My wife and I stayed at Ivan's house for a week in December 2012. We booked travel to and from Alajuela (shuttle and water taxi), and the Tortuga Island snorkeling outing. Besides daily encounters with the owner, Ivan, we experienced 8-12 staff members of this company in various roles. Every interaction with any of these people was helpful, professional, and very friendly. There were a number of special things they did for us well beyond the call of duty. Ivan is a star. I recommend them without reservation and look forward to an early return.

I was very nervous about taking a water taxi for an hour from Montezuma to Jaco. It was THE BEST and most affordable way to travel between the two points and very affordable. That is the only way I would travel next time. The people at Zuma Tours in Montezuma were very friendly and helpful too. It was a great experience! Would definately do it again using Zuma Tours

It is funny. I just read some of the previous reviews for Zuma tours, and frankly I'm surprised by the amount of negativity!

Personally, my wife and I had a fantastic time with Zuma Tours. We wen't to Isla Tortuga for the day. The boat was NOT overcrowded, nor was the captain compromising safety.

We started our voyage out of the fishing area in Montezuma. The boat quickly took us over to Isla Tortuga (about a 45 minute ride). Once we arrived there, the captain dropped off the rest of the crew so that they could prepare lunch for us. While the crew prepared lunch, we wen't snorkeling. We got some of the BEST video of our entire trip from this one adventure. We stopped in two different snorkeling spots that both had great local marine life to view.

Once we arrived back at Isla Tortuga, we ate lunch and hung out on the beach. While there we met some Europeans and played some volleyball with them. I felt like a yank. After that we packed up and headed back to Montezuma after a nice full/fun day!


You might be wondering why I gave this an "Average" score above. This is why:
The whole operation is a bit of a tourist trap. Just be prepared for this and it'll be fine.
The boat ride was very scenic and nice, but 45 minutes through ocean swells can be daunting for some.
Even though the lunch was fresh-caught fish, it wasn't very tasty. The crew may be better boat handlers than cooks
The actual island itself (Isla Tortuga) isn't what you expect. In reality, it's a tourist beach. Pretty though it may be, it still had things like rental chairs and the like on the beach. Plus one thing that was a bit strange: Zuma Tours was not the only group on the beach during that time. There were tons of other tour groups also on the beach so it really did seem touristy. In fact, it was the most touristy thing I did in Costa Rica.

All in all, it was totally worth it. The marine life we saw snorkeling was unparalleled, and the video I got from it was amazing. There were just things that could have been a bit better.

I booked an 11 day trip for myself and two younger kids thru Zuma Tours and rented Ivan's Beach house and Montezuma Sollevente cottages. The properties were beautiful but the service was the best. We made friends with Javier and Ivan who run Zuma Tours and they were awesome. Then we stayed at Montezuma Sollevente run by Varina and Marco. They treated us like family. They were so helpful and invited us on activities with them. We have a friendship for ever now. Javier at Zuma tours was very quick to respond and detail. We booked all our activities thru him. We went snorkeling to Tortuga Island, rode horses on the beach, zip lined and rode quads. Every activies was great and the tour guides were wonderful. I cannot say enough GREAT things about Zuma Tours, Ivan's House, Montezuma Sollevente and the wonderful friends we made in Javier, Ivan, Varina and Marco. It was a trip of a life time and I recommend it to everybody.
Jessica