Costa Rica Travel Agents

Everything was great all three hotels were wonderful to stay at! The experiences were top notch, both Puerto Viejo and Arenal took our breath away

Twenty-two years after honeymooning in Costa Rica, my husband and I brought our two daughters (ages 16 and 20) back to Costa Rica and it exceeded expectations! Gustavo put together an incredible itinerary for us and chose perfect accommodations to please all. We especially loved Hotel Poco a Poca which had a lovely walking trail, beautiful little spots to relax, and a lovely swim up pool and large hot tub which our girls especially loved. The onsite restaurant is great, and the morning breakfast was delicious with lovely ambiance.

Our excursions in the La Fortuna / Arenal area definitely exceeded expectations. Hugo was our tour guide at Arenal Volcano and he was so knowledgeable and gave us lots of opportunity to choose the pace. We then headed to the waterfalls which were rewarding. It would have been helpful to know in advance that we could have packed a separate bag for the waterfall and left it in the van, instead of trying to dress for both hiking and swimming. The EcoTermales Hot Springs Experience was truly exceptional. We were the first people there in the morning which gave us time to explore and take pictures. It was never particularly crowded, and the meal was lovely too.

In Monteverde we were thrilled with the TreeTram ziplining adventure. It definitely gets the heart racing, but we felt safe and our guides there were really personable. We had a really fun day at the beach in Manuel Antonio. We didn't book excursions here, but took some advise for how to spend our day and it was great. We took taxis to and from the beach and the National Park which were super easy and all our taxi drivers were kind and friendly.

Super impressed with how smooth everything went with the car rental, and our trip itinerary prepared us plenty for the driving between La Fortuna, Monteverde and Manuel Antonio. A nine day trip for a family of four - everything went completely smoothly and everyone's expectations of this once in a lifetime trip were exceeded! I definitely recommend KimKim for planning trips like this that need to please different ages and where you want to fit in lots of different locations and activities!

Greg was also a great person to be in contact with through the planning- He helped me during an issue that arouse because of a travel time issue- but he fixed the problem and made it go smoothly for my clients - I hope to work with him again

The place that yesinia found for us in the jungle called almonds and Corals was more than we could’ve hoped for. It was pricey but worth it for the immersion into the jungle with no swimming pool and no TV. It was perfect and the food at the lodge was great.
Our favorite Guide ever was Allen, who took us through cohuita national forest

The surest way to ruin (a) paradise is to advertise it. I’m tempted to keep the secret and hope that nothing changes. However, I will let the cat out of the bag because that is what the residents of San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica want. They made a conscious decision to forgo land clearing agriculture and to earn their living by providing high quality eco-tourism experiences.

This family trip was literally thrown together in two weeks and we lucked into a Costa Rica travel agency (Serendipity Adventures) that took care of everything except our flights.

What is paradise? Different people have different preferences but the my family believes in escaping Texas heat in August. But, doesn’t it get hotter further South? Probably but not if you are in the mountains of Central America.

I was looking at the better-known Monteverde cloud forest region NW of San Jose but Serendipity encouraged San Gerardo de Dota which is about the same distance but SE of the capitol.

My only issue was traffic in and around San Jose. We arrived on a Saturday and a 2 ½ hr drive turned into over 4 hours because San Jose was a parking lot and we have to go cross town from the airport. Our driver explained that people can drive on alternating days based on license plate numbers but no restrictions on Saturday when everyone gets in their car and becomes part or a city-wide parking lot. One we cleared the twin cities of San Jose and Cartago we found smooth sailing on the Pan American Hwy. The Pan Am had very fresh smooth asphalt (if I were driving I would want my Porsche). What the two-lane Pan Am lacks is consistent striping, shoulder, guard rails or passing lanes. If you leave the road there are three possibilities: 1) hit a ditch and roll over, 2) hit something hard like a very big tree; or 3) drop 2,000 feet and maybe the forest canopy below might slow your descent. No worries, we were in the care of a local driver. Getting back on a weekday was one hour faster but there were still massive traffic jams in San Jose. Tip, don’t fly on Saturday in or out of San Jose.

The road to San Gerardo de Dota and the Savegre Hotel and Narutal Reserve & Spa departs the Pam Am at 9.800 ft elevation and follows the narrow Savegre river. The resort is 6 miles below at about 7.200 ft, and about a mile above Savegre Falls. The road is about 50% paved and full of hairpin turns,,,but I wasn’t driving. There are about ½ dozen resorts and some Air B&B’s in the valley. Savegre Hotel is the oldest but also very modern, completely equipped i.e. great Wi Fi, Thursday night football in the bar, a spa, guided or self-guided tours through a private reserve, excellent staff, comfortable accommodations and so forth. Very good menu.

Tip. Don’t rent a car. Let a local drive.

You can read the Hotel Savegre backstory several places on the Internet. A condensed version is that the valley was undiscovered until the mid-1950’s. No evidence of prior human occupation. The first settlers cleared land for cattle, then a professor came along and said, why don’t you throw trout into the (fish free) river and Canadians will fly down here to pay to catch them. Later on the locals were encouraged to give up on cattle and take up hospitality. Within 30 years the cleared land regenerated back to forest.

So what is there to do: eat, relax, drink, hike, hike, hike, night hikes and go birding. I have never been a dedicated birder but, I knew where I was going so I bought a new super tele camera for the occasion. That was a good decision.

We spent two days hiking and birding, include a night hike with Raul Chacon who is the best nature guide that I have met and that is saying a lot. Excellent English, extremely well educated and knowledgeable and passionate without being overbearing in the least. He finally admitted that his grandfather and great uncle discovered the valley and established the community and resort. Raul has been finding Quetzals, Motted Owls and 49 varieties of Hummers for his whole life except when he was away at school.

So what to do in 4 ½ days? A couple of hikes above 10,000’ (epiphany, no acclimation issues because there is more oxygen at altitude compared to the Rocky Mountains further north), a hell of a lot of pretty birds to photograph, hikes to waterfalls, a trip to a coffee plantation, the most challenging horseback ride that I have been on, learning all about cloud forests, the local economy and people, and making plans for a return visit to Costa Rica at some point.

Hotel Review

Savegre Hotel Natural Reserve & Spa

Páramo

Given the remote location it exceeded expectations

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Highland Bird and Paramo Tour at Hotel Savegre

San Gerardo de Dota

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Birdwatching and Natural History at Hotel Savegre

San Gerardo de Dota

Raul Chacon is excellent guide

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Night Tour at Hotel Savegre

San Gerardo de Dota

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Full Day Guided Hike at Hotel Savegre

San Gerardo de Dota

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Coopedota Coffee Tour

San Gerardo de Dota

Coffee tour was fine but too much travel to and from Hotel Savegre.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport