Bill Beard's Costa Rica — Local services in La Fortuna

I recently returned from an unforgettable trip organized by Bill Beard Costa Rica. They were very easy to communicate with before and during my trip. Costa Rica is a relatively small country, but it can be overwhelming to plan a trip on your own and maximize your vacation time. Bill Beard's handled it all for me, which was amazing. Not having to worry about planning transfers from the airport, activities, and hotels was great, and they booked the best operators for our activities.

We started with lodging at Villas Sol in Playa Hermosa, which was an all-inclusive. The food was good, and the staff were so nice. They knew us by name by the second day. Our room was by the pool, and we had a fabulous view of the water and sunsets. The beach area by the hotel is also very nice.

I did one day of diving out of Guanacaste, and we went with Rocket Frog Divers, booked through Bill Beard's. It was just me and one other diver (plus my mom, who doesn't dive) on the boat. It felt like a private tour. Their dive shop was really nice, the guide was very personable, and the boat was spacious and comfortable. We did the local Gulf of Papagayo dive sites, where we saw massive schools of fish, 8 sharks, a longtail ray, several species of eels, and the most octopus I have ever seen at one site (lost count)!

Bill Beard's organized the transfer to our next hotel, Arenal Manoa, located near La Fortuna and Arenal Volcano. We stayed in a spacious Junior Suite with amazing views of Arenal Volcano. This was a beautiful property with amazing tropical foliage and so many birds. We saw toucans and a huge variety of tropical birds every day. We also saw caimans, iguanas, agoutis, and sloths! The hot spring pools and ponds at this resort were beautiful and so relaxing. We spent hours in the hot springs! The resort included breakfast every day, and the food was delicious. There is an omelette station, local fresh fruits, fresh pastries, cooked breakfast foods, fresh fruit juices, and more. Bill Beard's made the right choice in selecting this resort for us!

Bill Beard's organized a whitewater rafting trip on the Balsa River through Wave Rafting. They promptly picked us up from our hotel, and along the scenic drive to the river they gave information about the local area and also gave a thorough briefing about rafting. Our guide was great and made it a safe trip for us. He also pointed out wildlife along the river, including basilisks, iguanas, and sloths. After the rafting, they took us to a local organic food for a delicious lunch made with items grown on the farm. I really enjoyed the coffee they served here. After lunch, we saw a demonstration on how they process the sugarcane and got to participate in a tasting.

I really appreciate all the work from Bill Beard's in organizing this trip for us. I would highly recommend them to anyone planning a trip to Costa Rica, as their experience and local knowledge...

I’d like to share our experience. It started out with him picking us up at our hotel. The guide Freddy told us he’s not the normal guy that he subcontracts with a lot of other tour companies. We did the monkeys and sloth and the waterfall tour. First we did a 40 minute drive and he pointed out the volcano but almost nothing else. He and the driver just talked to each other in Spanish, which we do not understand. Then we got there he didn’t tell us anything about the area, the waterfalls nothing; he watched our T-shirts. OK so then we did another 40 minute drive maybe 50 to the sloth and monkeys. He explained we would have a guide from the farm. He obviously was never been there, because he kept stepping in front of us, blocking our views of everything we paid to see. He monopolized our guide from the place; she seemed uncomfortable, and kept trying to walk away from him to explain the surroundings to us. He jumped in front of us on every picture and blocked us the whole time very rude of him the whole time I would not recommend this tour to anybody with Bill beard. I would highly recommend. visiting the Llano de Cortez waterfall on your own real good power mode, and going to Bejagua Ranas, and utilizing their on site...

Bill Beards was a great way to schedule our honeymoon plans. They worked to put together our entire honeymoon from the large events down to every transportation option. Bill beards employed fun and friendly tour guides who were all great to talk to, and if we had any questions we got almost immediate answers over whatsapp text/call. At one point there was a scheduling error and we were left waiting for a few minutes. To apologize for the confusion, my wife and I were sent a bundle of chocolate covered strawberries, and our tour was rescheduled for just a little bit later. This is why they deserve 5 stars, because mistakes will happen no matter what, and Bill Beards will go above and beyond to make sure they are made up for. Great experience, would...