Experience one of the most biodiverse places on the planet with this 11-day tour of Costa Rica. Cruise through the tropical rain forests of Tortuguero National Park and soak up the sun on the pristine white sand beaches of Manuel Antonio. Discover the unique ecosystems of Monteverde’s cloud forest and relax in natural hot springs at the base of an active volcano in Arenal. The tour includes all transport, park fees, many meals, and 10 nights of accommodation.

11-day guided tour of Costa Rica from San Jose
Explore Tortuguero National Park (Parque Nacional Tortuguero) by boat
Visit Arenal Volcano National Park (Parque Nacional Volcán Arenal)
Soak in thermal hot springs at Baldi resort and watch the active volcano
Take a Sky Walk tour in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve
Enjoy the beaches and tropical forests of Manuel Antonio National Park (Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio)
10 nights of accommodation, transportation and entrance fees included

What's Included

10 nights accommodation
Meals as indicated in itinerary (B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner)
Local taxes
Lunch (3)
Dinner (3)
Breakfast (9)

Gratuities
Food and drinks (unless specified)
Additional activities
Tortuguero National park entrance fee (approx. USD 15)

Meeting And Pickup

Pickup point

Juan Santamaria Intl Airport
San Jose Costa Rica

Start time

08:00 am

Pickup details

During the whole package, we will pick up the clients on their hotels for the activities and transfers

What To Expect

Explore the best of Costa Rica on this 11-day tour that takes you to both the Pacific and Caribbean coasts and through several of Costa Rica’s remarkably distinct ecosystems. The tour includes all transport, park fees, many meals, and 10 nights of accommodation in your choice of 3.5- or 4-star hotels.

From Costa Rica’s capital of San Jose, journey to the wildlife reserve of Tortuguero National Park, where you’ll explore the lush rain forest and mangroves by boat. At Arenal Volcano National Park, hike around the base of one of the most active volcanoes in the Western Hemisphere and rejuvenate with a soak in natural volcanic hot springs.

Ascend to the enchanting cloud forests of Monteverde, where you’ll walk through the treetops on a series of suspension bridges to spot some of the hundreds of species of wildlife that call this misty area home. At Manuel Antonio National Park, soak up the sun on one of the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica and encounter sloths and howler monkeys on a leisurely jungle hike.

Day 1

Welcome to Costa Rica

1 Stop

San Jose

San Jose After you arrive at the San Jose airport, you’ll be transferred to your hotel in San Jose. Take time to relax and refresh after your journey and prepare for your Costa Rican adventure!

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Accommodation: Overnight: Country Inn and Suites or Presidente Hotel (or similar) in San Jose

Meals: Not included

Day 2

Tortuguero Adventure

1 Stop

Tortuguero

Depart early in the morning from your hotel aboard a comfortable coach with your tour group, heading toward Tortuguero. On the way, pass though Braulio Carrillo National Park, one of the largest in Costa Rica. After you’ve stopped for breakfast in the town of Guapiles, board a boat at the pier for a 1-hour cruise to the town of Tortuguero. During the ride, keep an eye out for all kinds of birds and other wildlife. Next, check into your hotel in Tortuguero, located on the northeast Caribbean and known for its canals that traverse the national park. In the afternoon, enjoy a delicious lunch and then visit the local town, learning about the cultural traditions of the local community from your knowledgeable guide.

1 day • Admission Ticket Free

Accommodation: Overnight: Laguna Lodge or Pachira Lodge (or similar) in Tortuguero

Meals: BreakfastLunchDinner

Day 3

Tortuguero Adventure

1 Stop

Tortuguero

Enjoy an exceptional visit to the nearby Tortuguero National Park, exploring the wildlife sanctuary by boat. Discover the lush vegetation that abounds in the tropical rainforest, a natural habitat for more than 300 species of birds plus a wide incredible array of other wildlife, such as monkeys, iguanas and crocodiles. Tortuguero National Park entrance fee is NOT included. In the afternoon, enjoy free time at your leisure. Swim or lounge by the pool, check out the souvenir shop, walk the nearby trails or just lie in a hammock and relax.

3 hours • Admission Ticket Free

Accommodation: Overnight: Laguna Lodge or Pachira Lodge (or similar) in Tortuguero

Meals: BreakfastLunchDinner

Day 4

Arenal Area

1 Stop

Arenal Volcano National Park

After breakfast, depart again for the canals to transfer by car to Arenal. Later, enjoy a delicious lunch back in the town of Guapiles and arrive at your selected hotel around 4pm to check in.

