Tag Archives: costa rica adventure tours

Let Your Children Design Your Costa Rica Family Adventure!

It’s time to plan your next vacation…but your children roll their eyes when you start talking about it. Perhaps they are teenagers, whose main goal in life seems to be staying “cool” about everything, or perhaps they are younger and their favorite summer phrase is “are we there yet?”

Here’s a chance to get your children involved:  have them plan your very own Costa Rica Adventure! We have lots of options for them to choose from, and you can be confident that our professional guides and courteous staff will make your custom vacation into an unforgettable experience for everyone in the family. If your daughter is into animals, we’ll go in search of sea turtles, snorkel among the fish and take a canopy tour to where the exotic birds hang out. If your son is just learning about other cultures, we’ll hike into a remote village where you can meet the locals and discover how they live. If your teen believes that he or she has “seen it all,” we will plan a day full of sights, sounds and experiences that can only be found in Costa Rica. If the most important thing is to keep everyone active, we have sea kayaks, mountain bikes, whitewater rafts, ziplines, surfboards…everything you could want to have a fun-filled and lively day together.

Costa Rica Rios will create your custom adventure with the entire family in mind. As a parent, you will appreciate our high quality adventure equipment and excellent safety record, and value our commitment to sustainability and the environment. Your entire family will enjoy our comfortable and upscale lodgings and outstanding food. Our expert local guides will draw you into the heartbeat of our life here and make your Costa Rica Adventure a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Contact us or click now on our Custom and Family Tours page and get started!

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Feliz Navidad!

With the holiday season upon us our thoughts are consumed by Christmas here in Costa Rica! Being a very catholic country, Christmas is a huge deal and the shops have had Christmas stuff for sale since September. As for most major events in the annual calendar it’s the community that makes them a big success. On Sunday night there was the Christmas Light Parade and the whole community turned out to watch. This also included the people from all the small towns we pass through on our Week of Adventures guided vacations. The lights were bright and the drums loud and the parade lasted several hours. All types of businesses and schools participated in floats and displays, big and small. The smallest was a large white dog dressed in Santa garb and the biggest were on Big Mac style trucks. Rawlings baseball factory had made a giant baseball glove and ball and a truck-sized sewing machine. The people on the float threw balls into the 10’s of 1000’s of people lining the streets.To finish the night there was music and fireworks. The couple here on their Costa Rica adventure honeymoon got to witness this amazing display of local culture first hand. Everyone went home with a Christmas glow and hope for good things in the New Year.

enjoy Costa Rica culture during your guided adventure vacationenjoy Costa Rica culture during your guided adventure vacation

 

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Working a Costa Rica Adventure

My own Costa Rica adventure began almost a year ago when I came here for a Week of Rivers guided adventure vacation with Costa Rica Rios. It was such an amazing experience, kayaking in warm clear water, seeing the brilliant blue morphos flashing through the trees around us, waking up to the exotic chorus of birds, insects and monkeys at the jungle camp… by the end of the week I didn’t want to leave!  So when I heard they were looking for a new office intern here in Turrialba, starting just as I was finishing university, it seemed like the perfect opportunity and I jumped at the chance to come back.

costa rica guided adventure vacation tour trip package honeymoon My first couple of weeks here have been amazing! Everyone is so nice, it’s like I’ve been adopted into a big new family and they are all teaching me so much. I’m learning all about the language, the music, the food, the culture… and the guests are awesome too. It’s fascinating to hear the stories people bring, from so many different places, of such crazy adventures. But still the best thing for me is that when I’m not working, I can go kayaking. We had some extreme weather last week so I even got to check out some new rivers with high water – perfect!

costa rica guided adventure vacation tour trip package honeymoonToday the sun is out for the beginning of the holiday season; the schools will all be finished in a few short days, the special Olympics are being held in town next week, and soon after that will be the Christmas parades. It is also the peak season for travelers so things are starting to get pretty busy around here!  As well as our signature guided tours: Week of Rivers and Week of Adventures, we are also working on lots of custom adventure vacation tours, and a new range of Costa Rica adventure honeymoon packages. I can’t wait to meet all these new people and help create more perfect adventures.

