Randall Jiménez

From start to finish - the initial enquiry, through the planning and amendments to delivery and experience - just brilliant. Randall responded to my every enquiry, request and for reassurance. The mix of activities, rest days, hotels and places was just perfect. Driving ourselves gave us added freedom to see more of the beautiful country that is Costa Rica. We met lovely, welcoming people, ate good food and enjoyed the stunning scenery along the Caribbean coast, interior and Pacific coast. We... read more

From start to finish - the initial enquiry, through the planning and amendments to delivery and experience - just brilliant. Randall responded to my every enquiry, request and for reassurance. The mix of activities, rest days, hotels and places was just perfect. Driving ourselves gave us added freedom to see more of the beautiful country that is Costa Rica. We met lovely, welcoming people, ate good food and enjoyed the stunning scenery along the Caribbean coast, interior and Pacific coast. We loved the laid back feel of the Caribbean, the spinal mountain range, the warm waters of the Pacific coast and the fabulous OSA peninsula with all its wildlife above ground and below the sea. All the guides who took us on our hikes and snorkelling were gracious, knowledgeable, considerate and professional. Thank you for making sure our holiday was everything we wanted it to be.

This was a fantastic trip! Our family was in Costa Rica for 15 days in January 2020. Our local guide was Randall Jiminez, and he was great.

The whole KimKim experience was really easy to deal with. We established how long we wanted to go for, as well as a preliminary budget. Randall gave us some ideas to start with, as it was our first time in CR.

We wound up doing what we later found to be (from other travelers) a pretty standard sampling of CR. We started in Arenal, staying in La Fortuna,... read more

This was a fantastic trip! Our family was in Costa Rica for 15 days in January 2020. Our local guide was Randall Jiminez, and he was great.

The whole KimKim experience was really easy to deal with. We established how long we wanted to go for, as well as a preliminary budget. Randall gave us some ideas to start with, as it was our first time in CR.

We wound up doing what we later found to be (from other travelers) a pretty standard sampling of CR. We started in Arenal, staying in La Fortuna, then moved to the Cloud Forest of Mote Verde, and finished up on the Pacific Coast, near Manuel Antonio National Park.

Almost all of our experiences were excellent. The highlights that we would recommend to others would be:
Arenal:
- Proyecto Asis rescue centre. This was one of the first things we did, and remained in our top 3 for the whole trip. If you do this, make sure that you do the volunteer feeding part - that was special. Carlos, our tour guide for this one, was nothing short of superb.
- Cano Negro: This is a must on any trip to CR. We took a bus up to the wildlife area at Cano Negro, and from there took a two hour boat tour along the river, very close to the border with Nicaragua. We saw sloths, monkeys, and more species of birds than I can count, including some very rare ones. Also saw Caimans, which were cool. Had one of the best Costa Rican meals on the way back (Cosado, which is typical. You have to try it).

Monte Verde:
- Don Juan coffee tour - amazing, very tasty all around. Coffee, chocolate, and cosado. Very informative!
- Zip line - super day, did bridges in the cloud forest and then ziplines through the trees.
- Monte Verde Park: This was not arranged by KimKim, but I highly recommend it anyway. Get a guide, either private or through the park. They know what to look for, and will help you immeasurably.

Manuel Antonio:
- a bit more tourist-y, but absolutely beautiful. We were in easy walking distance to the beach, and our hotel was great. We stayed at the Costa Verde hotel, which has several restaurants in easy walking distance. The collectivo bus is also easy and cheap, and I wish that we had used it more (the temps were 35+C every day we were there.
- a note of caution: The Catamaran Snorkling tour that we booked was really a booze cruise. Dance music and drinks were the focus, with very little time spent snorkling, and that required us to wear life vests (a number of passengers had indulged a bit). The cruise was well executed, for what it was, but it was not what we were looking for. In retrospect, we should have more clearly laid out expectations for this activity.

We will definitely visit CR again, and I would have no hesitation recommending KimKim, especially to first-timers. Pura Vida!

Thanks Randall!
Annie, Tom, and Joel

Our local specialist, Randall helped to plan an amazing visit to Costa Rica that was just the right combination of relaxation and adventure! The adventure started in Rincon de la Viejo National Park for a great hike with Andre. What an amazing combination of landscape, forest, volcanic pools and an abundance of wildlife. Andre was extremely knowledgeable and a lot of fun! The next several days were all about relaxation in Playa Hermosa with stops in Playa Coco and Tamarindo. We then... read more

Our local specialist, Randall helped to plan an amazing visit to Costa Rica that was just the right combination of relaxation and adventure! The adventure started in Rincon de la Viejo National Park for a great hike with Andre. What an amazing combination of landscape, forest, volcanic pools and an abundance of wildlife. Andre was extremely knowledgeable and a lot of fun! The next several days were all about relaxation in Playa Hermosa with stops in Playa Coco and Tamarindo. We then headed to Arenal for white water rafting, exploring the hanging bridges and lots of time in the hot springs. Magical is the best way to describe the experience and we had such a great time with Jairo and Koki from Wave Rafting and Christian on our tour through Mistico Park. It was our first trip to Costa Rica, but won't be the last. The Costa Rican people are so welcoming and friendly, many thanks to everyone for a memorable vacation!

Kim Kim was amazing. Very prompt in responding to our request. The bookings and hotels were just what we wanted and perfect for our family vacation. The only challenge we encountered was several of the guides only spoke Spanish yet were very helpful to try and accommodate our needs. Costa Rica was beautiful! Great family place to vacation.

Randall did a fantastic job setting up this trip for 2 couples. The hotels were top notch-Hotel Arenal resort- a very nice property with spacious rooms. Belmar Hotel-Monteverde great views, good food- an ecocentric property, very pleasant staff. La Mansion- Manuel Antonio- a nice property with great views. Staff are nice people but need significant training. The first room they wanted to give one of us had broken AC and a broken sliding door. It took some convincing to change rooms. Bar... read more

Randall did a fantastic job setting up this trip for 2 couples. The hotels were top notch-Hotel Arenal resort- a very nice property with spacious rooms. Belmar Hotel-Monteverde great views, good food- an ecocentric property, very pleasant staff. La Mansion- Manuel Antonio- a nice property with great views. Staff are nice people but need significant training. The first room they wanted to give one of us had broken AC and a broken sliding door. It took some convincing to change rooms. Bar service made mixed drinks with little alcohol. Hotel Grano de Oro -San Jose nice hotel, fantastic food.

Private and semi private rides between locations were fine. Some Costa Rican roads are better than others. Kim Kim arranged four events. Christian of Pur Vida led us on a hike through Hanging Bridges and La Fortuna waterfall. He was a little rushed at Hanging Bridges. Overall a B+. Oscar of Monteverde night tours led us on a night hike.Nice job- we actually saw wildlife - A. Carlos of Monteverde Experts led us on a tour of the cloud forrest was exactly that a well spoken expert- A+. Our last experience was a boat ride in a mangrove swamp led by a man from Tuscane tours. He was young and let one patron orchestrate the 2 hour tour. It was very frustrating- grade of C.

Everything that Kim Kim set up went off as planned. They deserve an A+.

My family is a very active bunch and we love adventure and keeping busy. We certainly had all of this on our vacation. Randall listened to what we wanted, and was easy to contact regarding changes in plans and what we wanted to do. We spent the first half of our trip at La Fortuna and the second half in Manuel Antonio. Our accommodations at Manuel Antonio were fabulous, with outrageous views, helpful staff, spacious for our family of 6. I usually like to plan my own trips, but having Randall took a lot of the load off and it was nice having someone to help out when issues arose.

