We chose to visit Tortuguero as part of a longer, cross country tour so we were looking for an option that provided us with the highlights in a short amount of time. After reading reviews on this website and in some travel books, we decided that the Tortuga Lodge was the best option. It is managed by Costa Rica Expeditions which also offers complete organized tours throughout the country. There were a few different package options, but with our limited time, we dicided on the one night, fly-in tour.
The tour began with a Costa Rica Expeditions representative meeting us at our San Jose hotel where we were then taken to a local airport. We boarded a small 6-passenger plane for a 1/2 hour flight to Tortuguero where we landed on a small remote airstrip right next to the ocean. We were then greeted by hotel staff (it felt like we landed on Fantasy Island) who then took us by boat across the inland canal to the hotel. We were instantly taken to the restaurant where we were served a wonderful breakfast. Soon after, we boarded a small boat for our guided jungle boat tour through the numerous canals. Our guide Norton was wonderful and extremely knowlegeable. We were so amazed at how easily he was able to spot the wildlife. We saw sloths, monkeys, caimans, Iguanas, and more variety of birds than you could ever imagine.
After a wonderful lunch, we took a second boat ride during the afternoon hours. Then after resting in our room, we went to dinner and enjoyed yet another great meal. While all the meals, transportation, lodging and boat tours were included, we did pay extra to take a guided tour that night to see a giant green sea turtle lay her eggs on the beach. It was truly a magical experience and should not be missed if you plan on visiting during the nesting season.

As far as the rooms are concerned, I was initially a bit worried that without any airconditioning, we might have been a bit uncomfortable in such a humid climate. But, with cooler nights and a ceiling fan it was managable. While the rooms were clean and comfortable, the rooms only had screens for windows and the Howler monkeys will definitley wake you in the morning. This hotel is not for those looking for a Ritz Carlton experience.

As for those wondering if one night is enough, I think it was perfect unless you are looking for a vacation where you just relax by the pool and read a book. Once you've been on the river cruise and seen the turtles, you've seen the highlights. Also, I would highly recommend the fly-in option as the 5 hour drive and river cruise option did not sound like a vacation to me.

Tortuga Lodge is a winner and Costa Rica Expeditions is a top notch tour company.

If you want to experience tropical forest, Caribbean fishing and turtle nesting, this is the place to stay. We took the chartered plane into Tortuga Lodge which took us about 30 minutes. The rooms are clean and even though we missed the air-conditioning, the hammock and rocking chair over looking the canal with coconut trees out side our room for the guest is enough to let us enjoy the lodge without the modern convenience.

The food is fabulous at Tortuga Lodge! We were there for 3 nights stay and every meal was very creative and very good! The staff can be hired at any high end restaurants. They watched our table and served us with every need. Fabrizio the bar tender was so friendly and helpful! Don't miss the "Guaro Sour" and "Caipirina" must have drinks in Costa Rica!

The fishing for Tarpon in Tortuguero with Captain Eddie is a must! You should book a minimum of half day though full day would be better. Of course the weather and how the ocean behaves can not be helped, but Captain Eddie watched the ocean and took us out for an amazing full-day tarpon fishing ever on a perfect day. Captain owns 3 boats which he keeps in a great condition, and he knows his ocean and the right equipment to tempt the tarpons. At one time we had triple hook-up going on! Captain was very patient and took the time for me to even bring in a 90lb tarpon. (I'm 5'2" with no muscles). My husband brought in 125lb tarpon in the end. During the mid-day when the fishing got slow, he took us to watch the turtle mating too.

Like all the other reviews, the turtle nesting and wildlife you see in this Tortuguero is incredible! The guides (My favoite, Geraldo) can talk to the birds! We went two nights for the turtle nesting and two days of Tortuguero boat canal ride. Not like Jungle Cruise in Disneyland, you will see different wildlife and different weather situations every time! The first night for turtle nesting, our names were picked for location "5" which means you walk about good 1 mile in the dark to see the turtles. But we saw amazing lightening shows over the ocean and while we were waiting for one turtle to be ready for us, another turtle came up from the ocean to where I could have almost touched it. Then when we were ready to go back, we got hit by an incredible torrential rain you can't even imagine! The second night the spot we got assigned was just across from the Lodge and the weather was calm and turtles after turtles came up and went laying lots of eggs.

The grounds of Tortuga Lodge also is the best place to get a great picture of Poison Dart Frogs. The wake up call is around 4:30am provided by the Howler Monkeys. Need I say more? If you are looking for relaxation, away from the stress of city life and looking for good food, great drinks, friendly smiles and amazing wild life, Tortuga Lodge is where you should be!

Pura Vida!

Remember the cabins at summer camp? Thin walls, no air conditioning, screened windows? Well, take those cabins, stack them together and drop them into a jungle accessible only by airplane or boat and you've got the Tortuga Lodge. Think Gilligans Island with electricity and running water, but no Ginger or Mary Ann.

