Essential Costa Rica - Package with Manuel Antonio National Park

Traveler Reviews

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  Sue

  March 12th, 2026
  3
  Cost Rica was wonderful- the rainforest, animals and people. However, after being met by DS at the airport very...
  Cost Rica was wonderful- the rainforest, animals and people. However, after being met by DS at the airport very efficiently, the rest of the organisation was poor. We were never sure which company was meeting us for tours and twice we were given the wrong pick up times. We had one superb guise - Ray Salazar at Tortuguero, and Justin at Monteverde was also excellent for his young age. But our group was split into different hotels and one - El Faro at Arenal wasn't good. Plaza Yara at Manuel Antonio was beautiful. Great trip because of the country itself but poor organisation and no guidance from a tour leader of what we needed on each trip.Show more
  Traveled in February 2026
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  Paul

  March 2nd, 2026
  3
  This tour covered the 4 places we wanted to in the amount of time we had available. Tortuguaro was interesting but...
  This tour covered the 4 places we wanted to in the amount of time we had available. Tortuguaro was interesting but it would be better to go from Sept. to Dec. when the turtles are active. Turtle Bay Lodge was lovely - very remote - but there wasn't enough to do. We had 2 organized tours each of the two days we were there, which took about a total of 4 to 4.5 hours and the rest of the days were unplanned. But there's really nothing to do once you've walked around the property so we found ourselves with 8 to 10 hours to fill each day - didn't help that it rained every day. Our other stops, La Fortuna (Arenal), Monteverde and Manuel Antonio were busier and really interesting. We were really looking forward to our full day in Manuel Antonio National Park, which was day 9 (a Tuesday) of our 10 day tour. That's why we booked this particular tour. However, when we looked over our itinerary while we were in La Fortuna, we noticed that day nine now said we had a full day of leisure and Manuel Antonio Park tour was now scheduled on day 10 for just a 3 hour guided tour and then we had to rush back to our hotel to be picked up to get back to San Jose airport for our trip home. Destination Services was very difficult to get in touch with - there was no communication during our trip from anyone and it took close to 3 days to finally reach someone to find out why our itinerary had changed. This person casually informed us that Manuel Antonio National Park was closed every Tuesday for maintenance. There was nothing we could do about it at that point and honestly, it didn't occur to me to check the MA website to see if they'd be closed the day we were schedule to tour. If Destination Services had informed us of this ahead of time, we could easily have left on our trip the day before or after. And then, not to tell us that a major change had been made to days 9 and 10 was very frustrating. I recommend researching the hotel options at each location. We booked Charm category (the lowest and least expensive) and wish we'd done more research as our hotels in La Fortuna and Monteverde (both really lovely) were very remote and not walkable to the nearest town. Higher priced hotels have better locations but that's on us for not doing enough research. We booked this trip through Tour Radar and in the past (Egypt, Jordan and Chile), the companies they contract out to have been top notch as far as communication, checking in and making suggestions. Destination Services was very hard to reach with zero communication until we finally found a way after 4 or 5 days on our trip. On a positive note, all of our transfers went as planned and once we did reach someone, they usually responded to our questions with 4 to 6 hours.Show more
  Traveled in February 2026
  

  Reply from: Destination Services Costa Rica

  Dear Paul, Thank you very much for sharing your detailed feedback with us. We truly appreciate the time you took to explain your experience, as communication is key for us and your comments help us continue improving. First, I want to sincerely apologize for the difficulties you faced in reaching our team during your trip. We fully understand how frustrating this must have been. We have already implemented several measures to prevent this situation from repeating, including strengthening our communication channels. Although our main point of contact continues to be the platform where your booking was managed, we have now added three dedicated WhatsApp lines so guests can easily reach us at any time. Regarding Manuel Antonio National Park Tour you are right — the information about the Tuesday closure and the resulting adjustment in operation was not clearly stated on the platform and may lead to confusion. We are already working on correcting this to ensure future travelers receive clear and timely information before their arrival. About the free time you experienced, we understand your perspective. To better support guests who prefer more structured days, we now offer a catalog of optional excursions available on-site, allowing each traveler to tailor the experience to their interests and pace. Thank you again for your honest feedback. We are deeply committed to improving, and your experience will help us strengthen both transparency and communication throughout the entire journey. All the best, Paola & Destination Services Team

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  Cathryn

  March 1st, 2026
  4
  We had a lovely time. The itinerary key we were instructed to use had some incorrect or missing information regarding...
  We had a lovely time. The itinerary key we were instructed to use had some incorrect or missing information regarding the times we would be picked up but generally was correct. The tour company was responsive but the link they gave me wasn’t helpful because I didn’t notice there were multiple icons, one of which was the day to day itinerary with the correct times. Other than that and the rainy weather for most of the trip, we had a very nice time. We saw multiple animals and the tour guides were helpful in making sure we could see them and get great photos. The hotels were very nice- we paid for the upgrade to 4 star. The Trapp family lodge was beautiful, but the room was cold and drafty, and the wind blowing across the roof was noisy. They provided a space heater and extra blankets which helped. The food was good.Show more
  Traveled in February 2026
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  Denise

