Costa Rica Bespoke Holiday
Costa Rica has one of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world; with 221 mammal species, 830 birds, 265 reptiles and amphibians and about 4% of all the world’s vascular plants. The landscapes are magnificent – towering volcanoes, sweeping beaches, dense rain-forests, extensive wetlands… Yet it’s tiny – about the size of Scotland; easy to get around and has one of the the world’s best system of accreditation for responsible tourism. Accreditation is based on a four-fold set of criteria: biological conservation (including recycling and sustainable infrastructure), work to support the local community; the education of guests and excellence of service. In short Costa Rica is a wildlife destination where you can be sure that your money is genuinely going to support the well being of the environment, both natural and human. This trip packs in natural highlights.
Our Suggested Day By Day Itinerary
This tour can be fully-personalized and upgrades are available.
Costa Rica tailor-made holidays are shaped to suit your preferences.
PACKAGE DETAILS
From £4000 Per Person
Based on 2 adults sharing a single or double room
Price Includes:
- Return economy flights from UK London/Manchester/Birmingham. Contact us for flight prices from other countries
Excursions
Park Entry fees
Transport: Private A/C Car with Chauffeur Guide
Hotels: Mid-range and luxury hotels on a mix of half and full board basis
Business Class Flights Upgrades are available
Day 1 – Departure to San Jose
Welcome to Costa Rica. When you arrive, you will be met at the airport by your Earth Trip representative and driven to your local hotel. Get a good rest as you prepare for the beginning of your trip into the Costa Rican wild.
- Board Includes:
- Breakfast
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Day 2 – San Jose
The next day you will visit the forests around the Poas volcano; the only easily accessible active volcanic caldera in the country. The caldera is over 300 metres deep, with 250 metre high geysers and a string of beautiful forest-lined lakes. There is plenty of wildlife in the surrounding national park. Birds living around Poas include myriad Emeralds and other hummingbirds, Clay-colored Robins – which has one of the most beautiful songs in the neotropics, Black Guans and Prong-billed Barbets.
- Board Includes:
- Breakfast
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Day 3 & 4 – Arenal Volcano
This morning after breakfast you transfer to Arenal a stunning, perfectly conical volcano, arriving just after lunch. While at Arenal you can visit the Arenal Observatory Lodge and walk the trails around the volcanoes – which preserve rainforest particualrl rich with hummingbirds, motmots and tanagers. There are also many heliconia and electric-blue morphos butterflies. You can also explore the waterfalls – reached on trails through the forest, visit the hot springs and watch wildlife at the Mistico Hanging Bridges – a series of trails and canopy walkways showcasing Arenal’s species-rich rainforests. Expect to see trogons, tanagers, Rainbow Beak Toucans, Northern Emerald-Toucanet, guans and motmots.
- Board Includes:
- Breakfast
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Day 5 & 6 Arenal to Monteverde Cloud Forest
After breakfast you will take a boat across Arenal Lake – a wonderful journey in the shadow of the volcano, from where you will be driven to stunning Monteverde Cloud forest. This is one of the best birdwatching destinations in Central America and the key reserve for one of the most spectacular birds in the Americas, the Resplendent Quetzal. Monteverde is a magical spot. Trails run through misty forests shrouded with moss and lichens and with myriad orchids in the trees. Glades reveal stunning clear mountain views (out across rainforest-covered ridges to the distant coast). As well as quetzals, pumas, ocelots, margays and capuchin monkeys live in Monteverde, and dozens of hummingbirds including Green-crowned brilliants, Violet Saberwings, Steely-vented and Stripe-tailed hummingbirds, Coppery-headed emerald, Purple-throated mountain gem, Green violet-ears and Bananaquits. At night you can often see bush-baby-like olingos in the trees.
- Board Includes:
- Breakfast
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Day 7, 8 & 9 – Monteverde Cloud Forest to Nosara Turtle Beaches
Today you leave for the beatuifiul Pacific Coast Bay at Playa Carillo in Guancaste Province where you will spend three nights. This stunning, sheltered, palm-shaded white sand cove is washed by turquoise water. The sunsets over the Pacific Ocean are magnificent. But there’s much more to Playa Carrillo than the beach. The bay lies a short drive from the turtle nesting beaches of the Ostional National Wildlife Refuge; and off shore is the Chora Island Reserve; fringed by pristine coral with superb snorkelling and sea kayaking and scores of iguanas in the low scrub forests.
- Board Includes:
- Breakfast
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Day 10, 11 & 12: Nosara to Osa Peninsula
A short drive and a flight via San José brings you to Drake Bay and the Osa Peninsula. This is one of the premier wildlife destinations in Central America – a thumb-shaped, beach-fringed peninsula swathed with thick lowland rainforest and cut with rushing clear-water rivers. There is nowhere better in Costa Rica for seeing large mammals. Jaguar live here in healthy numbers, there are tapir, ocelot and large troops of howler monkeys. The density of bird and primate life is as good as it gets in Central America; and turtles visit the beaches. The Osa bird list has some 450 species including endemics, the vulnerable Black Swift, Agami Heron, Harpy Eagle, Turquoise Cotinga, Three-wattled Bellbird,and the endangered Mangrove Hummingbird. You are visiting at the best time for birding.
- Board Includes:
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
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Day 13 to 16 – Osa Peninsula to Tortuguero
You will fly from Drake Bay on the Osa Peninsula to Costa Rica’s Northern Caribbean coast and the 19,000 hectare Tortuguero National Park. The park covers a vast swathe of lowland and gallery rainforests, channeled by crocodile-filled rivers and creeks and fringed with long sweeping Caribbean beaches. The wildlife is superb – squirrel monkeys and capuchins in the trees alongside your boat as you cruise the rivers, toucans on every branch, giant Leatherback turtles nesting on the beaches. It is one of Costa Rica’s top wildlife destinations.
- Board Includes:
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
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Day 17 – Fly home
A transfer from Torutuguero airstrip brings you back to San José and your flight home.
- Board Includes:
- Breakfast
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Tailor Your Tour - Potential Highlights
- Upgrade or change your hotels
- Add or remove attractions
- stay longer in some locations
- Let us make it perfect for you.
If you love this tour but want to change some details our team will tailor this tour to match your interests. With our in-depth knowledge we will provide you with the best advice on every detail of the tour.
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Our travel specialists are seasoned explorers with deep local insights. Whether it’s uncovering hidden gems or planning immersive cultural experiences, we design trips that go beyond the ordinary. Get in touch today!
Request A Video MeetingTailor Your Tour - Potential Highlights
- Upgrade or change your hotels
- Add or remove attractions
- stay longer in some locations
- Let us make it perfect for you.
If you love this tour but want to change some details our team will tailor this tour to match your interests. With our in-depth knowledge we will provide you with the best advice on every detail of the tour.
Costa Rica – Wildlife Highlights 2025/2026
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