The Real Affordable Vacation 2023
Itinerary Details:
# of Days: 8 / 7 nights
Ground Transportation: Motorcoach with A/C from Day 1 to Day 8
A bilingual local tour guide from day 2 to day 8
# of Meals Included: 20
# of Tours Included: 7
Small Group: 12 to 20 travelers maximum plus an certified bilingual (Spanish/English) Tour Leader.
Regional Office: Alajuela, Costa Rica since 1980. On duty 24/7.
1 to 5 Program’s Grade of Difficulty: 3
Pacing: 5 hotels/lodges, 2 nights at each hotel and lodges except the first and last nights which is 1 night, some early mornings for those wanting bird watching. While this is a mobile program, pace is not demanding.
Physical Requirements: Trip not appropriate for travelers using wheelchairs or any walk aids. Travelers must be able to walk 2 miles a day.
Climate: Costa Rica is located between 8° and 12° North from the Equator, the Pacific Ocean on the West and the Caribbean Sea on the East; also Costa Rica has a very irregular terrain with lots of mountains and valleys. All these privileges together allows Costa Rica to have a hard-to-forecast weather conditions. Under regular conditions, Costa Rica has a dry season from December to April and rainy season from May to November, being the rainy season’s pattern with sun-shiny mornings and showers in the afternoon.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION DAY-BY-DAY
Day 1. TRANSFER FROM SJO AIRPORT TO YOUR HOTEL IN SAN JOSE
Supplier name of ground transportation: Interviajes
Pick Up Details: Juan Santamaria Airport flight # Arriving at:
Drop Off Details: Hotel in San Jose
Approx. Travel Time: 30 Minutes.
At your arrival, you will meet an Interviajes representative who will provide the transportation to your hotel and important information about the program.
Hotel location: The Hotel has an excellent location, it is in the Historic Center of San José, on the main pedestrian boulevard of the city. A few steps from the hotel, you will find history, art, culture, medical services, entertainment, and much more…!
Room type: Standard Double room
Staying nights: 1
Meals: Not Included
Day 2. SAN JOSE – NAL. MUSEUM – THE PEACE WATERFALLS – LA FORTUNA
Supplier name of ground transportation: Interviajes
Pick Up Details: Hotel in San Jose
Drop Off Details: Hotel in La Fortuna
Approx. Travel Time from the hotel in San Jose: 5 Minutes
Today’s Grade of Difficulty: 2
Description: After breakfast we will depart to the National Museum of Costa Rica. It used to be a fortress, built in 1917 and was originally a military barracks. The exterior walls still have many bullets lodged in from the country’s 1948 civil war. It became a museum in 1950.
The entrance on the east side leads to a courtyard displaying pre-Columbian artifacts and cannons from the colonial period. The museum is organized thematically in a counter clockwise direction from the entrance with artifacts related to Costa Rica’s geological, colonial, archaeological, religious and modern history. Visitors also see notable collection of pre-Columbian stone tables (metates), ceramics and a gold room «Sala de Oro» in the northeast tower. The colonial room has a notable collection of furniture and is designed to emulate that of an actual quarter in the 18th century. Our tour guide will take us back in time through our wonderful history.
San Jose – The Peace Waterfall Park
Approx. Travel Time: 2 hours
Description: After the amazing learning experience, you will continue on to The Peace Waterfalls gardens where you will have the opportunity to delight your senses with the five waterfalls right next to the trails as you walk by. The Peace Waterfalls is the most famous waterfall park in Costa Rica. It also have an animal rescue center where you will have opportunity to have Yellow-throated Tucan and Keel-billed Tucan posing beside you for a picture or the chances of having 14 different humming bird species hovering all around you. You will also see monkeys, sloths, jaguars, the morpho butterfly and many other animals. We will have a delicious lunch before continuing on to our next hotel.
The Peace Waterfall – La Fortuna
Approx. Travel Time: 1.5 hours
Description: After having a great time with the Waterfall Gardens, we will travel to the Arenal volcano’s territory in La Fortuna. La Fortuna is a small town located near the Arenal volcano, in the province of Alajuela. «La Fortuna» is Spanish for «The Fortune». Although there is a common myth that the town got its name due to its sparing from the Arenal Volcano’s eruptions in 1968, the town actually got its name before the latest eruption cycle and was named for its fertile lands. Today is a hot spot for tourist attraction due to the hot springs that despite the inactivity of the Arenal volcano during the las 5 years, the underground springs get heated by the volcanic activity still there.
