Costa Rica Trip Feb 2013

Click here if this is your business
Imagine Travel - www.imaginetravel.com
★★★★★
4.8
97.0% of users recommend this

davyctravel's review of Imagine Travel - www.imaginetravel.com

“Costa Rica Trip Feb 2013”

★★★★★

written by davyctravel on 27/02/2013

A tailmade tour of Costa Rica for two mid 60's travellers, arranged through Imagine Latin America, and detailing hotels, transport, trips and general experiences which we hope may assist others.

The holiday covered 15 nights in Costa Rica staying 2 nights in San Jose, 2 nights in Tortuguero, 2 nights in Arenal, 2 nights in Montervede, 4 nights in Tambor and 3 nights in Manuel Antonio.

Travel between locations was in the main by private transfer however road surfaces in a number of areas were unpaved (rough!) which meant quite lengthy travel times so in hindsight we should possibly have stayed 3 nights in some of the locations.

KLM/Copa was used for the international flights Birmingham (regional airport) into Amsterdam then onto Panama City and then a short flight to San Jose. This would appear a long flight similar to the UK/Madrid/SJ with Iberia as both show UK starting times of a 6 am flight. However, an overnight stop at Amsterdam airport, by leaving the previous day at 17.30 with no extra ticket cost, allowed us to amble to the airport for the 11.35 am flight duly refreshed. Incidentally baggage was dropped off at Birmingham and not seen until arrival at San Jose. One snag on the return journey was that although our bags were booked through to Birmingham, seat tickets were only provided by Copa for SJ to Panama & Panama to Amsterdam. We had to stand in a very long and slow queue in Panama to obtain our final destination boarding cards and also for our Panama to Amsterdam cards to be endorsed before being allowed through to the gate – this should have been managed better by KLM.

The local tour operator, St Germain Tours, met us at San Jose airport, provided us with a booklet of typed vouchers covering individual transfers, hotels, tours etc together with a fully detailed itinerary and then we were transferred to our hotel in San Jose.

San Jose

Hotel Grano de Oro - A good choice of hotel located 10 mins by taxi to the centre and having an excellent restaurant which we used on the second evening. The hotel has a lot of character and is an ideal for couples. The room was located within a small garden courtyard and was very comfortable with all the necessary facilities.

We arranged a 2 hour walking tour of San Jose through the internet using Stacey of Barrio Bird which was very informative and ideal given that San Jose has plenty to see albeit a number of the buildings would not be easy to find without a knowledgeable guide

Tortuguero Tour

The tour was well organised as expected with Mawamba Lodge carrying this out on a daily basis. The arrival at La Pavona, the dock station was somewhat chaotic with 2 -300 people either arriving or leaving at the same time. Consequently the facilities at this location were inadequate coupled with the refurbishment of the toilet block resulting in major queues. Whist recognising that the river levels were low the docking arrangements are very poor resulting in passengers being expected to carry baggage from the unpaved car park down muddy banks to access the boats. This incidentally was for all lodge companies. Our expectation would have been that “baggage” porters even employed by La Pavona would have made a considerable difference and of course prevented bags from being caked in mud, given that the heavens opened on our return trip.

The Mawamba Lodge accommodation, whist basic, fulfilled our expectations as did the meals and the trips provided. We undertook a night walk which was very enjoyable. Our guide was very informative and accompanied us throughout the trip and we were able to see a lot of the wildlife of Tortuguero. Our return to the Rio Dante restaurant to meet our private transfer company Sarapiqui tours was delayed due to road works affecting the incoming Tortuguero tour bus by an hour. However we were pleased to see the private transfer was waiting and we were allowed sufficient time to have some lunch.

Arenal

After an enjoyable informative drive from Guapiles to Arenal we arrived at our hotel.

Hotel Arenal Manao – This hotel which is outside the Arenal/La Fortuna villages has spectacular views of the volcano. Accommodation consisted of semi detached bungalows located all around the grounds and each bungalow having large glass doors facing the volcano. Restaurant and swimming facilities are some walking distance from certain accommodations. Also the area is a little “hilly” and may not be suitable for anyone who struggles to walk albeit a shuttle service can be arranged from the reception.