Seriously, this place is a blast, but don't expect the Ritz. It is on a canal across the way from the beach where the turtles do their thing. The rooms are clean, the floors wooden, the walls are so thin that everyone hears everyone and the showers have screened windows to the outside (high enough no one can look in, but kind of public nonetheless). The beds are on the hard side.

There is a lovely swimming pool and a very nice bar and dining room. Meals are served family style and the quality of the food was surprisingly good, but if you don't like what they have, you're pretty much out of luck unless you want a cheeseburger or chicken fingers (which my kids had and were the best I've tasted in years). Service was friendly, though uneven, but hey, it's Costa Rica. Lighten up.

Did I mention the howler monkeys? No need to leave a wake-up call. They're called howler monkeys for a reason and they go off about half an hour before sunrise and continue for a good while after daybreak.

If you've come this far, you're here for the turtles and the river cruises to check out the wildlife, and you will not be disappointed. In fact, there's plenty to be seen on the grounds of the lodge. Just slap on some bug spray and walk on back behind the main buildings. We saw lots of monkeys, a sloth, birds, iguanas, snakes, lizards, butterflies, hummingbirds. A nice little boa constrictor even slithered up to my daughter by the pool (she didn't appreciate it too much). It was probably trying to get at the 20 or so long-nosed bats that were resting on the trunk of the adjacent tree.

This was a great place to experience with kids. We came by boat and left by plane. Both were memorable experiences.

We are a family of 4 with two kids, 10 and 12, and we booked the one night Torteguero Jungle Expedition and Turtle Tour with Costa Rica Expeditions. We were so impressed by the level of organization and care the staff showed throughout our trip and stay at the Tortuga Lodge. Being first time visitors to Costa Rica with children along, we really appreciated that the guide met us at our San Jose hotel, was on time, introduced everyone we were in contact with (pilots, boat captains etc), explained what would happen next and when. All the guides and staff made every effort to ensure that we were comfortable, while traveling, on wildlife spotting journeys and at the Tortuga Lodge We also had a chance to meet the executive chef and the owner of the lodge and they were very interested in our opinion of our experience, and what we enjoyed. Even though we were just one ordinary family, we felt like their most important guests!

First, the Tortuga Lodge itself was beautiful, the location was so pristine and wild, and we loved the abundant wildlife right on the property. We flew to this tiny airstrip, and then were shuttled across the canal in a small boat; it just felt like a wild, jungle adventure, but with luxury and comfort! There is a salt-water pool with nice terry padded, wood lounge chairs all around. If we had more time, we could have scheduled kayak tours and other activities that were offered. There was also a “game room” for the kids with…a table soccer game and board games (no electronic arcade here!)

We stayed in the penthouse because the night we were there, there were a couple of tour groups in and it was the only room available, but it was very reasonably priced compared to a penthouse in any upscale resort or urban area, and we were happy with all the space we had. Our room was like a something out of a storybook; the hammocks, the screen walls and the ceiling fans, listening to the cicadas by day and the crickets by night. One caveat-this is an ecolodge, so expect no air conditioning and to have to ask for a blow dryer, and other efforts to respect the delicate jungle environment. This is what we had expected, but for some people it can mean a little more discomfort than what they are used to. We actually felt that the lack of air conditioning really helped us be more in tune with the environment around us.

We thoroughly enjoyed the meals, and were surprised by the excellent quality and presentation of the food. We thought that meals prepared that far from “civilization” might not be quite so civilized, but we enjoyed some of the best meals we had in Costa Rica at the Lodge. “Americanized” food was offered at all meals for the kids, but my girls never had it; they LOVED the food at Tortuga Lodge so much that my daughter has been asking for rice and beans like at the lodge! The food is served family style on an outdoor porch (or inside if you like) that sits right on the canal. It felt like we were on a boat!

We enjoyed the 2 canal wildlife spotting trips and for sure, we saw the most wildlife of our entire trip to CR right there in those canals. Our guide was excellent at spotting and naming everything. He even helped our girls by pointing out which bird or animal we had spotted on their laminated wildlife guide so they could keep track. When he spotted something that was well camouflaged; he was more patient about helping my kids to spot it than I was! Also, the guide provided everything we needed to be comfortable…field guide, ponchos (and you’ll need’em) and cold water or soda.

We also had the opportunity to see a sea turtle nesting on Totegeuro Beach, and since that was what brought us to the Tortuga Lodge, we were quite glad to be so lucky! The turtle tour is an organized tour that is very tightly controlled, to protect the turtles, it is led by local guides who have embraced protecting the turtles. Having this first hand interaction with the natives of Torteguero was also an interesting cultural experience. It was a long hot, quiet walk and there was a real crowd (about 12 groups of 6-10 people) rotating around to see the turtle laying her eggs and covering them afterward, but we were willing to make concessions to protect the animals and have an opportunity to see this amazing animal in the wild.