Kimkim Trip Reviews for Costa Rica

Our family (3 adults) really enjoyed our first trip to Costa Rica. The process of planning the trip with kimkim was very easy and convenient, and our specialist Yenyi was always very responsive and helpful with our questions.

Overall, we had a great time on our trip. We went to Arenal and Monteverde (one of our guides described it as going from the rainforest to the cloud forest), which were unique and beautiful. Our accommodations were wonderful, especially our stay at Tabacon resort in Arenal - which has the best hot springs facilities in town (the town is famous for the natural hot springs due to the nearby volcano). We ended up going to the hot springs every day! Our hotel in Monteverde - Fonda Vela - was also nice, although it was definitely a bit outdated (especially the bathroom) and they were actively doing construction during our stay (a bit dirty and loud at times), but our room had a beautiful view of the forests and Pacific Ocean.

Out of all of our activities, some of the highlights were zip lining in the cloud forest (10 different lines) and the nocturnal nature tour (we were able to spot snakes, birds, and unique insects in the complete dark with our guide). We also really enjoyed our Rio Celeste day trip - unfortunately the trip itself was cut short due to heavy rainfall closing off half of the park (and the river was brown instead of blue), but our guide Michael was so amazing he really made it a fun and educational trip (teaching us about local plants and insects), and the lunch was good too.

The parts we didn't enjoy as much/some issues:
- Our local tour operator was late several times and did not give us notice. For our boat ride, we waited 30 minutes in our lobby; the tour operator did not contact us, we had to ask the hotel to call them to see when they were arriving.
- The description for "Arenal to Monteverde by boat" is extremely misleading. The kimkim page described it as 3.5 hour boat ride, in reality it was a 40 minute boat ride followed by a 2 hour car ride on extremely bump roads.
- The La Fortuna Waterfall tour was also a disappointment. It was billed as a half-day tour, but the tour itself was only one hour (you climb down the steps, see the waterfall, then climb up the steps). We had to leave the hotel at 7:30 AM, the drive was an hour round trip, and the tour was an hour. We had to wake up so early but then were back at the hotel by 9:30 AM. Our tour guide didn't really explain anything to us, and towards the end he was rushing for us to leave even though the tour was much shorter than we anticipated.

Issues aside, we did have a wonderful time in Costa Rica. The majority of our guides were awesome and super knowledgeable. The accommodations were great and everything was nicely organized. We loved the food and the friendly people everywhere.

The team at Kimkim put together a fantastic itinerary which checks every wish box of our dream vacation. Thank you, Thank you!

I would definitely take their service for our next vacation.

Randall did an excellent job and listening to what we were looking to for for our vacation. He put together a great vacation for us! We did whitewater rafting, tubing, horseback rides, zip line and repelling, catamaran and hiking tour. These excursions were fun, breathtaking and outstanding. I would highly recommend him for anyone planning a trip to Costa Rica! Thank you Randall!!!

Planning the trip with Kim Kim was excellent. I appreciated the advice that allowed us to customize a tour in a new country to us that allowed enjoyment and comfort for our group from age 12-84. The efforts from our advisor was excellent and the execution of the plans was flawless. We had one hitch that was taken care immediately with our KimKim rep, Yenyi- right away after one email.

We especially enjoyed the Hotel Ficus for its views in Monteverde and excellent staff support. The sloth tour with Daniel at Arenal was a highlight in Christmas Day. And while the rooms are simple at Hotel and Villas Huertes the staff and groundskeeper, Alberto, were amazing. That team and especially the maintenance of the pool, landscaping and environs made that simple hotel an excellent choice.

Surfing with Iguana Surf in Tamarindo was a great experience and introduction to the sport.

By far, the best travel company i’ve ever dealt with. My wife and I had a really great experience.

All the events were great and the accomodations were good. They planned the trip I wanted though it was a little too packed- almost stressful. That's on me though. The other thing was I had said that I didn't know how releastic it was for me to do all three things I wanted and was worried about logistics. I think they could have gotten me my itinerary a little sooner and if I knew that some days I would be in the car 5+ hours in a day I would say why don't we skip that. They did help me make changes on the fly however. And I also should have told them that I didn't want to wake up at 5AM on vacation. I guess that's on me too but I would think they could have said- hey if you want to do this, you have to get up at 5. I would have said no thanks.

My friend and I had a great experience using kimkim to plan our itinerary for an 8 day/7 night trip to multiple destinations in Costa Rica. It was a different experience than the guided tours that we are used to in that we didn't receive our voucher information until two days before the trip (though we knew our whole itinerary long before then). However, everything was beautifully orchestrated from the shuttles between locations, hotel accommodations, and quality excursions and tours.

Our only suggestion was that the itinerary include more detailed information about the tours. For example, we knew we were doing a tour of a volcano one day and there was some mention of visiting hot springs after that, but there were not many specifics. Thankfully we brought bathing suits with us on our volcano tour just in case, because we found ourselves being dropped off at a hot springs after the volcano and even being served a dinner we didn't expect. It would just really help to have some details about what clothing items to have packed (such as an extra change of clothes) for the tours or excursions which are included.

