Personalized trips to Costa Rica
for independent travelers

Serendipity gave me an itinerary that was responsive the needs for an intergenerational trip. I was planning for my children and their grandparents. I am used to doing everything on my own and it worked out great to work with pros in-country! the local advice was critical. When one is an outsider there is no way to distinguish who are the best service providers, guides, transfers, etc.

Serendipity booked us the most incredible MASTER guide in Monteverde who was greeted like a celebrity by the other guides. Without Bryan and his team's expertise we would have been rolling the dice. Serendipity also had access to hotels beyond the booking.com options which was critical when we were searching for lodging in peak Christmas season on the beach. Given that this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip, it is great to have a local who knows what is good and worth it, depending on the travelers' profile.

I know this when I play host in my favourite cities- guidebooks and reviews are not enough and the options are overwhelming.

in country we had available and super-responsive support via WhatsApp.

This was the first time in a long time I used a travel agent or Kim-Kim but it saved me hours of time and all of their recommendations and timings of the day were great recs and worked out well. When decisions you make from you laptop don't line up it can be a bummer on vacation. My parents were super impressed.

Kimkim put together a fantastic trip to visit the volcano, the cloud forest, and then the beach. We did not have to do a thing! The lodges they selected were terrific especially the Cloud Forest Lodge and the Lagarta Lodge in Nosara. The food at Cloud Forest Lodge was truly gourmet. It was wonderful to watch the bird life on the breakfast patio while eating delicious French toast. The highlights besides the accommodations were the wildlife opportunities. We booked on our own a zip line and hanging bridges experience at Treetopia which was great. We saw a group of howler monkeys: moms, babies, and males. A real highlight. At Nosara we went to the beach where the Olive Ridley turtles hatch one early morning. This was an unexpected treat and the highlight for our 9 year old grandson. It was a magical trip.
We opted out of a planned trip on our last day to take a boat to an island for snorkeling. The setting at Lagarta Lodge was just so spectacular that we did not want to leave that for our last day. Instead we swam in the beautiful infinity pools at the lodge, watched the coatis, and took a boat excursion up the river from the lodge. Kimkim agents Gustavo and Kate
kept in contact with us through the trip and we always felt like they were there to help us in any situation. I am very impressed with Kimkim after this trip. I accidentally found them while searching on the internet and will look into other trips with them in the future. Every meeting point was always met — we never had to wait or worry. Rather than take a group tour with another company this family tour for us worked very well. I highly recommend!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel Boutique Lagarta Lodge

Nosara

The views alone are worth it!! Also, set in a more quiet location from other beach resorts that I have heard about. This was our hope and Gustavo met it. Loved the different pools — none of which were ever crowded. The hotel could offer more options for shuttle rides into town. Somewhat limited but we never even went into town because the hotel was so great. Excellent service at meals — food was also very good. Lovely room — very quiet and private and wonderful view of the coast and the river. From this hotel we booked an excursion to see the baby sea turtles hatching. This was probably the highlight of the whole trip. I have always wanted to witness this phenomenon and for my grandson it was the crown jewel of the whole trip!! When possible this should be offered as part of the trip. Staff always friendly and helpful!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Peaceful and quiet setting; not surrounded by other developments

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Cloud Forest Lodge

Monteverde

Rooms were lovely with big outside deck overlooking the forest. Food was truly gourmet here. 5 star meals. Exceptional staff.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Montaña de Fuego Mountain Resort & Spa

La Fortuna

This hotel was nice, but the rooms were rather basic. Evidently we got a room upgrade for one of our rooms which worked well for our son and his family because it had two bedrooms. We, the grandparents, stayed in the more basic accommodation. The pool and warm springs were very nice. The night walk was a highlight.

Authenticity & Character

Location

La Fortuna is extremely crowded. Traffic is very bad. The hotel is a bit away from the town center so that was good.

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Private Isla Chora Private Boat & Snorkeling

Nosara

We opted not to do this trip. It was too early in the morning for us knowing we had to get up very early the next day for our departure. I also think this is not a necessary trip for this area. You can rent kayaks or take a boat up the river from the lodge which is fine rather than traveling over the bumpy roads to get to the snorkeling area.

Self-Guided Beach Day in Nosara

Nosara

We did the turtle excursion offered by the hotel which turned out to be the highlight of the trip!! We also hiked down to the beach which is a bit of a trek. We think the hotel should offer better means of accessing the beach — develop a better route and shuttle.

Quality of Experience

Self-Guided Day at the Monteverde Hummingbird Garden

Monteverde

We did not do this. Instead we opted to go to Treetopia and do both the zip lining and the hanging bridges. This was amazing!!

Self-Guided Visit to the Monteverde Butterfly Gardens

Monteverde

We did not do this.

Private: Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve Guided Hike

Monteverde

This was a good trek through the cloud forest. Our guide was exceptional! Very good and patient. We did not see too much but we enjoyed the experience. Tarantulas and millipedes!

Quality of Experience

Guide was very knowledgeable.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Arenal Volcano & 1968 Reserve Hike

Arenal/La Fortuna

A good overview of the volcano and surrounding area. Glad there was shade a lot of the way. Beautiful views and we were lucky with the weather.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide was good but seemed a bit preoccupied. Perhaps because there was some confusion about the trip. We were not aware that we would be going to hot springs and lunch after the hike. So we needed to get more gear before we headed out and that perhaps distracted him. Otherwise good information about the volcano. Sometimes repetitive.

Transport

Self-Guided Nature Walk in Ecological Park & Butterfly Garden Danaus

Arenal/La Fortuna

This was a nice first nature walk. We opted for a guide in training who was very good. The bird life was good. We saw one sloth and lots of butterflies. Otherwise not too much else. Are there other nature walks closer to the hotel that might offer a similar experience?

Quality of Experience

We have just came back from our Costa Rica adventure. We have contacted kimkim because last year they helped us plan an amazing New Zealand trip. We love traveling but taking 2 little kids makes it hard for me to plan by myself and kimkim always comes through! We also had my dad join us for this trip
So we looked for something fun for all ages, literally.
We had our specialist Elena and the whole team at Serendipity Adventures make sure everything goes as smoothly as it possibly can.
Starting with planning, Elena was always available for questions or comments and made sure I’m happy every step of the way. She modified our itinerary 10 times until I felt it was the right one, location and budget combined. We also had Nancy in charge of booking our adventures and had Adria text us a few days before we left the US to introduce himself and let us know he will be available for anything we need and he was!
For the actual trip, every tour we booked came to pick us up on time, there were no hiccups.
We started at Arenal with volcanoe views and the nicest ppl. The hanging bridge was our favorite tour there, it was amazing and we all enjoyed it so so much.
We also did a sloth tour and a coffee tour (that was amazing as well)
Then we drove to the beach in Guanacaste stopping at La Leona on the way, this track was hard but the waterfall was worth it.
We arrived at Guanacaste for 4 days of resting by the pool in a beautiful resort. We had 2 scuba diving planned which was also really fun.
All in all, we all loved Costa Rica. Thank you, Serendipity Adventures for an unforgettable experience!