I was hesitant about using an online travel agent but Randall was great; arranging and rearranging the schedule and activities as our plans evolved. The trip to Costa Rica was fantastic and is the best vacation I’ve had, ever! There is such a lush concentration of plants and every kind of living thing. Our accommodations were all first rate, we particularly enjoyed the El Establo Hotel at Monteverde. We traveled Jan 1-Jan 13 and enjoyed excellent weather, were never rained on in the... read more

I was hesitant about using an online travel agent but Randall was great; arranging and rearranging the schedule and activities as our plans evolved. The trip to Costa Rica was fantastic and is the best vacation I’ve had, ever! There is such a lush concentration of plants and every kind of living thing. Our accommodations were all first rate, we particularly enjoyed the El Establo Hotel at Monteverde. We traveled Jan 1-Jan 13 and enjoyed excellent weather, were never rained on in the daytime. We had several nature tours and a fab zip line excursion in Monteverde. Check out one of our guides Instagram sites: Jpablo_cruz226. We also visited the Mt Arenal area and a memorable highlight for us was the river cruise on the Rio Frío in the Cano Negro reserve with guide Joudan, who was especially knowledgeable. All the transfers and flights that Randall arranged for us went off without a hitch; we found two of the drivers, Jose and Jorge most helpful and professional. We also had a rented car and adventures driving the winding bumpy roads. If we had been choosing our own vehicle it would have been under powered and wrong for the terrain; but with a good travel agent to help we enjoyed the ride! We also had a cool domestic flight in a teensy plane to round out our transportation experience. It was great to see the ocean, jungle, crop lands, and mountains from a birds eye view. Sansa Air was excellent.

Randall, and the crew at KimKim did a great job in arranging a perfect trip to Costa Rica for our family. Randall was great in being flexible, and was accommodate all our requests in terms of the places and itinerary. He was very prompt in responding to the Emails, and providing the requested information.

I was amazed that they were able to pick the hotels that were just perfect for us for the location, for the most part. The hotels in Manuel Antonio (Karahe), MonteVerde (Ficus), and La... read more

Randall, and the crew at KimKim did a great job in arranging a perfect trip to Costa Rica for our family. Randall was great in being flexible, and was accommodate all our requests in terms of the places and itinerary. He was very prompt in responding to the Emails, and providing the requested information.

I was amazed that they were able to pick the hotels that were just perfect for us for the location, for the most part. The hotels in Manuel Antonio (Karahe), MonteVerde (Ficus), and La Fortuna (Montana del fuego) were excellent. The location of the hotel (Sleep Inn) in San Jose makes it a little less desirable for families (I think). Overall, the hotels were great, and their location made it possible to explore the place, find nice local establishments for food (and shopping) pretty easy.

The private transfers from the airport, and between the hotels were really nice. The drivers (Alex from Coast-to-Coast travels, Nelson and Diego from RideCR) were on-time, pointed out local wild-life along the way, and stopped at great fruit stalls, or coffee places when requested. one of the travel companies, RideCR, had Wi-Fi in their vehicles, so that was specially appreciated! Overall, there was a clock-work like quality for the travel arrangements, which was really nice. The car-boat-car transfer from MonteVerde to La Fortuna was a great experience, save the terrible condition of the roads in MonteVerde.

The guides in our tours were very passionate about their country, and what it stands for in the world (in terms of ecology, climate change etc.), and were very informative. Specially want to mention Aaron in Manuel Antonio night walk, Froy on boat trip to Cano Negro, and Horatio in hanging bridges tour in MonteVerde, as they were fantastic. I have to mention, the best meal we had in our entire trip was a home cooked meal on the Cano Negro trip!

The tours we have taken on the trip were ranging from very good to excellent, with a couple of exceptions. The hanging bridges, and canopy tour in MonteVerde was fantastic. Boat trip to Cano Negro was up there, as well as the trip from San Jose to Poas Volcano etc. Night walk in Manuel Antonio was great too. The Kayak trip to Isla Damas was a bit of a let down, and more adventurous (or risky) than imagined. And the night walk in MonteVerde was Okay as there were a lot of people, and not much luck with spotting wild-life on that night.

The early start times (pre-8:00AM) for some of the tours were a little difficult for the night owls of the family, and could have been managed better, in general. Usually, the tour guides pick-up people from various hotels before the tour started, and depending on the hotel, the pick-up time could be really early. It might be better to organize that differently to have a little bit extra time in the mornings for all, for example, by transporting the guests from their hotels to a central location where the tour started or something like that.

Overall, it was an excellent trip. Kudos to the KimKim team for their help and organization.

S.

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!!!

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... read more

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

My specialist, Randal, planned me an amazing trip to Costa Rica! This was my first time traveling alone internationally, and I wanted a mix of outdoor activities + leisure. Randall worked with me and happily tolerated it when I changed my mind about things periodically until the plans were perfect! I had no questions or issues along the way -- everything was planned from top to bottom.

We are very disappointed with our experience with KimKim on what should have been a great trip. Randall was helpful in laying out an itinerary that suited our needs. The quoted price seem quite a bit higher relative to the experience of friends and family who have been to Costa Rica, which prompted us to ask about any included fees. Randall said that all contracts with tour operators were "confidential" and that "all benefits are passed along to you." He insisted that there were no added fees... read more

We are very disappointed with our experience with KimKim on what should have been a great trip. Randall was helpful in laying out an itinerary that suited our needs. The quoted price seem quite a bit higher relative to the experience of friends and family who have been to Costa Rica, which prompted us to ask about any included fees. Randall said that all contracts with tour operators were "confidential" and that "all benefits are passed along to you." He insisted that there were no added fees beyond what was shown at the end.

The tours and experiences that Randall had booked for us were actually prominently advertised with their prices in every hotel we visited. All the hotels themselves also had their rates prominently displayed. Once we added it all up, we realized that KimKim had charged us more than a 30% premium on every activity and hotel as well as added on the fee at the end. Given the price, the lack of unique experiences that we all readily bookable everywhere, we would never use this service again. If you like the convenience and are willing to pay the huge premium, this is a great service. However, be aware that there is no transparency with regards to this premium and you can probably do just as well booking with your local reputable hotel from one of the major sites.

Our whole experience couldn’t have been more seamless. Our transportation, our lodging, our activities...everything was perfect. We had an amazing time in Costa Rica, and Randall made it happen!

We had just 4 nights to explore outside of San Jose and no time to plan, so we took a chance on Kimkim and Randall after randomly finding Kimkim online. Randall put together a plan based on the info we gave him, tweaked a few things at our request and then put it into action via the local contractor Coast to Coast Adventures. Every activity on the pretty busy schedule went off without a hitch -- ALL drivers arrived on time (or early!), ALL activities were pretty much as described, ALL... read more

We had just 4 nights to explore outside of San Jose and no time to plan, so we took a chance on Kimkim and Randall after randomly finding Kimkim online. Randall put together a plan based on the info we gave him, tweaked a few things at our request and then put it into action via the local contractor Coast to Coast Adventures. Every activity on the pretty busy schedule went off without a hitch -- ALL drivers arrived on time (or early!), ALL activities were pretty much as described, ALL hoteliers were expecting us and the rooms were as described, and ALL the guides for the various activities were well-trained, knowledgeable and personable.

- Day 1 La Fortuna Arenal Volcano nature walk; Tabacon Hot Springs
> The nature walk was less of a hike than we were hoping for, but really beautiful scenery around the volcano and Nestor, the guide, was very knowledgeable and great at spotting birds/wildlife.
> Of all the experiences Kimkim/Randall/Coast to Coast Adventures arranged for us, we might have skipped Tabacon Hot Springs just because it was very expensive, crowded and super touristy (we live in Japan and the hot spring experience here is very, very different!), but it was good for a laugh just the same, with the wall of water and hidden nooks and crannies. Other visitors, beware -- the footing around some of the pools is very slippery and we really recommend water shoes or flipflops or something grippy to keep you on your feet. We were both fine, but we saw a visitor in bare feet slip and fall hard on some tiles, banging his head and tailbone pretty hard. A medic was called to tend to him.