Admission Ticket Free

Accommodation: Overnight: Arenal Paraiso or Arenal Kioro Hotel (or similar) in La Fortuna

Meals: BreakfastLunch

Day 5

Arenal Area

1 Stop

Arenal Volcano National Park

In the afternoon, head with your guide to Arenal Volcano National Park (Parque Nacional Volcán Arenal) and take a short hike around to check out the breathtaking views. The impressive Arenal Volcano is a natural phenomenon that attracts thousands of visitors each year. In the afternoon, unwind in one of the best thermal baths in the area at The Hot Springs. Later, get ready to dine on a sumptuous feast while taking in spectacular views of the volcano. Afterward, relax at your hotel.

4 hours • Admission Ticket Free

Accommodation: Overnight: Arenal Paraiso or Arenal Kioro Hotel (or similar) in La Fortuna

Meals: BreakfastDinner

Day 6

Monteverde Area

1 Stop

Monteverde

Transfer to Monteverde, including a 30-minute boat tour across Arenal Lake. Along the way, spot several small islands and enjoy panoramic views of the natural surroundings. Once you’ve arrived on the other side, ride in a comfortable van directly to your hotel. After checking in, explore the area at your leisure or just enjoy the breathtaking views while you relax. You’ll have several options (own expense), including a canopy tour, frog pond or butterfly garden.

4 hours • Admission Ticket Free

Accommodation: Overnight: Hotel Montaña Monteverde or El Establo Hotel (or similar) in Monteverde

Meals: Breakfast

Day 7

Monteverde Area

1 Stop

Monteverde

2-hour Sky Walk tour – a series of suspension bridges and well-maintained walking trails built 984 feet (300 meters) above the tropical forest canopy of Monteverde Cloud Forest. Explore the forest safely and easily as you admire the area’s flora and fauna with commentary by an expert guide. After you descend, enjoy the rest of the afternoon relaxing at your leisure. You’ll have the additional option to go on a canopy tour, frog pond or butterfly garden (own expense).

4 hours • Admission Ticket Free

Accommodation: Overnight: Hotel Montaña Monteverde or El Establo Hotel (or similar) in Monteverde

Meals: Breakfast

Day 8

Manuel Antonio

1 Stop

Manuel Antonio

After breakfast, board the coach for a 4-hour drive toward your last destination, Manuel Antonio National Park (Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio), known for its pristine beaches bordered by tropical rain forest that edges right up to shore. When you arrive, visit one of Costa Rica’s most popular beaches and relax on the soft white sand while taking in the beautiful surroundings. Although the smallest of Costa Rica’s 20 national parks, Manuel Antonio is one of the most stunning with its coves of crystal clear water along the bright blue Pacific Coast. After you settle into your hotel, enjoy a relaxing evening in Quepos, named after the indigenous people who inhabited the region in the colonial era. Gateway to the national park, the town supports a spirited nightlife with its many bars and restaurants.

4 hours • Admission Ticket Free

Accommodation: Overnight: Tabulia Tree House Hotel or Parador Hotel (or similar) in Quepos

Meals: Breakfast

Day 9

Manuel Antonio National Park

1 Stop

Manuel Antonio

Experience more of Manuel Antonio National Park, one of Costa Rica’s most famous, on this day tour with your group. Be amazed by the natural beauty and abundant animal life as you take in the peaceful atmosphere of a tropical forest during a walk with your guide. Learn about the life cycles, behaviors and other special adaptations of the flora and fauna, including numerous types of colorful butterflies, birds, snakes and orchids. You’ll be awed by the wonders you discover in this marvelous environment. Keep an eye out for the endangered squirrel monkey and the white faced capuchin monkey, 3- and 2-toed sloths, white-nosed coatis and black-collared hawks as you pass cedar trees, bully trees and silk cotton trees, as well as swamps of red, buttonwood white mangrove. This National Park is closed on Tuesdays, we will coordinate the date according to schedule.

3 hours • Admission Ticket Free

Accommodation: Overnight: Tabulia Tree House Hotel or Parador Hotel (or similar) in Quepos

Meals: Breakfast

Day 10

San Jose

1 Stop

San Jose

Set out on a 3-hour return trip to San Jose, arriving at your hotel in the afternoon. You’ll have the rest of the day to spend at your leisure, just relaxing or exploring on your own.

