Veragua-regenwoudwandeling, tram- en Tortuguero-boottocht. Limon Shore Excursie

Costa Rica is just the best country. We loved every minute of this excursion which we booked via our cruiseline Princess Cruises. It is about one hour in the coach from the port but we had the most wonderful guide, Wendy, who kept us entertained. The road at times was steep and unpaved and speeds are very slow. But my word is it worth the trip. The Rainforest is magnificent (apart from all the animals which can kill you, the snakes we saw at far too close quarters). From the free coffee the moment we arrived (the best coffee I have ever drunk) to the walk through the forest, all the different houses including a wonderful butterfly house, and even a conservation talk. All the time our hugely knowledgeable guide kept us informed of where we were and what we were seeing. Lunch was provided which was not what we expected. All cooked with local ingredients and eaten in the most amazing cafe with all the sounds of the forest. We would go back there tomorrow, this trip is expensive but worth every penny, the experience is priceless. All this was before we went on the boat through the canals and saw the sloths. Once again Wendy proved to be a fantastic guide. If I could I would give this experience more than five stars it was that good.

Very good tour...informative and thorough. Ariel was knowledgeable and personable.

Very good landmarks. A peaceful way to live.very authentic, clean air, healthy life, organic vegetables and fruits .. people are friendly, less crimes, nice ocean.. fishing is easy

Areal was a great guide. English was easy to understand, good information and nice pace. Would recommend it whole heartedly.

We took this from the Limon cruise terminal exit. They were very easy to find, holding up signs and with shirts on immediately when you exited the secured area of the port, but there were many other tour companies there too, so you did have to pick them out. The trip to the rainforest took about an hour. The problem is that the the last 30 minutes going and first 30 returning, were on roads they had to traverse at 2-15 mph. I don't know how the large tour buses managed it in one piece. Maybe it was more comfortable for their passengers but we were in about a 10-12 person van and bumpy doesn't begin to describe it. Typically this is not something I would complain about, but it was just so lengthy and made me kind of carsick. It definitely makes me wonder if the roads to the more distant rainforest parks are as bad. Sure, they are further away, but if you can travel at a higher rate of speed in a whole lot more comfort, it would be well worth it and really might not take any longer. As far as the excursion goes, it was good and our guide was nice, although I've forgotten her name now. The walk from the entrance to the canopy tram was relatively flat and easy. However, there are two trails after exiting the tram. The tour will do each one and you don't have to do either. I'd estimate each being about a 10-15 minute walk if in shape. The one to the falls has 350 steps (vertical, not forward) round trip, going both up and down each way but a little more down heading out, with about the last 30 steps being consecutive to a platform for viewing the falls, which aren't large. They make it sound easier than it is. I'm a 40# overweight 64 year old male who's out of shape. I don't do steps well but can walk on level ground all day. THIS WORE ME OUT! Even though I went at a slower pace than the group and my 70 year old more overweight wife who doesn't do steps well at all followed further behind. We didn't do the last 30 steps which turned out to be a wise decision. My wife headed back before the rest of the group and I followed behind her about 3 minutes later, already tired but figuring I'd easily catch her. Well, I never did! I was truly exhausted and caught her back at the tram station! I was so proud of how well she did!!! I didn't even expect her to go more than 200 feet before turning around and she virtually did the whole thing. At the tram station is where the head of each trail is. After spending a few minutes there, where there is also a nice restroom, the group headed up the other trail. I don't recall any steps on that one with just a slight gain in elevation i'd say, so it was easy. You don't need hiking shoes or shoes that you aren't afraid to get muddy because it isn't dirt and the entire thing may actually be paved. I know most of it is. We did use bug spray and there were a few that tried to bother us but it was essentially nothing. I was disappointed in the tram ride. Part was because it turned out to be a ride from the top of the mountain to the bottom. Yes we were in the tree canopies but I expected it to be longer (it was about 8 minutes each way) and truly through the treetops more eyelevel with the wildlife. That's the other thing. We saw very little wildlife. Maybe I was expecting too much. I hoped to see many colorful birds. Toucans, parrots and so forth flying around, many frogs, sloths, monkeys and so on and hearing the sounds of the animals in the jungle. Guess what the particular sound they pointed out to us was? A cicada. A freaking cicada. And not the sound of thousands of them. Just singular ones. Now we dont have them this time of year in Alabama (well we do but they are dormant underground) but when they hatch for a couple of weeks in the summer, the woods are screaming with the sound of them and they are flying everywhere. At least we saw some monkeys but probably fewer than 10, they pointed out a few small colorful frogs and a few distant sloths. I also expected more colorful flora. It wasn't a great deal of difference than walking through the forest at home in the summer. Yes, it was more dense, but not tremendously so and not a bit more colorful and probably less so. Everything was just different shades of green and there were no dramatic views or scenery. Let's just say that I was happy to have been up close with sloths and monkeys before because we sure weren't here. Also, there were 2 people on the van ride with us that did the zip line tour instead of the tram/hike portion of the tour. The entrance to both are located where they let us out of the van. The canal boat ride was also disappointing. It's a little hard to describe, but you certainly aren't going through the jungle. It's a canal or river very close to the industrial port and it runs right along a busy road although it's separated from it by a few trees. The water is very muddy and it's not scenic whatsoever. However, we did see a few birds, primarily herons and similar types, and were closer to the sloths they spotted, along with some monkeys, so the wildlife portion was better. However, even though promoted as an hour, I don't think we were even in the boat for 30 minutes. Then again, the boast went less than 1 mile upstream before turning around and I'm guessing about 1 mile downstream before turning around. They did turn the boat around and also give people opportunities to step to the open front for everyone to get pictures when the wildlife was seen. All in all, I'm going to give it a 4 out of 5. I'm tempted to give it a 3 but maybe my expectations were too high. However, it can't come close to a 5/5 like the Na'pali coast boat tour on Kauai was. Based on that, I think I will give it a 3, especially since I really would have been almost as happy watching this on a video on my couch as I was actually doing it. I definitely would try a different rainforest or some other type of adventure.