- Day 2 La Fortuna Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge boat trip
> Hermann, the boat driver, didn't speak English but he was REALLY good at spotting wildlife even as he drove the boat, and Gustavo the guide was good at both spotting and explaining. This was a brilliant day -- we saw SO MANY birds/animals. Sloths, 3 different kinds of monkeys (we were actually treated to a big monkey drama as 2 troupes of white-faced monkeys shrieked at each other across the river), "Jesus Christ" lizards, snakes, tiny little bats, one caiman, and an incredible number and variety of birds. TAKE YOUR BINOCULARS if you do this trip. They were glued to my face the whole time. It was a rainy day but the boat had a roof and we were very comfortable. A tasty homemade lunch was also provided after the morning voyage.

- Day 3 La Fortuna & transfer to Santa Elena - Kayaking on Lake Arenal in the morning
> The kayaking was fun and easy, and the guide, Joseph/Jose was one of the nicest guys we encountered. Earnest, hardworking, friendly, knowledgeable, curious -- he was a great representative of Costa Rica. We really enjoyed spending the morning with him, while the views of the volcano towering over the placid lake were pretty spectacular.
> The bus/boat/bus trip to Santa Elena was a laugh -- the boat pulled up on a completely undeveloped shoreline and we were asked to get out with our bags. Without explanation, we were led down a dirt path, across a makeshift bridge and up to a dirt road were, magically, a bus appeared! Then off we went on the bumpy, mostly unpaved road to Santa Elena. Loved the green green green views of farms and jungle along the way. BEAUTIFUL Costa Rica...

- Day 4 Santa Elena / Monteverde Cloud Forest
> Morning hike in the reserve was great but here we did find our guide to be a bit ... what... jaded? Too used to tourists, maybe? Bored? All the same, he did spot some fantastic wildlife for us that we would never have seen on our own, including the Resplendent Quetzal (several, in fact...) WOW! On this hike, we found there was a lot of standing around -- we might have liked a smaller group that went a bit further afield.
> "Night walk" -- it POURED rain on us, but we were prepared with rain gear, etc. The animals were not so keen to be out in the rain, so it was harder to spot things, but we saw snakes, spiders, Costa Rican porcupines and sloths all the same...
> Our B&B -- Grace & Renzo B&B -- was excellent. We talked a lot with Grace and enjoyed their hospitality.

- Day 5 Aventura Ziplining and transfer back to San Jose
> Great thing for thrill seekers! Screaming through the canopy -- don't miss the Mega Tarzan Swing -- HEART STOPPING! Good fun for us and the weather cooperated. We enjoyed getting to know other travelers in our group.
> The Interbus transfer back to San Jose was punctual, comfortable, and uneventful.

SO, overall, we had a fabulous trip thanks to Randall, Kimkim, and all the local service providers. Randall arranged exactly what we asked for -- a taste of Costa Rica on a limited time budget -- so all in all, we are very satisfied.

Randall was fantastic from start to finish, his local knowledge and suggestions for tours and activities resulted in a fun filled 6 day itinerary as part of our family holiday to Costa Rica. The hotels, transfers and tours all went smoothly and communication throughout the booking process was clear and very easy.
Thank you Randall! We had a fantastic time and would recommend your services and KimKim to anyone looking to book a holiday to beautiful Costa Rica. Pura Vida!

We just returned from an 11-day family vacation in Costa Rica and it was truly fantastic. We had a great balance of planned adventures and downtime that we used to explore on our own. The tours and hotels organized by Randall were all great, and I am so glad we decided to have an expert organize our itinerary instead of trying to figure it out ourselves. Below are the brief reviews of the major highlights of our trip:

Balsa River rafting with WAVE: 5/5. Fun river, great guide, great... read more

We just returned from an 11-day family vacation in Costa Rica and it was truly fantastic. We had a great balance of planned adventures and downtime that we used to explore on our own. The tours and hotels organized by Randall were all great, and I am so glad we decided to have an expert organize our itinerary instead of trying to figure it out ourselves. Below are the brief reviews of the major highlights of our trip:

Balsa River rafting with WAVE: 5/5. Fun river, great guide, great lunch. Wished it were longer!
Arenal Springs Resort: 5/5. Beautiful resort, nice rooms, nice hot springs, amazing breakfast.
Horseback/Waterfall: 5/5. Nice guide, great scenery, just the right length.
Arenal Hike + Tabacon Hot Springs: 5/5. Terrific guide, interesting history, saw red-eye leaf frog. Evening at hot springs was really relaxing, the buffet at Tabacon was just OK.
Sloth Tour: 3/5. Booked this on our own... seeing the first sloth was cool but after 2 hours they're kind of boring. Very nice restaurant stop at the end.
Car/Boat/Car trip to Monteverde: 5/5. Enjoyed practicing my Espanol with driver Hugo. Rough road, wouldn't want to drive this ourselves!
Hotel Ficus: 4/5. Nice room, lacked fan, restaurant was just OK, too pricey for dinner.
Twilight hike: 3/5. It was OK, but we got really wet and only saw bugs.
100% Aventura Ziplining: 5+/5. Whole family loved this! Tarzan swing at the end is a true test of courage.... just do it!
El Trapiche plantation tour: 5/5. Booked this on our own... very nice coffee/sugar farm tour with chocolate demo too, and tasty samples of everything.
Car trip to Manuel Antonio: 5/5. Private van, our driver Rafael was very friendly and took us to a great soda for lunch. And he stopped so we could see Croc Bridge - very cool!
Hotel Costa Verde: 5/5. Great location, spacious rooms, and plenty of monkeys!
Catamaran Cruise: 3/5. Nice day on the water, but the snorkeling is not really any good. Lots of hot, boring waiting before boarding the boat. We paid for the ship paparazzi photos and felt it was a ripoff for what we actually got. Lunch was decent, crew was friendly.
Espadilla Beach: 5/5. Great beach for relaxing and swimming. Rented cheap surfboards for the kids. Lots of monkeys here too!
Manuel Antonio National Park: 5/5. Beautiful, but prepare to get HOT and SWEATY. Lots of monkeys here.

Overall we had a great time and we could have never figured this all out without Randall. Thanks for the great adventures!

The coordination of drivers, guides and various excursions worked well: the drivers and guides were personable, knowledgeable, courteous and punctual. The experiences were interesting too as these naturalists were able to spot hidden creatures in the murky waters or shadowy trees and shrubbery such as sloths, caymans, monkeys, parrots, snakes, frogs, millipedes and a variety of birds.

My son and I spent 9 days in Costa Rica during the last week of June. Randall did an exceptional job arranging all our excursions and hotel accommodations. Randall was also extremely responsive in answering any of my questions. The 2 day white water rafting trip down the Paquare River was great! We also really enjoyed the zip lining and hot springs in La Fortuna. The Costa Verde hotel was beautiful in Manuel Antonio and we enjoyed kayaking, snorkeling, and surfing. Every adventure was wonderful and I would plan my next vacation through Kimkim. Thank you for a very memorable vacation!

I was impressed with the transport arrangements between and at destinations. People were there on time and were excellent drivers and this was arranged beautifully. The road to the Caribbean coast was not good and it was disappointing to see the lack of ongoing construction for what is an essential highway servicing the plantations and the North South link. This does no credit to the country and the government.

The Tortoguero experience was also excellent. Great hotel and a very good... read more

I was impressed with the transport arrangements between and at destinations. People were there on time and were excellent drivers and this was arranged beautifully. The road to the Caribbean coast was not good and it was disappointing to see the lack of ongoing construction for what is an essential highway servicing the plantations and the North South link. This does no credit to the country and the government.

