Pasión Costa Rica — Local services in Monteverde

Our Pasión tours included a morning Natural History tour (3 hours) with a focus on birding and a "snack" included, and a Night Walk (2 hours). Jorge was helpful and responsive in setting up the tours in advance and our guide, Felix, was very knowledgable, friendly, patient, and fun to spend time with. My husband said "I get the feeling that Felix would be out here doing this even if he wasn't getting paid," and it is true that his genuine passion for the environment and all of the incredible flora and fauna shine through.

We were a group of 4, two adults and two kids, and we loved having our own private, professional guide. We were able to see some spectacular birds, including the Resplendent Quetzal, and Felix shared his eBird list with me to document all of the 40 bird species we saw that morning. Between the morning and night tours, we also saw a Capuchin monkey, two species of pit viper, blue morpho butterflies, leaf-cutter ants, agoutis, coatis, collared peccary, the rufous-eyed stream frog, tarantulas, stick insects, and more! The optical quality of Felix's scope was excellent (we learned just how good it was when we later took a tour in another region of the country and that guide's scope was just okay) and he helped us to get some incredible photos with an iPhone through the scope.

Now, to the "snack." The food was excellent and much more than we expected in both quantity and quality. We enjoyed a full, delicious lunch with leftovers to take with us, and were pleased to have Felix join us and patiently answer all of our questions about life in Costa Rica. We even spotted a few more birds (Blue-crowned motmot!) from the pleasant, shady deck where we were eating.

We unreservedly recommend booking a tour with Pasión Costa Rica! Thank you,...

TLDR: Excellent experience with Pasión Tours in March 2024. I’d have absolutely no hesitation about contacting them again in the future.

Details: I reached out about planning a trip to Monteverde from La Fortuna for a group of 6 adults (all 30-something year old women). We had a couple of loose ideas about what we wanted to do but needed some local guidance and help making it all happen.

Susu’s communication and planning was outstanding. She coordinated and booked all of our transportation and activities (including those which Pasión didn’t directly provide) with such thoughtfulness that we didn’t have to worry about anything. For example, Susu had even made arrangements for where to leave our luggage before we were able to check into our AirBnB.

The final activity of our trip was a night hike, led by Susu’s partner Marcos. Macros was also outstanding. Although we’d specifically requested doing a night hike, my friends and I had a range of comfort-levels going into the hike. Marcos put us at ease and taught us all sorts of interesting things about the cloud forest and the plants/animals that live there. His kindness and knowledge ensured we all had a really good experience. Bonus: his dinner recommendation for after the hike ended up being one of our favorite meals...

Our tours with Pasión Costa Rica were a true highlight of our honeymoon. We cannot stop talking about how amazing they were and really became the bar for all other tours and guides during our 10 days.

We did a night hike and the El Tigre Waterfall hike with Marcos and had an amazing experience both days. Marcos is as knowledgeable as he is kind, and we so enjoyed learning from him and exploring Monteverde with him. We learned about so many incredible animals, plants, and even some local history. I never knew I'd be so interested in Leaf Cutter Ants, but they are arguably now one of my favorite creatures.

The team was flexible and understanding of the need to change a tour date at the last minute (thank you, Susu!) due to illness, and we were so excited that Marcos could still lead our tour a few days later.

While you can never guarantee good weather or what wildlife you will see, I can promise you that even in the rain or without a sloth sighting, you will have an unforgettable experience with the Pasión Costa Rica team.

There are many companies available and lots of knowledgeable tour guides, but if you want a truly amazing experience book with...