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Maricruz Pereira

I was born and raised in San José, Costa Rica. I always felt a deep passion for travel and foreign cultures, which led me to study Tourism, back in the days when it was a brand new career in the country. I have had the opportunity to work in different branches of the tour business: hotels, airlines, events, but I found my true calling in eco-tourism, which has been my field in the last 20 years.

Twelve years ago I co-founded Unique Adventures Costa Rica, an inbound travel agency with very high standards of service and a deep commitment to the conservation of the country's natural and cultural environment. I live in San José with my husband Danilo and our three children, Irene, Ignacio, and Fabiola. When I'm not busy working or driving my kids around to their multiple extra-curricular activities, I enjoy running, having already finished a few marathons, several half-marathons, and quite many 10K races.

What places and activities do you specialize in?

"I specialize in Costa Rica. It is small enough that it can be covered in a couple of weeks, but offers enough activities to keep anyone busy for days! My field of specialty is custom-made experiences, which include from soft adventure and nature exploration to bird-watching, cultural interaction, family fun, and everything in-between."

How did you get involved in travel?

"I got involved in travel in the same way we all do: by traveling! Since I was very young I had the fortune to visit far away places and different cultures, which opened me to the wonders of the wide world. When the time came to choose my career path, I was quite sure I wanted something that had to do with people and places, so travel was the logical choice."

Please share a unique travel experience you will never forget.

"Visiting Scotland for the first time. As I made my exit out of Waverley Station, I looked up into the city and got struck by the most amazing feeling of belonging I have ever felt. It was as if every cell in my body was screaming "I'm home". I love living in Costa Rica, and have never contemplated moving away, but I will never forget how it felt to have such a strong connection to a new place. "

Maricruz is part of the following groups: Costa Rica Travel Agents
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Recent trip reviews for Maricruz

Maricruz planned a great trip for our family of 5
Costa Rica | May 15 - May 22, 2021

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Vivian D.
Live Oak, TX | Reviewed on Jun 02, 2021
Maricruz was a great resource and help for us when booking our family trip to Costa Rica. She was conscious of our budget and our interest. The best part of our trip was definitely our guide, Jose. He was very knowledgeable, patient, flexible, and a great companion throughout the trip. He recommended a lot of great places to eat at and also additional activities when we felt up to it. We enjoyed the different cities of Costa Rica that we were able to see, the hotels were nice to stay at, and... Read more

Maricruz was a great resource and help for us when booking our family trip to Costa Rica. She was conscious of our budget and our interest. The best part of our trip was definitely our guide, Jose. He was very knowledgeable, patient, flexible, and a great companion throughout the trip. He recommended a lot of great places to eat at and also additional activities when we felt up to it. We enjoyed the different cities of Costa Rica that we were able to see, the hotels were nice to stay at, and the activities were very fun. Maricruz definitely made this trip a stress free experience from the initial planning stage all the way until the end of our trip. She was also very quick to respond to any questions we may have had.

Local specialist: Maricruz Pereira

Carlos helped us plan our trip for March 2020...
Costa Rica | Mar 19 - Mar 31, 2021

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Teresa S.
New York City, NY | Reviewed on Apr 08, 2021
Carlos helped us plan our trip for March 2020, but we unfortunately had to cancel due to covid. When 2021 came around, we rebooked our trip with Maricruz. She was incredibly accommodating and tolerated all my ambivalence about traveling during covid! She answered all our questions during the trip as well and even got us an incredible upgrade to a new hotel. We always felt like we had someone to help us out with anything and this was important to us since we'd never been to Costa Rica... Read more

Carlos helped us plan our trip for March 2020, but we unfortunately had to cancel due to covid. When 2021 came around, we rebooked our trip with Maricruz. She was incredibly accommodating and tolerated all my ambivalence about traveling during covid! She answered all our questions during the trip as well and even got us an incredible upgrade to a new hotel. We always felt like we had someone to help us out with anything and this was important to us since we'd never been to Costa Rica and so wanted to move around a lot without much challenge (life in NYC is already challenging). Even when there was a problem with our itinerary, she fixed it up immediately

I want to assure you that Costa Rica is as safe a place as any to travel during covid - people wear masks everywhere, you must wash your hands before entering a restaurant or any place, and there is hand sanitizer everywhere. Plus you're almost always outside. They take yours and their health very seriously. Go now before the crowds return! We've traveled a bunch and Costa Rica is one of the most beautiful and varied places we've seen.

That said, this trip was awesome from the moment we were picked up by Juan Pablo!
He was our guide for the first day - he was informative, engaging and kind. When we expressed interest in pejibaye, he took us to a road side stop to try some which was delicious and fun.

We stayed at Casa Luna the first two nights - wonderful hotel where we saw toucans and other amazing birds in our backyard during our morning coffee. We went to the rainforest and on our way to the hanging bridges our guide pulled over on the street because he spotted a sloth in the tree. So fun.

Always hire a guide for any of parks. They take you in, and find wildlife you'd never find on your own. They carry a scope and plop it down so you can see firsthand while explaining everything you could want to learn about the animals, ecosystem, etc.

From here we went to Monteverde - a beautiful area of Costa Rica. We loved the views from our hotel, El Establo and the proprietor was very accommodating and kind. Actually, we were met with knowledge, kindness and consideration all over CR. Take a night walk - the sounds of the forest will fill your soul.

Do the crocodile tour for sure in Jaco! Our guide Adrian and the driver of the boat (whose name I forget) were incredibly knowledgeable about the birds and the ecosystems. We met the crocodiles Osama Bin Laden, Mike Tyson and Bill and Hillary Clinton. More than we could have asked for.

We ended our trip at Manuel Antonio - beautiful beach and waves - surfing, swimming and relaxing under the trees. Monkeys and iguanas entertained us while we lay on our lounges listening to the sounds of the ocean. We stayed at Karahe for 2 days which was right on the beach but then upscaled to Sí Como No where we had amazing views, lots of wildlife to enjoy and wonderful service.
Either choice is worth your time.

Go now and book your trip with KimKim!

Local specialist: Maricruz Pereira
Maricruz
Maricruz Pereira
Local specialist in Costa Rica | Replied on Apr 08, 2021

Hola, Teresa! Thank you so much for your review and report!! It was a pleasure working with you, and I'm super happy that you could take the trip and enjoy our country so much!
I will forward your nice words to José Pablo, Adrián and your local outfitters, they will really appreciate them.
Pura vida!
Maricruz