Elena Mora

Our family had an amazing trip to Costa Rica! The trip planned by Kim Kim and the local tour group Serendipity Adventures was planned from beginning to end to perfection supporting our family’s interests and needs. Elena was wonderful in helping us plan the trip and Wilman supported us throughout our week on the ground. While we did our own self driving tour, it was nice to know that he and his team was just a text away to answer any questions we had. We visited Arenal with an exciting rafting trip and then a private hiking tour with Mariano that was so educational. Then it was on to Monte Verde for a night exploration of the Children’s Forest, fun ziplining and another educational coffee and chocolate tour. Finally, we ended in Manuel Antonio. We had the most amazing tour with Socio, who i think taught most of the other guides at the park. His knowledge and excitement about every single organism there was truly unmatched. We ended our journey to paradise with a boat tour where the kids got to unwind and swim in the ocean while we enjoyed some delicious seafood relaxing on our last day here. It was a full week that we will remember fondly

Hotel Reviews

Hotel La Mariposa

Manuel Antonio

Authenticity & Character

Location

overlooking the water and the park with beautiful views

Staff

everyone is incredibly friendly. Alan and reception and Fabian at breakfast were both lovely

Cleanliness & Comfort

Arenal Springs Resort

La Fortuna

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cloud Forest Lodge

Monteverde

Authenticity & Character

Location

incredible views and very secluded in nature

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Whitewater Rafting Sarapiqui River (Class III-IV)

Costa Rica

Lots of fun for family with older kids

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Arenal Volcano Hike & La Fortuna Waterfall

Arenal/La Fortuna

Mariano was so well informed and so much fun to learn from. We ended up in the middle of a deluge on our hike but it still was a lot of fun and we learned a lot about the history of the area and the environment

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Night Walk at Children's Eternal Forest

Monteverde

Such an incredible night hike with Alan who found so many creatures and taught us about each of them as we spent this special time exploring the Children’s Eternal Forest. There was something truly magical about exploring the forest after dark and we all really enjoyed this experience so much. Of course, the highlight was the tarantula!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our driver was awesome. He spotted two night animals as well!

Transport

All Day Adventure at Selvatura, including Zipline, Hanging Bridges, and Fauna Exhibitions

Costa Rica

We went for the ziplining and stayed the entire day checking out all of the other exhibits and activities. Our favorite was the 2 toed sloths , particularly Oprah who was very photogenic! The reptile and butterfly presentations were also really well done and the hanging bridges walk was a lot of fun. The ziplining is really well done and you get the adrenaline rush you are looking for, knowing that the equipment is all well maintained.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Spent an amazing 11 days in Costa Rica, arranged by Elena. We were in 3 different locations, Manuel Antonio, Monteverde and near Arenal volcano, and all details were cared for and everything went extremely smoothly. Alex, the driver for two legs of the trip, was especially fantastic, providing history, background and sharing many stories during the hours-long drives- the time went quickly and the scenery was beautiful. Would definitely recommend both Costa Rica as a destination and KimKim as a travel agent.

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Mountain Paradise

Fortuna

Good location near many activities. Abundant and fast Uber service makes a car unnecessary. The room was very dark, and bugs (flying ants) greeted us on our first night, but weren’t seen again after that. The scenery was beautiful and breakfast was very convenient.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel & Spa Poco a Poco

Monteverde

Beautiful hotel within walking distance of shops and restaurants in Monteverde. Comfortable rooms, and nice pool/spa area. Food and service in the restaurant was only ok. Though there was only one couple in the restaurant, service was extremely slow and we had plans for after dinner., therefore we had to hurry the waiter to get to our other activity on time.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Casa del Sol

Manuel Antonio

Incredibly beautiful home set in the mountains overlooking the Pacific. Spotlessly maintained and incredible views. During our stay, we regularly saw (and heard!) a pair of Macaws soaring overhead, a sloth in a teee over the patio and a large group of squirrel monkeys in the trees overhead. Very memorable. We had a chef come and and prepare us dinner one night because the house was so beautiful we didn’t feel a strong need to leave. Pool table and pool (with daily pool service) kept our group of 6 entertained.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

EcoTermales Hot Springs & Meal

Arenal/La Fortuna

Beautiful. Highly recommend.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Safari Float on the Peñas Blancas River

Arenal/La Fortuna

Great guide but we didn’t see much that day - just one of those days.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Treetopia: Tram, Zip Lines & Hanging Bridges

Monteverde

Great fun, many ziplines, good value for the money.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Manuel Antonio National Park Guided Nature Hike

Manuel Antonio

Enthusiastic, knowledgeable guide who clearly lived sharing the beauty of the park. Highly recommend.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Catamaran Tour with Meal

Costa Rica

Fun experience with bonus - we saw humpback whales while we were out.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Mariano was an excellent tour guide through Arenal. He was friendly and knowledgable and made the trip fun!
Alex was an excellent driver, despite being stuck in non moving traffic for more than 2 hours, he kept his cool and was still a delight to have driving us.
The communication with Kim Kim and Elena was great as well.
This was an experience I will not forget.

