We went on a "groupon vacation" hosted by Ecoterra. The trip was incredible. The price was incredibly affordable considering we stayed for an entire week and traveled all over the country. We wouldn't have had to spend a dime out of pocket if we didn't drink alcohol or add a couple of extra excursions on. Particularly enjoyed not having to drive anywhere with free wifi in every van! We were editing our pictures on the go or reading a book.
Day 1: Arrived in San Jose, only hiccup in our entire adventure was being picked up from the airport. Be ready to be accosted by cabbies asking if you need a ride! We called ecoterra and a van was there to get us within 20 mins. Wouldn't recommend sticking around in San Jose, but I don't like cities. 4 star lodging at Park in by Radisson
Day 2-3: Traveled from San Jose to Laguna Lodge in Tortuguero. Saw baby and adult sea turtles (hatching/laying eggs). Took 2 boat trips into the canals of Parque Nacional Tortuguero where we saw too much wildlife and fauna to name. Visited the small town. The guide was incredibly knowledgeable and entertaining. Note: there was no air conditioning, and there is no swimming or walking the beaches at night, its an hour boat ride to the remote jungle coast where there are plentiful crocs, cayman, sharks, and jaguar. Still had a great time, its a nature adventure paradise bring your zoom lense.
Day 4-6: Traveled from Laguna Lodge to Casa Luna Hotel in San Carlos (Arenal Volcano View). Went zip lining, hiked down to the waterfall and swam, visited the volcanic hot springs, hiked to the base of Arenal, had a fantastic couples massage with a open air jungle backdrop, did a night time tour of Casa Mendez's beautiful grounds, and visited Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges.
Day 7: Traveled from Casa Luna to Hotel La Riviera in Belen. The room was meh, the grounds and restaurant were fantastic, particularly the...
Read moreGreat and very professional tour company. We travelled from California for the first time to Costa Rica and had a great time thanks to Ecoterra. We took many of their tours and all of their guides were very knowledgeable. Our tour guides were Julio, Jason, Gilbert, And Brandon, and they were great. In almost every tour they provided an amazingly delicious and authentic food. They would take a telescope with them on the tours so we can observe the sloth's, snakes, birds, and butterflies with a better view. I strongly recommend the hanging bridges tours although it is also a park one can enjoy on your own although not with great explanations as is done by Ecoterra. But if your on a budget its something you can do on your own. The tour you should definitely take with them is the Hule Valconic Lagoon as it was an amazing experience. You go in the water although it is freezing. You see the top of the volcano which is now a lagoon from an amazing view. We saw like three snakes on our trip but they were all harmless and our guides would grab them with no fear to show us. We saw amazing butterflies the size of your hand. We were taken to a ladies house who had amazingly delicious and authentic food as there was Latino music playing in the background. I also recommend the Rio Celeste tour although you can also do that one your own as the trails are pretty easy for self guiding. But it is a must do because the water is absolutely stunning to see. We also did the eternal forest of the children I think it was called and that was also a beautiful experience. You have do that one through them and we saw tons of natural life. Thank you Ecoterra for a great trip and thank you Jason, Gilbert, Brandon and Julio for a...
Read moreWe really do not recommend Ecoterra. My husband and I visited La Fortuna last month and were really excited to try their Campesina tour out. We wanted to see a family-run farm and learn about the local life. However, after we booked this tour and were provided with a pickup time by Ecoterra from our hotel, the touring agency canceled our reservation without any notification. We were left standing outside our hotel at the pickup time for over 30 mins on the day of the tour until we called and were informed that our reservation had been canceled. We were not provided with any reason for cancellation and the customer service was extremely unsatisfactory.
Our tour was still active on the Viator website, however, they had canceled it on their internal system for some unknown reason. This was a huge waste of our time on our already limited vacation, and we were extremely disappointed with the service Ecoterra provided us with, they did not even seem to be apologetic for leaving us stranded at our pickup location. I would caution anyone against booking with Ecoterra and recommend you find alternative touring services in La Fortuna (we had many more positive experiences with other touring companies for better prices while in La Fortuna). Absolutely terrible experience and an awful...
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