Dec 20th - Dec. 26th Costa Rica Adventure

Dec 20 - Arrive and Drive to Turrialba (Casa Turire Hotel)

Today your private guide and naturalist guide will meet you outside of the San Jose airport. You will make the drive through the capital city of San Jose and make your way to the Turrialba valley passing Costa Rica's tallest volcano of Irazu and it's most active at the moment, the Turrialba Volcano. When you arrive to the Casa Turire which is one of my favorite hotels you will have excellent views of the smoking Turrialba Volcano & be located on a lake surrounded by lush green mountains. (Meals: None)

Dec 21 - Raft Pacuare River (Casa Turire Hotel)

Pacuare River

The Casa Turire Hotel is located just 20 minutes from where you will start the Pacuare River rafting adventure. The Pacuare River is one of the top 3 most scenic rivers on the planet according to National Geographic and we operate our own rafting tours. We enjoy getting to the river early to beat the other companies. This is a day full of fun and adventure rafting class III & IV rapids. The scenery is absolutely breath-taking as you make your way through virgin tropical rainforest from start to finish. The three hour run is filled with rock canyons and a countless amount of waterfalls that drop into the river from the canyon walls. Your CRR river guides will prepare a river lunch for you that will rival any lunch you have ever seen as they pull together a spread in the middle of the jungle.

Smoking Turrialba Volcano behind Casa Turire

In the afternoon we will take you back to the hotel where you will have the chance to relax at this beautiful hotel and enjoy the pool, walk around the grounds, or just sit and relax with a view of the volcano. For dinner we will have the option of taking you up into the nearby mountains where we will visit a local family and enjoy dinner with the locals. This is a chance to see the real Costa Rica and be among some of the nicest people as they host us for an excellent meal. (Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner)

Dec 22 - Drive to Pacific Coast (Cuna del Angel)

Today we will leave after breakfast and make the most scenic possible drive in all of Costa Rica. We will be driving on a highway that is referred to as the spine of the country. This highway gets up to 11,000ft with phenomenal views of the Caribbean coast and Pacific coast from the same spot. We will visit unique ecosystems such as the cloud-forest and even a more unique ecosystem called the Paramo when we get to the highest elevation. 

Our final destination will be the small boutique hotel of Cuna del Angel on the Pacific Coast. This is a great place with outstanding food. (Meals: Breakfast)

Dec 23 - Zipline Tour & Visit Beach  (Cuna de Angel)

After breakfast today we will make the short drive to the Zipline tour. This is one of our favorite ziplines in the country and you get incredible views of the Pacific Coastline from 1,000ft above sea-level on a ridge that feels just a few hundred yards from the coast. This makes for perfect terrain for zipping through the jungle while having expanding views of almost the entire pacific Costa of Costa Rica.

In the afternoon you will have the chance to visit one of the many nearby beaches and enjoy some time in the sand. (Meals: Breakfast)

Dec 24 - Rappel Nauyaca Waterfall (Cuna del Angel)

One of our favorite adventures in all of Costa Rica is without a doubt rappeling the beautiful Nauyaca Waterfall. This is a fall that is not only considered on of the most beautiful in all of the America's but also easy access great for rappeling. Today your adventure skills will be brought to an entirely new level as make the rappel off this 160ft waterfall. It is a half day of rappeling, hiking, and swimming in majestic pools with a river lunch at the top of the falls.

In the afternoon we will have more time at the beach. (Meals: Breakfast & Lunch)

Dec 25 - Drive to San Jose  & Visit Manuel Antonio National Park  (Grano de Oro Hotel)

Manuel Antonio National Park

Today we will make the drive back to the Central Valley. We will be only 3 hours from the San Jose Airport and we can spend the majority of the day at the beach visiting some of the different sites back to San Jose. One of the most spectacular sites is the Manuel Antonio National Park. It is a touristy area but we like making the visit to see the park. You will have a chance to walk through with your naturalist guide and see the many different species of monkeys.  (Meals: Breakfast)

Dec 26 - Fly Home!

Today we will catch you flight Home!

Costa Rica Family Vacation off the Touristy Path

Costa Rican Resource off the beaten path

Depending upon where you visit in Costa Rica it can now be a very touristy area such as the places of Manuel Antonio, Tamarindo, Jaco, or Arenal. Because of Costa Rica's rough terrain their are many places that are also off the touristy path that can give you a look into the not so touristy areas of Costa Rica.