A visit to Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge was undertaken with Eagle Tours. This company were also to be the transportation the following day on the Bus/Boat/Bus Shuttle to Monteverde. In our opinion this company was possibly the worst of all the tour companies based on timekeeping and overbooking.

The company were 30 minutes late arriving for the Wildlife refuge tour and didn’t apologise. We then went to pick up another person and she also said they were 30 mins late despite the fact there was only 3 of us on the tour. However the tour itself was very worthwhile and we have no complaints about the actual trip.

The following day Eagle Tours arrived “late again” to collect us for the transfer to Monteverde. The small bus was virtually crammed with people with luggage being passed through a window and stacked in a dangerous manner behind us. A further pick up of 3 people meant that we had 20+ persons in the bus laden with baggage and then the driver drove erratically to the lake. After disembarking from the bus we had to carry our baggage down a steep bank to the boat and after crossing the lake we had to struggle to carry out baggage up an even steeper bank. Whilst accepting that crossing the lake reduces the travel time some assistance in transferring baggage should be provided.

Monteverde

The transfer to Monteverde was as expected rather bumpy and something we had got used to in other areas of Costa Rica however we arrived early afternoon at our hotel.

Hotel Fonda Vela – One of the closest hotels to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve accommodation was provided on a hillside within the beautiful gardens with plenty of wildlife present. Our room encompassed a large glazed window overlooking the gardens and all the usual facilities were provided. Restaurant and Swimming facilities were located a short walk on unpaved paths which once again might not ideally be suited to anyone with walking difficulties. With the hotel being some way out of the village of Saint Elena we chose to eat at the hotel restaurant which had a wide range of food choices and was very good. The two trips arranged to the Cloud Forest and the Sky Walk were worthwhile with plenty of wildlife to be viewed assisted by competent guides.

Having undertaken a fairly hectic schedule from arriving in San Jose we were looking forward to some rest and relaxation at the beach. Our transfer from Monteverde to Tambor was carried out initially by collection by St Germain Tours to Puntarenas, where we caught the ferry to Paquera as foot passengers, then were met by Suntrails who transferred us to our hotel. The transfer arrangements worked well apart from the access and egress from the ferry. We had “fairly heavy” baggage requiring them to be lifted up and down at least three steep flights of stairs. Whilst we managed this it was a strain and something that people should be made aware of, especially if you are in your 60’s. Incidentally our return trip was somewhat easier as the St Germain Tours driver had travelled over as a foot passenger and he assisted with one of the bags.




Tambor

Hotel Tango Mar – An excellent location, very private beach and ideal for chilling out. We stayed in a beachfront room which in our opinion was excellent with a terrific view of the beach swathed in palm trees and the Pacific Ocean. This is a small hotel, which we prefer, however it had all the facilities you needed. The staff were very welcoming, the restaurant providing excellent cuisine, friendly guests of varying nationalities and of course the weather just perfect with a light sea breeze. This certainly is a hotel we would return to.

Manuel Antonio

Transfer was carried out once again by Suntrails and St Germain Tours from Puntarenas. A lovely picturesque drive on good roads through some of the coastal towns meant that we were in Manuel Antonio early afternoon.

Hotel Si Como No – A very friendly hotel with excellent rooms all located on the hillside overlooking the Pacific. Room facilities were excellent however it should noted that the hotel has a significant amount of steps to access rooms and restaurant and swimming facilities.

A trip to Manuel Antonio National Park was made with a guide and we were able to see a range of wildlife in the park but not the crocodile which had unfortunately entered the sea at one of the most picturesque beaches, so swimming here was off limits.

Return to San Jose airport was a leisurely 3 hours with a short stop for refreshments providing sufficient time to catch our connection to the UK via Panama and Amsterdam.

In summarising Costa Rica is a beautiful country for scenery, nature, hotels, beaches, the smiling people and of course the weather. Surprisingly we met very few British tourists, possibly the distance and no direct flights may have a bearing on this. The roads vary considerably from good tarmac to rough unpaved stretches for many miles and the decision to use private transfers was in our opinion a much safer way than hiring a car and furthermore allowed us the opportunity to view the wonderful scenery.

If you are commenting on behalf of the company that has been reviewed, please consider upgrading to Official Business Response for higher impact replies.
Was this review helpful? 0 0