Amazilia Travel

This trip was definitely an experience for sure... Sadly due to numerous factors, I cannot say that it was really the best experience or that it compared to my previous trips via KimKim. Yuliana was quick with getting our initial planning done but Im providing the lower rating I am this time for the reasons below.
As for Costa Rica itself, though still obviously quite a beautiful country, I think that it is pretty clear that large scale tourism is having some negative effects on things there somewhat. I was in Costa Rica for the first time in February 2025 for a shorter trip than this one that I also booked with KimKim and had such an incredible time then- my friend and I saw tons of animals and had a very nice balance of getting up early & going on hikes/etc. on some days as well as having some more chill days where we could get a little more sleep and relax. This year, despite being in the country for a longer time (almost twice as long) it was clearly much more expensive and crowded overall and we saw perhaps ~1/3 of the animals I did last year.
Additionally, the changes that took place regarding park entrances and needing to purchase tickets ahead of time was both something I was not aware of at all, nor told about by Yuliana, which in all honesty, was a pretty big goof/mistake for a company that I am literally paying to know such things and keep me informed of in my planning.
We started in the La Fortuna area and visited Baldi Hot Springs, Monte Verde Hanging Bridges, La Fortuna waterfall and El Silencio. I had mentioned that I went to the hot springs last year but our time there had been cut short due to the number of other passengers that needed picked up/dropped off and I made clear that this time I really wanted to spend more time there and hoped that would not happen again. I actually also added that we were wanting to get a massage at the spa potentially too but was told that we would need to book that ourselves and get our own transportation back to our hotel, which we wound up doing. Not a huge expense but, in our itinerary it stated that we had prepaid for entrance, dinner, a locker, and towels at Baldi. When we got there we had to pay for our locker and were told that this was incorrect so we essentially paid for transport we didn't use and paid twice for our locker.
We spent several days near Manuel Antonio park and were, quite sadly, unable to go into the park at all due to the entry changes since last year. Visiting the park was the entire reason for us being in that area. I had so hoped and wanted to bring my husband there, as it was my favorite park from my previous visit. This trip was to celebrate his 50th birthday and I wanted it to be special and knew he would love it (ironically we were in CR for my 43rd birthday and not on his, as we opted to travel before his birthday to avoid the rainy season). We would have much preferred skipping this area entirely had we known that we would not be able to enter the park, especially as our hotel was a 30 minute drive to the beach or any other activities in the area and we did not have our own vehicle so subsequently spent a ton of money on ubers/taxis while we were there too and all for a much more mediocre experience then last year or then we had hoped/anticipated. What's even sadder in my opinion, especially for native Costa Ricans, is that they must also purchase tickets ahead of time for park entry and, from what everyone there I spoke to was saying, it seems that the tour companies scoop up pretty much all of the tickets so that they can then books tours that cost 80-150 USD/person and prevent most people from being able to easily or successfully buy their own, much cheaper, self guided entrance tickets.
Being that we were feeling discouraged and wanted to make the best of it, we spent a while searching for and attempting to find other experiences in the area to do while there which, again, it was a holiday week and very busy so there weren't many options. If we had known ahead of time that our situation would be what it was, even if we could not have gotten in to Manuel Antonio, we could have planned much better and it would have been easier to secure tickets for something else. After many attempts, we finally did get tickets for a night jungle tour and that experience turned out to be a total nightmare (I have already addressed this with the involved companies and this was not something booked via kimkim but I am including for others to be aware of). The tour offered to pick people up at certain hotels only and ours was not one of them because we were pretty far from everything. Alternatively it said you could arrive at the meeting point for the tour if you had your own transportation. We paid for an uber to go to the meeting spot... A remote place at sunset... And NOBODY showed up. I attempted to call and then text the number on our tickets and, not until 15 minutes after me trying to reach someone, did we received a message that our tickets had been cancelled as the tour was full. At this point it was dark and we were unable to get any transportation back to our hotel. There were some sketchy dogs nearby that were clearly not happy with us being there as well as some locals that were clearly giggling at the stupid gringos being somewhere they don't belong. We proceeded to walk the 2.5 miles back to our hotel which included walking next to a highway with no sidewalk and needing to jump off the road when cars were coming. Thankfully we made it back OK but this situation could have been EXTREMELY DANGEROUS, especially if it were to happen to a young solo female traveler, older travelers, etc. We were refunded for the tour and our uber as well as offered a different tour for free by this company. I stressed how if they are unable to process online tickets correctly that they should not be selling them in the first place and pointed out the potential dangers and liability issues with this whole situation as being the most important take away as I don't want anyone getting hurt in the future... The company owner was very nice and was extremely sorry/horrifies that this had happened + vowed to no longer use the booking platform "Get Your Guide," as he stated that the tour had been full for weeks already prior to us buying our tickets and he had no clue why they allowed them to be purchased when we got them in the first place. All in all just another example of how over tourism moving too quickly can cause problems.