The Tortoguero experience was also excellent. Great hotel and a very good guide. The poor little village has a lot to learn if it wants to attract tourists and to get them to spend money rather than just walk through. There is so much competition in the world now for destinations that governments, local authorities and towns need to at the very least get on board or not bother and retain their own lifestyle.

The Caribbean coast would have been good for two days- five was too long especially at that time of year when the rainy season is starting. I am fit and active but not into dope, reggae, cheap food and surfing which seemed to be what was on offer. The hotel staff were a little surly ( one waitress was nice) . Despite being one of the few guests staying I was put into a dark downstairs room with no view of the sea ( there were balcony rooms which would have made the stay so much better) and the TV did not work. Very two star and was a low point in Costa Rica which coloured my overall impression of the country.

Avenal was a great area and I enjoyed the short time there. San Jose is clearly a city making a go of it in a period of transition. The Holiday In staff also need to go on a hospitality course. Just a few smiles would be good. The person selling tours in the lobby doesn't know how to smile. Facilities good and great location.

All in all Costa Rica was interesting. I stayed there about 5 days too long and while others have raved about the wild life, some huge conservation efforts are required to make it as good as Nepal, India, Borneo, Africa and the South Pacific, all places I have travelled. I got the feeling the country ( not Randall and the Kim Kim team) over promises and under delivers and I am not making making enthusiastic recommendations to others to travel there.

Good luck.

My boyfriend and I are just back from the most amazing 11 days in Costa Rica. Randall was a great specialist - giving fantastic recommendations on where to go and what activities to do, based on the information we gave him. He also provided a number of different itineraries for us to choose from, and was v. flexible with our requests.

Everything was a highlight really, but the top highlights were:

Our guide Pierre from Canoa Adventures in La Fortuna, who took us on the Mistico Hanging... read more

My boyfriend and I are just back from the most amazing 11 days in Costa Rica. Randall was a great specialist - giving fantastic recommendations on where to go and what activities to do, based on the information we gave him. He also provided a number of different itineraries for us to choose from, and was v. flexible with our requests.

Everything was a highlight really, but the top highlights were:

Our guide Pierre from Canoa Adventures in La Fortuna, who took us on the Mistico Hanging Bridges and waterfall tour. He was a fountain of knowledge and spotted so many things that would have gone unnoticed if we had done the walk by ourselves. He also shared some great photos via whatsapp after the tour as he had a good camera.

Our 3D2N stay at Laguna Lodge, Tortuguero. Our guide Alex was really knowledgeable too, and on two boat safaris we saw a huge number of animals and birds. The food at the lodge was delicious too.

All transfers between places were comfortable and on time, and the restaurants where we were being picked up from for each leg of the journey were fantastic. Selvica even had a butterfly sanctuary out the back!

We also loved Le Cameleon, the hotel we stayed at just south of Puerto Viejo. While we were there we took ourselves to the Jaguar Rescue centre and saw some amazing creatures, and on another day rented bicycles and cycled down the coast to Manzanillo, where we had miles of beaches to ourselves. We also loved Punta Uva beach - totally breathtaking! Whilst staying there we saw sloths and toucans daily, as well as a yellow eyelash viper on a hike in Cahuita.

We cannot wait to come back to Costa Rica and will definitely book through kimkim again.

Thank you!

Randal did a great job communicating and organizing the itinerary.

I thought the experience was very good however the accommodations were somewhat underwhelming . Most of the resorts appeared to be about 20 % occupied which is indicative of the low season. I would not recommend the first hotel at all. They made no attempt to hide the fact that guests were eating breakfast in a cattle coral.

On the second day we were met by a tour guide named Chris. He was excellent. I could not... read more

Randal did a great job communicating and organizing the itinerary.

I thought the experience was very good however the accommodations were somewhat underwhelming . Most of the resorts appeared to be about 20 % occupied which is indicative of the low season. I would not recommend the first hotel at all. They made no attempt to hide the fact that guests were eating breakfast in a cattle coral.

On the second day we were met by a tour guide named Chris. He was excellent. I could not have imagined any better. He had a great depth of knowledge and humility. I hope you call him out and let him know that he made the trip well worth the time. He had knowledge by the broader economy that no other guide could match. We was wonderful.

Randall was just awesome!! He created a wounder full trip for me. I been never to Cosa Rica before but I know what I like and how I like to travel. I just gave him the Information About what I was Looking for, and he planned a perfect trip for me. I had his number and I could contact him while traveling when I had any Questions. I will book again with KimKim and if I go back to Cosa Rica I will book again with Rendall. My trip was About 10 Days Long and I saw so many sides of Costa Rica... read more

Randall was just awesome!! He created a wounder full trip for me. I been never to Cosa Rica before but I know what I like and how I like to travel. I just gave him the Information About what I was Looking for, and he planned a perfect trip for me. I had his number and I could contact him while traveling when I had any Questions. I will book again with KimKim and if I go back to Cosa Rica I will book again with Rendall. My trip was About 10 Days Long and I saw so many sides of Costa Rica (Volcano, Rainforest, Cloud Forrest, Beaches, Nightwalks, Mountains, Rivers and lots of animals).

If you never been there just give Randall Information what you are looking for and your Budget, and he will create you an individual Trip whit everything in what you love. I got exactly what I was Looking for and I can recommend Kimkim and specially Rendall to everybody. Thank you again for the awesome Trip!!!

Caro

Guides Juan and Daniel at selvatura hanging bridges and frog pond in Monteverdi respectively excellent. Night walk not worthwhile too many people and too many groups and unsuitable terrain. Best of all was Manfred Garcia Leon at casa Corcovado - brilliant informative and endlessly patient - couldn’t recommend him more highly!
Overall accommodation all excellent and all drivers punctual except the one for night walk who was sent to the wrong hotel and after 45 minutes we were picked up in a... read more

Guides Juan and Daniel at selvatura hanging bridges and frog pond in Monteverdi respectively excellent. Night walk not worthwhile too many people and too many groups and unsuitable terrain. Best of all was Manfred Garcia Leon at casa Corcovado - brilliant informative and endlessly patient - couldn’t recommend him more highly!
Overall accommodation all excellent and all drivers punctual except the one for night walk who was sent to the wrong hotel and after 45 minutes we were picked up in a taxi to join the others. Don Juan coffee chocolate tour very interesting and worthwhile.
We loved Costa Rica and especially it’s people
Judy and john

Our tour of Costa Rica, organised by Randall through KimKim was perfect. Every area we visited and the local guides we used were fabulous and shared a great knowledge of their areas which made for a genuinely phenomenal experience. Our standout tour guide was Warner in Tortuguero who exuded a love for nature and the locale. He was approachable during every stretch of the time spent in Tortuguero and not just when his guided tours were on. Our stay in Monteverde was made greater with the... read more

Our tour of Costa Rica, organised by Randall through KimKim was perfect. Every area we visited and the local guides we used were fabulous and shared a great knowledge of their areas which made for a genuinely phenomenal experience. Our standout tour guide was Warner in Tortuguero who exuded a love for nature and the locale. He was approachable during every stretch of the time spent in Tortuguero and not just when his guided tours were on. Our stay in Monteverde was made greater with the stay at Grace and Renzo's B & B. Grace was such a fantastic host and gave superb advice on places to roam, visit and eat throughout the small town. She made what would have been a great leg of the tour into one of our favourite sections of the holiday. KimKim really excelled in their planning with every section of the vacation running smoothly and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone travelling to Costa Rica.

