The Costa Rica Nature Adventure tour from Trafalgar is an eight-day guided group tour with a strong nature and wildlife focus. It was a perfect introduction to Costa Rica, but it’s not just for first timers—on my tour, a number of my fellow travelers were return visitors to Costa Rica before. For all of us, the chance to visit some harder-to-reach places, benefit from the expertise and wildlife-spotting genius of a guide, and have all the logistics taken care of made this tour the the right choice.
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Things to Know About Trafalgar’s Costa Rica Nature Adventure
- Many guests on my tour mentioned what great value this tour offers. The quality of the guides and the accommodations, the number of included meals, and the seamless logistics all contribute to the sense that you get a lot for what you pay for.
- This is a wildlife-focused tour that spends a lot of time in jungles and forests. There’s a beach town add-on, but this won’t be a good fit if what you want is to lounge on the sand.
- Because wildlife rises early, so do tour participants. Most early mornings are optional but the experiences are exceptional and shouldn’t be missed.
- Guides are often naturalists. The guide on my tour, Victor Leiton, had an almost preternatural ability to spot wildlife. For instance, we were driving down a country road and he asked the bus driver to stop, got out his monocular, and managed to spot a mother-and-baby sloth pair deep in the foliage at the top of a tall tree. We all got out and looked through the monocular and watched as the mother languidly groomed her baby. It was an amazing impromptu moment and a highlight of the trip.
- July through October tours often get the chance to add on a sea turtle hatching tour (offered through the hotel in Tortuguero). I didn’t do it because it was late in the evening but after hearing about it from people who did go on the tour, I regret not doing it. If you love turtles, learn from my mistake.
- This tour isn’t super physically demanding, though there are some challenges like uneven terrain and uphill walks. But, it can get hot and humid, and there are a lot of bugs, so insect repellant is a must.
Tour highlights
- Tortuguero National Park: an incredible place for seeing wildlife, and a place accessible only by boat via rivers and canals
- Arenal volcano: with chances to soak in the hot springs and do activities such as hiking, ATV drives, or visiting a local botanical garden
- Monteverde Cloud Forest: for suspension bridge walks and guided forest hikes, plus optional tours like zip lining, horseback riding, and a very good educational coffee tour
Important Details About the Costa Rica Nature Adventure tour
Route Notes
- Some drives wind through the mountains. If you have issues with motion sickness, pack some meds, especially on the way to and from Monte Verde.
- Bus rides are broken up into two-ish hour segments, with different stops for meals, snacks, shopping, and a chance to move around for a few minutes. There is also a bathroom on the bus, but many of the roads are windy and/or bumpy, so the bathroom is really only for urgent needs.
- There are some longer travel days, in particular the day from Saripiqui to Arenal. On those days, you’ll likely find snacks tucked into your seatback pocket.
Activities
There’s a lot that’s built into the cost of the trip, including hands-down the best chocolate tour I’ve ever done (you get to taste your way through history), all the boat wildlife spotting tours in Tortuguero National Park, and multiple Be My Guest (Trafalgar’s program connecting tour guests with locals) experiences.
Optional activities include whitewater rafting in Sarapiqui; hiking, ATV touring, kayaking, or a trip to an ecological park in Arenal; and ziplining, horseback riding, taking a plantation tour (coffee lovers note that this place has excellent coffee beans you can buy), or riding an open gondola up to a viewing area in Monteverde.
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I opted into the whitewater rafting and enjoyed it. There were a few relatively tame rapids (enough to be exciting, not enough to be scary), but the real highlight—aside from a fresh fruit break provided by our guides—was the chance to see wildlife along the banks of the river.
I also did the ziplining, along with a pretty large contingent of other guests. The ziplining is in a staggeringly beautiful part of Monteverde Cloud Forest, and the course takes about two hours. I ended up doing it in the driving rain, which wasn’t ideal, but speeding above the trees through the clouds was pretty incredible. Braking and stopping is a little body-jolting, but there were people in their 60s and 70s doing it and loving it.