Jess
The new intern from NZ

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Costa Rica Vacation Packages

As promised in one of our last posts we are occasionally going to post reasons of why it makes sense to book a Costa Rica adventure through an outfitter based in the country year round.

Reason 2: The best local guides. Operating and living in Costa Rica gives us a unique take on the country. We know the best adventure guides in the business and we only have the best working with us.

On one of our Costa Rica guided tours you can expect to see the country with one of these amazing guides. Danny, Davies and Walter have all represented Costa Rica at the world rafting championships, Walter has also paddled for Costa Rica at the kayak slalom world cup in Spain, 2009 as well as currently competing in the national competitions.  He came 3rd last week in the first competition of the national championships.  Davies is currently competing in triathlons throughout the country and both he and Walter have started training again to represent Costa Rica at the next international rafting world cup.

This means that throughout your Costa Rica adventure you are in very safe, experienced and capable hands.

On top of their undoubted athletic ability our guides will help bring the country alive on your Costa Rica adventure. There knowledge of all things Costa Rican from culture, history, flora, fauna and much more are second to none. At the end of your Costa Rica guided tour with Costa Rica Rios you will know why you decided to have a guide accompany you on your vacation.

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Costa Rica Adventure Tours

We thought we would occasionally use this blog to give you a reason or two as to why it makes sense to book a Costa Rica adventure tour through an outfitter based in the country.

Reason 1: Being based here year round we have our fingers on the pulse of what is happening in the country at any given time. This means when we put together Costa Rica vacation packages we do so in a logical and knowledgeable manner. Our Costa Rica trips are based around getting out there and enjoying the country outdoors, not watching it speed by through the windows of a bus!

So let us plan your dream Costa Rica guided tour that takes the hassle out of planning a Costa Rica vacation. You won’t be disappointed!

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Adventure Guide Daniel Rodriguez

Many of our Costa Rica guided tours throughout the season are led by our head guide Daniel Rodriguez (Danny).

Danny comes from a long line of family members who have worked in the tourism industry in Costa Rica for many years. Danny’s mother worked in tourism when he was growing up, so the outdoors and conservation have always been very important to him. Originally from San Jose, Danny started rafting at the age of 12 learning to paddle on the Reventazon, Pacuare and Corobici rivers. By the time he was in his early 20’s Danny had already represented Costa Rica at the World Rafting Championships in Ecuador.

Equally at home in a kayak Danny is an all round expert whitewater guide.

Danny’s perfect English is a product of having moved to and lived in the United States for 5 years. As a trip leader on our Week of Adventures or Week of Rivers, Danny brings lots of fun and laughs to our Costa Rica trips as well as an in depth knowledge of everything Costa Rican. He has an incredible amount of knowledge on the flora and fauna and helps bring Costa Rica alive for our international guests.

When he is not working Danny enjoys all adrenaline/outdoor activities, especially surfing, skateboarding, kayaking and rappelling.

 

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Christmas and New Year Adventure Trips in Costa Rica

Are you planning on getting away from it all this festive season? Then look no further than Costa Rica!

We know it seems crazy to be talking about the holiday season in August but at Costa Rica Rios we are already gearing up for December.

Traditionally this is the busiest time of year in CR, it is also one of the most fun times to visit this tropical paradise and join a guided tour.

At Costa Rica Rios we always run our Week of Adventures over Christmas and New Year. As you all know Costa Rica has been voted “the happiest nation on earth” several times and over the festive period the happiest people just get happier!

Costa Ricans do not need much of an excuse to get the fireworks out, so as you can imagine, all the little towns and villages throughout the country light up. It is a very special time of year to visit this spectacular country.

During our Costa Rica adventure trips we always try and get our guests involved with the festivities. Our chef Lucy prepares a traditional Costa Rican feast and we encourage our guests to take to the safe streets of our base town, to experience the carnival atmosphere that abounds each year.

With fantastic weather almost always the norm over the end of December, not only will you experience how the Costa Ricans like to celebrate, you will also leave with a tan!

