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Great experience! We loved being in Panama and got see and do so many amazing things! Definitely would recommend.
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Date of experience: May 2022
Helpful
This review covers a 4-person, 10 day trip to Costa Rica 22 Feb-04 March 2022 that was expertly planned and arranged by Pierre Gedeon, the Manager of Costa Adventures, based in San Jose, Costa Rica. Our first trip to Costa Rica, involving two couples in our 60s, was relatively spontaneous, with a mere 5-week planning horizon from the day we first contacted Costa Adventures. Mssr. Gedeon rose to the occasion by designing a great itinerary replete with excellent venues, despite the busy season, limited availability across the breadth of lodging and activity possibilities and a fairly modest budget. This trip was taken during a low point in the pandemic (perhaps the end, but we can't know now) so other than the entry and departure requirements, the frequent need to wear face masks, and a desire to limit the size of our activity groups (which Pierre very graciously accommodated), the trip didn't need to be planned in a special way. All of the health requirements were well explained and anticipated via Costa Adventure's advisement and, as I'll mention below, specific efforts were made to limit the size of group tour arrangements, and all inter-city transportation was private with capable masked drivers. In summary, there was never a time in our arranged itinerary when we were concerned about Covid-exposure. Beyond our trip's planning foundation, there were several occasions when Costa Adventures provided value beyond expectations. From the start, Pierre was very available for a zoom call and extensive planning communications, and we were so surprised when he actually recognized and greeted us at the San Jose airport, bearing welcome gifts. Throughout our time in Costa Rica Pierre's colleague, Michael Hernandez, was available within moments if anything came up. When there was a question about some arrangements - 100% on my shoulders due to overlooking some earlier correspondence - Costa Adventures offered to cover a dinner for the group (I couldn't accept since it was entirely on me, but how incredibly gracious to offer)! Our budget and short planning horizon didn't permit all-private tour arrangements, but every effort was made to limit group size and on one occasion I'm certain a cooking class was arranged for just the four of us, an unexpected bonus. The trip itinerary was a great fit for our group, following a natural progression from cool cloud-forest highlands, to a volcano-side stay in the temperate Central Valley, to a simmering beach town on the northern Guanacaste coast. Lodging choices were a great fit, with two – Villa Blanca in the Los Angeles Cloud Forest and Jardin del Eden in Tamarindo - standing out in particular. We arrived in San Jose, left from Liberia and the extensive ground transport arrangements between stays and on activities was seamless, well-timed for hotel arrivals, never late, always accommodating. Every one of the five differing wildlife, cultural and cooking activities arranged by Costa Adventures was enjoyed by the group, the vendors and guides they chose were excellent. Brian Catts Tucson, Arizona…
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Date of experience: February 2022
Helpful
My wife and I just returned from a trip to Costa Rica and we really enjoyed our time there! Pierre and Michael were able to help us when we had a problem and change our itinerary as needed during the trip. I will say for us personally we thought the trip from the arsenal volcano area to Tamarindo Beach was very hilly and made us both nauseated so I think we should have used other means if possible or been made aware. The only other thing we ran into that wasn’t necessarily a problem was it took some time to communicate with the team pre-travel. It was during high season so I get that they are busy but it will take them a couple days to get to emails. The patience though is well worth it in my opinion as the trip did go really well and everything was planned really nicely! If you’re going to Costa Rica I would recommend staying at the Pacuare Lodge as it was the highlight of the trip! I would recommend using Pierre and Michael for your Central America trips. We will use again when we go back.…
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Date of experience: February 2022
1 Helpful vote
Helpful
Response from pg011, Guest Relations Manager at Costa Adventures
Responded Mar 13, 2022
Dear DanS123456789012, thank you so much for posting this review! We were so pleased to help your group on the family during your trip to Costa Rica and are so happy to read you were happy with our services and your travel experience. Thank you for pointing out the areas of potential improvement, we are working on that already and will and make sure that our customized itineraries are more specific about road conditions for each specific transfer. And yes re communication, we have been extremely again since December and understaffed so these things happened a bit -and they should not-. We now hired and re hired trained staff, and all these small issues are not happening anymore. Thank you again for using our services and we are looking forward to seeing you or friends/family members again in Costa Rica or Panama!
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We went to Panama in January 2022 and had a wonderful time, of course it was planned by Pierre and Michael team from Costa Adventures. (We went to Costa Rica in April 2021 and was also planned by Pierre and Michael team) We really enjoyed Isla Palenque Resort. It has only 8 casitas, but we felt like the whole island belonged to us. The food was very good, and all the staff were wonderful. Boquette is a very quaint town that we also enjoyed very much. We were there when the flower festival was held, so that was a pleasant surprise. We stayed at Bocas Bali Resort in Bocas del Toro. The resort was nice but not to much privacy, food and service were ok, not exceptional. Panama City was a lot of fun with visit to Ancon Hill, Panama Canal, and Casco Antigua. The guide and driver for each part of town was always on time, friendly, helpful and always followed Covid protocols. I would highly recommended Pierre and Michael team from Costa Adventures for anyone who want to visit Costa Rica and/or Panama. A great team!!…
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Date of experience: January 2022
1 Helpful vote
Helpful
Response from pg011, Guest Relations Manager at Costa Adventures
Responded Mar 13, 2022
Dear Partran you so much for posting this review! We were so pleased to help your family on the ground during your trip to Panama and our best reward is to read you were happy with our services and your travel experience. Thank you for pointing out the areas of potential improvement with recently opened Bocas Bali hotel, we are working on that together with the lodge already and will and make sure they take care of this matter, as their product needs some "adjustments". Thank you again for using our services and we are looking forward to seeing you or friends/family members again in Costa Rica or Panama!
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We had a wonderful family adventure organized by Pierre and team. Their advice and coordination were top notch and we couldn't have been happier with the activities they planned, which was no easy feat since we ranged in ages from 75 to 5!
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Date of experience: December 2021
1 Helpful vote
Helpful
Response from pg011, Guest Relations Manager at Costa Adventures
Responded Mar 13, 2022
Dear EvanR, thank you so much for posting this wonderful review! We were so pleased to help your family on the ground during your trip to Costa Rica and our best reward is to read you were happy with our services and your travel experience. As a Luxury Travel Specialist, we LOVE to work with families and multi-generational families, as we know that each individual in the group has its individual requests and "wish list" and we try to make magic happen Thank you again for using our services and we are looking forward to seeing you or friends/family members again in Costa Rica, or Panama, another superb destination with colonial towns, authentic villages, 2 oceans and hundreds of Caribbean islands with over the water bungalows
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