Jean Carlo Ilama

JC and KimKim was super helpful and responsive on our trip. We loved our adventures and hotels we stayed at. Thanks JC for handling all the details within our budget so we could just enjoy! read more

JC and KimKim was super helpful and responsive on our trip. We loved our adventures and hotels we stayed at. Thanks JC for handling all the details within our budget so we could just enjoy!

Every guide and every driver was timely, friendly and knowledgeable. Carlos, in Monteverde was particularly outstanding. Our rainy season your was filled with activities for every member of the family. Weather never interfered. The hotels were very good and with everyone locations and staff. read more

Every guide and every driver was timely, friendly and knowledgeable. Carlos, in Monteverde was particularly outstanding. Our rainy season your was filled with activities for every member of the family. Weather never interfered. The hotels were very good and with everyone locations and staff.

We absolutely loved La Fortuna and Monteverde. We especially likes the tour guides with Desafio Tour company in La Fortuna. They were always on time, professional, very personable, friendly, accommodating, safety conscious, and best of all knowledgeable about the flora and fauna and really caring about the environment and climate change. Some of the awesome tour guides from Desafio were Samantha, Arturo, Ronnie, Hosea, and so many others. Loved the lunches, too. We extremely loved all... read more

We absolutely loved La Fortuna and Monteverde. We especially likes the tour guides with Desafio Tour company in La Fortuna. They were always on time, professional, very personable, friendly, accommodating, safety conscious, and best of all knowledgeable about the flora and fauna and really caring about the environment and climate change. Some of the awesome tour guides from Desafio were Samantha, Arturo, Ronnie, Hosea, and so many others. Loved the lunches, too. We extremely loved all the hikes, water fall, and canyoning!
The hotel was great, with a good breakfast, and convenient to all the restaurants and amenities in town. They were also very accommodating by creating a boxed breakfast for us because we had an early excursion one day.
We also loved Monteverde and and the beautiful country lodge. We has an awesome night hike with our knowledgeable guide, Brandon, who tried his best to find night life in the pouring rain. We loved the 2 mile jungle hike by a river. We felt like we really in deep rain forest. The El Trapiche Tour was awesome and beautiful. It was so much fun to taste all the stuff. I can't remember our guide's name but she was wonderful, knowledgeable, talked about how they try their best fairly pay and treat seasonal migrant workers, and the environment. She was also made the tour interesting and fun to listen to! We also were really impressed by our zip liners, Mauricio or Marco ?and his partner (forgot his name), who were very safe, patient, professional, helpful, and fun. We wished we would have brought more cash with us to buy the pictures. We were a bit disappointed That we didn't have enough cash to purchase any. Oh well, next time. Pura Vida!
Overall, the whole trip was well planned, organized, perfect to our liking ! Our drivers were also awesome and brought us to the perfect places to eat breakfast or lunch with good food and a place to walk, stretch, view the scenery, or shop around. Our drivers were all very professional ans excellent and safe drivers, but for some reason i can't remember all their names, except for our driver from La Fortuna to Monteverde, Rolando. I think the first driver from San Jose to La Fortuna was Mauricio ? Anyway, they were all wonderful! We had a memorable trip of a lifetime ! Thank you so much!
Warm regards,
Emelyn and Bob Judge

Hotel Reviews

La Fortuna Downtown Boutique Hotel

La Fortuna San Carlos

We really enjoyed that there was breakfast every morning. They also made a box breakfast for us one morning since we had an early excursion. The pool was nice and cool to go to after a long day. We had a nice view of the park, church, and side view of the Arenal Volcano. The place was a bit noisy at night but very convenient and walking distance to restaurants, and cafes. We really enjoyed our stay there. The staff were very accommodating and helpful.

Authenticity & Character

Yes! A lot of character and nice lobby star with local arts and crafts.

Location

Great place to be if you want to be in downtown. Very convenient and walking distanceto restaurants, church, post office, pretty park with fountain, and stores.

Staff

I can't remember their names but the two ladies were helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Bed was comfortable. Nice window view. Bathroom needed a bit updating or remodeling. But still useful and the housekeepers did a great job keeping our room and the hotel clean and tidy.

Monteverde Country Lodge

Monteverde

Love the location and environmentally beautiful place, land scaping, and great breakfast every morning. Very accommodating and friendly staff. The housekeeping people were great!

