Serendipity Adventures

Every aspect of the trip from planning before we left to all of the details during the trip were extremely well managed.

Hotel Review

Tabacón Thermal Resort & Spa

Fortuna

The Tabacón Thermal Resort & Spa was absolutely incredible. The setting is stunning with beautiful rivers running through and excellent amenities. The service was top-notch, making our stay truly memorable.

Activity Review

Local Flavors Cooking Class

Costa Rica

The Local Flavors Cooking Class was excellent. What made it outstanding was the interaction with two students who were training in the travel and tourism industry. It was a wonderful opportunity to engage with locals and see a different side of Costa Rica beyond the usual tourist experiences.

Loved the trip! Will definitely be using Kimkim for future adventures!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel La Mariposa

Manuel Antonio

Hotel was incredible and rooms were stunning!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Arenal Springs Resort

La Fortuna

We loved this hotel! Only downside was the construction, which we understood due to us traveling in the off season. Would have appreciated more dinning options, although, again, construction.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Manuel Antonio National Park Guided Nature Hike

Manuel Antonio

Our guide was incredible and saw so many animals, as well as enjoyed the beach and swimming!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Catamaran Tour with Meal

Costa Rica

Loved the animals we saw and the entire experience

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Night Excursion in Rainforest and Wild Frog Sanctuary

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Arenal Volcano Hike & La Fortuna Waterfall

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Deep Tissue Massage at Arenal Springs Spa

Arenal/La Fortuna

Visit to Maleku Indigenous Reserve

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

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The surest way to ruin (a) paradise is to advertise it. I’m tempted to keep the secret and hope that nothing changes. However, I will let the cat out of the bag because that is what the residents of San Gerardo de Dota, Costa Rica want. They made a conscious decision to forgo land clearing agriculture and to earn their living by providing high quality eco-tourism experiences.

This family trip was literally thrown together in two weeks and we lucked into a Costa Rica travel agency (Serendipity Adventures) that took care of everything except our flights.

What is paradise? Different people have different preferences but the my family believes in escaping Texas heat in August. But, doesn’t it get hotter further South? Probably but not if you are in the mountains of Central America.

I was looking at the better-known Monteverde cloud forest region NW of San Jose but Serendipity encouraged San Gerardo de Dota which is about the same distance but SE of the capitol.

My only issue was traffic in and around San Jose. We arrived on a Saturday and a 2 ½ hr drive turned into over 4 hours because San Jose was a parking lot and we have to go cross town from the airport. Our driver explained that people can drive on alternating days based on license plate numbers but no restrictions on Saturday when everyone gets in their car and becomes part or a city-wide parking lot. One we cleared the twin cities of San Jose and Cartago we found smooth sailing on the Pan American Hwy. The Pan Am had very fresh smooth asphalt (if I were driving I would want my Porsche). What the two-lane Pan Am lacks is consistent striping, shoulder, guard rails or passing lanes. If you leave the road there are three possibilities: 1) hit a ditch and roll over, 2) hit something hard like a very big tree; or 3) drop 2,000 feet and maybe the forest canopy below might slow your descent. No worries, we were in the care of a local driver. Getting back on a weekday was one hour faster but there were still massive traffic jams in San Jose. Tip, don’t fly on Saturday in or out of San Jose.

The road to San Gerardo de Dota and the Savegre Hotel and Narutal Reserve & Spa departs the Pam Am at 9.800 ft elevation and follows the narrow Savegre river. The resort is 6 miles below at about 7.200 ft, and about a mile above Savegre Falls. The road is about 50% paved and full of hairpin turns,,,but I wasn’t driving. There are about ½ dozen resorts and some Air B&B’s in the valley. Savegre Hotel is the oldest but also very modern, completely equipped i.e. great Wi Fi, Thursday night football in the bar, a spa, guided or self-guided tours through a private reserve, excellent staff, comfortable accommodations and so forth. Very good menu.

Tip. Don’t rent a car. Let a local drive.

You can read the Hotel Savegre backstory several places on the Internet. A condensed version is that the valley was undiscovered until the mid-1950’s. No evidence of prior human occupation. The first settlers cleared land for cattle, then a professor came along and said, why don’t you throw trout into the (fish free) river and Canadians will fly down here to pay to catch them. Later on the locals were encouraged to give up on cattle and take up hospitality. Within 30 years the cleared land regenerated back to forest.

So what is there to do: eat, relax, drink, hike, hike, hike, night hikes and go birding. I have never been a dedicated birder but, I knew where I was going so I bought a new super tele camera for the occasion. That was a good decision.

We spent two days hiking and birding, include a night hike with Raul Chacon who is the best nature guide that I have met and that is saying a lot. Excellent English, extremely well educated and knowledgeable and passionate without being overbearing in the least. He finally admitted that his grandfather and great uncle discovered the valley and established the community and resort. Raul has been finding Quetzals, Motted Owls and 49 varieties of Hummers for his whole life except when he was away at school.

So what to do in 4 ½ days? A couple of hikes above 10,000’ (epiphany, no acclimation issues because there is more oxygen at altitude compared to the Rocky Mountains further north), a hell of a lot of pretty birds to photograph, hikes to waterfalls, a trip to a coffee plantation, the most challenging horseback ride that I have been on, learning all about cloud forests, the local economy and people, and making plans for a return visit to Costa Rica at some point.

Hotel Review

Savegre Hotel Natural Reserve & Spa

Páramo

Given the remote location it exceeded expectations

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Highland Bird and Paramo Tour at Hotel Savegre

San Gerardo de Dota

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Birdwatching and Natural History at Hotel Savegre

San Gerardo de Dota

Raul Chacon is excellent guide

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

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Night Tour at Hotel Savegre

San Gerardo de Dota

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

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Full Day Guided Hike at Hotel Savegre

San Gerardo de Dota

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

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Coopedota Coffee Tour

San Gerardo de Dota

Coffee tour was fine but too much travel to and from Hotel Savegre.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

My daughter joined my wife and I on our Costa Rica trip. Our trip planners, Holden and Serendipity Adventures tailored our visit to accommodate our special needs and schedule. We landed in San Jose and stayed at a hotel within a mile of the airport. Next day, Alex picked us up at the hotel for our trip to the Arenal Volcano area. Alex was much more than a van driver. He is an encyclopedia for Costa Rica! He gave us interesting facts about each small town we traveled through, pointed out interesting flora and fauna, and took us to his favorite Soda for an excellent Cost Rican lunch.
Our hotel, the Arenal Springs Resort, is a full service resort with multiple restaurants, swimming pools and excellent service. Our favorite restaurant was the swim-up in the hot springs swimming pool! The only negative for the hotel was its size. Our rooms were far from the central area and, since we had trouble walking, we needed to call for a ride every time we needed to do something. The rides arrived quickly, but were a little inconvenient.
From our hotel, Serendipity took us to a jungle walk, a river rafting trip (no rapids), and a coffee/chocolate tour. Lots of great photos and we are now experts on coffee and chocolate!
After 4 nights in Arenal, we journeyed to Monteverde, and the Cloud Forest Lodge, Our trip began with a short trip through the jungle to Lake Arenal, where we and our luggage boarded a boat for a sail across the lake to a landing about 45 minutes away. Our van was then loaded up and we learned about some of Costa Rica's very poor roads! 3 1/2 hours of pot holes, with a few newly paved sections to give us some hope! Next time we visit we hope that paving will be completed!
We only had 2 nights scheduled for the Cloud Forest Lodge, which was unfortunate. We could have stayed there much longer! The hotel is an eco-friendly facility with no TV, no pools, and no noise! Yes, you can hear birds singing and some animal calls from the jungle, and occasional thunder, but nothing else. We had never experience such an atmosphere and I thought I might get bored, but it was a wonderful experience. Thanks to Holden and Serendipity for finding this unique destination. Next time, we will spend a week at that lodge.
More kudos: My wife is gluten intolerant and when we had lunch that afternoon on the balcony overlooking the jungle, we informed the waiter of that. Her lunch was excellent and gluten free. When we went to dinners, lunches, and breakfasts thereafter, all the wait staff knew of her gluten intolerance and were careful to serve her only gluten-free dishes. Even the amuse bouche was separately prepared for her at the dinners. We have eaten at many Michelin-stared restaurants without that level of attention.
Our best tour of the week began the next day, a bird watching adventure in the cloud forest. Our guide, Andres (Andy), was an internationally recognized naturalist who is an incredible source of knowledge of birds, animals, trees, etc!

We had an absolutely incredible trip to Costa Rica and it would not have been possible without the amazing team at Serendipity Adventures. From the very start, everything was thoughtfully planned, well-organized, and tailored to our family’s needs.

Holden, Wilman and the team were a joy to work with. Always responsive, friendly and professional. Every transfer, tour and accommodation was seamless and we felt supported at every step of our journey. The attention to detail made all the difference, allowing us to relax and enjoy Costa Rica’s beauty without any stress.

The experiences they arranged, from exploring rainforests at night to white water rafting, were unforgettable. It was clear how much care and passion went into crafting our itinerary.

Thank you, Serendipity Adventures, for the trip of a lifetime. We couldn’t recommend your team more highly to anyone considering a trip to Costa Rica.

Pura vida!

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

Hotel Reviews

Hotel La Mariposa

Manuel Antonio

Authenticity & Character

Location

overlooking the water and the park with beautiful views

Staff

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

Cleanliness & Comfort

Arenal Springs Resort

La Fortuna

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cloud Forest Lodge

Monteverde

Authenticity & Character

Location

incredible views and very secluded in nature

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Whitewater Rafting Sarapiqui River (Class III-IV)

Costa Rica

Lots of fun for family with older kids

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

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Arenal Volcano Hike & La Fortuna Waterfall

Arenal/La Fortuna

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

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

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Night Walk at Children's Eternal Forest

Monteverde

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

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

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

Transport

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

Costa Rica

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

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport