Puntarenas Buggy Adventure & Crocodile River Cruise
Description
Your breathtaking adventure begins with a pickup from the pier and a relaxing drive through the wonderful Costa Rican countryside on an air-conditioned transportation and recent model deluxe vehicle or mini bus. In our adventure center, before you begin your journey, you will receive instructions and then take a test run on our specially designed private track. From here on, your guide will lead you along the jungle trails, crossing rivers sometimes-bumpy, dirt paths real rainforest, viewpoints and 1 waterfall, where you can swimm if you want. After this great adventure, our tour will continue with a short drive to Tarcoles River, where a 60 minutes Eco boat tour will allow you to enjoy the abundant wildlife of the area, including the huge crocodiles, multiple aquatic birds, scarlet macaws, howler monkeys and other amazing tropical species. We have Buggys for up to 6 people and 1 buggy must be shared per booking. Minimum 2 peope per buggy.
Tour Options
Itinerary
This tour is operated in the sourroundings of Carara National Park and Tarcolitos River. Once at our operations center, you will be received by a local tour guide who will explain the use of the Buggy and provide the rules and safety instructions. Buggys are for 2 or 4 passengers and must be shared by each party. The tour includes a journey along small rivers, plantations, rainforest and beautiful beaches. For all those how want to swimm, a 30 minute stop can be make an one of the beaches.
Puntarenas is one of the most important tourism regions in Costa Rica. Its coastline is full of islands, inlets, beaches, and very beautiful natural treasures, all which make it an excellent tourist destination. There is a multitude of attractions based around the beaches, as well as protected areas, both land based and around its islands. The area’s center is located at Puntarenas which acts as a place for lodging, distribution, port of call, and excursions. The city of Puntarenas is rich in history, traditions and customs. Historically, it was the most important port in the Costa Rican Pacific, through which the main exports that allowed the development of the country during the 19th century and part of the 20th century took place. Due to its coastal position, it was an important center for the arrival of immigrants towards the middle of the 20th century. Its boom as a tourist destination dates back to 1940.
Enjoy a pleasant boat tour with a professional naturalist tour guide and enjoy its rich and abundant wildlife. It is a habitat for American crocodiles, while the marshes located at the river's mouth have many waterfowl and wading birds. Among the many herons and egrets are the boatbill and bare-throated tiger heron, and other birds found here include double-striped thick-knee, mangrove warbler and American pygmy kingfisher. The total list known of birds well exceeds 320 species including the little known Guacalillo Canals. The avian biodiversity is substantial including rare birds such as Agami Heron, Rufous-necked Woodrail, Jabiru, Yellow-billed Cotinga and recently found an Orinoco Goose. It's also home of Howler and White-faced Capuchin Monkeys. Less commonly seen are Silky Anteater, Sloths, Grinson, Jaguarundi, River Otter and Northern Tamandua
El Jardin de Orotina is a beautiful complex where tourists will find the best souvenirs for bring home. It offers an excellent restaurant as well with a delicious buffet with typical Costa Rican meals.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
This tour is exclusive for cruise ship passengers. If you are not arriving by cruise ship please do not book this tour. Tour operate only when we have cruise ships in port. Pick up is at the main gate entrance of the pier. It is a very short walking distance from the cruise ship. Once at the entrance of the pier, you will see a Greenway Tours Guide holding a sign with your name. SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT PICKUP TIME All our pickup times are set to 8:00 AM by default. HOWEVER: If your ship arrives after 8:00 AM, the Pickup will be 30 minutes after ship arrival. You can book your tour and we will adjust the time accordingly with your ship arrival. If you ship is late, our staff will wait for you till the ship dock and allow you disembark. We operate all our tours accordingly with the ship´s arrival.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- This tour is exclusive for cruise ship passengers. If you are not arriving by cruise ship please do not book this tour
Reviews(9)
This was the perfect cruise experience! We got to see the rainforest, have an adventure driving through it and across streams in our buggies, and have an opportunity to swim at the waterfalls. We also enjoyed seeing the birds and Crocs at the river. One of the best parts was that our driver Luis took great care of us E2E from the cruise port ensuring that we were picked up at the right location and dropped off at the cruise port on time, which is always a worry with 3rd party tour providers. We loved the entire experience and would highly recommend it!!!
Thank you for taking the time to share feedback following your recent tour with Greenway Tours. It is only through your valuable comments that we are able to excel and continue to deliver the extraordinary to our guests.
We recently did this tour. There is not much in Puntarenas. You really need to do a tour. It was a drive to a jungle hotel where we got on a “River buggy”, which was a tractor pulled trailer. It took us along a river through the jungle. Afterwards, we had drinks and fruit. Then we rode down further to the Tarcoles River to see crocodiles. We ended up seeing about 5-10. The guides were excellent spotting them. We had Josue, Luis, and Geiner as our guides. The drove all the way from San Jose to spend the day with us, a group of about 12. Afterwards, they even suggested a local restaurant close to the ship. We would definitely do again. Thanks!!!
Thank you for your positive review about our tour and staff. We are so happy to hear that you enjoy your day with us.
The most memorable thing was the driver and guide getting lost to the start of the buggy tour and taking time away from our ride. WTH!!?? We had 3 groups riding in the van and all 3 had trouble locating the guide at the cruise port because she was way off to the side holding a very small sign adding to our late arrival. Buggy ride was ok just a lot of flat ground riding. Never got the water bottle and they shorted us a half hour of time. The croc ride was a joke. Saw 2 babies and a larger one. Tide was out and the prop on the boat kept hitting the bottom of the river. He had to keep raising the prop to even move a little. Didn’t think we we’re gonna make it back.
We always try to do our job in the best way, and we are sorry that you had this inconvenience today. We will try the best way to improve so that a situation of this type does not happen again. Our pick up times are listed in all vouchers as 30 minutes after ship arrival. Some times cruise ships are running late and for this reason all our customers can catch the tour without any inconvenience. Regarding the meeting point, all the instructions are listed in the confirmation and voucher and the area where we meet all our customes is really small and no way to get lost. Unfortunately if the instructions are not readed carefully, it will causa troubles. Regarding the wildlife spotting it is important to consider that we visit natural areas where the wildlife species are free in their natural habitat. Some days it is easy to see a lot but some not. It is a nature fact.
The buggy ride was dusty and wet, but fun! The guide found us monkeys to see and a sloth!🦥 saw a huge 9 foot crocodile. The main guide, Jose, was wonderful! He drove us in a nice new air conditioned van. Kept us on time and lots of water.
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave us feedback. We really appreciate it and hope to serve you again in the near future.
The ride was a fun adventure across streams, up to a great view, down to a beautiful beach, and through pastures. Our guide tried super hard to find a sloth at the beach without luck. John was great. It was a nice long, full day ride. The only downside was that we did the ride in March and it was very dry and very dusty. I would highly recommend that you rent goggles.
Thank you for the fantastic 4-star review. We're thrilled you enjoyed our activity and had a great experience with us. Your support means the world to our team. Looking forward to welcoming you back soon!
We had so much fun on the newer, well maintained ATVs. The scenery was gorgeous. Lots of birds and some good-sized crocodiles on the river cruise. Plus s little shopping time. Altogether a great way to spend a day ashore.
We were lucky enough to end up being the only ones on our tour. This was just after thing’s opened up after Covid. We had an amazing time and our guide was fantastic! Very informative and made our experience so much fun!! Plan on getting dirty and having the time of your life!!
Hi Dan Thank you very much for your great review. Very nice to hear that you got very dirty on this tour hahaha. Lovely
We had a great time on this tour. The ATV portion was a blast. Two hours of riding in the mountains, the mud and the beach. The second part, the boat tour, was very cool too. We saw an 18' Crocodile right next to our boat.
Hi Thank you so much for your great review about our tour. We are so happy to ready that you had a blast.
The water falls and wet trail was a lot of fun. Andres was our tour guide . His English is great and he was absolutely wonderful
Hi. Thank you very much for your great review. We really appreciate it