Moving on to our final location in our itinerary, the Oso peninsula. We knew we would be taking a boat to get there but did not realize that this would be a fairly small motor boat that we would be taking out in to an area with fairly big waves, nor did we realize that there would be no boat dock when we arrived. It was a full moon/king tide and the waves were large enough that the boat crew was quite clearly debating if passage would be safe enough or not, as they had to make several passes prior to making it over the wave breaks to get to the bay. When we were finally dropped off at pur destination I was horrified! The boat almost capsized repeatedly and at 1 point was ~80% on its nose. There were 2 people trying to stabilize the boat in the rear as the boat was backed up close to the beach and at one point a wave came and knocked one of them backwards in the water + I was truly afraid that the boat was going to crush him. Add on to all of this that I had unfortunately injured my back a month ago and was on the mend but the extreme jostling around so much in the boat resulted in my back issues flaring up again. The communication from the boat crew was very poor, basically no existent. Initially everyone thought they were getting off the boat at the same location, so all the bags were offloaded and all passengers started to get off to then have some people and their bags need to get back on the boat, the whole while with the waves making ot fairly treacherous. It was extremely chaotic and I was quite shocked to know that this is something that happens there regularly and that it had not inspired adding a dock yet
When we were greeted by the hotel staff they had 2 drinks waiting for us and proceeded to tell us that we needed to be awake and ready to go see the park/meet up the following morning (my birthday) at 540am... I was less than thrilled. We had been getting very little sleep the entire trip already and were exhausted. We got up, thinking that we were already in the park and would just be driving somewhere nearby, we found out that we had to get back on a boat again and deal with being jostled around... again (thankfully it was not quite as bad as the first trip but still was not the best way to wake up at all).
That night the hotel staff said that they had made me a birthday drink and gave me a mojito with dinner. When we checked out of the hotel the following day I was charged for 3 drinks despite me never actually ordering any of them and the staff just presenting us with them, which I thought seemed rather petty/distasteful. I will say that the hotel staff were all extremely friendly and kind and the hotel itself was at least beautiful.
We were brought to the small airport nearby that would be flying us back to San Jose when we left the hotel the following day and we were brought there 2 hours before our flight. The airport was empty/there was no security and clearly only very small planes use it, so we proceeded to just sit there wishing we could have spent a bit more time enjoying the beach before leaving instead, as arriving so early seemed very unnecessary.
As for the rest of the trip, in La Fortuna our guide for the waterfall and for the Monte Verde hanging bridges, Monica, was very personable, knowledgeable and pleasant. It was extremely busy at both locations though so we didn't see a ton of wildlife and it felt like people were being rushed through in repeat guided tour groups at the hanging bridges. It was beautiful and would have been nice to have more time to absorb it all.
In all honesty, after having a guided tour once at any of these places, it would really be better in my opinion, to just go through them on your own afterwards/for any subsequent visits. All of the parks are pretty easy to navigate and you can go at your own pace that way + avoid any large crowds/tour groups, therefore giving you a much better chance to see more things, as the animals clearly are less inclined to venture near a ton of people. That said, with the new rules on park entry Im not sure how easy this will be moving forward unfortunately.
We also went on a hike at El Silencio preserve, which I didn't realize until we got there was the same place/hike that I had already gone on last year. The tour guide (I unfortunately don't remember his name) was nice and also knowledgeable but, I probably would have skipped this and opted for a something different this trip having already done it once before, as it didn't add much more this time then it had during my initial experience.
Lastly was our hike in Corcovado, which is a very beautiful area that I wish we had spent more time in (and especially instead of being 30 minutes away from Manuel Antonio and the beach the days we were there). The guide was nice (I unfortunately don't remember his name either) and we had a good group of fellow travelers with us but my back was pretty sore from the boat ride, we were exhausted from lack of sleep and I was cranky having to meet so early in the morning, especially on my birthday, which all detracted from the experience. I don't feel personally that I gained a ton from the guided tour other than him pointing out puma tracks at one point that I probably would have overlooked. I think that this tour world have been every bit as good (better really) if it didn't require meeting at 540am and I don't see how having it so early was a benefit in any way at all.
If I ever return to Costa Rica again, which I can say is a very big if at this point, I would skip all guided tours and would probably stay only in the Corcovado area as it is the least developed and crowded and was also extremely beautiful. We didn't realize until after our guided tour that there was actually a park trail within walking distance of our hotel, which would have been nice to know. We briefly got to walk a short way on it before leaving but would have loved to spend more time exploring on our own if we had the opportunity.

