Central American Journey (19 destinations)

Customer Reviews

• MW

  Miguel

  · January 9th, 2025
  The trip was a quick journey through Central American countries, from Guatemala to Costa Rica, but I didn’t feel it was rushed. Every second day was long travel days, if you don't mind, but the following day was mostly free day or choose optional activities. As this is a small group tour, transportation was a 16 seater van where there was not a lot of leg room. A few taller people in our group traveling in these vans for 8 hours did not feel comfortable; I consider myself short and I did struggle a bit as there was hardly any space to extend my legs; we only had 13 people (including our guide - Juan Ma Perez and driver). There were a number of border crossings, some were simple and quick and others quite time consuming. I felt the ones that were time consuming and complicated were due to our guide trying to complicate things by collecting the immigration fees to pay as a group. My experience is individual payment is much simpler and quicker. Border crossing in/out of Honduras and Nicaragua were interesting. Due to the route of the tour, we travelled into Honduras twice. Our guide told us entry fee into Honduras is US$4/p or they also accept the Guatemalan Quetzals of Q$30 and we can pay separately. At the counter we handed over $4 but were given a $3 receipt. I saw a plaque and posters at the counters stating entry fee is US$3. When asked later, our guide said the additional $1 is the currency conversion fee. A couple of days later when leaving Honduras I asked the immigration officer how much is the entry fee, he advised $3. I said we paid $4 a couple days ago; he answered, "really?". A few days later as we entered Honduras again (different entry point), our guide suggested to collect the entry fee of $4/p and pay as a group, but I opted to pay my entry fee separately. When in the immigration building, our guide approached me and asked for $4. I felt his tone wasn't friendly and I didn't want to cause any scene, so I gave him the money. When at the counter getting my passport stamped, I asked the officer how much is the entry fee and if there is any additional fee for currency conversion. He answered $3 and no additional fee. When told him that I paid $4, the officer asked which counter and officer charged $4? I said we handed the money over to our guide as a group. The officer said the entry fee is only $3 per entry and no conversation fee; if we handed the money separately to our guide for payment then it has nothing to do with the immigration. When entering Nicaragua, the entry fee suggested by our guide was different to the information provided on the internet (our guide said the info on the internet is incorrect). Our guide suggested to collect the money and pay as a group to speed up the process, I opted to pay separately, however our guide stood next to me and made sure I handed over the amount he suggested. I was last in the line but first to exit with all my documentation; while it took a while for the immigration office to process the group documentation and receipt. I felt there was a level of dishonesty from our guide. Our tour (for 2024) included 1 activity and 1 breakfast; all other activities were optional with a fee. The orientation walks included were literary an orientation walk, showing the location of the supermarket, laundry, souvenir stores, etc. Many of us later did not join the walks as we had google map to help us with orientation. We also felt our guide used the opportunity to take us to the restaurant he already arranged with the owner for dinner (we were not obliged to join as dinners were not included). A lot of us wanted to experience local culture and food, however the restaurants he arranged were more burgers, pasta, pan fried chicken or steaks with just a couple of local dishes. Many of us later decided to go separate ways for meals. It was nice for our guide wanting to arrange places for meals, however perhaps ask the group what food we would like to try or experience and maybe take us to restaurants that have better review/ratings. While 95% of activities were optional on this trip, prices of activities charged in 2024 were already more expensive than what is stated on the Intrepid website for 2025! A couple of activities were US$50 more than what was stated. Fully understand that prices may increase due to inflation, however a difference of $20-$50? There was an activity organized by our guide but we were told to pay directly to the company upon arrival. Our guide assured and confirmed with us, twice, that the activity costs US$40 including return transport. On the day, we were asked to pay $45 ($5 for return transport per person). As our guide did not come with us, I texted our guide advising the issue. He said, “thank you for the update, I also thought $40 included transport”. I asked him if he would like to call and confirm with the company as he arranged and booked the activity. Our guide simply said, “it is what it is, you will need to pay $5 for the transport.” There were other people (not part of our group) said that they only paid $40 and it included transport. I felt our guide deflected his responsibility and may have pocketed the extra $/p? Later, some of us decide to look for local tour companies for the same activities upon arriving at each location and we found local companies were at least $10-$20 cheaper than offered by Intrepid. As Intrepid is a big company, surely they can get better deals for the activities? Arrangement of transportation, cost of additional activities, and some information about the tour were provided at the very last minute. There were a few days that we left later to travel to our next destination because our guide couldn’t organize a transport to pick us up earlier as originally planned. Cost of activities were provided late in the afternoon for next day. Perhaps better organization skills, such as providing the cost of all additional activities on the first day of the tour (like other tour companies do) would be great. Intrepid is a well known company and people make final payment a month before the trip, surely this should be enough time to plan the journey. Perhaps Intrepid could learn from other tour companies about organization. Tour guides should always put first the interest of their passengers. However, I felt it wasn’t in this case. Also note that now a days we all have smart phones and information is readily accessible and available on the internet.
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  Intrepid Travel commented on this review

  Hi Miguel, thank you for your in depth review of your time with us- your constructive critique is very helpful to us and we appreciate the time you have taken to highlight some issues you felt had room for improvement. We will be speaking to your guide... Show more
  Trip date: December 2024
• JJ

  Joseph

  · January 8th, 2025
  An excellent journey across Central America. Seeing the different cultures and their histories. These countries are each very unique. We had a great group of about eleven. Our tour guide, Walter, was exceptional! He has excellent understanding of each country and prepared us at every stage, especially the multiple and complex border crossings. Walter also facilitated us getting our unique, individual best experience from the tour. Different interests, e.g. history, culture, activity etc were taken care of via the options that were availed. Intrepid's social responsibility - reduction in environmental plastics, accommodation in facilities that support needy kids etc. was also a major plus on the organization. All through the tour, we never felt unsafe at all. Applying the commonsense principles that apply every where would ensure you have a safe and fulfilling experience. This tour is not an in-depth tour, but essentially scanning the landscape. I intend to do a follow-up on a few selected spots that I want to look more into. Also, as I didn't know if or when I would be back in the region, I did a pre-tour of Belize, then a post-tour of Panama. That took care of all Central America at a go. It would be great if these two components were integrated into the official tour. Overall, an excellent experience, and made new friends.
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  Intrepid Travel commented on this review

  Hi Joseph, we are truly pleased to read of your recent time with us- thank you for your review! It is lovely that Walter provided insight and guidance as your travelled Central America and your thought of this tour being an over view is very accurate-... Show more
  Trip date: December 2024
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  Vasanthi

  · September 6th, 2024
  A rather quick journey through these 5...
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  Intrepid Travel commented on this review

  We are so glad to hear that you had a great time on your trip through Central America Vasanthi! It is a lot to see over the course of this trip, and we are very happy to hear that despite the packed itinerary, you never felt rushed and were able to... Show more
  Trip date: August 2024
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  Pareen

  · August 24th, 2024
  Amazing well thought out trip. Felt we saw a lot over yhe 17 days .Tour guide Juan was amazing.
  

  Intrepid Travel commented on this review

  Hello Pareen, thank you so much for your review! We're so glad you got to experience the most on your Central American Journey and enjoyed the local leader, Juan. Our local leaders are truly the heart of our trips! We hope to see you traveling again... Show more
  Trip date: August 2024
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  Anonymous

  · May 5th, 2024
  Tour guide and group make or break the trip. Time was spent in places with nothing to do and in places the time was all too quick and fleeting. I understand basic trip but some of the hotels were little more than dark and dank. They mainly have people to share rooms and then one key for both. Multiple meetings to go over Same insurance details. They are designed for followers. Don't want independent thinkers or challengers just follow what I say and all is good. It's based on you like having to not think about anything. Their optional trips very expensive and always more than was quoted on forms. It's always about guides and money with tour leaders.
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  Trip date: May 2024
• JW

