Unique Costa Rica

This is a great way to discover a different side of Costa Rica, with the option of travelling by private transfer or self-driving.

This tailor-made Costa Rica tour offers 12 days exploring some of Costa Rica’s most beautiful regions.

Begin by visiting Poas Volcano, the Doka Coffee Plantation and La Paz Waterfall Gardens before spending two days at Tortuguero National Park with its network of navigable lakes, rivers and canals and abundant wildlife and birdlife.

Between July and September this is one of the best places in Costa Rica to see Sea Turtles nesting.

Continue to Turrialba and be ready for some outdoor adventure activities on the Pacuare River area.

After the adrenalin of Turrialba, head to San Gerardo de Dota, one of the largest extensions of protected land in Costa Rica.

Visit the Savegre Private Nature Reserve with its 20-mile long network of hiking trails.

Finish your tour of Costa Rica in Dominical, a seaside town popular with surfers and home to secluded and pristine beaches.

Day 1: Fly UK to Costa Rica

On arrival you will be met and transferred to your hotel.

If you have an overnight flight you will arrive into Costa Rica the following morning.

Overnight San Jose. Breakfast included. 

Day 2: Poas Volcano – Doka Coffee Tour – La Paz Waterfall Gardens

After breakfast, enjoy a guided visit to Poas Volcano, the Doka Coffee Plantation and La Paz Waterfall Gardens.  

The Poas Volcano is one of the most spectacular volcanoes in Costa Rica, with its enormous crater measuring 1 km in diameter and 314 metres deep.

Hike to the beautiful Botos Lagoon then continue to discover La Paz Waterfall Gardens, a natural park with some spectacular trails leading to the White Magic Waterfall.

Overnight San Jose. Breakfast and lunch included.

Day 3: San José - Tortuguero

You will be collected early from your hotel for the shared transfer to Tortuguero.

Admire the biodiversity of this astonishingly beautiful protected area in Costa Rica as you are driven through Braulio Carrillo National Park.

Stop en-route to enjoy a delicious typical Costa Rican breakfast.

On arrival at Caño Blanco pier, board a small motorized boat and explore the Tortuguero canals on the way to your lodge, where lunch will be waiting.

In the afternoon, visit the picturesque town of Tortuguero, the Green Turtle Information Centre and the beach area.

Overnight Tortuguero. All meals included.

Day 4: Tortuguero

After breakfast, enjoy a guided walking tour through the trails of Tortuguero with the rest of the morning free before lunch.

In the afternoon, visit Tortuguero National Park, exploring the canals in small, open boats. 

Tortuguero is a network of navigable lakes, rivers and canals (both natural and man-made) that are used for transportation and are a great place for observing local wildlife.

Abundant wildlife inhabits Tortuguero, including amphibians, reptiles, and mammals. More than 300 species of birds live in Tortuguero.

July to September marks Sea Turtle nesting season and optional night tours are available at an additional cost. 

Overnight Tortuguero. All meals included.

Day 5: Turrialba

After breakfast, take a shared boat transfer back to the pier, where you will be transferred on to your next destination.

Lunch is included in La Ceiba Restaurant en-route before continuing on to the beautiful Turrialba Valley.

Continuing from here there is the option to take a private transfer or alternatively include a rental car.

Situated 40 miles east of San Jose, the beautiful Turrialba Valley is irrigated by the wild waters of the Reventazon River.  

Overnight Turrialba. Breakfast and lunch included. 

Tortuguero National Park

Tortuguero is a fairly remote National Park on Costa Rica's Caribbean Coast side, but is still the third most visited national park in Costa Rica.

The park protects a large area of natural wetland on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica and covers an area of 77,000 acres.

The park formed from a series of volcanic islands which gradually became linked over time as alluvial soils from Costa Rica's mountains silted up the channels between them.

The high rainfall and rich soils here have helped to create an area of exceptional biodiversity and a magnet for nature lovers.

On any visit to Tortuguero, be prepared to encounter some rain as this is one of the rainiest areas of Costa Rica, even in the dry season!

There is no permanent settlement within the park and there are only 4 trails, 3 aquatic ones and a land trail, a 2 km walking route called the Gavilan Trail.

Consequently most visits to Tortuguero are by boat or canoe, gliding along the streams.

Turrialba

Easily accessible from San José (60 km away), the area is perfect for those seeking adventure, outdoor activities and pristine nature. 

This is a place to explore Turrialba Volcano National Park and visit the Monumento Nacional Arqueológico Guayabo, Costa Rica’s most important archaeological site. 

Turrialba Volcano (3,200 metres high) is active and occasionally sees some quite spectacular action. In May 2016 an eruption spewed volcanic ash 3 km into the sky and coated cars and buildings in San Jose with a thin layer of ash.

In the event of increased siesmic activity, Turrialba Volcano National Park can sometimes be closed to visitors.

Much of the National Park protects primary and secondary rainforest, and hiking the trails here often reveals much of the smaller wildlife species calling this area home.

Turrialba has some great local cuisine including the local delicious cheese, produced on the slopes of the Turrialba Volcano.

San Gerardo de Dota

50 km or so south of San Jose, San Gerardo de Dota is a little-known destination in the Savegre River valley offering some of the best bird watching in Costa Rica in an off the beaten track area.

The Savegre watershed is a small area but extremely rich in wildlife, with more than 20% of all Costa Rican bird species present here.

San Gerardo de Dota itself is a tiny village, dwarfed by the surrounding Talamanca Mountains.

Seeing Resplendent Quetzals

Close by, Los Quetzales National Park protects 50 square kilometres of Rain and Cloud Forest and as the name suggests, has many Resplendent Quetzal, as well as Trogon and at least 170 other Costa Rican bird species.

The great thing about Los Quetzales is that the beautiful green and red Resplendent Quetzal can be spotted at any time of year, which isn’t the case in the rest of Costa Rica.

The best way to see a Quetzal is with a specialist guide, and March to April are especially good times of year, as this is breeding season.