3 hours • Admission Ticket Free

Accommodation: Overnight: Country Inn and Suites or Presidente Hotel (or similar) in San Jose

Meals: Breakfast

Day 11

Departure

1 Stop

San Jose

After your final breakfast (depening on departure time), you’ll receive complimentary pickup from the hotel lobby with a transfer to the San Jose airport.

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Accommodation: Not included

Meals: Not included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
Please note: optional activities can be paid for while in Costa Rica
Note: single rooms are only available for 1 person, double rooms for 2 and triple rooms for 3. If you book additional passengers in the rooms, your booking will be rejected and a full refund will be processed
Not wheelchair accessible

Infant seats available
Most travellers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 15 travellers

Cancellation Policy

This experience is non-refundable and cannot be changed for any reason. If you cancel or ask for an amendment, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Traveller Photos

Reviews

4.0

14 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travellers.

Showing 1-10 of 14 reviews

The complete tour was even better...

crispvh, Nov 2017

The complete tour was even better than expected. Transports all on time, great guides, good food and accommodations. We saw all the wild life we could have, including baby green turtles running to the sea as fast as they could. All in all a wonderful trip. Thank you Viator. Vic and Mary Oct/Nov 2017

Tortuguero- was fantastic not to be...

Anna H, Aug 2017

Tortuguero- was fantastic not to be missed. Know that the quality of information you get on wildlife depends on the guide you get- some great some ok. I would go there again. Arenal Volcano was an area that deserved another day. Fortunately we loved our accommodations which had hot springs on ground because nothing else was connected that day in the way of activity or transportation with no notice. Finally toward evening we were picked up for a hike to view the volcano It became dark before we completed that hike. As for Monteverde- our hotel was horrible and not the one we expected. We had to pay cabs to get to activities we found. We did go to a good aerial walk though it was not in the area I had inquired about before the trip I kind of felt people were shuffled around where there was room. Never knew what our ride would be. Not Viator but I think the local connections are to blame and maybe Viator needs to form more secure relations there.Still beats a rental car but I felt we could have just gotten transport from hotels on our own without so much wasted time. Next time I will choose hotels and take tours from them and transport between.

This was great! We saw more wildlife...

John, July 2017

This was great! We saw more wildlife than we expected including some rarities like manatee, stick birds,and a quetzal at Monteverde, some big caiman etc etc. Oh yes, all four monkey species and a real close-up of a three-toed sloth. The thermal set-up at Fortuna was the best we have experienced anywhere. We found it a good mix of guided and free time, so we were able to do some longish walks on our own, and avoid some popular activities that did not interest us. The only downside was that we arrived at Antonio Manuel on a Sunday and it is closed on Mondays. There was no full day tour as expected so we only had a morning tour before leaving. Fortunately there was a reasonable bus service and we spent time at the beach. This came as a surprise, because it was not properly mentioned in the tour notes. A longer and better structured set of tour notes would have given us more notice of this and allowed us to plan for this better. The hotels were all fine, although the one at Arenal was a bit remote from anywhere, and we had to argue to get a decent room there. This was compensated for by the amazing view of the Volcano from the room we did eventually get!

This tour was amazing. The scenery...

gators64739, July 2017

This tour was amazing. The scenery is absolutely gorgeous. Everyone we came in contact with was so proud of their country and happy to show us. Crossing through the Continental Divide was exhilarating. Everything ran on schedule with no glitches couldn't be more happier. I highly recommend this trip

Great trip, terrific scenery and...

Arrie JAN D, June 2017

Great trip, terrific scenery and animal life. Cabins in Tortuguero a bit primitive and w/o AC but food was great as was our guide. Each NP visited was with different group as we were transported from park to park by various means so you really didn't get to know fellow travelers other than at Tortuguero.. PU between Tortuguero and Arenal by private car, i.e. just us two was nearly 2 hours late and driver nearly knocked two boys off motorized scooter he also talked too much. Elsewhere we were picked up at hotel for each separate excursion with different groups. There was nice balance of scheduled and free time, maybe a bit too much of latter, and at least half of every other day spent traveling 4-6 hours. However this arrangement allowed you to start trip on any date that fit your schedule, a necessity in our case. Lodges were very nice and staff always friendly and accommodating.