  Jessica

  · April 19th, 2024
  This is a great trip if you want to see a lot of places in a short time! There was a good amount of travel time but I felt it was worth it to see everything we did including Mayan ruins, sandboarding on a volcano, old colonial towns, some of the local crafts and foods, the beach, etc.
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  Intrepid Travel commented on this review

  Thank you for taking the time to share you experience with us, Jessica. We are delighted to hear that you found this trip to be a good balance of exploring lots of different places and enjoying the beaches. We hope to welcome you on another Intrepid... Show more
  Trip date: April 2024
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  Posta

  · November 23rd, 2023
  Everything went good, smooth and without incidents
  

  Intrepid Travel commented on this review

  Hi Posta, Thank you for taking the time to post your review. We are delighted to hear that your trip ran smoothly and went well. We hope to welcome you on another adventure soon!
  Trip date: November 2023
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  GrantFeringa

  · November 9th, 2023
  Our Guide, Rafa, was exceptionally good and he sure helped to make this a tour I will not forget. Central America is a 100% safe place to visit. Saw amazing wildlife on this tour like macaws, monkeys, armadillos and toucans. Most of the accommodation was good, except for Copan. At some locations, the accommodation owners take advantage of the travelers and want large amounts like $15US per night for air conditioning - I think Intrepid should look for different accommodation in the future when owners unfairly take advantage of Intrepid travelers like this. Most of the optional extras are very expensive but if you don't do them, you miss out on a lot. Some of the border crossings can be messy taking a bit of time, but you always get there. Overall, clearly 5 stars
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  Intrepid Travel commented on this review

  Thank you for taking the time to share your experience on your Central American Journey with us, Grant. We are delighted to hear that you had such an enjoyable time whilst travelling through many different destinations, taking in all the wildlife.... Show more
  Trip date: July 2023
• JC

  JAY

  · August 13th, 2023
  From a geography opinion I was expecting more outstanding mountains of this Great American Isthmus. I did enjoy traveling down the Trans Pacific Highway viewing the parkland forest along the way. Lake Cocibolca in Nicaragua was an interesting natural wonder as it has an island in the lake with 2 volcanos and it was a huge inland bay before it was land blocked by earthquake thousand of years ago. About the tour there was only one excursion that was included and that Copan Ruins National Monument, Honduras. All the other excursions were optional and were very expensive if you were to do it daily. The tour leader Leon was very helpful and knew a lot about the area that we traveled.
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  Intrepid Travel commented on this review

  Hi Jay, thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review. We're happy to hear about the stunning scenery in Central America and the wonderful feedback for Leon. Thank you again for sharing your experience, we hope to welcome you back on another... Show more
  Trip date: July 2023
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  Ron

  · June 13th, 2023
  Central America is such a marvelous place. But, ultimately, it is the guide and the co-travellers that make the trip. Our guide, Benjamin, was incredibly well prepared; as a Salvadorian, he knows the whole region well. His experience in crossing borders, especially, served us well. Beyond that, he was always available and went above and beyond to make us all get the most from the experience. As a former tour operator myself, I know what hard work a good guide puts into it, and Ben was among the best! The optional activities were well presented in their offering and did not disappoint, and Ben's recommendations were well appreciated. The hotels were all pretty good for a Basix trip, though a couple didn't have AC and a couple didn't provide drinking water. The drivers were all excellent, on time, and served us well. And the group, though rather unique (10 male, 6 female, aged 20 - 72) got along well and made the trip special for all. Thanks, Intrepid!
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  Intrepid Travel commented on this review

  Hi Ron! Thank you so much for taking the time to share your comments with us. It is fantastic to learn that you had a wonderful experience, and that our tour offered you the best crew and tour leader to explore Central American. We look forward to... Show more
  Trip date: May 2023