Yuliana did an excellent job transforming our wishes and expectations for our Costa Rica trip into great activities and hotels. All her recommendations were spot on and overall we had a wonderful experience.

Hotel Reviews

Corcovado Wilderness Lodge by SCP

Drake Bay

Staying in this resort is an incredible experience on its own merit. It is located next to the national park. You cannot reach it unless by boat. We took a private road trip to the port near Sierpe and from there a met the hotel team. Then a beautiful river ride (2h stopping along to observe animals) and final ocean ride to hotel beach (30m). On the way back we took a 30m boat ride to Drake bay and 30m to the Drake airport back to San Jose to our international flight same day. All of it organized by the hotel, impeccable planning and execution. The hotel borders the national park and has beautiful beaches of its own. There are many nature and eco activities to be done here. There are 2 restaurants all great, one with stunning view of the pacific. We had a regular bungalow and was excellent. Thank you LUIZ at the restaurant for tables with beautiful views and MARISA and SOL at front desk and coordination of everything including our perfect return trip. In this resort everyone of their staff is focused on a delightful and awesome experience for all their guests.

Authenticity & Character

Beautiful, we had birds and other animals

Location

Tremendous location with beach, forest, animals

Staff

Top experience

Cleanliness & Comfort

Good performance. We had a minor issue and informed the management, who was receptive to fixing this.

Hotel La Mariposa

Manuel Antonio

The views from the top of the hill down to the ocean are stunning. Very good restaurant and pool with same great views. Front desk staff not as friendly (not even a smile upon arrival) as we learned to expect in Costa Rica, including a discussion due to a disappointing lack of room cleaning on the first day (had to call at 3:30pm to clean room, though we had been out of it since 7:00am on our activity). The restaurant staff was great, thank you to JOHN and MAGALY for getting us an awesome view table twice. The hotel is relatively far from the beautiful beach below, hotel offers rides 4x/daily (walking is 25min down and 40min up if you are fit - which is what we did - also taxi is $10).

Authenticity & Character

Good layout, with great views from everywhere

Location

Stunning views

Staff

Restaurant staff great, front-desk staff lacking manners and customer orientation

Cleanliness & Comfort

Somehow they missed cleaning our room first day, but otherwise OK

Lomas del Volcán

Fortuna

A beautiful bungalow hotel located within its own park, with jacuzzi overlooking the forest/mountain. Plenty of animals around the wonderfully manicured gardens. Very good food and drink options. Quiet, and isolated from the town. Great pool. GIORGIOLINA at the front desk was wonderful, providing us with the mountain view bungalow we thought we were getting (but some miscommunication between the travel agent and the hotel prevented us to have that on first night). Spending time here was a blessing immersion into the Arenal park forest setting.