Learning from the Ancients

During this tour we took a boat trip into an indigenous reserve and gave this family an experience that they would not find in any of the touristy towns of Costa Rica. It is important to experience this and see that all of Costa Rica is not living off of tourism economy. It is an excellent learning experience and should be a part of every Costa Rica Family Vacation even though it might take you out of your comfort zone for a few hours.

Central Valley Hotels Costa Rica

The Central Valley of Costa Rica is home to the majority of the population and the capital city of San Jose. The San Jose Airport SJO is Costa Rica's busiest airport and most Costa Rica Vacations or business comes in and out of the Central Valley.

The Central Valley is located at 3,000ft above sea-level and is surrounded by Poas, Irazu, and Barva Volcanoes and mountains. The three main cities that make up the Central Valley of Costa Rica are Alajuela, Heredia, and San Jose. All of these cities are home to many different hotels that provide different options when looking for lodging during any type of Costa Rica Adventure.

If you want to be in the city where all the hustle and bustle is you can find places in the center of San Jose and if you are looking to be on the outskirts of the Central Valley looking down at a high elevation with perfect cool mountain weather then you can also find lodging that fits. Large hotels for conferences to small hotels for a Costa Rica honeymoon package are all found in the Central Valley. If you are looking to dine and shop in style, some of the finest restaurants and shops in the Americas are in the Escazu area and within walking distance of world class hotels. Most of your hotels in the Central Valley can offer day trips via car or in-county flights or being in the center is often an advantage as you can get to almost any part of the country in less than a days travel through Sansa or NatureAir or making the drives outside of the valley. The tours from the area are day tours to the beaches, cloudforest, Costa Rica ziplining,  Costa Rica whitewater rafting, or the many different volcano craters Costa Rica has easy access to.

Currency Exchange

Colones

nominal The currency in Costa Rica is called the "colon" named after Christopher Columbus. The exchange on average is around 500 colones to $1. It will go up and down on a daily fluctuation and unless dealing with large amounts it is easiest when on a Costa Rica Adventure to just go with the 500 when doing your calculating and buying.

We do not suggest you exchange dollars to colones at the airport. They do not give a good rate and it turns out almost everywhere in the country will take dollars. What will happen is you pay with a $20 bill on your first stop, you will get change in colones. Stores often won't take $50's or $100's. Exchanging money is not difficult and if you would like to go to a bank it is possible but we do not suggest doing it only because the lines are usually a 30 minute wait. I know we and the family will be eager to get out into the jungle and start the adventures of whitewater rafting the pacuare river or the waterfall rappels so waiting in line is usually not on an itinerary. ATM machines are readily available and you can get colones or dollars with your debit card. There is a nominal international transaction fee any time you use a credit card. 

Here is a list of the currency:

20,000 colones just came out in 2010 and is around ---- $40

10,000 colones also known as a puma is worth         ---- $20

5,000 colones also known as a toucan is worth      ------- $10

2,000  is worth ---------------------------------------------------- $4

1,000 also known as the infamous "rojillo" is worth ----- $2

After these bills comes very large coins that feel like bricks compared to the coins we use in the USA. They have coins that are worth $1 = 500 colones and they have coins that are worth just a fraction of a penny making it quite the load of coins to deal with.

How much Money to bring to Costa Rica

Most of our tours are all inclusive which means you really do not need much money. If you are on one of our off the beaten path Costa Rica adventure tours our goal is to have you spend no money during your stay. But we know everyone always wants a little taste of home so stopping for a icecream sandwich is always big with the kids and with just around $20's a day is more than enough when you are signed up for one of our Costa Rica family adventures. If you decide you want to eat at a fancy place then expect to pay fancy prices but local spot can be around $6's meal and the fancy prices get up to around $30/meal.

The souvenir shops often have nice things and often have a ton of stuff that is not nice it just depends if you want a refrigerator magnet that was made in China that will break in a week or a souvenir that comes from local village that had some time invested into making it.

Costa Rica Time Zone

I think it is only fair that I start this topic off by saying Costa Rica is in Latin America and most of us know that Latin America has a few different time zones but there is always "Latin Time". This means that people living in Latin America seem to operate on a more relaxed scale of time. To put it simple 15 - 30 minutes before or after a scheduled event is still considered on time. It is easy to get use to after a while and just seeing the locals not worry about time and to just go with the flow has been one of the more positive effects on the daily lifestyle of living abroad.

Being a Costa Rica Adventure Tour company we unfortunately do not have the liberty to operate our tours on "Latin Time" and we realize our paying customers have limited time in the country and being very on time is one of our companies main goals. When we do have to visit areas that other tourists will be visiting such as the Costa Rica whitewater rafting Pacuare River trips we know it is very important to be early because we always try and get to the river first making it feel like our own private river for the day.  Costa Rica's official time zone is not "Latin Time" it is GMT - 6 zone which gives Costa Rica US Central time when during winter months and during daylight savings time Costa Rica is in US Mountain time. This gives Costa Rica 1 hour behind New York City or 2 hours behind New York City depending on the time of year.

This is time thing can be an important part of a Costa Rica Vacation and usually starts with the planning part. If you are taking part in an active Costa Rica Adventure you want to be able to know when and where you will lose or gain some sleep. If you are joining us for more of a relaxed extended stay such as our Costa Rica Spanish School then I would say the flight is less important on getting the right hours.

Driving in Costa Rica

Free Back Massage

If you visited Costa Rica 20 years ago and you arrive today you will notice two things about the driving. The first will be is that there are still potholes but not as many. The second will be is that there are a lot more vehicles on the road. You will notice this pulling out of the San Jose Airport as it is filled with traffic.

The Costa Rica Adventure of renting a car is always an option but we like to think that our way of transit is a bit more attractive and relaxing. Our style is "leave the driving to us" and our guides will take the stress out of finding your way on the roads of a foreign country, will stop at interesting places and at the right times (like sunset spots) and give you accurate commentaries on what you're driving by.

Caldera Highway

If you can remove a few hours from drive time in a Costa Rica Family Vacation then you are making everyone in the car happy and you will probably have some more time at the beach or you can spend more time Whitewater Rafting the Pacuare River. Well this all became possible when heading to the Pacific side in the last few years. The Caldera highway is now open and it is without a doubt your straight shot to the Pacific. This all sounds good but like many roads going through mountains it is often closed. It is good to know the detours and when the detours are crowded it is good to know the detours of the detours which is something we take pride in knowing very well.

The Free Back Massage

If you are ready for a free back massage you usually do not have to go much farther than just signing up for one of or Costa Rica Adventure Tours. If we are taking you down to the Pacuare River or maybe getting you ready for a 150ft Costa Rica Waterfall Rappel that you will see nobody else at, then it is time for some 4-wheel driving. Our vehicles are geared to get your through the roads you will face on your Costa Rica Adventure Tours.

Just to give you an idea of what roads can be like in Costa Rica, you have to imagine that the country is about 50 miles wide with a very large mountain range running through the center of the country. This mountain range can rise up to 13,000ft and on average around 10,000ft right down the middle of the country. Now add rain and rain and more rain up in these mountains and you have very steep and wet roads. Now I don't want to scare you off.   With the infrastructure that the tourism boom has brought almost all areas now are quite easy to get to but it is one reason why after Christopher Columbus visited the "Rich Coast - Costa Rica" for the first time, his return trip was not too much of a success because the terrain was difficult to get through. You have to remember though it is this difficult terrain that has kept much of this country so beautiful. If you visit our Costa Rica Spanish School in Sitio de Mata you will see exactly what we are talking about with just a five minute ride on a bumpy road you arrive at a village that is one of our favorite spots in all of Costa Rica.

If you are not into the adventure off-roading there are plenty of itineraries that will fit a smooth ride from start to finish and you can save the back massages for the Costa Rica Spas.

Next Vacation: A Cruise or Costa Rica Eco-Tourism?

Image via WikipediaIm going to lay this one out there nice and simple. A cruise ship is a large floating piece of junk. One cruise ship generates EACH DAY:

•  25,000 gallons of sewage from toilets each day
• 143,000 gallons of sewage from sinks, galleys, and showers
• 7 tons of garbage and solid waste
• 15 gallons of toxic chemicals
• 7,000 gallons of oily bildewater

Not to mention the amount of over-eating, glutnous fest, artery clogging, health-care bill rising cost, (should I go on...?).

Just go with Eco-Tourism its a No-Brainer

Design Your Own Eco-Tourism Adventure

Source: NatGeo: GreenGuide

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