Today you will have lunch at La Fortuna where there will be also time to do some shopping before checking in at our next hotel in the area. Once at the hotel you have the rest of the afternoon at leisure to enjoy the hot springs and the hotel’s grounds.
Hotel Name: Hotel in La Fortuna
Room type: Standard Double room
1st. of 2 nights
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 3. WHITE-WATER RAFTING or RAFT FOATING
Duration: 3 hours
Today’s Grade of Difficulty: 3 (or 1 if doing Raft Floating)
Description: This day is to enjoy the essence of the Tropical Rainforest first hand.
The rainforest is characterized by a lush, tall tropical evergreen forest of huge, buttressed canopy trees reaching 40 m in height and an extremely rich epiphyte flora.
Today you will enjoy the forest from a raft in the majestic flowing of the Balsa river with certified guides. You will experience a beautiful section of exciting white-water rapids class ll & lll, and beautiful pools, all surrounded by an exuberant nature. This section is excellent for people who practice rafting for the first time and who want some grade of emotion but also for those with previous experience in rafting. You will be wearing safety equipment as helmets and life jackets, and safety instructions will be given before the river activity begins.
The minimum age for children is 8 years; and in older folks, it is important to take into account their physical condition. Even so, we do not recommend the participation of senior citizens over 63 years of age. This section lasts about 2.5 hours, and travels a distance of 11 kilometers (7 miles). This section includes a stop to enjoy a fruit snack and lunch.
During the trip, the guides will help you identify many species of birds, plants and others animals that you can observe on the banks of the river.
(Other activities are also available for those not interested in white-water rafting).
2nd of 2 nights
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 4. FORTUNA – INDIGENOUS VILLAGE – MONTEVERDE
Supplier name of ground transportation: Interviajes
Pick Up Details: Hotel in La Fortuna
Drop Off Details: Hotel in Monteverde
Approx. Travel Time to the Malekus place: 1 hour
Today’s Grade of Difficulty: 1
Description: Indigenous people of Costa Rica, or Native Costa Ricans, are the people who lived in what is now Costa Rica prior to European and African contact and the descendants of those peoples. About 114,000 indigenous people live in the country, comprising 2.4% of the total population. Indigenous Costa Ricans strive to keep their cultural traditions and language alive.
In 1977, the government passed the Indigenous Law, which created reserves. There is a total of 24 indigenous territories located throughout Costa Rica. They gained the right to vote in 1994.
The Guatuso are a tribe of American Indians of Costa Rica. Their language is known as Maleku, which is spoken in the north-central part of the country, and is a Chibchan language.
Today we will enjoy a costarican typical meal before heading to our next hotel.
Guatuso – Monterverde
Approx. Travel Time Monteverde: 3 hours
Description: Monteverde is a town in mountainous northwestern Costa Rica. It’s renowned for its biodiverse forests in the clouds. Newsweek has declared Monteverde is the world’s #14 «Place to Remember Before it Disappears». By popular vote in Costa Rica, Monteverde was enshrined as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Costa Rica, along with Coco Island, Arenal Volcano, Chirripo Pick, Rio Celeste (Blue River), Tortuguero, and Poas Volcano.
The cloud forest in Monteverde shelters countless wildlife species, including jaguars, ocelots and the colorfully plumed Resplendent Quetzal. After a long day, some resting time will be great.
Dinner at hotel.
Staying nights: 1 night
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 5. MONTEVERDE – SELVATURA PARK – CROCODILES – PUNTA LEONA
Supplier name of ground transportation: Interviajes
Pick Up Details: Hotel in Monteverde
Drop Off Details: Hotel Punta Leona
Approx. Travel Time to Selvatura Park: 30 Minutes
Today’s Grade of Difficulty: 2
Description: Today is the day to do an activity that not many people have ever done. Today you will experience firsthand, the majesty of the cloud forest at Selvatura Park on its hanging bridges. Selvatura Park is a nature and adventure ecological park with an area of over 850 acres of protected land, it is one Monteverde’s top attractions.
Selvatura Park’s treetop walkways provide the best way to safely admire the cloud forest canopy at your own pace.
Walking though the bridges, the visitors have the opportunity to appreciate a wide variety of flora and fauna and observe the endemic biodiversity of the cloud forest canopy which is not found anywhere else in the world. The treetop walkways provide the best vantage point to observe the beauty of the cloud forest in all its levels.