Authenticity & Character

Though a modern facility, the bungalows are immersed into the park

Location

Within its own incredible forest park.

Staff

Competent and very friendly front desk

Cleanliness & Comfort

Excellent facilities

Cariblue Beach & Jungle Resort

South Puerto Viejo

Great resort, across the street from the beautiful beach. Pool opened 24h with a good happy hour. They have a restaurant right on the beach, we had dinner there everyday given the beautiful view and atmosphere. Water filters conveniently placed around the property. Competent staff and friendly front desk. Beautiful forest/garden setting embedded around the rooms.

Authenticity & Character

Beautiful garden everywhere, with ancient trees

Location

Across the street from the beautiful beach

Staff

Competent

Cleanliness & Comfort

Very good

Valverde Glamping & Ecolodge

The location of the Valverde is excellent, with beautiful river views, including from the open dining room. Our bedroom was better than a glamping experience, as we had a hotel style room with a very large bathroom and AC. What made the greatest difference was the awesome staff attention to details and extreme friendliness. We felt truly welcome. Thank you to manager RONNY and restaurant team and captain JASON. This hotel offer guided trips to the park multiple times of day, with their own boat, super convenient. This was a simple hotel but had an interesting character being directly on the river and a great attentive staff.

Authenticity & Character

In the middle of the jungle

Location

Great river views, including animals, open dining room to the river

Staff

Super friendly and attentive!

Cleanliness & Comfort

A simple but very competent hotel experience

Activity Reviews

Isla del Caño Snorkeling Tour

Costa Rica

This tour was programmed by our Corcovado Wilderness Lodge and it was better than expected. RALPH was our lead along with STEPHEN captain. On the way to the island, the captain spotted a number of boats circling and he promptly headed a bit out of our way to check it out. What a great decision, because we came to a female humpback whale and her calf playing around. SUPER! The snorkel was great, we saw 3 species of turtles, a giant manta-ray (another further out excursion from the snorkel site, AWESOME!) and innumerous fishes. The water is not the most clear, but good enough. There were many boats around, including divers below, so we followed our leader around to avoid them. Still a great experience and included short stop at the island.

Quality of Experience

Whale, Manta-ray, multiple turtle species made this a top excursion

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Great guide and captain

Transport

The resort has dedicated boats that anchor right off the secluded beach

San Pedrillo Ranger Station Guided Hike

Costa Rica

This tour was programmed by our hotel Corcovado Wildness Lodge, and it was great. TIDI was a great guide. We hiked through the jungle and along beaches and along the beach. Many animals and birds around and a very beautiful forest and coast. Unfortunately we did not get to the waterfall because some members of the group became tired.

Quality of Experience

Just gorgeous forest and coast

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Great guide

Transport

We walked from the lodge

Manuel Antonio National Park Guided Hike

Costa Rica

This was hosted by Tucane Tours. The guide was just average, based on our previous guides, but we did get to see some birds and monkeys and sloth. This park is very beautiful, lush forest and breathtaking ocean side, with an isthmus connecting two wonderful beaches. At the end of the regular tour we decided to stay behind at the park (optional) and hiked the trail at the end of the beaches

Quality of Experience

Beautiful park and beaches

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Río Celeste & Tenorio Volcano Rainforest Hike with Lunch

Arenal/La Fortuna

This trip was hosted by North Adventures again and it was excellent. Our guide BYRON was very knowledgeable and attentive. We were luckily the only ones on this activity, so it was perfect logistics. This visit is an amazing display of nature, when 2 rivers meet and due to the drastic Ph change causes Alumina Silicate particles to expand and thus reflect blue light. We did also hike through the Tenorio volcano park and saw many birds and animals. This was an incredible tour, and though far from La Fortuna, it is definitely worth it.

