Central America Tours & Trips

Top operators in Central America

G Adventures and Intrepid Travel stand out as solid choices for Central America trips, based on what our travelers tell us. They've built up a good track record for keeping things running smoothly - from transport logistics to activity timing. We often hear specific praise for guides like Fonzi Arce and Jurgen, who bring local knowledge and handle unexpected changes well. I should mention that Penguin Tours hasn't been meeting expectations lately. Several customers came back disappointed with their hotel quality, and quite a few mentioned disorganized schedules that left them waiting around or rushing between stops. Marvelous Travel sits somewhere in the middle. Their office staff are quick to respond and helpful, and some of their drivers get great feedback. But we've seen a pattern of booking mix-ups and also late buses. One customer spent two hours waiting for a transfer in San Jose because of unclear pickup instructions. From booking hundreds of Central America trips, I'd lean toward G Adventures or Intrepid if you want reliability. They cost a bit more than Penguin or Marvelous, but the extra expense typically means fewer headaches during your trip.

• G Adventures

  
  5.0 (22,802 Central America reviews)

  "Overall I enjoyed the trip and we saw quite a lot in a short period of time. Some of the hotels were not very good especially the hotel in Merida (dirty sheets and towels and smell from drains), Flores gutamela (poor quality hotel and dirty towels again) and the hotel in playa del carmen was beside a night club so the walls were vibrating from the base of the music. There was some free time and activities were good but the activities later in the trip were quite over priced (Guatemala and Belize). Think some of the itinerary can be looked at also as unsure if one spot can be missed or longer as felt like not a lot of time in Guatemala and Belize and both squeezed in with long 9 hour bus days for both. Use of public buses is fine but one was when all group of 17 got on and all bus full so standing for trip. Not ideal especially when members of group were ill. Think use of a public bus for long trips on a long travel day should be looked at as it makes a long day worse when ill members and standing.

  Good - by Harjit B.

  Tours

  32 Central America tours

  Age range

  12 to 90 years old

  Adventure type

  Explorer

  Response time

  2h

  Response rate

  100%

  Average price

  $325

  G Adventures is an expert in:

  • Explorer
  • In-depth Cultural
  • Active
• Intrepid Travel

  
  4.5 (11,928 Central America reviews)