  February 28th, 2026
  4
  This tour wasn’t quite what we expected. The tour is listed as a group size of 1-30, so we were expecting to be with...
  This tour wasn’t quite what we expected. The tour is listed as a group size of 1-30, so we were expecting to be with a group of people throughout the tour, and a travel guide available. We found that this is just basically a travel agent who books your rooms and tours and transportation, and you are pretty much on your own. We also expected that we could add optional activities once we were there, but that wasn’t the case, so we had to find additional activities and book them on our own. One of the optional activities was to go to the Hot Springs at Arenal, but they included that in our itinerary, so we didn’t book it when we were there, because we thought we already had it included. We waited 30 minutes for our pickup, and nobody showed up. We contacted the tour operator, and they said that was a typo on our itinerary. So that was one place we didn’t get to see. The bus rides between stays were very long and on some bumpy roads. The tour mentions this, but I didn’t completely realize we would be traveling 5-6 hours when transferring between destinations. The one bus was also late, which resulted in a rushed lunch and late arrival to our next hotel. We also got shuffled from bus to bus at during several transfers. Overall the hotels were good, the tours we had were good. The hotels at Arenal and Monteverde were nice, but not in the town, so we couldn’t walk places, which would have been nice. The meals that were included were buffet style, which was okay. We enjoyed it overall, and loved the country, but I’m not sure I would do this type of tour again.Show more
  Traveled in February 2026
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  David

  February 25th, 2026
  4
  We had one issue with this tour and it is very possible it was user error. We did not understand that we would be...
  We had one issue with this tour and it is very possible it was user error. We did not understand that we would be passed like a baton around the country. From bus to bus, from driver or guide to driver or guide. We couldn't get access to the app without a signal and couldn't figure out where or when we needed to be. After a couple of hand offs that worked absolutely perfectly we realized it was a well oiled machine. This is just how Costa Rica works! I just wish someone would have told us ahead of time. We relaxed after a few Whatsapp conversations with a lovely tourradar guy and the rest of the trip was wonderful. My only other comment is that the tours and transport start early! Be prepared to be up at 5:00AM!Show more
  Traveled in February 2026
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  Leigh

  February 24th, 2026
  4
  There was one disappointing event. Our last day guided hike Manuel Antonio National Park disappeared from our...
  There was one disappointing event. Our last day guided hike Manuel Antonio National Park disappeared from our itinerary on the Travel Key App, so we missed this tour as we were not ready for pickup. I did check the night before this tour and it did not appear on the App so we assumed that it was cancelled. Very disappointing!!! We should at least get a refund for this proposed tour for Feb 18Show more
  Traveled in February 2026
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  Evan

  February 23rd, 2026
  5
  The operator did an excellent job customizing an itinerary that perfectly met our needs. Everything ran smoothly from...
  The operator did an excellent job customizing an itinerary that perfectly met our needs. Everything ran smoothly from start to finish, and we didn’t encounter any issues. I would definitely book with them again!Show more
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  Traveled in February 2026
  

  Reply from: Destination Services Costa Rica

  Dear Evan, Thank you very much for your kind words and for taking the time to share your experience. We’re delighted to hear that the customized itinerary met your expectations and that everything ran smoothly from start to finish. It was a pleasure having you with us, and we truly appreciate your trust. We would be more than happy to welcome you again for another unforgettable trip in the future! Karieln

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  Nancy

  February 19th, 2026
  4
  My trip to Costa Rica was good. I was pleasantly surprised with the different hotels we stayed in. We were even...
  My trip to Costa Rica was good. I was pleasantly surprised with the different hotels we stayed in. We were even upgrated at two different locations. I would give this trip an excellent score except that I feel the tours included with the package were a bit redundant. The people of Costa Rica were the friendliest and most pleasant group of people I have ever met. The only exception was at the restaurant El Fogon de Lola. We stopped there as one of the lunches included by the tour. The waitress wrote down the wrong order and brought me the incorrect lunch. When I told her she made a mistake, she couldn't be bothered. She said "Well that's what I wrote down so that's what I brought you". I told her that it may have been what she wrote down, but it was not what I ordered. She just said too bad and walked away. So Tourradar paid for a lunch that was not eaten.Show more
  Traveled in February 2026
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  Gary

  February 19th, 2026
  4
  Overall the package was good. We chose the basic hotels and they were surprisingly good. Only hic-up was a 2 hr...
  Overall the package was good. We chose the basic hotels and they were surprisingly good. Only hic-up was a 2 hr delayed Interbus due to a road closure. Unfortunately Interbus did not contact us to let us know about the delay and we took a Uber to our next destination as it was getting late in the day.Show more
  Traveled in February 2026
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  Seyed

  February 17th, 2026
  3
  - -Transportation from airport to hotel was quite good and met our expectations. Transportation throughout the 12...
  - -Transportation from airport to hotel was quite good and met our expectations. Transportation throughout the 12 days were all good and typically on-time and well coordinated. We were warned by friends about the road conditions in Cost Rica ahead of time, and that was the case as expected, but drivers were all careful and professional throughout various pieces of the journey. - Despite paying for top-rated available hotels in various locations, the Shana by the Beach hotel assigned room was truly subpar as well as the included breakfast far less than our expectations. - Cabins at Turtuguero was as expected, given the preserved natural area and very clean. The breakfast and dinner were good. The tour Guide was marvelous. - We had paid for several tours, but some were combined in one day and could have been spread out to the next day. The reservation of hot springs with dinner was timed incorrectly by the tour operator and rushing late in the evening to get the dinner first (because the restaurant timing) and then plunging into the hot springs was not right and could have been timed by tour radar better. Traffic condition along the roadway can be unexpectedly bad and ample time needed beyond the original estimate to reach the destinations. So rushing to get to some prescribed tour was unjustified. All the excursions and guides were fine except at the Manuel Antonio national park as some guide's use of English language was very limited with heavy accent and hard to understand. Insist on guides with good command of English and knowledgeable about their work. This was a hit or miss..Show more
  Traveled in January 2026