Hotel Reviews

Arenal Springs Resort

La Fortuna

Beautiful hotel

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Parador Nature Resort & Spa

Manuel Antonio

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Coffee & Chocolate Tour

Costa Rica

10/10 would recommend. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and friendly. Making chocolate was the best!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

There was a miscommunication in our transport to this activity.

Hanging Bridges, La Fortuna Waterfall, and Arenal Volcano

Arenal/La Fortuna

Absolutely loved the hanging bridges, this was my favorite part of the trip!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Mariano was amazing!

Transport

Catamaran Tour with Meal

Costa Rica

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We were a little late in getting to plan our family vacation (for 6) to Costa Rica. We had a rough outline, and Elena and her team helped us make our dream a reality and took a lot off of my plate! From our initial call, Elena had a plan the next day and had planned everything we wanted, with effective communication and clear instructions for when we landed. Once we got to Costa Rica, Serendipity Adventures responded quickly to all our questions and reminded us of the times and what to bring to our excursions. It made planning and going on our trip so much easier! We had a blast ziplining, on our safari boat tour, and catamaran sunset tour. Our first hotel was amazing as an off-grid Ranch with fun yoga classes, horseback riding, and beautiful grounds to explore. Overall, I am really glad we went with Kimkim and Elena at Serendipity Adventures to help us plan and execute our family trip. It made things so much more enjoyable and relaxing! We loved Costa Rica! Pura Vida!

Hotel Review

Rancho Margot

La Fortuna

We LOVED this hotel. The food, the horseback riding, the bungalows, the grounds itself- all of it was so much fun to explore and learn about! The road was bumpy for the last leg to this hotel but it is worth it!

Authenticity & Character

Outdoor yoga classes, outdoor dining, horsebacking riding, the handmade furniture, all of it was so cool to explore!

Location

The road to the hotel was bumpy!

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Safari Float on the Peñas Blancas River

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sky Adventures Zip Lines

Arenal/La Fortuna

Arenal Volcano Hike & La Fortuna Waterfall

Arenal/La Fortuna

Beautiful hike with amazing views!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sunset Catamaran Tour

Costa Rica

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Elena was incredibly responsive and helpful while we were planning our itinerary. She responded quickly to our feedback regarding hotel rooms and activities and answered our questions about finalizing our planning.

We loved both hotels we stayed at. We booked our trip fairly last minute, and most places were nearly fully booked. Elena got us into two hotels we really liked, and she even managed to get us adjoining rooms in both hotels, which was one of our key objectives.

Serendipity Adventures was our point of contact on the ground in Costa Rica. Wilman was in constant touch with us via WhatsApp, ensuring we had the most current information and confirmation numbers, updating information as it changed, and answering our questions about specific activities. Mariano, our guide in Arenal, was terrific. We enjoyed all of the trips we took.

This was our family's favorite vacation so far and we can't wait to return!

We had such a great trip with Serendipity Adventures. We were well taken care of by Elena and Wilman.

The drive from the airport to our first hotel in Monteverde was wonderfully relaxing as Fernando from RideCR took us to the Cloud Forest Lodge.

Cloud Forest Lodge was everything we could have hoped for in Monteverde accommodations. Nestled in the Cloud Forest the grounds were beautiful. The room was large and clean. I loved the bed and especially the pillows!

We had a fantastic Bird Watching hike in the Curi-Cancha Reserve with Andy from Forest Alive. Andy was so knowledgeable and we got so much out of it. Andy stopped at a local bird watching site early in the morning to point out all of the early riser birds. Then we had a great stop at the Monteverde Coffee Center, where we treated to the Costa Rican method of brewing coffee called Vandola. It is an elaborate method and the coffee was superb. After a rest we proceeded to the Curi-Cancha. I like the Curi-Cancha reserve because it is quieter than the Monteverde Cloud Forest and while different many of the sam birds are at both places.

In the afternoon, we had a Coffee & Chocolate Tour at the Don Juan Monteverde center. The tour was great and very informative. Chocolate and Coffee as well as Sugar Cane were demonstrated with the process for each. These are such important commodities for Costa Rica, that I think you can't really go to Costa Rica without such a tour.

The next day had us up bright and early for another bird watching tour in the Monteverde Cloud Forest. We got to see the Resplendent Quetzal as well as a lot of other birds on our hike.

After an afternoon nap, we were ready for a night walk in the Children's Cloud Forest. We did not see as much as I would have liked, but you can't predict what may be out after dark.

Sadly, it was time to leave Monteverde and travel to La Fortuna. We had a private transfer over the mountain and down to Arenal Lake for a ride across the lake to La Fortuna. Glad we were not driving! The drivers do such a good job of navigating narrow and difficult roads. Loved the boat ride. Our boat captain found a Howler monkey on the way, very exciting.

We arrived at our lodging the Arenal Hotsprings Resport and Spa. It is an amazing place with beautiful grounds. Our suite was perfect. The beds comfortable and the pillows good (not as good as the Cloud Forest Lodge, but I would not complain about them.) We had a great view of the Arenal Volcano from our room.

The next day again started early with Mariano from Serendipity Adventures. We did an early morning hike at the Arenal Volcano and then a hike at Hanging Bridges before visiting the La Fortuna Waterfall. It was an amazing day. We saw so much and Mariano was just a wonderful guide.

The next day we did a canal tour of the Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge with Canoa Aventura. Our guide, Joda (I think that's right, we called him Jo), did a great job showing us what the Rio Frio had to offer as far as wildlife. Would not have missed this tour for anything.

The next day we transferred to Tortuguero with a private driver. It turned out that Mariano was our driver for the day. He was so much fun and we had a very pleasant trip to the "boat dock" for the boat that would take us to Tortuguero.

The river crossing is a little difficult in March as Costa Rica has not had much rain by then and the river is down making the boat captain really earn his pay to successfully navigate the shallow waters. But Ronny handled the trip superbly. Our hotel, Manatus Hotel, provided the boat, the driver, and our guide for the trip Lilly. It was a great introduction to Tortuguero.

I can't say enough wonderful things about Tortuguero. I just love floating down the canals looking for birds, monkeys, lizards, caman, crocodiles and anything else we run across. It is so beautiful and so peaceful. I don't think I would ever get tired of it. We did early morning canal trips and afternoon canal trips looking for beautiful birds and amazing wildlife. Our guides, Ronny, Bony and Lilly were all so great.

Well all good things come to an end and it was time for the trip back to San Jose for the journey home. The Hotel Manatus provided transportation back to San Jose in a comfortable bus. It was a good trip with our guide providing fascinating information about banana production and information about Costa Rica.

We spent the night in the Hilton Garden Inn, at La Sabana. After our amazing trip, this was a good hotel to relax in before our flight the next morning.

We had a private transfer with Fernando again of RideCR. Can't say enough about have private transfers in Costa Rica. You can drive, but I have seen the roads and the other drivers and just do not think it is a good idea.

We totally loved our trip and can't wait to do it again.

Activity Reviews

Private: Half-day Birdwatching Hike in Curi-Cancha Reserve

Monteverde

Our guide Andy, made this a very special trip. He was so fun and easy to be with. He really knows his birds and helped us find and identify many that we would not have seen without him. I do like the Curi-Cancha Reserve. It is so beautiful with lots of opportunities for seeing special birds.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve Guided Hike

Monteverde

Monteverde Cloud Forest is just awesome. You can do the walk without a guide, but you get so much more out of it, if you have one.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tortuguero Village Visit

Tortuguero

Great little walk around the village. You do not realize how close you are to the Carabean Sea until you walk through the village. A nice fruit milkshake just hit the spot on a hot day.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Coffee & Chocolate Tour

Costa Rica

This was fun and informative tour. Chocolate and coffee are so important to the history and economics of Costa Rica. It was great to learn about the growing and the processes for making coffee and chocolate. Definitely glad I did this tour.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Night Walk in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve

Monteverde

The history of how the Children's Cloud Forest was created is amazing. European children were moved to conduct bake sales and other fund raisers to help preserve what is now known as the Children's Cloud Forest in honor of their efforts.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided Boat Excursion Through the Tortuguero Canals

Tortuguero

Love, love, love touring through the Toruguero Canals. You see something different all of the time. Our guides were great: Ronny, Bony and Lilly did an excellent job!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hanging Bridges, La Fortuna Waterfall, and Arenal Volcano

Arenal/La Fortuna

Awesome tour with Mariano! He was just great. So informative. He had a great sense of humor and was just so fun!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided Boat Excursion Through the Tortuguero Canals -Private

Tortuguero

I told you I can't say enough good things about Tortuguero and cruising around the canals looking for wildlife.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Boating in Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge

Arenal/La Fortuna

This was a fantastic tour. You just see so much more from the vantage point of being on the water. Great tour!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had an amazing trip to Costa Rica! The coordination between Kimkim & our local Costa Rican specialist of Serendipity Adventures, Elena, created a great itinerary for us. We split our time between the La Fortuna & Manuel Antonio areas. Our accommodations in both locations were terrific, as well as the activities that were booked for us by Elena and Wilman of Serendipity Adventures. The transfers to and from the airport, as well as to activities, were seamless. Our guides, including Mariano, Alex, and others were all very helpful & knowledgeable.
We would recommend Kimkim & Serendipity without hesitation to create a great itinerary for anybody travelling to Costa Rica.
Pura Vida
Isaac & Shari Harris

We had an absolutely fantastic trip to Costa Rica! This is our second time using KimKim to help plan a trip, and they knocked it out of the park. We spent time in Arenal, Monteverde and Tamarindo. Our hotels were beautiful. Our activities were just what we wanted…very active, lots of hiking and wildlife viewing and scuba diving. All of the guides were professional and enthusiastic. The trip was organized with Serendipty Adventires and they were great. I was able to communicate via what’s app for things like dining suggestions and the like. It was a fabulous trip and can’t wait to plan our next adventure with KimKim.