  "The trip was a quick journey through Central American countries, from Guatemala to Costa Rica, but I didn’t feel it was rushed. Every second day was long travel days, if you don't mind, but the following day was mostly free day or choose optional activities. As this is a small group tour, transportation was a 16 seater van where there was not a lot of leg room. A few taller people in our group traveling in these vans for 8 hours did not feel comfortable; I consider myself short and I did struggle a bit as there was hardly any space to extend my legs; we only had 13 people (including our guide - Juan Ma Perez and driver). There were a number of border crossings, some were simple and quick and others quite time consuming. I felt the ones that were time consuming and complicated were due to our guide trying to complicate things by collecting the immigration fees to pay as a group. My experience is individual payment is much simpler and quicker. Border crossing in/out of Honduras and Nicaragua were interesting. Due to the route of the tour, we travelled into Honduras twice. Our guide told us entry fee into Honduras is US$4/p or they also accept the Guatemalan Quetzals of Q$30 and we can pay separately. At the counter we handed over $4 but were given a $3 receipt. I saw a plaque and posters at the counters stating entry fee is US$3. When asked later, our guide said the additional $1 is the currency conversion fee. A couple of days later when leaving Honduras I asked the immigration officer how much is the entry fee, he advised $3. I said we paid $4 a couple days ago; he answered, "really?". A few days later as we entered Honduras again (different entry point), our guide suggested to collect the entry fee of $4/p and pay as a group, but I opted to pay my entry fee separately. When in the immigration building, our guide approached me and asked for $4. I felt his tone wasn't friendly and I didn't want to cause any scene, so I gave him the money. When at the counter getting my passport stamped, I asked the officer how much is the entry fee and if there is any additional fee for currency conversion. He answered $3 and no additional fee. When told him that I paid $4, the officer asked which counter and officer charged $4? I said we handed the money over to our guide as a group. The officer said the entry fee is only $3 per entry and no conversation fee; if we handed the money separately to our guide for payment then it has nothing to do with the immigration. When entering Nicaragua, the entry fee suggested by our guide was different to the information provided on the internet (our guide said the info on the internet is incorrect). Our guide suggested to collect the money and pay as a group to speed up the process, I opted to pay separately, however our guide stood next to me and made sure I handed over the amount he suggested. I was last in the line but first to exit with all my documentation; while it took a while for the immigration office to process the group documentation and receipt. I felt there was a level of dishonesty from our guide. Our tour (for 2024) included 1 activity and 1 breakfast; all other activities were optional with a fee. The orientation walks included were literary an orientation walk, showing the location of the supermarket, laundry, souvenir stores, etc. Many of us later did not join the walks as we had google map to help us with orientation. We also felt our guide used the opportunity to take us to the restaurant he already arranged with the owner for dinner (we were not obliged to join as dinners were not included). A lot of us wanted to experience local culture and food, however the restaurants he arranged were more burgers, pasta, pan fried chicken or steaks with just a couple of local dishes. Many of us later decided to go separate ways for meals. It was nice for our guide wanting to arrange places for meals, however perhaps ask the group what food we would like to try or experience and maybe take us to restaurants that have better review/ratings. While 95% of activities were optional on this trip, prices of activities charged in 2024 were already more expensive than what is stated on the Intrepid website for 2025! A couple of activities were US$50 more than what was stated. Fully understand that prices may increase due to inflation, however a difference of $20-$50? There was an activity organized by our guide but we were told to pay directly to the company upon arrival. Our guide assured and confirmed with us, twice, that the activity costs US$40 including return transport. On the day, we were asked to pay $45 ($5 for return transport per person). As our guide did not come with us, I texted our guide advising the issue. He said, “thank you for the update, I also thought $40 included transport”. I asked him if he would like to call and confirm with the company as he arranged and booked the activity. Our guide simply said, “it is what it is, you will need to pay $5 for the transport.” There were other people (not part of our group) said that they only paid $40 and it included transport. I felt our guide deflected his responsibility and may have pocketed the extra $/p? Later, some of us decide to look for local tour companies for the same activities upon arriving at each location and we found local companies were at least $10-$20 cheaper than offered by Intrepid. As Intrepid is a big company, surely they can get better deals for the activities? Arrangement of transportation, cost of additional activities, and some information about the tour were provided at the very last minute. There were a few days that we left later to travel to our next destination because our guide couldn’t organize a transport to pick us up earlier as originally planned. Cost of activities were provided late in the afternoon for next day. Perhaps better organization skills, such as providing the cost of all additional activities on the first day of the tour (like other tour companies do) would be great. Intrepid is a well known company and people make final payment a month before the trip, surely this should be enough time to plan the journey. Perhaps Intrepid could learn from other tour companies about organization. Tour guides should always put first the interest of their passengers. However, I felt it wasn’t in this case. Also note that now a days we all have smart phones and information is readily accessible and available on the internet.

  Average - by Miguel W.

  Tours

  22 Central America tours

  Age range

  5 to 99 years old

  Adventure type

  Explorer

  Response time

  7h

  Response rate

  92%

  Average price

  $215

  Intrepid Travel is an expert in:

  • Explorer
  • In-depth Cultural
  • Active
• Explore!

  
  4.5 (13,571 Central America reviews)

  "My interactions with the Explore organization was very unsatisfactory. My tour guide and driver were awesome, though.

  Average - by Rebecca K.

  Tours

  20 Central America tours

  Age range

  16 to 85 years old

  Adventure type

  Explorer

  Response time

  24h

  Response rate

  84%

  Average price

  $392

  Explore! is an expert in:

  • Explorer
  • In-depth Cultural
  • Bicycle