If I'm being honest - I was skeptical at first. I'm typically the traveler who likes to book all my own hotels, excursions and transportation. However, I came across Kimkim online as I was planning my trip to Costa Rica and decided to send an initial message. I was partnered with Randall, who ended up playing a key role in making my trip to Costa Rica unforgettable! He was very patient and flexible as I customized the 9-day itinerary, with multiple iterations, and gave many recommendations... read more

If I'm being honest - I was skeptical at first. I'm typically the traveler who likes to book all my own hotels, excursions and transportation. However, I came across Kimkim online as I was planning my trip to Costa Rica and decided to send an initial message. I was partnered with Randall, who ended up playing a key role in making my trip to Costa Rica unforgettable! He was very patient and flexible as I customized the 9-day itinerary, with multiple iterations, and gave many recommendations for activities and places to see during my stay. We didn't have any hiccups during our stay and all drivers arrived on time. When we first arrived at the airport, our driver even provided us with a folder of our itinerary and all vouches required for the trip. The organization was impeccable! In addition, the activities were awesome and my mom and I had a blast! Some activities included: volcano hike, hot springs, hanging bridges, waterfall hike, ziplining, butterfly garden, guided hike through Manuel Antonio park + more. I highly recommend Randall to help you plan your trip if you are thinking of going to Costa Rica and want to experience as much as possible. I definitely plan on using the Kimkim service again. Thanks Randall!

We would like to thank Randall for his fantastic planning of our trip to Costa Rica. Everything went like clockwork from the transfers to and from the airport to the transfers between areas visited and the fantastic accommodation selected for us. All trips booked (which were many) were fantastic and showed how diverse Costa Rica is as a travel destination. The Ticos are warm, friendly and welcoming people and all went out of their way to make our holiday great.
I will have no hesitation... read more

We would like to thank Randall for his fantastic planning of our trip to Costa Rica. Everything went like clockwork from the transfers to and from the airport to the transfers between areas visited and the fantastic accommodation selected for us. All trips booked (which were many) were fantastic and showed how diverse Costa Rica is as a travel destination. The Ticos are warm, friendly and welcoming people and all went out of their way to make our holiday great.
I will have no hesitation in recommending your company and paticularly Randall for any persons planning a trip to Costa Rica.

The only suggestion I would make is on checking out in Manual Antonio we had to be out of our hotel at 11am and our transfer was at 2.00pm normally this would not be a problem but with the heat and humidity it would have been nice to have a later checkout or earlier transfer (we however did not see this a a negative in any way and did not reflect at all on our enjoyment of this holiday) it is merely a suggestion.

Thank you and Pura Vida

Morag and Brett

Our recent 9 day tour to Costa Rica went off without a hitch! All the details were in place so that all our activities happened smoothly. We spent 2 days in San Jose going on a wonderful coffee plantation tour and visiting Peace Waterfall Gardens. Our Hotel Martino was located on the outskirts of San Jose, just 15 minutes from the airport, so we didn’t have to deal with all the traffic in San Jose.
Next we were off to a crocodile and bird tour on Rio Tarcoles, then on to Manuel Antonio... read more

Our recent 9 day tour to Costa Rica went off without a hitch! All the details were in place so that all our activities happened smoothly. We spent 2 days in San Jose going on a wonderful coffee plantation tour and visiting Peace Waterfall Gardens. Our Hotel Martino was located on the outskirts of San Jose, just 15 minutes from the airport, so we didn’t have to deal with all the traffic in San Jose.
Next we were off to a crocodile and bird tour on Rio Tarcoles, then on to Manuel Antonio staying at the Costa Verde Hotel enjoying all of its amenities, good food, and unbelievably beautiful views. We reached our final location after an hour long boat ride down the Rio Sierpe where we arrived at Drake Bay Lodge near Corcovado National Park on the Osa Peninsula. A day in the jungle seeing a tapir, a mangrove hawk, parakeets, coatis, and macaws, among other animals, made for an amazing first day in the Osa. After a delicious picnic lunch we hiked to a waterfall for a refreshing swim in its cool waters.
On our last day a beautiful ocean boat ride took us to offshore Cano Island where we snorkeled with a plethora of fish in the clear waters followed by a delicious picnic on a gorgeous beach. Costa Rica offers everything an active vacationer could want in a tropical environment.

We used KimKim to arrange our first trip to Costa Rica and we were very, very happy how the trip was planned and coordinated through our awesome travel agent, Randall! We had such a great time hiking, biking, zip-lining, touring and had spa time as well and it was due to Randall who is amazingly knowledgeable and very nice and helped us to maximize our time in the country. He made us feel very comfortable with the planning from beginning to end. He was so responsive always- and even while we... read more

We used KimKim to arrange our first trip to Costa Rica and we were very, very happy how the trip was planned and coordinated through our awesome travel agent, Randall! We had such a great time hiking, biking, zip-lining, touring and had spa time as well and it was due to Randall who is amazingly knowledgeable and very nice and helped us to maximize our time in the country. He made us feel very comfortable with the planning from beginning to end. He was so responsive always- and even while we were in Costa Rica. Quite simply Randall made this trip easy to plan and fun, fun, fun!! We knew what we wanted to do and he planned it and he was very professional all the way through as well answering and handling all of our questions and needs. I now will use KimKim for all our travel needs!! Thanks again Randall for making our trip so much fun! I highly recommend him!!

Deidre Collins

Overall, our trip to Costa Rica met our expectations, aside from a small number of issues.

First, the good news. Randall and the KimKim team did a great job of planning a nice itinerary, and the hotels and activities were very good. The people of Costa Rica were delightful, and we had a fun trip. We especially enjoyed the zip-lining and the white-water rafting. The toucans and monkeys at Tortuguero were awesome.

Now to the issues.

We had a miscommunication with Randall on the... read more

Overall, our trip to Costa Rica met our expectations, aside from a small number of issues.

First, the good news. Randall and the KimKim team did a great job of planning a nice itinerary, and the hotels and activities were very good. The people of Costa Rica were delightful, and we had a fun trip. We especially enjoyed the zip-lining and the white-water rafting. The toucans and monkeys at Tortuguero were awesome.

Now to the issues.

We had a miscommunication with Randall on the maximum luggage weight for our internal flights. We thought the 40 lb limit was just checked luggage and that we could also carry on up to 10 additional lbs. The reality was that 40 lbs was the total weight limit, including both checked and carry-on luggage. So, we ended up having to pay for extra weight on all internal flights. Also, the airline, SANSA, told us that several tour operators had special arrangements to allow for extra weight, but that our operator was unknown to them, so we felt let down by this situation. This was not a huge issue, but it was a hassle, and could have been avoided, we feel. We did have an e-mail exchange with Randall about weight limits prior to our trip, but as far as my e-mail record shows, my question about total weight was not clearly answered.

Second, on the morning/afternoon of February 14, KimKim had planned for us to have a tour of the Hanging Bridges and La Fortuna Waterfall, plus lunch. The lunch turned out to be at the same restaurant as the dinner they had planned the night before, and it would have been nice to have a different restaurant for variety. But the real issue was that KimKim had planned for us to have a second tour that day, starting at 3:10 PM: a hike to the base of Arenal. We were really looking forward to this second event, but the problem is that by the time we had finished lunch and got back to our hotel from the first planned activity, it was almost 5 PM! Aside from being too tired from the active morning events to do a hike to Arenal, we were way too late for the second event. So, we felt that they had tried to cram in too much on this day, and it was impossible to have both excursions. The bottom line is that this day was not well thought out and we had to miss a planned (and I assume, paid-for) excursion.

Third, I want to mention that several of the planned activities during our trip involved being picked up and dropped back off by busses that made the rounds to several hotels and thus were filled with many people requiring multiple stops that take a lot of time. It would have been nice to have had private cabs or other transport so we didn't have to wait for other people (both pick-up and drop-off) at other hotels. Although we were always ready early for pick-ups, other guests were late, and so the entire bus-load got delayed. Not fun.

