Costa Rica Volcanoes, Rainforest & Sunsets - 9 Days/8 Nights Exploring Pura Vida!

Day 1 - La Fortuna

Welcome to Costa Rica - the land of Pura Vida (the “Pure Life!”)! You will be greeted by your

friendly, bilingual Costa Rican driver who will be holding a sign with your name on it as you leave

customs at the airport and step outside. He will get you loaded up in our comfortable Nissan SUV

and you will set off on your 3-hour journey to the Arenal Volcano area and to your hotel. Dinner

available at the resort on your own.

Hotel Options: 3 nights Arenal Kioro

You will get snacks and water on the transfer and can stop along the way for sightseeing and eating

a meal and once you arrive at your hotel, there is delicious and reasonably-priced food on the

hotel restaurant menu so you can relax and begin to enjoy your stay.

Day 2 - La Fortuna

Costa Rica Community Culture & Conservation Tour: Search for the Elusive Sloth Tour, Lunch at the Waterfall Lookout Restaurant, Coffee & Chocolate Tour for Connoisseurs

9am You'll be able to have a leisurely breakfast and then spend some time in the luxury of your hotel with amazing views of the behemoth Arenal Volcano right through your large windows.

This is a great tour for you to start off your vacation in Costa Rica. Your guide will pick you up at your hotel and you will spend the day exploring the things that make this area unique from its consistent efforts to protect the natural habitat, to its strong roots in agriculture and cultural traditions.

You will first visit a small patch of regenerated conservation land that happens to be the perfect habitat of the elusive 2-toed and three-toed sloth. Your expert guide will point out interesting facts about the surrounding rainforest as you walk along well-groomed, flat trails for about 2 hours to try and spot these cuddly-looking tree-hugging animals.

From there, you'll drive approximately 10 minutes to the entrance of one of the most important attractions of our community of La Fortuna - the La Fortuna Waterfall.

You will enter into the gates of the impressive La Fortuna Waterfall. The entrance fee is used by our community to pay for several development projects in our town, such as our recycling center, sports complex and do much more. Your visit helps our community. You'll have a delicious lunch at the lookout area with great views of the waterfall and rainforest.

If you have the energy, feel free to hike down the 500 stairs to get to the base of the waterfall. When finished, we’II have to make sure we make the time for the climax of the day... a fascinating coffee and chocolate tour.

This will be one of your favorite tours. lt is located on a beautiful family-owned farm, and you'll be excited by an entertaining local guide who will take you on a walk through the gorgeous property. He will show you the different kinds of plants that are grown and will likely spot some animals along the way. You'll be shown how to make coffee, chocolate and sugar cane from start to finish.

At the end of the walking part of the tour, you'll sit down to try different chocolates, sugar cane drinks, coffees and they even some homemade biscuits to try. This will be the perfect way to finish off an interesting day learning about the community, culture and conservation efforts of Costa Rica.

Includes: Transport, Guide, Gear, Snack, Lunch, Entrances

Departs: 9am

Duration: 7 hours

Meal Inclusions: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 3: La Fortuna

Caño Negro Nature Boat Tour

Take a nice drive from La Fortuna through the Costa Rican countryside to one of the most-remote and ecologically-sacred parts of Costa Rica called Caño Negro along the Rio Frio! This Wildlife Refuge encompasses an area of about 10,000 hectares near the border with Nicaragua.

This is one of the best places for birding in Costa Rica. lt's one of the few places in Costa Rica where you can catch a glimpse of the exotic Jabiru Stork, the tallest flying bird found in Central and South America.

You may see wood storks, cormorants, and other varieties of birds -- this is a must-do tour for avid birdwatchers! Plus, everyone loves to spot sloths, howler monkeys, and caimans that inhabit this lush area.

The travel time from La Fortuna to the Caño Negro area is about 1.5 hours where you will board the boat with your nature guide at the Los Chiles dock. We will travel by boat along the edge of the Caño Negro Wildlife refuge on Rio Frio for about 3 hours and return to the same dock.

Includes: Transport, Guide, Lunch

Departs: 7:30am

Duration: 6 hours

Baldi Hot Springs with transport and dinner

Enjoy a relaxing evening in soothing natural mineral hot springs water in the largest hot springs resort in the world. Baldi has everything from open swim up bars, to a children's play area, to quiet, luxurious hot baths tucked away in tropical plants.

Includes: Transport, Entrances, Dinner

Departs: 5pm

Duration: 4 hours (closes at 9pm)

Meal Inclusions: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 4: Monteverde Cloud Forest

Taxi-Boat-Taxi transfer across Lake Arenal to Monteverde

You will have door to door service as you get picked up at your hotel and bring all of your luggage with you on the van, then transfer on to the boat that will take you across Lake Arenal. From there you are transferred to another van to take you to your hotel.

Includes: Transport Departs: 8am

Duration: 3 hours approximately

Suggested Hotels: 2 nights El Establo Hotel

Meal Inclusions: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 5: Monteverde

Monteverde Reserve Hike and Hummingbird Gallery

Today you'll take an easy going stroll through wonderous Cloud Forest with a skilled nature guide - be sure to keep your eyes peeled for sightings of the Resplendent Esmeralda Quetzal.

Includes: Transport, Entrances, Guide Departs: 7am or 8:30am

Duration: 3 hours

Meal Inclusions: Breakfast

Day 6: Manuel Antonio

Private Transfer to Manuel Antonio with stop at Tarcoles to see big Crocodiles on bridge. You will then be able to explore the sights of Manuel Antonio and arrange for transport and reservations at a local restaurant.

Includes: Transport Departs: 7:30am Duration: 6 hours

Suggested Hotel: 2 nights Hotel Shana by the Beach

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 7: Manuel Antonio

Guided hike to the Manuel Antonio National Park

The Manuel Antonio National Park Hike is an easy walk along the deep rainforest paths that align the beautiful coast of Manuel Antonio. You're bound to see lots of wildlife with your expert nature guide.

Departs: 8am

Duration 4 hours

Includes: transport, guide and park entrances

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 8: San Jose (Alajuela)

Private transfer back to San Jose for your flight

Departs: 7am

Duration 3 hour drive

Includes: transport

Includes:

Hotels: 4-star equivalent lodging in each location with 2 double beds and breakfast included max 4 pax

Transfers: Private transfers in comfortable vans with a/c and friendly drivers - collective taxi-boat-taxi service.

Activities: Popular activities in each destination as indicated on itinerary - We can provide a catalog of activities for each location so clients can pick and choose what is best for them if they'd prefer something different

Meals: Breakfasts: 7; Lunches: 4; Dinners: 2 -- vegetarian and vegan options available and I will recommend restaurants and help with transportation to dinner locations