Beaches and Nature with Santa Teresa, Self-drive

Customer Reviews

• AC

  Andrew

  · February 11th, 2025
  This will be a long review, First, if you are expecting a group tour, this wasn't, most transfers were just my wife and I. Transportation throughout was virtually flawless. Our first day was missed due to a flight cancellation, they did catch us up with our intended second night accommodations. Thank-you. We had optioned for the 4star hotels, several were not. Our first hotel,3 star, Near Samara was a 20-25 minute walk to town. This hotel was clean and only about 14 rooms, nestled on a dirt lane, probably 500ft from the beach. We found out on the Monday, the hotel doesn't have kitchen operations for Monday dinners. Fortunately you can order pizza for delivery through facebook messenger:) Be warned, the roosters are up at 3am:( Santa Teresa, 3 star quite nice, cozy hotel/villas, 26 rooms, again 500 ft or so to the beach with beautiful sunsets, lots of restaurants, shopping, and lots of surfers. Hotels breakfast was 2 slices of cold toast , yogurt and o-j with coffee or tea. no onsite restaurant. My second favorite San Jose, an actual 4star in the middle of the city, normal big city feel, watch for pickpocket in busy areas - saw a couple attempts, only place with any crime. Banana and pineapple plantations on the drive to Tortuguero Tortuguero - 3.5 star(i think)First place with a group(actually started at pick-up in San Jose), we were the only ones on our boat staying at a different lodge, so they moved us, interesting place in the rain forest, clean, good food, lots of nature. No ac, but only screens in the windows, and was comfortable for sleeping. Monkeys, Iguana's, frogs and a lot of other creatures in the grounds, and the boat excursions were good as well. Definitely made up for the bad roads to the boat launch. Sarapiqui - 3 star Our hotel was in the middle of nowhere, but did have a walking trail through the forest with monkeys(at least 1 anyways)Food was decent. The a/c was a portable type unit and not very strong, and the room had a definite mold/mildew/? smell that only dissipated with the doors open. Our rafting excursion was fun, with a knowledgeable guide. Arenal - best view, and also 4star. Room faced the arenal volcano, nice pools, hot tubs, restaurant etc. Good souvenirs nearby, and quite a few restaurants as well. If you expect to walk all the way up the volcano, you don't, but do go partway, and into the lava rocks, again with great views(weather permitting). Probably our favorite. MonteVerde - the coldest of all locations, 4 star, you could walk to the main strip, but down a steep hill and back up the other side. A nice plaza right by the hotel with restaurants, supermarket and other shopping.The zip-line adventure was fun,13 lines of different lengths Food, other than the 1 breakfast was all good to excellent, beer is the same price as pop, rooms were all clean, even the stinky one.every stop had a pool, Transportation was all top notch. Gudes were mostly very good. And the scenery is amazing. My advice if you take this tour, spread out any excursions or you could end up with several nature walks very close together.(we didn't...) The biggest downfall were some of the hotels are not close to anything unless you have transportation. Also don't expect smooth roads, that's why the travel times are long, but usually less than advertised. Our last transfer was only 2 hours. Also Liberia airport is a zoo, and food priced similar to Toronto airport. Some of our hotels were changed to ones not listed, and communication to tour radar via their message board was hit and miss, we still didn't receive an answer to our last questions, but other times very quick.
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  Trip date: January 2025
• MM

  Mabel

  · December 23rd, 2023
  The trip was well laid out, I frequently reached out to our travel rep Karla, with questions and she was fantastic in assisting me with any questions prior and during the trip. She offered excellent activity tours like sea kayaking in Samara and zip lining in Arenal. We enjoyed every moment. The self drive part worked out very well and National car rental was very good to work with. We liked the freedom of having our own vehicle. The trip was one of the best trips I have ever taken and the people of Costa Rica were very kind. They really love their country and put family, schooling, the environment and their health first! Many countries could learn from them!
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  Destination Services Costa Rica commented on this review

  Good Evening Dear Mabel It was a pleasure to assist you in all the steps of your travel, it represents a truly joy to verify our efforts are good to provide you a good experience. We hope to have the opportunity in a close future to assist planning... Show more
  Trip date: December 2023
• RB

  Rishi Dheeradj Kumar

  · October 9th, 2023
  Costa Rica single trip was a unforgettable experience! Almost everything was excellent arranged like the transfer bus and all the tours. Some of the hotels could be better like the clean bed sheets. One hotel like Tropica Latino has many mosquitos inside my room and it was enoying. The tours was amazing and unforgettable. Meeting with new people around the world was a great experience.
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  Destination Services Costa Rica commented on this review

  Thank you for your very positive feedback. Your comments are very important for us to improve our services and I am glad you had a lovely experience with us and we met your travelling expectations. We hope to be your choice for your future holiday... Show more
  
  Trip date: September 2023
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  Mike

  · February 14th, 2023
  The tour was well laid out and good value there seemed at times a lack of clear information like hotel address and location. National Car rental was fantastic.
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  Destination Services Costa Rica commented on this review

  Thanks so much for your feedback!, we really appreciate the time you took to write such a review!.Hope soon you come back to Costa Rica
  Trip date: January 2023
• 

  Gary

  · February 7th, 2020
  We had a great trip! Accommodation ranged from...
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  Destination Services Costa Rica commented on this review

  Hello Gary, Greetings from Costa Rica, we are glad to know that you had a great trip. Santa Teresa is without a doubt a remote but unique place to visit. Do not hesitate to contact us for a future trip to Costa Rica.
  Trip date: January 2020