This tour was a disappointment...

Mike S, June 2017

This tour was a disappointment. From the description, we expected a fun-filled packed itinerary. The destinations were great and we did get to see a lot of the variety that Costa Rica offers, but it turned out to be more of a hotel and transfer service than a tour. If that is what you are expecting, it was fine. The transfers were efficient and on time and the hotels were very good. The local tour company CAT-tours was sadly lacking in giving us information, however. They handed us a sheet of paper with pick-up and drop-off times for each day and a statement of what the activity was. But, there was no information about the activity and what to expect--how long it would take or what we needed to take with us or how we should dress. The drivers had no information and neither did the hotels when we got there. We had to call CAT several times to get more information and, though they were very friendly, they still didn't give us very good information and in fact gave us completely false information sometimes. For instance, we were told we would be at the Manuel-Antonio park until 1:30 p.m. and lunch was included. But when our guide picked us up very early in the morning we found out we would be back to the hotel near 10:30 a.m. with nothing else planned for the day and a snack was included. As far as activities go, there was usually just one included planned activity at each destination where we stayed 2 nights and one full day and one day of transfer with no activities in between. This added up to be 6 days of transfers out of the 11 days with no activities. The days that did have planned activities usually only lasted 2-4 hours with the rest of the day free. If you wanted other activities, you had to find them and pay for them on your own. Usually we had to get up really early for an activity or transfer that finished early so that you would have to either pay for another activity suggested by the hotel or spend the day on the hotel property since the hotels were somewhat isolated so you couldn't just go somewhere outside and explore. We began to wonder if this is how they supported the hotel sponsored tours. We expected that the included activities would fill most of the day with perhaps, on occasion, some time for an extra shorter activity if you wanted to do that. There was no tour guide other than the guides that came included with each activity. The drivers, though friendly and accommodating, often didn't speak English and couldn't answer our questions. The one exception was at Tortuguero where we had a guide provided by the resort for the whole time we were there and he was great. Honestly, you could probably do as well or maybe even better if you planned the trip yourself so you could include activities along the way during the transfers and fill the day with activities you like on those days you were at a destination.

What an amazing getaway! everything...

Klara H, Mar 2017

What an amazing getaway! everything was perfectly organized and everyone was extremely nice and polite. All the pick up times were on time by the minute! I was very impressed with everything! Thank you guys for this unforgettable trip!

This is a really wonderful trip. The...

Yi_L, Feb 2017

This is a really wonderful trip. The places I visited are really interesting. It combined the Caribbean site, the middle, the Pacific side and the capital downtown of Costa Rica. The hotels are amazing with very nice view and excellent locations and services. The tour guides are professional.

Fantastic, Our Guide Daniel was very...

lynda s, June 2016

Fantastic, Our Guide Daniel was very knowledgeable and a super fun guy to spend time with. Every attention to detail was taken and the food amazing. Great way to see Costa Rica when you only have 11 days. We highly commend Viator and will travel with them again. China here we come. G and L

This was a brilliant tour from start...

Keith_K, Apr 2016

This was a brilliant tour from start to finish. It was well organised and the transfers all arrived on time apart from one which was an hour late. The hotels were all good, with the exception of the Arenal Paraiso which was amazing fantastic view of the Volcano. The hotel in Manuel Antonio Casitas Eclipse was a bit disappointing, but the restaurant over the road El Avion, more than made up for it. We saw a Sloth in a tree whilst we were eating our dinner. It came out of cover and started eating. Absolutely amazing. I would recommend this trip to anyone. Only thing to bear in mind is that some of the transfers between places are quite long, but we met lots of lovely people on these transfers, where you can chat and compare experiences. Well worth the money

Un peu de TOUT, mais combien MAGNIFIQUE

DANIEL_R, Mar 2019

Un choix judicieux d'activités et de régions à visiter à travers ce pays merveilleux avec une flore et une faune extraordinaire. Du premier au dernier jour ce fut un ravissement. Séjour en hôtel, excusions, transport tout s'est déroulé sans aucunes anicroche. Tous les guides qui nous ont accompagnés tout au long de notre séjour ont fait la différence sans aucun doute. Il est évident que nous allons retourner au Costa Rica pour visiter d'autres beaux endroits.

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