Our Christmas Week of Adventures this year is running from December 22nd-29th, 2012 with our New Years trip from December 29th-January 5th, 2013.

Our Christmas adventure trip is starting to fill up and there are only a few spots left available on our New Year version.

We would love to have you join us down here this year for a once in a lifetime adventure vacation!

Pura vida

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Why Costa Rica?

Thinking of planning your next vacation? Look no further than Costa Rica.

Costa Rica will fascinate anyone interested in exploring Latin America’s cultural diversity and witnessing some of the best wildlife anywhere in the world. Costa Rica is a small country, with about 0.25% of the worlds landmass, but boasts almost 5% of the worlds biodiversity. Around 25% of the country is protected national parks and protected areas which is the largest percentage of protected landmass of any country in the world.

Costa Rica was ranked first in 2009 and 2012 on the Happy Planet Index and was also ranked as the ‘greenest’ country in the world in 2009.

What does this mean for you? It means a vacation like no other. With rainforests, live volcanoes, wild free flowing rivers and fantastic beaches Costa Rica is an adventure destination second to none.

With our Week of Adventures tour we give you a snapshot of everything that makes Costa Rica such a special destination. We kayak down a remote river, mountain bike ride down the highest volcano in the country, raft one of the top 5 commercially rafted rivers in the world (as voted by National Geographic), take part in a canopy/zipline tour and if that is not enough we also head to the beach for some surfing and snorkeling.

Costa Rica Rios is an award winning company (voted one of the top adventure outfitters on earth by National geographic Adventure) with highly skilled guides who love to show off their country to our international guests.

As proud members of 1% For The Planet you can be assured that by choosing an adventure week with us you are helping the world we all live in as 1% of our annual turnover is donated to non-profit environmental causes.

Costa Rica Rios is an environmentally conscious company that always does its best to recycle, reuse and reduce. We buy locally grown produce and we donate our organic waste to a local chocolate farmer!

So if you are still trying to decide on the perfect Costa Rica vacation package look no further.

We look forward to some amazing adventures with you in the tropics!

 

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Manuel Antonio – Beaches, Wildlife, Adventure Tours

This week we packed up the kids and headed to Manuel Antonio for a mini break. It is a great location for kids with tons of wildlife, a great National Park and some fantastic beaches.

Yesterday we visited the National Park for some family adventures. We saw howler monkeys, white faced monkeys and titi monkeys, sloths, racoons and iguanas. Our children were mesmerized.

Today we are heading to the beach to play in the surf before heading home tomorrow in time to start another great Week of Adventures on Saturday.

Manuel Antonio is one of the destinations we use when creating Custom Tours and honeymoon vacations for our guests. It is also a great add on at the end of a Week of Adventures or Week of Rivers.

Manuel Antonio is blessed with some great hotels and fabulous restaurants, so when booking a Costa Rica Rios tour, ask us about this amazing Costa Rican destination. You won’t be disappointed.

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Living in Costa Rica

As owners of Costa Rica Rios we live and work in Costa Rica 365 days a year and what a great place it is to live.

Our two children were born here and are 100% Ticos. Having not grown up bilingual ourselves it never fails to amaze us that we have two wee boys who are equally comfortable in both Spanish and English. Their favorite food is rice and beans and they both go to one of the local schools in our area. With any luck you will one day see them guiding on our Week of Adventures or Week of Rivers trips!

We love the outdoor aspect of living in Costa Rica, and as a family we are always active. We visit volcanoes, rainforests and this week plan to head to one of our favorite beaches in Manuel Antonio. The options are endless.

One of the best parts of living in Costa Rica are the fresh fruit and vegetables. Our little town has a farmers market every Friday and Saturday where you can pick up fantastic locally grown produce at a very reasonable price. Lucy, our chef, is always down there picking out the best produce available for our guided tours. If you have never tried a Costa Rican mango you have never lived!

We love this country and plan to be here for many more years. Come down and visit us and let us show you around.

Pura vida!

Fraser and Jane

 

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