(If not interested on hanging bridges, optional activities like Ziplining, Humming birds Gallery, reptile and amphibian exhibition and a Butterfly Garden is available).
After this amazing experience, you will enjoy lunch at Selvatura’s restaurant.
After lunch you will depart to our next activity, The Crocodile Safari.
Approx. Travel Time to Tarcoles River: 2.30hours
Tarcoles river tour description: You will board a motor roofed boat, put on a life jacket and head out to explore the fascinating Tarcoles river. The Tarcoles river may be known as the country’s dirtiest and most polluted basin but it is ironically considered as one of Costa Rica’s tourist attractions. Its climb to fame is that it houses one of the world’s largest crocodile population per square kilometer. This river isn’t only important to over 2000 crocs in the area, it also acts as a very significant watershed of the Central Valley.
The Tarcoles river is not only home to 50 species of birds. Here you’ll be able to spot the Panama Flycatcher, Mangrove Vireo, Mangrove Warbler, American Pygmy Kingfisher. The Scarlet Macaw can also be found here and of course, the occasional hawks, parrots, toucans, herons, egrets and many more.
Reptiles such as iguanas and the emerald and brown basilisk lizard can also be seen here as well as anteaters, monkeys and bats to name just a view.
Mangrove trees are very abundant in the Tarcoles River. In fact, four species of this fascinating tree can be found growing here.
Lunch at Crocodile Safari restaurant.
After the fascinating tour we will depart to our next hotel.
From Tarcoles River to Hotel Punta Leona
Approx. Travel Time to Punta Leona: 30 minutes
Description: Surrounded by dense forest and offering stunning views of Playa Blanca Beach, Hotel Punta Leona features outdoor swimming pools, 3 restaurants and 2 snack bars. Rooms at this hotel are spacious and comfortable. Each air-conditioned room offers garden views, cable TV, private bathroom and a coffee maker. Hotel Punta Leona is located in the area of the Central Pacific, close to beautiful beaches and touristy coastal towns. The area is ideal for fishing, snorkelling, sunbathing, and scuba-diving. It is also a fantastic place for nature lovers and bird watchers.
Hotel Name: Hotel Punta Leona
Room type: Standard Double room
1st of 2 nights Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, dinner
Day 6. BEACH DAY
Description: Today is a day to enjoy the beach and the swimming pools. The hotel is surrounded by trees and lots of vegetation which provide the opportunity to see monkeys, coatis, iguanas and many species of birds.
Hotel Name: Hotel Punta Leona
Room type: Standard Double room
2nd of 2 nights Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Today’s Grade of Difficulty: 1
Day 7. TORTUGA ISLAND DAY TOUR
Supplier name of ground transportation: Interviajes
Pick Up Details: Hotel Punta Leona
Drop Off Details: Hotel in San Jose
Approx. Travel Time on boat: 1 hour (each way)
Today’s Grade of Difficulty: 1
Catamaran Boat Tour to Tortuga Island
Description: We will depart before breakfast to the pier where a Catamaran boat will be waiting to take us to a wonderful beach on the Tortuga Island. A hot breakfast will be served once on board. Cruise the beautiful Gulf of Nicoya to Tortuga Island relaxing while enjoying the magnificent views of the Nicoya Gulf. Delicious tropical fruits will be served on board. Enjoy the Snorkeling Excursion and Banana Boat ride at no extra cost. A four-course gourmet lunch is served on tables each set with white linen under the shade of umbrella. Unlimited soft drinks and fruit juice, beach chairs and hammocks.
After spending 5 hours at Tortuga Island, the Capitan will return to port in the afternoon by different route to enjoy the Gulf Islands and the Sunset, ending a perfect day.
Departure time from the pier in Puntarenas 8:30 a.m. Return time to the pier 4:00 p.m.
After disembark back in Puntarenas, we will depart to San Jose for the last night in Costa Rica.
Dinner at hotel in San Jose.
Hotel Name: Hotel in San Jose
Room type: Standard Double room
Staying nights: 1
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 8. HOTEL IN SAN JOSE – INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Supplier name of ground transportation: Interviajes
Pick Up Details: Hotel in San Jose
Drop Off Details: International Airport
Approx. Travel Time: 30 minutes
Breakfast at hotel would be included depending on your flight schedule.
Description: This day, with your camera and mind full of great pictures and memories, you will meet our ground transportation for your transfer to the Juan Santamaria International airport for your flight back home.
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