On this tour, you don’t book activities before the tour. Early in the tour, the guide will review all the options with the group and answer questions, and then set up a time where you can come sign up if you’re interested. You’ll just need to have a credit card on hand.
Accessibility
This tour requires a fair amount of mobility but not a high level of activity. Getting on and off a large motor coach, navigating unpaved roads and paths, and getting on and off boats (the boats are on a river so there’s not a lot of rocking) with help are all part of the standard tour.
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This is a sort of silly way of measuring activity, but during the trip, I met my overall Move goal (of 340 active calories) only three times according to my watch; and met my exercise goal only once (on the zip lining day). Walks and hikes were slow, in part because there was so much wildlife to observe. The only day with an uphill hike was the last, the early morning nature walk in Monteverde.
Some of the optional activities required a higher level of mobility and fitness, but since guests must opt into them, they’re easily avoided without impacting overall trip participation.
Dining
Because this tour goes to a lot of out-of-the-way places, most meals are included, with only one dinner and one lunch on your own. Because meals are so often together, mealtimes become a time where the group gets to know each other, which in my experience was a great chance for the group to bond. Over the course of the trip, I was able to have at least one meal with everyone, and it was a fun way to get to know people.
The tour kicks off with a welcome dinner, and all meals on days two, three, and four are included. On day five, breakfast and lunch are included and most people opt to dine on their own at the hotel in Arenal (if you were motivated, you could get a cab and go into nearby La Fortuna). On day six, breakfast and dinner are included and lunch is on your own at a roadside café along the route (it’s a longer driving day). On day seven, breakfast and dinner are included and depending on which (if any) optional activity you’re doing, there are various easy lunch options.
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Included meals trend traditional, with plenty of gallo pinto (Costa Rican rice and black beans), plantains, fish, and meat (though there are always options for vegetarians).
Amenities Along the Way
- All of the hotels have pools, and at Arenal Paraiso Resort there are a series of hot springs pools as well.
- All hotels except the eco lodge (Laguna Lodge) in Tortuguero have air conditioning. Laguna Lodge rooms have screened windows that can be kept open for circulation as well as fans that do a reasonably good job.
- The Arenal Paraiso Resort has a nice-looking spa. I didn’t do a treatment but did peek in and look at the treatment menu and it looked good.
Hotels
The tour begins at the San Jose Sheraton, which Kayak rates 8.8 out of 10 (Great). The hotel was comfortable and modern, and though it’s not close to downtown, it is a few minutes’ walk from a large mall with restaurants and plenty of stores for any last-minute shopping.
The tour next stops at Laguna Lodge in Tortuguero, which Tripadvisor users rate four out of five. This eco lodge has beautiful grounds and an interesting sort of Gaudi-inspired lobby building. Rooms don’t have air conditioning, but do have fans and screened windows with shutters. There are two fantastic pools on property, along with hammock areas and a riverfront bar and restaurant.
The fourth night of the tour is at La Quinta Sarapiqui Lodge, a quirky and creative family-owned lodge (not associated with the U.S. chain La Quinta) that Kayak rates 8.3 out of 10. It has pools, a cayman pond (ask an employee to tell you the story of how the caymans came to live in the pond), a bird-watching area, and a place where you can see frogs at night. Rooms have air conditioning.
The fifth night is at Arenal Paraiso Resort & Spa. Standalone casitas are arranged on a hill overlooking Arenal volcano, and the property has a cascading set of increasingly cooler hot spring pools that are fantastic (especially when it’s clear enough to see the volcano as you soak in the mineral waters). Kayak rates this property 8.2 out of 10, but personally I’d rate it higher (the only thing I didn’t love was the lighting in the rooms).
The last two nights are at El Establo Mountain Hotel in Monteverde. This beautiful hotel is tucked along a heavily forested hillside and has spacious and elegant rooms, a picturesque restaurant on a pond, a great pool, and wildlife like coati roaming the property. Note that it’s very spread out, and most people opt to call the shuttle to get from area to area. Kayak rates the hotel 7.9 (again, I’d rate it higher).
