3 Dage - 2 Nætter: Arenal Volcano & Monteverde Adventure fra San Jose

Very responsive travel company. They sent detailed itinerary. However trip was not 1 continous tour. At stops someone would be waiting calling my name.

This is NOT an "adventure" trip. The transportation and lodging are OK, but the activities have nothing to do with the wonderful natural landscapes that you would expect would be visited. At Volcan Arenal, the van driver dropped the group off at a hotel pool for an entire afternoon and dinner (think Raging Waters). Instead, we broke off and found a hike to a lava field from the most recent volcano eruption. At Monteverde, I think the group went to a zip-line amusement park, whereas we booked a 6 hour nature/birding tour at the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Preserve. I asked the guide - "is this trip 100% commercial theme-park destinations", and he said that it was. Not one word was mentioned about either the nearby volcano or rainforests. We salvaged this trip for us, but paid for a lot of stuff we didn't use, and had to scramble to redirect. Also, the tour organizer does not communicate your itinerary to the individual providers (drivers, etc.), so those folks keep asking you what you are doing next and where to take you. And, by the way, we received itinerary information ourselves ONE HOUR before we were picked up on the first day. NOT recommended for anybody who actually wants to see the beautiful parts of the Country that you would expect.

Day 1: Nice tour with friendly and informative guide Edgar. We stopped at a metal church followed by another stop at a craft store. I think the morning could be better spent getting to the destination, with a comfort break half-way through en route, because neither church nor craft store were particularly interesting. Great lunch in a nice restaurant in La Fortuna (the best meal of the entire trip). Hot springs in the afternoon were nice, buffet dinner at the springs was not good. Overnight stay was at Montana del Fuego. Great staff, nice place, but no WiFi in the room. Day 2: This day is mainly about getting to Monteverde, and overall the programme is a bit dull, and could be planned better. Breakfast at Montana del Fuego was fine (the only meal included this day). Transfer by bus, then boat, then bus to Monteverde. Ride across the lake is short, but nice, with views of the volcano. Bus transfer dropped me at Country Lodge, the second hotel. Also a nice place to stay. The afternoon was left open. A night walk through a forest was included, but it was nothing special. Also, you should eat before the walk because otherwise you might miss dinner at the hotel. Day 3: Breakfast at Country Lodge was fine. The activities are Treetopia - guided walk through the forest and ziplining - are excellent. Great guide and great team that accompany you on the ziplining. Lunch was included at Treetop, but the food is not good. After Treetopia, there's a transfer back to the hotel to collect things before the long journey back to Monteverde. It would be nice to space this long journey about. Overall, I think the itinerary needs a re-think and the trip is overpriced.

Not a full service tour. Each day of this tour is outsourced to multiple independent operators which is not clear from the ad. For the same experience/service, it is cheaper to book things separately yourself and you would have the flexibility to choose better activities. - Day 1: Taken to Baldi hot springs which is the cheapest/least impressive hot spring of the area and hike to volcano is an extra $75USD on the spot - Day 2: Very disappointed. The only activity for this day is a boat ride across Arenal Lake. The agency made a booking error so I was driven to Monteverde instead of taking a boat. Partial refund request was rejected even though there is confirmation from the service provider that I didn't take the boat as advertised. Early pick up means you have to skip the provided breakfast and then wait a few hours until 2pm for check in at the next hotel - Day 3: was great. I believe it was Sky Adventures that took care of the entire day apart from my transfer back to San Jose - as this isn't a full service provided by one company you should ask for all details before hand ie. hotel names, pick up times (also not as advertised) and name of transport company picking you up - not a big deal but no bottled water is offered as stated in the tour ad - breakfasts included in this tour are offered by the hotels where you stay but pick up is usually too early to attend - customer service was quick to respond to my emails during the trip. They also provided a whatsapp number for me to contact on Day 3