Authenticity & Character

The Place blends in well with the environment. Beautiful and peaceful and relaxing to be in.

Location

Love the location and environmentally beautiful place, land scaping, and great breakfast every morning.

Staff

Very friendly, professional, caring and accommodating.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The room was great, with a nice window and porch, and view! The bed was comfortable and bathroom very nice. Great housekeepers !

Activity Reviews

Hanging Bridges, La Fortuna Waterfall & Arenal Volcano Hike

Arenal/La Fortuna

Loved our guide, Samantha! So knowledgeable, environmentally aware of climate change, and wild life viewing land really watched out for all of us. Loved that we were able to view sloths, and other flora and fauna. Love the beautiful Volcano hike, wished we could have hiked more. Also, the falls was very refreshing and just the right amount of time. Really enjoyed the snacks of fresh fruits and authentic lunch!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve Guided Hike

Monteverde

Loved this hike! Carlos, our tour guide for the Monteverde Cloud Forest , was excellent, knowledgeable, and very interesting to listen to, and cared about climate change! I recommend this to everyone! You will learn a lot!

Quality of Experience

I also like the souvenir shop that supports the cloud forest and indigenous people.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Coffee, Chocolate and Sugar Cane Experience

Monteverde

Awesome and informative tour about Costa Rican coffee, chocolate, and sugar. Excellent knowledgeable and interesting guide. Beautiful farm, plantation, and views. Great info on Sustainable and ethical practices.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Jean Carlo really made sure our honeymoon was planned perfectly! Everything went very well and we had the best time in Costa Rica! Can't believe it's over already :( read more

Jean Carlo really made sure our honeymoon was planned perfectly! Everything went very well and we had the best time in Costa Rica! Can't believe it's over already :(

Hotel Reviews

Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, San Jose Aeropuerto

San José

Authenticity & Character

Location

Close to the airport but not very close to the city

Staff

Staff was very friendly and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Pachira Lodge

Tortuguero

The lodge itself was really nice, but not as much privacy as we would have liked. You can hear your neighbors extremely clearly and the wall dividing the rooms don't go up all the way. Other than that, the pool was really nice to relax at and we were able to see plenty of wildlife at the lodge itself. We were greeted by some monkeys right outside of our room which was a pleasant surprise!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Los Lagos Spa & Resort

Fortuna

The resort was so nice! We had issues with the key card when we first checked in, but the hotel staff resolved the issue right away and had someone come up to the room to give us our new key cards. The room itself is a bit away from the restaurant, pools and main lobby but they had shuttle come around and pick us up and we didn't mind walking a couple times to get a nice workout in. The food was amazing and the hot springs at the resort was so much fun to relax and visit.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

El Establo Mountain Hotel

Monteverde

This hotel was so nice! It was extremely clean and the staff were all so nice and helpful. We loved feeling like we were out in nature but also was just a few minutes walk from restaurants and souvenir shops. The wifi was spotty at our room, but the staff told us in advance that they were having some wifi issues due to the high winds the area had been impacted by. It wasn't too much of a problem and was nice to disconnect from the outside world for a few days while we stayed here.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Zip Line (Canopy) Monteverde

Monteverde

I love heights and getting an adrenaline rush so this activity was right up my alley. I had done zip lining before but this was really a great experience. The longer zip lines was truly amazing and really felt like you were flying across the forest. They also have different options for those who are more adventurous called the Superman where you zip line on your stomach and the Tarzan Swing which is like a mini bungee jump almost.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided Visit to the Tortuguero Village

Tortuguero

The visit to the village was nice. I think we were just exhausted from the travel that we would have liked to be able to get settled in a bit more before we had to go on the guided visit. Also because it is not the busy tourist season, it was a bit sparse and we probably would have been ok if we stayed for only an hour instead of the full two hours.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided Exploration of Tortuguero National Park

Tortuguero

The Tortuguero national park was a fun tour to check out. We saw a lot of different animals and birds. We weren't prepared with binoculars so we didn't get the best views of the animals. It was very impressive that the guide was able to spot animals from so far away. Being on a boat for the tour was a nice little touch.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hanging Bridges, La Fortuna Waterfall & Arenal Volcano Hike

Arenal/La Fortuna

This was probably our most favorite tour during our entire Costa Rica trip! Our guide, Alfredo, was the best! He was able to give us so much information and spot all kinds of snakes and animals. He was also very friendly and would joke around a lot which made the whole experience very enjoyable. He also recommended we eat at the end of the day which we greatly appreciated because the food was very heavy and we probably wouldn't have been as comfortable with the Waterfall if we had eaten before. The food was very delicious! Alfredo also made sure to pack some fruits and drinks for us as well as towels which we weren't expecting, so that was such a nice little touch!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve Guided Hike

Monteverde

We had such a good time on this tour. We told our guide Carlos that we wanted a more active hike so he was able to find the best route for us. At the beginning of our hike we saw two rare birds, the Quetzal. They were so beautiful and Carlos told us that about 10% of folks who come to the forest ever get a chance to see them so we were pleasantly surprised! It was also great seeing how excited he got when he spotted the birds! I told Carlos I also wanted to see the clouds and he said it might be tough but was able to find a good place for us to see the clouds which was really nice. We ended the hike at the cafe which also has hummingbird feeders and there were hummingbirds everywhere which was really cool to see up close!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Waterfall was our favorite followed by the hanging bridges. Our guide, Mau, was amazing. Sloth tour was great and so was our guide. Zip line was safe and efficient, but felt more like an exercise and rushed. Night tour was too crowded with many large groups. Loved the beach at Carrillo. The snorkeling is nothing like the pictures. There are few fish and only dead coral. Our guides were very nice though and the kayaking was not difficult. Our last private transfer back to the airport was... read more

Waterfall was our favorite followed by the hanging bridges. Our guide, Mau, was amazing. Sloth tour was great and so was our guide. Zip line was safe and efficient, but felt more like an exercise and rushed. Night tour was too crowded with many large groups. Loved the beach at Carrillo. The snorkeling is nothing like the pictures. There are few fish and only dead coral. Our guides were very nice though and the kayaking was not difficult. Our last private transfer back to the airport was pleasant and the only ride we had that wasn’t nausea inducing.overall, a great trip!

Hotel Reviews

El Establo Mountain Hotel

Monteverde

The rooms are very far away from the pool and restaurants with very steep hills. The transportation service is slow to respond for requests for rides. Views are great from the room but you can hear conversations in the rooms next door and below you. I would not stay here again

Authenticity & Character

Seeing lots of birds and a few animals

Location

Better transportation

Staff

Very nice

Cleanliness & Comfort

Queen size bed would be better

Arenal Manoa & Hot Springs

Fortuna

Loved walking to breakfast and dinner. Room was big and clean. Lots of birds to view especially from the hot springs area and hummingbirds from our room. Food was great.

Authenticity & Character

Location

A little removed from activities

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Nammbú Bungalows

Sámara

Authenticity & Character

Location

Right next to the beach!

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Beds could be bigger.

Activity Reviews

Hanging Bridges, La Fortuna Waterfall & Arenal Volcano Hike

Arenal/La Fortuna

Our guide, Mau, made this a great trip.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

The jerky lotion of the stick shift car is difficult for those with car sickness. The rods are full of potholes and are very curvy

Sloth Tour (Sloth Territory)

Arenal/La Fortuna

Loved our guide and small group. Made it nice and quiet to hear the forest.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Night Walk

Monteverde

Way too many people in our group and other groups. Could here more humans than the night sounds.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

He was very friendly and knowledgeable

Zip Line (Canopy) Monteverde

Monteverde

A bit rushed and robotic but fun to fly over the trees

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Isla Chora Ocean Kayaking & Snorkeling Tour

Sámara

The reef is not like the pictures. It is a dead reef so the fish are few but did see two eels.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Wow! What an amazing trip our family had in Costa Rica! I want to first thank Jean Carlo for providing us with the best itinerary. We wanted to have an adventurous week and he delivered beyond our expectations! He was always available for suggestions and answered all our questions and concerns immediately. He stayed in touch with us from day 1 up until we landed at home. JC you exceeded our expectations! Well done my friend! Now, let's talk about Costa Rica! I have never experienced a trip... read more

Wow! What an amazing trip our family had in Costa Rica! I want to first thank Jean Carlo for providing us with the best itinerary. We wanted to have an adventurous week and he delivered beyond our expectations! He was always available for suggestions and answered all our questions and concerns immediately. He stayed in touch with us from day 1 up until we landed at home. JC you exceeded our expectations! Well done my friend! Now, let's talk about Costa Rica! I have never experienced a trip like this with so many moving parts in just a weeks time! I was amazed to say the least, how everyone involved was so extremely organized! It was very impressive to say the least! Not one leg of our trip was late, delayed, or canceled. We hopped around to a different town every 2 days and it was amazing how well organized everyone was. From vans, buses, boats & more vans! Well Done! All the hotel staff, drivers, restaurant staff was so pleasant, accommodating and nice! Some of the worlds nicest people in Costa Rica! Shout out to Gabriel at La Senda. We felt like his family in just 2 days! Another shout out to Diego at Leyenda Hotel! You also did amazing job at making us feel at home and catering to all our meals! He even suggested the kitchen would prepare our fish from the fishing trip for us for dinner! And man, did the all kitchen/restaurant staff at Leyenda Hotel produce! We had the best Mahi dinner to date! Also, let's not forget the spa at Leyenda, Oblivion. You treated us to the best start of our day for a mother/daughter spa experience while the boys fished. Thank you Lawlin (excuse spelling). She was the best! And to the fishing Charter crew, you were awesome! Thanks to William who got us to back to the airport. Even though we didn't want to leave! Another fun part of the trip was white water rafting! A huge shout out to the crew and staff at Whitewater on Pacuare River from Arenal/La Fortuna. Grailin (oops spelling) you all were the best! Thanks to 💯 Aventura Nature Park for a thrilling canopy/zip lining experience! What a thrill!!!! And the hikes for our nighttime walk and day hike to hanging bridges in Monteverde, cloud forest . We ended our trip at Leyenda Hotel and visited one of the most beautiful beaches in the world! What an amazing 2 days at Carillo beach. How pristine and beautiful! Thank you everyone that made our week so special and I apologize for not mentioning everyone's name! We loved visiting the countryside of Costa Rica! It was so clean and beautiful with the nicest people! You truly live by your words- Pura Vida! We are so blessed to have experienced it with you! Pura Vida!! The Wulf Family, NC

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Leyenda

Hojancha Guanacaste

Thank you for an amazing stay at your beautiful hotel! Such a special place! The grounds were beautiful! Shout out to Diego, restaurant staff & Lawlin, at the spa! You and the hotel staff are amazing!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Volcano Lodge, Hotel & Thermal Experience

San Carlos, Alajuela

Thank you for an amazing stay! The hotel staff is amazing!! What a beautiful place and awesome views of the volcano!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Senda Monteverde Boutique Hotel

Monteverde

Thank you for an amazing stay! You have a very special place! Thank you Gabriel for making us feel like family! You and all the staff were amazing! Pura Vida!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Night Walk

Monteverde

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hanging Bridges & Zip Lining

Monteverde

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Day Rafting Trip on the Río Pacuare

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Fishing at Samara

Sámara

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had the best trip ever! Everyone was so nice. The attention to detail was amazing. I highly recommend Team KimKim. Their communication and accessibility was on point. We could have never organized the adventure that we had, without them. They were so organized with every excursion, driver, event, and anything else that you wanted to do. Truly an amazing experience. read more

We had the best trip ever! Everyone was so nice. The attention to detail was amazing. I highly recommend Team KimKim. Their communication and accessibility was on point. We could have never organized the adventure that we had, without them. They were so organized with every excursion, driver, event, and anything else that you wanted to do. Truly an amazing experience.

Hotel Reviews

Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, San Jose Aeropuerto

San José

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Volcano Lodge, Hotel & Thermal Experience

San Carlos, Alajuela

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Leyenda

Hojancha Guanacaste

This place was amazing! Diego was the best. We went deep see fishing and brought back Mahi Mahi filets and the prepared us cerviche for appetizer, phenomenal garlic butter filets for my wife and I, and fried fish fingers for my kids. It was phenomenal.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Senda Monteverde Boutique Hotel

Monteverde

This place is the best!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Night Walk

Monteverde

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hanging Bridges & Zip Lining

Monteverde

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Day Rafting Trip on the Río Pacuare

Arenal/La Fortuna

Phenomenal trip. Perfect rapids and a ton of fun for the whole family

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Fishing at Samara

Sámara

Great time. Reeled in some monsters!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Overall all, the experience with KimKim in planning our Costa Rican adventure was excellent! Jean Carlo was fairly attentive to our needs/requests and provided an itinerary that was close to that which we hoping for. I had hoped to stay in Tamarindo, but Samara was substituted because of availability, supposedly. We had requested a catamaran adventure. This was the most important element of our tour. What we ended up with was a tour boat, that motored out about an hour, stopped while we... read more

Overall all, the experience with KimKim in planning our Costa Rican adventure was excellent! Jean Carlo was fairly attentive to our needs/requests and provided an itinerary that was close to that which we hoping for. I had hoped to stay in Tamarindo, but Samara was substituted because of availability, supposedly. We had requested a catamaran adventure. This was the most important element of our tour. What we ended up with was a tour boat, that motored out about an hour, stopped while we watched for dolphins and elusive whales, the motored back to a snorkeling reef, then back to shore. While this excursion was good, it was not the sailing adventure we we’re desperately hoping for.
The hotels we were booked into we fine. The staff in Fortuna and Monteverde were excellent. The staff at Samara was horrible! The two men that worked the desk were terribly unfriendly and appeared to hate there jobs. The only saving grace was the waitress/maid. She was very friendly and always smiling and singing.
The transportation was excellent! The drivers were very good, especially William who drove us from Samara to Liberia. All of the drivers were very safe and focused drivers, which was necessary due to the bad road conditions.
Marco, our guide for the hanging bridges and waterfalls in Fortuna was fantastic! His experience and keen eye made for great wildlife viewing. I so appreciated that he would use our phones to capture close-ups of the fauna! He is truly an asset and would highly recommend he and his company to other visitors.
The crew on the boat in Samara we very good, as well.
Another disappointment in the planning of our trip. One of the reasons I had requested being in Tamarindo, was it’s proximity to the Liberia airport. We had an afternoon departure and wanted to spend some time in the town of Liberia. Since we were booked into Samara the road trip took up more time. I had asked Jean Carlo if we could be dropped in town and then catch a taxi to the airport, on our own. He insisted that it was very far away. I know it’s only 7 miles, but considering how long it took to drive through other parts of the country I accepted that. I understood. However, as William was driving to the airport, he confirmed that the city was only 7 miles, a ten minute drive away. Instead, we were dropped and stuck at the airport for four hours. Security and check in only took 30 minutes. Had other arrangements been allowed, we would have had plenty of time to spend in Liberia.
Again, I will say that for the most part our experience with Jean Carlo and KimKim was excellent and I would certainly recommend your company to my friends.

Hotel Reviews

La Fortuna Downtown Boutique Hotel

La Fortuna San Carlos

The hotel is centrally located in Fortuna. I really didn’t find the street noise to be a problem. The staff was very friendly and helpful with recommendations. The rooms were fine. The photo of the pool is VERY descriptive. It’s more like a fountain in the courtyard between the rooms and the restaurant

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Monteverde Villa Lodge

Monteverde

Our little bungalow was very nice. The staff was amazing!!!!! I was sick in bed for 24 hours and the brought me water and tea, and check on me a couple of times.

Authenticity & Character

Location

It’s secluded a bit, in its own little jungle. About a mile walk into St Elena

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Sol Sámara

Sámara

The hotel is fine. The staff (minus the waitress/maid) were horrible. If they dislike the jobs so much they should find somewhere else to be!

Authenticity & Character

Location

It’s only a half a mile walk to the beach, but the town is quite a hike!

Staff

Get rid of the two men, they don’t want to be there, anyway!

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Arenal Hanging Bridges Guided Walk

Arenal/La Fortuna

The rain forest was everything I had hoped it would be!! Simply amazing! Our guide, Marco, made it even better. His experience and keen eye, really made the trip. He is so knowledgeable and friendly. He put our phones up to his scope so we could have close up photos of the wildlife!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

La Fortuna Waterfall Guided Hiking Tour

Arenal/La Fortuna

This is a very nice waterfall. It is 500 steps down to the bottom, but you can soak your feet for the 500 steps back up. Well worth it!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

OCEAN SAFARI 2 IN 1 (DOLPHINS SIGHTSEEING & SNORKELING BOAT)

Sámara

This was not the catamaran we had requested, but it was a nice trip. We saw several dolphins, but missed the whales. The snorkeling reef was loaded with so many beautiful fish!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We were only 1/2 mile away from the boat, we really didn’t need the transportation, but we didn’t know that at the time.