Quality of Experience

Unique experience in the world

Food

Better than the usual Costa Rica fare

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Great

Transport

Just us, so lots of flexibility

San Jose - Tortuguero

Costa Rica

NOTE: This rating is based on all the transports we had by Exploradores Outdoors, not just this one. On this trip there were 2 parts, the first bringing us from S. Jose to their bus hub, not very eventful, as leader Roberto could not even muster a "good morning" at pick-up, and spent most of the time on his phone, with some occasional comment where we are and making jokes at the expense of clients. After a basic lunch, taking us from the hub to the port where we joined a boat to our final destination, we were led by CARLA. She was very entertaining and provided a lot of useful and insightful information about banana growing and harvest. The boat trip was good, passing through the beautiful jungle. It was not guided, just transport. This poor rating is based on further issues we experienced with Exploradores Outdoors: they overcrowded the buses (not a small group as advertised, but packed us like sardines with 20+ people), so needless to say it took forever for each guest to be delivered to their hotel. In one case we arrived 3.5 hours later than the estimated time.

Quality of Experience

Too many people on the bus (20+)

Food

Lunch was OK

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Clearly one guide (Carla) better than the other

Transport

Overcrowding, delays going around their hub, unloading/re-loading luggage, too many deliveries causing the time to arrive at destination to explode

El Silencio Trails & Mistico Hanging Bridges

Arenal/La Fortuna

This was a double tour from North Adventures. First we hiked in the Arenal volcano park, great tour with the very experienced Marlon guide. Identified sloths and many birds. The park setting is very beautiful with forests and mountains. Second we went to the Mistico park site with the exciting hanging bridges. Here again our very experience guide Marlon identified many birds and animals, as we hiked through the forest. We were lucky that the volcano was clear of clouds so we had a picture perfect experience with the mountain.

Quality of Experience

Beautiful parks

Food

Basic Costa Rican options

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Great experienced guide

Transport

Pick up and return on schedule and limited to 6

EcoTermales Hot Springs Experience with Meal

Arenal/La Fortuna

We wanted to experience the hot springs and booked this event in the evening. The food buffet was very extensive. We were lucky to have a driver to ourselves, as we chose to leave earlier than scheduled. Maybe a daily event would have been better for us, so we could see more. But it was great to relax in the hot pools after a long journey.

Quality of Experience

Hot springs are nice but not amazing

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Good driver, on time

Transport

Private so we had flexible time to go back to hotel

Guided Hike in Cahuita National Park

Puerto Viejo de Talamanca

This is a very beautiful park. The tour was excellent, we saw many birds (too many to list) and animals (sloth, snake, monkeys). Our guide was great and even ventured on beautiful locations before entering the park that where remarkable. We hiked all the way to the tip and spend there another 30min swimming.

Quality of Experience

Great park and animals

Food

Basic Costa Rican options for lunch

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Excellent guide

Transport

We were picked up (group of 6) and delivered to guide on a timely basis

Enjoy the Beauty of Tortuguero National Park

Tortuguero

This tour (or better, multiple tours) are arranged by our Valverde Lodge, with their own boat and hired guide. Ronny was great at managing everything and captain Jason and guide Jairo. This made the Valverde location a great choice, as it was very convenient to join to join early tours. The hotel also offered regular trips (5min) to the Tortuguero town, as we were down the river. We felt great being in a quiet place with river views, but also able to join the lively town as we wanted. In the tour we saw a lot of birds (too many to list) and other animals, including 2 types of monkeys, sloths and cayman.

Quality of Experience

Many animals

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Very good

Transport

Lodge private boat restricted to people of the hotel

This trip was memorable for the beauty of the country of Costa Rica. It's amazing landscape and beauty married with the hospitality of the local people is unparallel. We loved the country and were lucky to take in some amazing experiences!

The Kimkim team provided us some guidance. However, there were some gaps in the information provided and the accuracy of the descriptions. There was clearly some miscommunication with the logistics of that were provided to us and what we experienced. We had to adjust according to what we experienced and manage to the best of our abilities. However, we did not let that stop us from enjoying a great vacation.

Hotel Reviews

Borinquen Thermal Resort

Guanacaste

This was an amazing hotel. Our entire family loved the overall experience and wished we had more time to spend here!