Otherwise, I would really recommend kimkim for anyone who doesn't want to go through the hassle of arranging multiple in-country transportation and excursion bookings.

I am very happy with the service KimKim provided in planning & booking our trip to Costa Rica. Randall was very friendly & knowledgeable and he was able to customize our trip to fit our schedule & needs. We had out flights to San Jose Costa Rica booked but we had not planned or booked anything further. Randall at KimKim made it very easy for us & took care of all the bookings including hotel, transportation, and activities. I highly recommend KimKim & Randall.

The trip was well planned and fantastic.! We loved the rafting in La Fortuna,. The hot springs were great. The zip-line in Monteverde and suspension bridges were fun. All transfer drivers were polite and on time. Instead of the Sloth Territory tour I would probably do the waterfall hike or a different sloth place since we didn’t see much. The hotels were fine and what I expected since that was not our focus. I would recommend Beatriz!

Great job randall!!! Everything went without a problem. The shuttle service was superb and on time. Even had 2 excursions that were just my husband and I with the tour guide.

The trip was well organized and everything went smoothly.

This was our second trip to Costa Rica and Randall did a great job of organizing exactly what we wanted this time around. There was only one glitch when a river rafting trip was cancelled at the last minute, but Jimmy Villegas immediately found and booked an alternative tour rappelling down waterwalls which turned out to be a real highlight of our vacation.

We organized the trip through Olman, and communication was very smooth (quick replies to questions). Hotels and transportation was all very good (in particular the hotels in Arenal and Manuel Antonio areas).

My wife and I were unfamiliar with Costa Rica but she loves sloths so we selected this location for our honeymoon. With minimal details aside from sloths, Olman was able to plan a beautiful vacation for us. It included a romantic stay for a few nights at a resort as well as a multitude of excursions. Thanks to Olman, we had a great experience in Costa Rica with wonderful memories - we are now planning a trip to Hawaii because of our past experience with KimKim.

The trip was very well organised by Adriana, she was very helpful, especially when it came to last minute changes. The hotels where fantastic, all nature guides were awesome, very knowledgeable, pick ups were all on time and everyone was super friendly. La Paloma Lodge in Osa is outstanding, In hindsight I should have included a two night stay at Sirena Ranger Station, some people who stayed at Paloma did this and where blown away by this experience.
In Porto Viejo I would include a walk through Cahuita National Park rather than a walk at Punta Uva. ( this was very basic). The trip from San Jose to Porto Viejo was 6 hours due to road works......was not enjoyable but not much do be done about it. If I had to leave something out of the programme, it would be Porto Viejo and spend time in Arenal area instead.
The company at Monteverde who ran the zip line at Selvatura can be highly recommended.
All up, a fantastic trip, true pure vida........thanks a lot Adriana and the team, I will definitely recommend you......

Our driver (Mau) and our guide (Julio) we’re very friendly, knowledgeable and responsive to our requests and needs . They really added to the success and enjoyment of the trip. We would highly recommend this trip-especially with Mau and Julio.

We booked two excursions for our one week stay in Costa Rica in November. One, out of San Jose, was to Poas Volcano and then La Paz waterfalls and nature park. Our guide was Edgar and we had a lovely time despite the rain and fog up in the mountains. Edgar was fun to be with and informative. I absolutely loved La Paz, especially in the mist and drizzle. Just magical! Our other excursion was from Puerto Viejo, the Cahuita national park. Our guide was Shailo Rose and he was charming and such a wealth of information about local plants and animals and growing up in the area. This was my wife's favourite day. To be honest we had two free days to walk around San Jose and I think one would have been sufficient. We would have loved to have had an extra day in Puerto Viejo!

Costa Rica is a beautiful Country. The guides were kind, the zip line experience was amazing, and the hot springs hotel was really pretty. I enjoyed kayaking in the river a lot. I was disappointed in the 3rd hotel for adults only; especially for a group of girls. It was highly geared toward couples and I feel we were treated differently there then the other places. I found a hotel that we moved to for the last 2 nights called the Carriblue which was my favorite one. I like the space, jungle and it was much roomier. Unfortunately it cost 500$ that I didn’t expect to spend but we felt highly uncomfortable at the other place and had to move. The last day was difficult with all the shuttle driving; it took 2 hours longer then we were told and we sadly missed our plane back to Liberia and had to rent a car. I felt we all were pretty positive and made the best of it, enjoying the natural beauty of Costa Rica. I believe we took good care of those guides/locals that helped us to enjoy our vacation. I’m not sure I would do anything as busy next time (going from place to place) and I’d like much less time actually “traveling.”

We had a terrific time in Costa Rica! Highlights included a bunch of hikes, amazing food, ziplining, snorkeling... it was beautiful. Definitely want to revisit the country!

Monica and Kristy were outstanding - they asked the right questions, found out what kind of a trip we wanted to do, and came up with an itinerary tailored for us. They were responsive, attentive, and most of all, patient - we wanted to make some changes last-minute and they were willing to listen and be flexible. Thank you for everything!

Rodrigo was fantastic!