You may enjoy this tour if you're a Tourist with a capital "T," if you love Disney Cruises, or If you want to feel like a piece of human meat being carted around in a van for 6 hours while enjoying overpriced mass-manufactured souvenir shop, mediocre mostly-american food options, being treated rudely by your “tour guide,” and ending up at a hot springs party-time resort. If you don't fit into one of the former categories, this tour has little, if any, redeeming qualities. Suggest you don't waste your time reading further, and instead book a zip-line tour in the Cloud Forest, which I heard was amazing, and really wish had been our choice.
Still reading? Okay here goes....
The first stop was a small town with a red church and a small public park. We received no commentary about the town or church, and I don’t see it on the Viator itinerary, so I guess it was a bonus anonymous place.
Next up was Sarchi Craft Market which seemed to make great effort to avoid selling anything not mass manufactured except, perhaps, the plates painted with traditional ox-cart designs. For Americans, I advise purchasing better-quality items for cheaper at World Market and say you got them on your trip.
Lunch, alongside busloads of other tourists, included your choice of spaghetti (bonus choice of bolognese or a white sauce), a hamburger, or a poor approximation of a Costa Rican dish with dry chicken. When my partner was served the wrong order, he was told they could not bring him the correct dish because “the tour guide is eating it.” Melted vanilla ice cream completed the affair.
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Finally, with a view of Mount Arenal from about 5 miles away, we reached our final destination, Baldi Hot Springs. Aside from the natural spring water (I hope), it boasted molded plastic rocks, manicured plants (not plastic at least), water slides, a spa, and a couple of restaurants. You’re in luck if you’re looking for a nightclub-party-sportsbar scene, complete with televisions and thumping music. Bonus if you want to get hammered for the long ride back, as swim-up bars are stationed in every hot spring area.
Dinner was a barely palatable buffet, also with choice of various pasta dishes and meats in mystery sauces.
Finally to our tour guide, Hector, who, when he wasn’t acting extremely annoyed at all four guests on his tour, phoned it in the rest of the time. We got a bit of commentary at the start of the tour (please make sure, though, not to interrupt or have a sense of humor). He neglected to explain the agenda at the hot springs and became quite angry and bossy when no one on the tour had bothered to read his mind about where to meet and when or where we planned to eat dinner. We were one of two couples on the tour and, upon comparing notes at dinner, found that we had all been treated rudely at points throughout the day (luckily, Hector preferred to dine alone instead of joining his tour guests). We always tip at least 20% and often more for good service, but Hector made the experience so unpleasant, we tipped nothing (and neither did the other couple). In fact, I’d suggest that we deserve a tip for paying so much for this ridiculous exlperience and having to put up with his crap attitude all day.
I often travel internationally and have taken many tours over the years. This was, by far, the worst, most inauthentic experience I’ve ever had.