Christopher was our tour guide and was amazing!! He was very informative about the local flora and fauna as well as info about the cultures and economics of the region. He went above and beyond (jumped off the bus to dig in the dirt to show us the size of local spider) spotted many of the wildlife (bats, sloths, monkeys and more) and made sure EVERYONE was able to see and take pics. He was fun, informative and made our tour well worth the visit!! Kudos to Christopher, truly the BEST tour guide ever!!

Our “small group experience”. Leaving the port, fine, a van of about 10 people. When we arrive at the rain Forest our group split into zip liners and tram riders. Ok so far. Then we sat around and waited for 20 minutes for another BUS of people so our small group tripled in size. Several in this new group were unprepared for the stairs and walking involved on the trails. The canal portion was decent, but we had a group of 4 women who were early and already on the boat, drunk and fairly obnoxious. Did see sloths, which was the point so ok …

We had a wonderful tour guide from TripAdvisor. From him we learned something we did not know before. Especially he taught us the fruits produced by Costa Rica. We even tasted the fruits beared from his backyard.

Friendly and professional tour guide, along the way told us various information about the places , visit to the forest forest of Veragua very interesting both cultural and visual, trip on the canals of Tortuego fascinating

We had a goid day with Ariel and the tour. This was not a polished experience but done with the best of intentions and with care. The man's seating was pretty tight and the driver missed a turn. Our canal boat ride was in the city and it ran around on a marked shallow point. There was a lot of talk about the conversion to green energy as we witnessed the poverty of the areas we were driving. It seems tge people would be much better off if the high cost of green energy would be put to work for them. They could have lower energy costs, better transportation, and lower taxes rather than less reliable green energy. Ariel worked to make it the best experience possible and we felt very good about him. The gondola ride and walks were beautiful and their guide made it a fun experience. Overall we had fun and enjoyed Ariel's adventure. We do think going with a Holland America tour would have been more comfortable and curated.