50 different species of butterflies. It is one of the largest butterfly gardens in the Americas at 29,000 square feet, with a gigantic dome. Selvatura Education Center that has the world largest private insect collection. Hummingbird Garden with more than 14 different species. You may stay the day and have lunch in the Park, or return to your hotel for lunch and afternoon at leisure. (B)

(Day 9) Monteverde Cloud Forest
After breakfast, is a guided hiking tour in the Monteverde Cloudforest. Located in the heart of Monteverde you will explore in the Curi Cancha Wildlife Refuge which protects lower and wet montane and premontane wet virgin cloud forest in the Juntas area of the Tilaran Mountain Range. The refuge has gained a reputation as being the best in the area for wildlife viewing as it has the advantage of far less tourists and visitors than the main Monteverde Cloud Forest Parks, but shares similar ecosystems, with a mixture of primary and secondary forest. It’s 5 different trails provide a variety of scenic locations. The refuge is particularly good for the Resplendent Quetzal and a good place to find Keel-billed Toucan, Blue-crowned Motmot, Orange-bellied Trogon, Blue-Throated Goldentail. Among mammals, it has a lot of white-faced and howler monkeys, raccoons, coatis, kinkajous, armadillos, Three-toed sloths, anteaters and more. You begin your walk at an expansive overlook of the Gulf of Nicoya surrounded by 1800 newly-planted saplings of then species critical to the disappearing habitat of many altitudinal migrants including the Resplandent Quetzal. Return to your hotel for lunch and afternoon at leisure. (B)


(Day 10) Manuel Antonio Beach
After breakfast, a van will take you to the beautiful zone of Manuel Antonio. Lodging will be offered at the exclusive Parador hotel. Enthroned atop a majestic bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean and surrounded by 400 acres of lush tropical rainforest, the Hotel Parador Boutique Resort is located in the most remote and pristine area of Manuel Antonio, yet within minutes from the World Famous Manuel Antonio National Park, the small sport fishing town of Quepos, and the local airport. Exciting tours such as canopying, rafting and jungle cruises are all close by. Just 10 minutes walking distance from the hotel, hidden in a secluded bay you will find the most breathtaking white sand beach surrounded by tranquil turquoise waters and jungle. The Hotel Parador has become one of the most emblematic facilities for leisure on the Central Pacific Coast. It offers all the expected amenities of a four star resorts, while maintaining a true personalized service. Among its facilities it includes: 2 restaurants, bars, conference room, gift shops, spa services, tennis court and much more. (B)

(Day 11) Guided tour at Manuel Antonio Park
After breakfast, a guide will pick you up and will offer a walking tour through the Manuel Antonio National Park. This park has four interesting geomorphologic features. The first one is the tombolo at Punta Catedral. The second feature is the blowhole at Puerto Escondido, the third one is Punta Serrucho and the fourth one is the pre-Columbian underwater turtle trap at the western tip of Manuel Antonio Beach. The main habitats in the park are primary forest, secondary forest, mangrove swamps, which cover 18 hectares, and small herbaceous swamps and open water lagoons scattered throughout the interior. The park houses a variety of wildlife, including 109 species of mammals and 184 species of birds. Return to your hotel and free afternoon to enjoy at the beach, take an optional tour, or just relax and drink a cocktail while you enjoy the refreshing swimming pool of the hotel. (B)

(Day 12) San jose
Breakfast. Transportation to Hotel in San Jose for overnight. (B)

We specialize in customizing itineraries for individuals, couples, and groups.
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