Costa Rica continues to be among the hottest destinations for American tourists. With its combination of volcanoes, pristine coast, rain forests, wildlife and across the board affordability, the country consistently delivers true value for your vacation dollars.
Caravan Tours (tel. 800-227-2826; www.caravantours.com) recently added almost-daily departures to its 10-day escorted tour; starting from $995, the package includes everything but your airfare. The tour that takes travelers through Costa Rica's cities, beaches, natural parks and volcanic preserves and is fully-escorted with transportation via luxury motor coach. The number of people on the tour ranges from 30 to 44. Kicking off in San Jose, the trip visits the Poas Volcano, inactive since 1991, the rainforest aerial tram at Braulio Carrillo Park, Tortuguero Park for a lodge stay on the Caribbean, San Carlos Valley, Fortuna, and an operational coffee plantation before settling into the Costa Rican beach resort of Jaco. Accommodations are at first-class hotels, most of which are air-conditioned, and all of which are centrally-located in national parks or close to thriving villages with Internet cafes and outdoor markets selling Costa Rican goods. All meals are included in the price of the trip. Alcoholic beverages or extra meals such as snacks are not included. Airport transfers are included. If you extend your stay, as a lot of travelers do, airport transfers are not included and you should expect to pay around $15 to the San Jose airport. The single supplement for this trip comes to $200.
For the more independent spirited traveler looking to discover Costa Rica on their own, Go-Today (tel. 800/227-3235; www.go-today.com) has a fly and flexi-drive packagewith hotel vouchers included that allow you to choose where and when in Costa Rica you want to stay. Just follow any road (and Costa Rican roads are good and safe) you want to explore Costa Rica's two coasts and exotic interior. Depending on the level of hotels you want to stay in, this trip starts at $699 for budget accommodations, $799 for tourist class hotels and $949 for superior lodging. Airfare is out of Miami with other U.S. departure points costing an additional $250 from such cities as Atlanta, Baltimore, New York, and Washington, D.C. Prices are per person based on two people traveling together and include round-trip airfare, accommodations, arrival transfer to your hotel in San Jose, one night in San Jose and hotel vouchers for six nights, daily breakfast, and unlimited mileage for your seven-day rental of a 4x4 manual four wheel drive vehicle. Budget class hotels in Costa Rica are not your normal budget class travel lodges. Most of the hotels in the budget class are very comfortable, clean, and spacious. They're just smaller and have fewer amenities than the superior class big hotel chain options.
For adventure lovers, Tico Travel (tel. 800/493-8426; www.ticotravel.com) has surfing, adventure and nature lover packages to the wilds of Costa Rica. Experienced surfers would want to check out the popular "Tamarind and Hermosa Surf Special" covering three nights in Hermosa and four nights in Tamarind, both great locations on the Pacific Ocean. Starting at $624 per person for a party of two, this package includes all accommodations, seven days of your choice of automobile, all hotel and car taxes, and a surf map complete with break instructions. Rates decrease if you go with three or four people. Daily breakfast is not included. Tico Travel can arrange discount airfares for you upon request. For surfing beginners, the company has trips through the Witches Rock Surf Camp that offers daily in-water surf instruction, class seminars on etiquette, predicting waves, board repair, the unlimited use of different sized surfboards, a graduation tour of a local surf break, accommodations, and airport transfers to the Tamarind Airport, a local air strip with flights back to San Jose. Prices for this instructional surf package start at $1,290 for the individual surfer or $895 for double occupancy if you decide to go with a friend. Travel for this package is from Saturday to Saturday.
For airfare to Costa Rica, Intratours (tel. 800/334-8069; www.intratours.com) has winter flights to Costa Rica costing $282 out of Miami, $435 out of Atlanta, $416 out of New York, $351 out of Washington, D.C., and $469 out of Los Angeles. Winter fairs through Intratours last from January 14 to March 31, 2006. Fares are round-trip for mid-week flights.