You can either click on the region of Costa Rica you want to visit or on one of nine habitats (Tropical Rain Forest, Rural Farm, etc.) and get a screen with the hotels in that "habitat." Alternatively, you can click on your favorite activity and find hotels rated by the quality of that particular activity. Three stars means Excellent, worth a special trip. Two stars is good, worth making the time to participate. One star is Acceptable, you may enjoy yourself once you are there, if you have time.
For example, birdwatchers will find 23 choices--11 with 3 stars, 12 with 2 stars. The same procedure works whether you are interested in scuba diving, golf, spa/yoga, wildlife viewing, windsurfing, hiking, sea kayaking, etc.
Linked to each hotel are as many as 24 sample itineraries with prices for complete vacations, each of which features 2 or more of the hotels from the site. These 8- to 16-day holidays include the following: round-trip airport transfers, all lodgings, some meals and all transport within Costa Rica by van, boat and light aircraft. Most are priced both unescorted and with a naturalist guide.
Costa Rica Expeditions, the leader in ecotours in Costa Rica since 1978, is uniquely qualified to advise travelers, as it is simply the best in the field. (None of the hotels listed pay to get listed, by the way.) Michael Kaye says he doesn't use a rating system for the hotels. "They all provide the highest level of service within their category...The trend today is for travelers to choose a destination and a property based on their passion for the activities available there. The deciding factor--how good is the birding or biking or rafting--that's what we rate."
One of their new packages is a MultiSport Adventure, for 7 days/6 nights, running from $1,698 to $1,998, depending on the season, ground only ($1,098 for ages 12 to 16 sharing room with parents). The firm also has some Family Adventure Packages (June through August only) with prices of $1,298 for adults ($998 for kids up to 16 sharing with parents), for 9 days of kayaking, hydrobiking, canoeing and so on. They have many other packages for all sorts of activities, so be sure to ask for their brochures or take a good look at their Web site (see below).
If you want to know more about Costa Rica Expeditions, go to their Web site at www.costaricaexpeditions.com. To receive one of their brochures and more information, e-mail them at costaric@expeditions.co.cr or phone 011/506-257-0766 or fax 011/506-257-1665.