Luxury Costa Rica Travel Agent Review: La Fortuna, Arenal Volcano, Manuel Antonio, Horseback Riding, One-Week Family Vacation

Review by traveler

Suzanne M.

7.11.2022

General Info

Traveler Review

Which Country (Countries) did you visit on this trip?

Costa Rica

Your overall comments on the trip and the travel company:

The trip was just okay to slightly disappointing. The good: Alex and his brother were extremely nice and accommodating, taking care of issues that arose promptly and going out of their way to fix problems. When my son left his favorite baseball hat at the horseback riding "adventure" Alex arranged for a driver to pick it up (from several hours away) and drop it off at our hotel. The drivers were friendly and knowledgeable. Accommodations were fine. The not so good: It wasn't the trip we requested. We wanted an "off the beaten path" trip to quiet, unique destinations with the least amount of time in transit - and we were willing to spend a bit more to have that. Our trip was the opposite. We first went to Arenal volcano region - which was 4 hours from the airport (2 hours longer than we were told). La Fortuna/Arenal area was filled with tourists, tour busses, traffic - everything we wanted to avoid. The volcano hike was an uninteresting walk up a trail and then back down again with a very rude guide and about 50 other people. The bus that picked us up circled around to several hotels picking up guests - so while we hiked for about 45 minutes, it took an entire morning. The cocoa farm was not a farm at all but a tourist stop where they explained the process and then had you go into the gift shop. We waited about an hour for all the busses to arrive and sat through a lecture with 150 other people on how chocolate is made - it was boring. We then spent an entire day in the van driving south to a town to see Manuel Antonio park which was beautiful but extremely crowded. The sunset catamaran cruise that was planned sounded relaxing but was actually a packed party boat with loud music and dancing on the top deck. It was a 6-hour trip and though the kids ended up having fun swimming, it was not what I expected. Then it was up early for a 3-hour trip to the airport on our last day. This is the trip I wanted to avoid by hiring a local tour guide.

What were the most enjoyable or memorable parts of your trip?

Hanging bridges - beautiful and peaceful. The galloping through the rainforest on our horseback ride with our amazing guide. Seeing the wildlife around our hotel. Friendly people. The great food.

If you could take your trip again, what would you do differently?

I would not have gone to Arenal/La Fortuna - there are other volcanic areas like Poas closer to San Jose (where we flew in and out of) that are not such tourist destinations and would have enabled us to spend less time in vans and more time seeing the country.
We also planned to spend time on the beach - which is why it was arranged that we drive all day from Arenal to be near a park on the coast called Manuel Antonio. We spent about 30 minutes on the beach while touring the park - but it was very crowded. We were told our hotel had a private beach but it was a tiny rocky strip of sand that was at the end of a long, extremely steep path. The surf was very rough. It was not a place we could swim and was not worth the walk down and back. If we did the trip again we would skip Manuel Antonio altogether and find a great beach where we could swim and take some short trips to nearby parks that may be less famous, but still beautiful.

Travel Company Comments:

Dear Mrs. Morrison
While your trip took place back in April during the very peak of our high season, we really appreciate your feedback now.
We can only sincerely apologize for we could not physically make your adventure more special and enjoyable to you. We did our very best and we appreciate your kind compliments when my wife Blanca and I went to the Airport to say farewell and to refund you some money. We did receive 5-
star reviews from other Zicasso traveling parties from the same timeframe and 5 Star Boutique Hotels you stayed at. Costa Rica had just further lifted Covid restrictions on April 1st.
My brother Francisco and I thought we had made our proposed itineraries clear to you in our many interactions Mrs. Morrison. We do both wish we had interacted with your Ex-husband way before he was actually already here in Costa Rica.
Please allow me to address your comments and some actions we took:
Your request was for February 2022. We suggested Arenal and Manuel Antonio. Then, you delayed the trip on covid concerns. Then, you asked for Papagayo, which is where massive tourism takes place. We are glad we talked you out of it. Please note more money would not have made any difference.
The approximate duration of the drives were accurate in all our itinerary proposals. The horseback ride you enjoyed was during one of our private bilingual land transfers. We had to pick you up earlier since you needed to take your Covid tests before your flights out of Costa Rica. More secluded beaches like Uvita, Corcovado and Playa Cativo are actually further drives
away from the airport by far and the up to par accommodations were not available.
Once in Costa Rica, you asked us to change the pick-up times of all your shared adventures to start after 10 am. The early pick up times we had secured were to take advantage of wildlife opportunities and of less crowded attractions. At no extra cost to you, we turned your adventures into entirely private ones and provided private transportation for your family to each activity whenever possible.
The Poas Volcano is a hit or miss chance to see the crater for 30 minutes and it lacks the hot springs and the many adventures, accommodations that the Arenal Volcano Area is world renowned for. Poas is unfortunately more about people processing. We do not believe you would have liked this area any better.
Ecoterra had an impeccable record with us. Our agreement was no more than 12 people to a guide for our shared adventures. We always prefer private to shared adventures but now, we provide private round trip bilingual transportation at our expense on our shared adventures when there are two or more additional pickups. We thank you very much for that.
We hope you treasure those most enjoyable and memorable parts of your stay and thank you for your visit.
Sincerely yours,
Alex
President Founder &; CEO