Veragua Rainforest

Based on the high quality reviews I decided to arrange directly with Your Lucky Tour via their website, where more tour options seem to be available. Email worked great for arranging this; Eduardo was responsive, accommodating, and clear. Francisco picked us up promptly and took us to our two amazing destinations of Veragua Park and Tortuguero Canal. These are the top two wildlife viewing options in the area, and are both north/northwest of the cruise port, which made it easy to stop at both places without excessive driving. The combination of these experiences was perfect for us, as Veragua provides many curated exhibits (snakes, frogs, butterflies, fascinating plants and trees...) plus the aerial tram ride, while the Tortuguero Canal provided abundant wildlife viewing out of captivity (saw a caiman, howler monkeys, multiple sloths, many heron varieties...). We were disappointed to see some trash along the canal, and you should know that it runs along houses and is near a shipping port, but the wildlife viewing was top notch. Along the drive we learned a great deal about Costa Rica and its people, discussion made better by the small group nature of the tour. The perfect day!

We had a terrific tour thanks to our wonderful guide Stephannie Callimore and driver Erick Viales. They both went above and beyond to make our day incredibly special. The guide at the Rainforest was very friendly and knowledgeable.

I did not find this combination on any of the listed tours but Edwardo Humphreys arranged it after I emailed my request. The cost was very reasonable because you have to drive far and on bad roads to get to the rainforest and then there is $60 per person entrance fee. The rainforest was interesting because of the exhibits and discussion of the research by lab person. Our rainforest guide was fine with exhibits but didn't really find too much to show us in the rain forest. Other people raved about the guides but really it's luck of the draw when you arrive. Did get some great shots of a sloth hanging out near the cable car deck. What was great was that our tour group was just us and another couple from the same celebrity cruise. So it was easier to interact and felt like a totally private tour. Edwardo spoke while his son drove the van that took us to the rainforest and the canal tour. At the end we decided agains the buffet lunch offered by the rainforest and Edwardo took us to an Italian restaurant with an amazing view of the city. If you want a great tour trust him to provide. It's cheaper to go to the rainforest closer to town and you will walk through with a guide showing you stuff. Total time was about 5-6 hours.