Finally, the KimKIm description of the food tour in San Jose was way off: the food courses that we got were far fewer that described, and we were all hungry after the tour. For examples, the description we were provided by KimKim (and which we got before deciding to purchase this tour), said we would "..try a Costa Rican-style hamburger made with delicious homemade tomato and achiote bread." We did not have a hamburger at all during our tour. Additionally, we did not have a guaro tasting nor any sangria as described in the detailed itinerary. We even asked about the sangria and the guide said that would cost extra. There were other differences as well. Our guide did tell us that he was anxious to get home for a big soccer match that evening, so perhaps we got a shortened version of the tour, and we were too tired from our international flight that morning to push back. But since this was supposed to be our dinner, we missed out on most of the food we were expecting! Our guide was nice and informative, but the tour was certainly far less than what was described.

We spent 9 days in Costa Rica. This was our first visit. Randall at Coast to Coast Adventures and kimkim helped me customize the trip so we got to experience a bit of everything- city, volcano, rainforest, and beach.
We considered renting a car and doing the driving ourselves. I am so glad that Randall gently advised us to go with a driver, instead. The roads can be pretty rough.
Randall arranged all the accommodations, and we received a booklet of vouchers upon arrival for all the hotels... read more

We spent 9 days in Costa Rica. This was our first visit. Randall at Coast to Coast Adventures and kimkim helped me customize the trip so we got to experience a bit of everything- city, volcano, rainforest, and beach.
We considered renting a car and doing the driving ourselves. I am so glad that Randall gently advised us to go with a driver, instead. The roads can be pretty rough.
Randall arranged all the accommodations, and we received a booklet of vouchers upon arrival for all the hotels and activities, as well as a clear printed itinerary. Things were very well organized, and the drivers were all terrific. Every one of them showed up on time and gave us some great info about Costa Rica as well as more practical advice, such as where to eat.

We stayed at 4 different hotels. With the exception of one of them, they were lovely and comfortable. Even the sub-par hotel had a very friendly and helpful staff.

We did some hikes, visited the fabulous Tabacon Hot Springs, and went zip-lining for the first time. It was an amazing experience. The young guys at the Selvatura zip line were absolutely terrific. They calmed my jitters with their great instruction and terrific sense of humor. I felt perfectly safe, and the view was AWESOME!

Manuel Antonio National Park exceeded my expectations. I was concerned that it would be touristy and crowded. It certainly is a huge tourist attraction, and for good reason. The well maintained trails through the park make for a great way to see some fascinating wildlife. It is definitely worth it to go with a guide. And the beach at the park is fabulous. The crowds dissipate after a short while, and it is just a beautiful place to be.

We spent two weeks traveling around to multiple areas in Costa Rica. Randall helped us with a tremendous itinerary enjoying different climates and activities along the way. Some of the recommendations for dining were expensive and we didn't go to them as there were many choices available in each town. Beware the tour to Osa Pennisula is very remote, don't compare the accommodations to your standards! Drake Bay has only had electricity since 2007 and building codes are something they are not familiar with. That said, it was perfect and unspoiled.

The trip was well-planned by KimKim staff, and was very enjoyable. The few snags we ran into were quickly corrected. Randall was very attentive.

We especially enjoyed our time in Monteverde, perhaps because the chilly wind and clouds are what we're accustomed to in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The day at Selvatura was fabulous - the nature hike, led by Juan, introduced us to many plants and symbiotic systems. Zip-lining was fabulous (team of about a dozen energetic guides). Grace and... read more

The trip was well-planned by KimKim staff, and was very enjoyable. The few snags we ran into were quickly corrected. Randall was very attentive.

We especially enjoyed our time in Monteverde, perhaps because the chilly wind and clouds are what we're accustomed to in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. The day at Selvatura was fabulous - the nature hike, led by Juan, introduced us to many plants and symbiotic systems. Zip-lining was fabulous (team of about a dozen energetic guides). Grace and Renzo were excellent hosts at El Viandante, and gave very helpful advice on getting around the town.

We also enjoyed the hike at Volcan Arenal, led by Esteban. Our driver kindly stopped the van on the drive there so we could see howler monkeys and coati. Jimmy, another driver, was happy to answer our many questions, and he stopped so we could see a sloth up close at a produce stand. The chocolate-making tour and Proyecto Asis were interesting (guides Kyle (?) and Hector, respectively).

At Manuel Antonio we loved seeing all the animals right outside our hotel room. We never tired of watching iguanas and birds. Our tour of the national park, on Christmas Day, was too crowded to properly enjoy it. Our guide, Milo, was very good.

Rancho Corcovado was complicated. Our itinerary did not specify how we were to get from Sierpe to Rancho Corcovado, and our driver did not know where to leave us. When he learned where we would be staying, he knew which of the two boat landings we needed to get to. But we didn't know when our boat would arrive or how to recognize it. Between Randall's help and a call to the hotel, we got there. Boating on the river was pleasant, but getting through the surf was scary and unexpected (it took the driver two tries to make it through the waves). The hotel room had either no hot water, or scalding water. Sometimes no water at all. The food was very good, the trip to P. N. Corcovado was wonderful (Luis was an excellent guide) and the snorkeling was spectacular (excellent guides - Carol and a woman whose name I did not catch). There was an upsetting incident one night when angry people visited our next-door neighbors. All in all, the trip to Corcovado involved very good times and the least pleasant times, as well.

Our drivers were all good - Ricardo, Christian, Andres. The Hotel Don Carlos was a lovely secluded place in San Jose. We found a very good lunch at Cafe Rojo near the hotel, and spent a pleasant morning at Zoologico y Jardin Botanico Nacional.

We had an amazing adventure trip from start to finish.
Great communication from Rendell who took on board what we wanted to do. It was far better than we expected.
Fez our guide was absolutely fantastic along with our drivers and extra guides especially Martine who guided us on our long hike.
All food, all accommodation was brilliant.
Everyone was so friendly and made our trip truly wonderful. Thank you all at coast to coast.

Everything was very well organised from the time we arrived in Costa Rica to the moment we were taken to the airport for our return home. Randall listened to what we wanted and came up with a trip that suited all of us in the timescale that we had. We enjoyed staying in all different types of accommodation from hotels, lodges, a boardinghouse and campsites. Some of the best meals we had were home cooked, using fresh local produce. It was a great way of seeing this amazing country, the... read more

Everything was very well organised from the time we arrived in Costa Rica to the moment we were taken to the airport for our return home. Randall listened to what we wanted and came up with a trip that suited all of us in the timescale that we had. We enjoyed staying in all different types of accommodation from hotels, lodges, a boardinghouse and campsites. Some of the best meals we had were home cooked, using fresh local produce. It was a great way of seeing this amazing country, the activities were far from easy (cycling, hiking and rafting) but we had a real sense of achievement when we reached the end. Fez was an excellent guide, full of knowledge as well as being encouraging and understanding. He made sure we always had everything we needed and was happy to arrange any other activities we wanted to do. He always had time to chat, joined in with card games in the evening and generally made us all feel welcome.
I would thoroughly recommend this holiday to anyone looking for a more active break, I never thought I would be cycling through a banana plantation and crossing bridges and rivers or hiking through a jungle but the scenery is breathtaking and all the animals you see along the way is an added bonus.

Our Costa Rica trip was awesome and excellently put together and organized by Randall. Everything went exactly according to plan and the quality of the guides on the various tours and activities were first class.
Everything from our pick up at the airport, to our final drop off was precisely on time and all guides and drivers spoke excellent English which made communication so much easier.
We have absolutely no issues or complaints regarding any aspect of the trip and would absolutely recommend kimkim to anyone seeking a high quality tailor made trip to an exotic destination.

Randall and Kim Kim planned the perfect trip for my family of myself, my husband and three grown kids. It was just the right mix of adventure, exercise, nature, discovery and relaxation.

We particularly enjoyed the Mistico hanging bridges tour with Carlos (of Pura Vida Tours) near the Arenal Volcano area, which included seeing monkeys, snakes, tarantulas and so much beautiful scenery.

We also really liked our raft trip in that same area with George "2" as our guide from Canoa... read more

Randall and Kim Kim planned the perfect trip for my family of myself, my husband and three grown kids. It was just the right mix of adventure, exercise, nature, discovery and relaxation.

We particularly enjoyed the Mistico hanging bridges tour with Carlos (of Pura Vida Tours) near the Arenal Volcano area, which included seeing monkeys, snakes, tarantulas and so much beautiful scenery.

We also really liked our raft trip in that same area with George "2" as our guide from Canoa Aventura. He was a pro at spotting all kinds of wildlife including fascinating birds, monkeys and even a crocodile. He was very knowledgeable and accommodating.

One of my favorite places was Tabacon hot springs. I wish we had gotten there earlier in the day so we could see it in the daylight, but even sitting in the hot river and pools at night was wonderful! I wish I had known to bring water shoes here, the bottom is rocky.

We loved our hotel, Montana de Fuego, with lovely pools, spa and individual bungalows overlooking the volcano. The staff there was very helpful and friendly, especially Veronica.

Our two days in the Monteverde Cloud Forest were also fun and fascinating.
One of our favorite activities was the zip line tour at Selvatura park. Even my husband who is afraid of heights felt secure enough to do the zip lines. This is a huge and very well run operation and even with lots of tourists they moved us through quickly and safely. It was amazing "flying" over the forest. We also took the short butterfly walk there which was interesting and the butterflies were incredibly beautiful and even landed on your hand if you were still enough.

We took a night hike with a guide at the Monteverde Wildlife Reserve and got to see a sloth in (slow) motion thanks to the eagle eye and strong flashlight of our guide there.
Our final day was a nature hike with Javier of Monteverde Experts, and he certainly was one. He knew every tree, every bird, every reptile and again helped us spot a sloth high up in the canopy.

And finally, we took several lovely drives with the Coast to Coast driver, Jose, who navigated very bumpy roads and long distances with a happy attitude and willingness to answer all questions and stop whenever we wanted to take photos.
This was really a fantastic Costa Rican advanture.

I did some research on the Internet on where to go in Costa Rica, gave Kimkim my preferences and date of arrival/departure. Randall took it over from there and came up with a perfect itinerary for us.

Before we left we received the detailed itinerary from kimkim, airport pick up was on time, as well as the rest of the private transport pickup. Hotels were clean and comfortable, the guides were knowledgeable and friendly. No complaints whatsoever.

Highly recommended.

We just finished our amazing honeymoon in Costa Rica! And have to say that Randall was an absolute pleasure to work with - he made the process so easy to book and really worked with us to plan a great honeymoon!

We landed in San Jose and a drive met us at the airport right away to take us to our hotel. Everything was laid out and organized for us which was fantastic! In the morning we were picked up for the drive to La Fortuna. The one thing I would recommend is for future visits to let... read more

We just finished our amazing honeymoon in Costa Rica! And have to say that Randall was an absolute pleasure to work with - he made the process so easy to book and really worked with us to plan a great honeymoon!

We landed in San Jose and a drive met us at the airport right away to take us to our hotel. Everything was laid out and organized for us which was fantastic! In the morning we were picked up for the drive to La Fortuna. The one thing I would recommend is for future visits to let visitors know the length of time for the drives we had no idea and found ourselves on 3-4 hours drives (which we didn’t mind, but would have packed some snacks!). Our accommodations were stunning in
La Fortuna we stayed at the beautiful Tabacon. Our white water rafting trip was amazing and the local farm they took us to for lunch was an amazing highlight. Wave Expeditions are amazing and we highly recommend you book with them if wanting to do a white water tour. Very thorough in safety recommendations, good equipment, great guides and an amazing experience. We also went on the Volcano hike - although really interesting we found that our guide wasn’t that engaged in the hike and didn’t realize we were the last hike of the day so all of the animals were tucked away (I would recommend making sure you get an early tour if you do this hike). We would have loved to do the hanging bridges and ziplining here but unfortunately we didn’t.

We then went to Monteverde which was amazing! Wow is all we can say when thinking about Monteverde Lodge and Gardens. The lodge itself was amazing, the gardens spectacular and we had a great corner balcony room. It is also amazing that they have a butterfly garden in the hotel! The staff was amazing and surprised us with a dinner in the butterfly garden for our honeymoon. We also did the Cloud forest hike with Monteverde Experts - amazing tour guide. He was so passionate and really took his time to show us everything - if you do this excursion make sure to use this company. We also did horse back riding which we weren’t too crazy about - it was again the last tour of the day we found our horses to be tired and barely moving and again not much to see. Our guides also didnt explain much to us - in hindsight we would have omitted this although we did request for it to be booked and would have rathered book the hanging bridges etc.

We then made the trip to Manuel Antonio - which was an incredibly long drive 7 hours when it was supposed to be nor more than 4. Although this was a slight setback we fell in love with Manuel Antonio right away. We stayed at Makanda which is an amazing resort with amazing staff- we were treated like royalty and would highly recommend staying here. We visited a local beach recommended by one of the staff members at Makanda and loved it and also visited Ronny’s Place (amazing dinner venue with incredible sunset view), Emilo’s Cafe (amazing seafood) and The Wagon (amazing pizza). We had a tour organized for Sea kayaking and snorkelling - although we enjoyed this (physically challenging) our tour guide wasn’t the greatest he indicated he was feeling under the weather and stayed in his kayak while pointing at a rock we should swim towards to see fish, we would have liked to have someone in the water to tell us what we were looking at. He also told us we need to be back in the kayaks in 20 minutes and then proceeded to paddle back. We had thought this would be an entire morning event as indicated on our itinerary but ended up having our kayak, snorkel and lunch all by 11:30 am...in hindsight we would have either booked through a different company, done a different excursion or discovered more of Manuel Antonio on our own. Despite this we still loved the snorkelling but would recommend that they get new life jackets and clean their snorkels.

Randall was amazing to work with and we thoroughly enjoyed booking through KimKim they made the process so easy for us and would absolutely use them again if booking another trip to Costa Rica. Thanks Randall for all of your hard work and being so helpful with organizing our honeymoon!

We had a great trip despite the driver being 20 minutes late to pick us up at the airport. The Holiday Day Inn in San Jose wasn't anywhere near a 4-5 star hotel but was fine.

Rafting with Wave Company in La Fortuna was a great. The Baldi Hotel/Springs was nice but they had constructions going on the entire time we were there which was loud.

Ziplining (forget the company) in Fortuna was aweseome, small outfitter with great guides.

The Hanging Bridges at Mystic was great but could do... read more

We had a great trip despite the driver being 20 minutes late to pick us up at the airport. The Holiday Day Inn in San Jose wasn't anywhere near a 4-5 star hotel but was fine.

Rafting with Wave Company in La Fortuna was a great. The Baldi Hotel/Springs was nice but they had constructions going on the entire time we were there which was loud.

Ziplining (forget the company) in Fortuna was aweseome, small outfitter with great guides.

The Hanging Bridges at Mystic was great but could do without the walk down to the waterfall as the crowds were a real turn off.

Biking with Arenal Bike Company was nice.

Monteverde Lodge and Garden was really nice, very quiet and the grounds were impressive and the proximity to town was ideal for walking to restaurants.

We opted for another zipline which we booked through the hotel, Sky Adventure would have been fine but nobody mentioned how cold it would at that high location.

The horseback riding was one of our favorite tours, we had a private guide which made a huge difference.

Si Como No was a huge hit with my daughter. The only tour we had was to the Manual Antonio Park was fine but could didn't care for the crowds.

Randall did a great job but would have appreciated a bit more information on what to expect on each tour and how long each tour would last. Aside from that, he did a great job.