Authenticity & Character

Nature was everywhere!

Location

It was secluded in nature and we loved it!

Staff

Always with a smile!

Cleanliness & Comfort

The entire experience was squeaky clean and amazing!

Hotel Vista del Cerro

La Fortuna

This is a very basic hotel. It was clean and the outsides were beautiful and very close to nature. However, it is just off the main road and very loud. The property is dated. There was a very limited breakfast on offer that was poor! We ended up avoiding the associated restaurant.

Authenticity & Character

The description of the accommodation was misleading. This is not 3-star.

Location

This property needs updating. There were pieces of trimmings that were falling off parts of the room. It should be accurately described as being on the main road so people can accurately make a decision to stay.

Staff

They were pleasant.

Cleanliness & Comfort

The room was clean albeit with no other amenities like soap or shampoo.

Activity Reviews

La Leona Waterfall Hike

Rincón de la Vieja

Having never gone cliff diving, I completed one off the bucket list. The whole family would definitely do it again.

Quality of Experience

Every bit of this experience was magical. In 3 hours, you do so much you get your money worth of living!!!

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide was a professional cliff diver. He was patient, polite and very knowledgeable.

Transport

This back-of-the-truck experience added to the rugged terrain. Was worth it.

Arenal Hanging Bridges Walk

Arenal/La Fortuna

This activity was so close to nature! Everyone enjoyed the leisurely walking pace and the heights of the bridges. Would definitely recommend!

Quality of Experience

Very knowledgeable and patient guides make the overall experience worth it.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide was really well trained and it showed.

Arenal Volcano Extreme Zipline

Arenal/La Fortuna

The ziplining part was truly breath taking. However, there was a very clear line of misunderstanding about what was happening and when. We were given a different itinerary from the travel agent and one at the front desk. I understand things may change. However, with small children a scheduling heads up might have helped in allowing us to better prepare what we should carry with us in terms of food and water.

Quality of Experience

Ziplining is truly breathtaking. Just make sure to prepare logistics well.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Every one was professional.

Transport

Was professional.

Olman at KimKim did an excellent job in planning our family spring break to Costa Rica. When we were landing extra early and due to preferences, he reversed the itinerary happily and with no issues. Selvatura Park with hanging bridges, zip line and the tarzan swing was a blast. Such a great choice for us! Two day white water rafting with an overnight on the river side was amazing! We did so much to mention but had a wonderful trip and it was so well planned by Olman at KimKim. I have tried to plan my own vacation and uncertainty and procrastination led me to not
completing. Will use KimKim for all our future trips! Already thinking about Portugal for Spring Break 2027. Definitely leaving to the experts to plan all my future travel!

Hotel Reviews

Hilton Garden Inn, La Sabana

San José

Nice hotel but only gave us two bath towels when booked for three people. Could not get anyone to answer the phone for an extra towel. Gym was really good.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Pacuare River Lodge

Bajo Tigre

Loved the complete disconnection. This is camping … no electricity, no wifi and no hot water which was all good but wish we knew this in advance to set our expectations. Best sleep listening to the river.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Arenal Paraíso Resort, Spa & Hot Springs

La Fortuna

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

El Establo Mountain Hotel

Monteverde

Excellent gym - comfortable beds / room and the breakfast was amazing. Very large hotel campus on steep mountain so you cannot get around unless you order a shuttle. It is open air - open windows as it’s very cool in Monteverde. Due to that you do hear other guests as they walk in the hall … Really enjoyed but it was a bit too big of a hotel campus for me.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rooms were really nice and spacious bathrooms.

Activity Reviews

Day 1 Rafting Trip on Rio Pacuare - Pacuare River Lodge

Costa Rica

Amazing experience and our guides were amazing cooks…. best food we ate during our vacation

Quality of Experience

Food

Best food we had during our week trip

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

EcoTermales Hot Springs Experience with Meal

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Selvatura Park Self-Guided Hanging Bridges & Zip Lining

Monteverde

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport