Costa Rica: 11-Day Premier Adventure & Luxury Immersion

My friend and I recently completed this tour. It was our first visit to Costa Rica, and our first-ever trip with CharlieTheTraveler. It won't be our last! ... I can’t say enough good things about CharlietheTraveler (hereafter referred to as CTT for short). It started with a phone call from Charlie himself within 24 hours of putting down a deposit. Not sure he does that for every tour they book, but needless to say, we were like, wow, never expected that! Communication from the staff about every aspect of the upcoming trip from that point on was timely and detailed. One of the really nice aspects of CTT was being able to pick our own start date. Unlike many other tour companies which have pre-set dates for their tours, CTT is totally flexible. While I am retired, my travel companion still works, so she had specific dates for her vacation. No problem! Prior to departure, we received an extremely detailed daily itinerary which included descriptions of our activities that day, along with what times we would be picked up, the outfit picking us up, and even the driver and their WhatApp contact info. Included in the daily descriptions were estimated drive times and length of activities. These all turned out to be incredibly accurate! Additionally, we were provided with the contact info for a private, in-country concierge who would be accessible throughout our time in Costa Rica. She provided us with timely adjustments to a few pickup times, and quickly responded to us two different times when we had some questions or requests. She also arranged an alternative activity for us one day, as we did not want to do the standard CTT tour offering that afternoon. This tour itself was the perfect balance of daily outdoor activities, with adequate time each day to relax. On all but one day, we had evenings to do as we pleased, except for the day we did a night hike - we had the morning free on that one. All our hotels were 4.5-5 star facilities. Breakfast was included at all of them, and our daily tours typically included lunch (one time a breakfast, one time a dinner), so we only had to cover one meal each day. Costa Rica was simply wonderful. The tour was a nice mix of beach & mountain stays, as well as beach and mountain activities. We were constantly treated to new experiences. Highlights were horseback riding on the beach, a catamaran cruise with snorkeling and a gorgeous Pacific sunset, zip lining in the cloud forest, and rapeling alongside waterfalls in a mountain canyon. Although we are both quite active, I’m 71 and my companion is 66, so we had some reservations about those latter two. Turns out, we had a blast! The outfits that CTT scheduled to handle those activities were first class. We took several national park tours, one with hanging bridges (very cool), which provided us with some awesome opportunities to view wildlife, gorgeous waterfalls, and colorful birds. Being a serious hobbyist photographer, I’m glad I took my good camera and a telephoto zoom lens along. Got some great wildlife shots! Oh, and the coffee plantation tour was really nice and quite informative! I could go on, but this review is already WAY longer than I intended. But maybe that tells you something … We’re now big CharlietheTraveler fans, and we plan to do another trip with them at some point. We highly recommend you take a look at what CharlietheTraveler has to offer, wherever your travels may take you!

My BFF and I recently spent 12 days in Costa Rica. We followed the 9 day itinerary and added 2 extra days. Using Charlie the Traveler was the best decision we could have made regarding this trip. From our arrival pick up in Liberia airport to our departure drop off in San Jose airport, there was not one complaint or concern throughout our time in CR. The itinerary was well laid out and planned. We were able to see many of CR's beautiful lands- capes and topo- graphy. Beautiful beaches, volcanoes, waterfalls, rain/cloud forest, wild life, etc...We saw it all!! The coordinat- ion and planning of this trip by Charlie was perfect. We were able to enjoy our trip without any hassles, getting lost, standing in lines, or trying to figure out what to see or where to go. We were also given a 24 hr. on call concierge for any questions or concerns. Such peace of mind for navigating a foreign country. We were provided a full detailed itinerary that included what to wear or bring to an excursion and times to show up in lobby.. We cannot speak highly enough about Charlie the Traveler! We are definately going to book our next adventure through Charlie! If you are not a fan of planning a vacation on your own...try it out! You cannot beat the flexibility and ease of traveling when booking your vacation with Charlie! ~Jennifer and Janine

My journey with Charlie the Traveler was nothing short of remarkable, if you're seeking an adventure that is thoughtfully curated, filled with breathtaking moments, and led by a team that truly cares about your experience, Charlie the Traveler is the way to go. This trip has not only left me with unforgettable memories but also a deeper appreciation for the wonders of our world.

Hello Charlie, we are on Day 6 of our Costa Rica tour and just wanted to say...Wow! Every day has been a new and exciting adventure and Kateri and I are having a blast. You have chosen great hotels and daily tours. And we still have half the trip left to enjoy. We just contacted Sirleny to see if we could add in white water rafting on day 10 and even though it is 8 pm she responded in 30 seconds and said she would look into it and try to make it happen. Thats service! Wow!

We booked a Costa Rica tour with CharlieTheTraveler. The activities designed were great. The local tour guides they chose were all very professional. We had no hiccups and will be using CharlieTheTravel in the future.

CharlieTheTraveler set up an amazing experience in Costa Rica! Great food, people, and adventures! I had a blast tasting the fresh fruits and exploring the jungles and many waterfalls and seeing the natural wonders and animals of the variegated landscape. The lively nightlife of Tamarindo was vivacious! Good tunes and good people! The night hike in Monteverde’s cloud forest was crazy! Got to see so many critters and crawlers! The guides were eagle eyes! The waterfall rappelling in La Fortuna was incredible! Awesome getting to relax at the hot springs afterwards! Manuel Antonio was so lush and chill! The national park is beautiful and I fulfilled my sloth quota! The surfing school was rad; good teachers, muy divertido! Delicious ceviche! San Jose was very interesting! Big city with diamonds in the rough. The Pre-Colombian Gold Museum was unique and the Doka Estate coffee plantation was really informative! I had so much fun meeting a variety of folks from all over the world: travelers and guides alike all wanting to talk about what they’ve experienced in this wonderful país! Thanks so much!

Charlie put together a great trip itinerary but the execution of the plan had a lot to be desired. To start with, Charlie's team wanted us to have passports with expiration dates that were 6 months past our trip; Costa Rica has no such requirements. Other problems included: My wife and I ended up going on a horseback ride on a crowded beach vice the scenic one that was advertised; the catamaran operator did not pick us up at the listed rendezvous site; the listed departure time for our night walk was different from that of the tour operator so we had to leave our dinner to make the tour. To Charlie’s credit, he refunded us for the cost of the catamaran ride (and reportedly the horse ride although we haven't seen it yet) but it doesn’t make up for the lost opportunity. Consequently, I would not recommend taking this tour.

CharlieTheTraveler organized every part of my trip to Costa Rica. It was active and full of fun, just as I wanted. All went according to schedule. Definitely would recommend to my friends.

You exceeded our expactation with the overall package you offer. We were very happy about how good the plan worked out, how someone (you or sirleny) was always available in case of questions/requests, how all people were on time and were excellent in delivering the activities. All guides were friendly and hotels were nicely picked. 5 stars for that 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 We were also happy to have a couple of more days since the schedule is pretty busy

Would highly recommend this travel agency in the future, they gave an amazing tour that was highly organized.