The booking process was easy; Randall was very responsive and able to fulfill all our requests. All activities were well organized and transfers ran smoothly. Costa Rica's beauty takes your breath away! Our Tortuguero guide Rolando from the Laguna Lodge hotel was one of the best ones we've ever had. We even saw a giant sea turtle lay eggs - such a wonderful experience. Thank you!

I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Costa Rica. I was looking for a nice blend of nature, adventure, beaches, nightlife and relaxation ... and this trip offered exactly what I was looking for. I booked with relatively short notice and didn't really have the time to research in advance. Fortunately, the local specialist Randall asked what I was looking for and customised an awesome trip. From the moment I arrived to the moment I left, everything was planned and scheduled (including pick-ups,... read more

I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Costa Rica. I was looking for a nice blend of nature, adventure, beaches, nightlife and relaxation ... and this trip offered exactly what I was looking for. I booked with relatively short notice and didn't really have the time to research in advance. Fortunately, the local specialist Randall asked what I was looking for and customised an awesome trip. From the moment I arrived to the moment I left, everything was planned and scheduled (including pick-ups, drop offs, hotels, trips, meals etc). I was also given a detailed trip plan upon arrival meaning that I knew exactly where I had to be and when. In the end, I experienced many of the things Costa Rica had to offer and had a fantastic time. I would very much recommend kimkim.

To be honest, I’d never heard of Kimkim, coast to coast adventures, or Randall. This made me a little bit wary of sending over a few thousand pounds and just assuming it would all be ok. Randall seemed very nice over email and we were keen to support local business in the country were visiting rather than some massive tour company, so we took the plunge.

I really didn’t need to worry at all.

We’ve had a stunning time in Costa Rica - truly the trip of a lifetime. Whatever words or photos... read more

To be honest, I’d never heard of Kimkim, coast to coast adventures, or Randall. This made me a little bit wary of sending over a few thousand pounds and just assuming it would all be ok. Randall seemed very nice over email and we were keen to support local business in the country were visiting rather than some massive tour company, so we took the plunge.

I really didn’t need to worry at all.

We’ve had a stunning time in Costa Rica - truly the trip of a lifetime. Whatever words or photos just don’t do it justice so I won’t even try. What can be said for definite is that I’d totally trust Kimkim again and, above all Randall is a total legend who sorted everything out to perfection. All the cogs and wheels that needed to turn at the same time did like clockwork and it’s all gone without a hitch. We were met at the chaotic airport after a gruelling 10 hr flight with 2 tired kids, by a lovely friendly guy who got us to our hotel. The next day we started the 3 day tour of a lifetime to Tortuguero National Park, just as Randall had recommended, it was one of those life moments to never be forgotten - the moment lasted 3 days though.

Everywhere Randall has booked for us was expecting us and we just had to get ourselves to the agreed place to find everything ready, and taken care of for us. We found ourselves on the best trips with the best guides while others struggled in the heat.

It’s hard to know what else to say, other than Randall totally made this holiday, I can’t recommend him highly enough and if we come back, and we’d very much like to, I know who to get in touch with.

We had a wonderful trip, my son LOVED the zip line and the horseback riding. We also booked a chocolate tour in La Fortuna, and a naturalist-led tour of the rainforest in Manuel Antonio. All of the hotels were great, in perfect locations. I was a single mom traveling with my 9 year old son, and I felt safe the entire time. Thank you for setting everything up for us, it will be a trip we never forget :)

We have recently returned from two weeks in Costa Rica and we loved it!
From day one the communication with Randall was amazing. He got back to all of my messages within hours. His speed and kind way were really helpful. We booked the trip a few months ahead and Randall kept in touch with us leading up to it, a nice touch. 

When we arrived in Costa Rica, again everything was very well organised and Randall always kept us up to date with those couple of minor changes in flights or pick up... read more

We have recently returned from two weeks in Costa Rica and we loved it!
From day one the communication with Randall was amazing. He got back to all of my messages within hours. His speed and kind way were really helpful. We booked the trip a few months ahead and Randall kept in touch with us leading up to it, a nice touch. 

When we arrived in Costa Rica, again everything was very well organised and Randall always kept us up to date with those couple of minor changes in flights or pick up times we encountered. Nothing ever seemed an inconvenience for him and it was great to know I could message him if needed.

In terms of the holiday itself, the places we visited were beautiful. Cloud forest, jungle, Pacific and Atlantic coasts. Lots of animals and activities everywhere plus time to relax. The holiday really ticked all the boxes.

Costa Rica is a stunning country and the way of life there is something I have taken home with me.. Pura Vida!!

Costa Rica is a beautiful country with extremely welcoming and genuinely nice people. Overall we had a nice vacation in Costa Rica but mostly because we were able to roll with the things we found disappointing. We found that all the tours/adventures booked for us by Randall were excellent. The tour guides were extremely knowledgeable and the tours/adventures themselves were well executed. The guides were always on time and went out of their way to be welcoming.

The accommodations were from... read more

Costa Rica is a beautiful country with extremely welcoming and genuinely nice people. Overall we had a nice vacation in Costa Rica but mostly because we were able to roll with the things we found disappointing. We found that all the tours/adventures booked for us by Randall were excellent. The tour guides were extremely knowledgeable and the tours/adventures themselves were well executed. The guides were always on time and went out of their way to be welcoming.

The accommodations were from OK to terrible. The Country Inn in San Jose was fine. There was no real restaurant to have dinner at night. The casino next door that did have dinner, was not an appropriate place to have my young son visit.

The hotel in La Fortuna, was serviceable. We did not enjoy the bunkhouse feel of the room. Although the grounds were nice, the hotel room was just ok. Again, there was no restaurant for dinner and we had to walk to town in the dark when we arrived, not knowing where we were going.

Finally, the hotel in Puerto Viejo, the Cariblue, was terrible. Even though we switched rooms, the second room had roaches, had a shower that didn't drain well, curtains that didn't provide privacy and was generally built with old shoddy materials. It was really depressing. And although it had views of the ocean, they were across a busy road with loud motorcycles, construction trucks and other vehicles. It was very loud all night. We did call Coast to Coast about our disappointment, but nothing was done. We felt trapped and frustrated.

I have to say that in my dealings with Randall prior to our trip, I felt he tried very hard to meet our expectations for our trip. However, we obviously were not on the same page (with him or Kim Kim) regarding what I wanted for our vacation in terms of accommodations and beach feel. We expected to stay at much higher quality hotels, like at the Tabacon where we enjoyed the hot springs. And, the Caribbean side was not what I was looking for during the "beach" portion of our vacation. We found the Caribbean much more suited to the "surfer" crowd and was not appropriate for the family vacation we wanted. It was a real party scene and not the tranquil wide open beaches we were hoping to relax on. Most of our tour guides told us that that would be found on the Pacific side. We were really upset that we spent most of our time on the Caribbean. Also we also did not realize that we would be in a van for over 12 hours (at least 4 hours through a congested commercial area that was not very attractive) getting from one location to another. I wished that had been made clear.

In terms of our dealings with Coast to Coast in Costa Rica, I have mixed reviews. Our driver, Jose, was always on time, was very knowledgeable and stopped at restaurants he knew along the way for lunch/snacks. We really appreciated that. However, we did not enjoy being in his older, loud van for 8 hours. We also found him to be an aggressive driver and he seemed upset when we told him to be more careful. We also found him moody, especially after the trip back to San Jose, after we had complained about our hotel to Randall. This made for an unpleasant ride back.

I put the blame on Kim Kim, Coast to Coast and myself for not discerning or appropriately communicating what we were getting/asking for. You should let your customers know that you provide middle of the road accommodations for a middle market. I will not recommend any of your companies to my friends.

Debra Hernandez

Randall has been very responsible in tailoring our tour according to my request, with many back and forth. It’s been a great pleasure to work with him on putting the tour together.