Last updated on April 5th, 2024 at 03:14 pm EST
Below are answers to some of the most popular questions we receive from travelers. For your convenience, the questions and our responses to each are divided upon the following four categories: “Our Discounts & Operation,” “Reservations & Cancelations,” “Payments & Credit Card Information,” and “Our Discount Vouchers.”
Our Discounts & Operation
How does Pura Vida! eh? offer Costa Rica day tours at discount prices?
How can I take advantage of the discounted rates that Pura Vida! eh? offers?
Does it cost anything to obtain a discount through Pura Vida! eh?
Will I have to pay Pura Vida! eh? for my chosen day tours, or provide Pura Vida! eh? with my credit card information?
Can I access the discounts without requesting a day tour through Pura Vida! eh?
What if I am interested in receiving discounts for items not currently listed on the Pura Vida! eh? website?
What if I have already reserved my Costa Rica day tours? Is it too late to access your discounts?
Reservations and Cancelations
How will I know where to go for my day tour, what my day tour pick-up time will be, and/or other important day tour information?
Does Pura Vida! eh? secure availability for my chosen day tours? Or do I do that directly through the tour operator?
When I request day tours through Pura Vida! eh? what cancelation policy applies?
Should/must I reserve Costa Rica day tours in advance? How much time is required?
What if I am unsure of my travel dates?
What if I want to modify a day tour request (i.e., change a date/time) but not cancel it entirely?
Payments and Credit Card Information
What are Pura Vida! eh?’s Terms and Conditions?
Why are prices listed in USD? Is it possible to pay in CAD, Euros, Costa Rican Colones, or other currencies?
What if I do not have a credit card?
What type of currency should I bring to Costa Rica to pay for Costa Rica day tours that don’t require advance payment?
Our Discount Vouchers
What are Pura Vida! eh? discount vouchers?
How do I receive Pura Vida! eh? discount vouchers?
Our Answers
How does Pura Vida! eh? offer Costa Rica day tours at discount prices?
Our operation is the result of the great relationships that we have with reputable Costa Rican tour operators. Because we’ve worked with several for years (most for more than a decade), many allow us to offer their Costa Rica day tours to our Pura Vida! eh? members at discounted rates.
How can I take advantage of the discounted rates that Pura Vida! eh? has?
Gaining access to our discounts is easy! Simply become a Pura Vida! eh? member (learn how to become a member here), then submit an order through our website for the discounts you want for your trip. (See our How Pura Vida! eh? Works page for a step-by-step breakdown of our operation.) As a result of submitting an order for discounts through our website, you’ll pay the Costa Rican tour operators only our exclusive discounted rates, not their original tour rates.
Does it cost anything to obtain one or more discounts through Pura Vida! eh?
The use of our discounts is exclusive to Pura Vida! eh? members only, and you’ll need to pay a one-time fee to become a member. The fee is small, though, compared to the total amount of money you’ll save by using our discounts. See this page for examples of how much money you can save by using our discounts.
Will I have to pay Pura Vida! eh? for my chosen day tours or provide Pura Vida! eh? with my credit card information?
Nope! We never collect payment for Costa Rica tours like travel agents and travel agencies do. We are just as cautious of credit card fraud as you probably are, so in order to minimize any and all risk, we ask you NOT to provide us with this personal information. (We don’t need it and therefore we prefer to protect your privacy by not asking for it.) We believe operating this way helps us earn your business and your trust.
This said, in order to pay for your chosen Costa Rica day tours, you may need to provide your credit card information to the tour operators who run the tours. Many companies in Costa Rica require this information before they will guarantee reservations so they can protect themselves in case you cancel last-minute or don’t show up for the tour. Please note that this is not a Pura Vida! eh? Inc. requirement, it is a mandate by some Costa Rican tour operators according to their own policies. If you request a Costa Rica day tour run by a tour operator that requires credit card information before they will guarantee a reservation, you’ll be asked to provide your payment information to the tour operator directly, not to us. Note that this process (and requirement) would be the same regardless of whether you requested the Costa Rica day tours through us (at our discounted rates) or through the Costa Rican tour operator directly (at their original tour rates).
Can I access the discounts without requesting a day tour through Pura Vida! eh?
Unfortunately, no. The discounts are exclusive to Pura Vida! eh? members only; requests for discounts are handled through our website, not the tour operator’s website.
What if I am interested in receiving discounts for items not currently listed on the Pura Vida! eh? website?
If you are looking for a discount for a Costa Rica day tour that is not currently listed in our Discount Database, let us know which tour/discount you have in mind! We could very well offer a discount for it but haven’t yet had a chance to add it to our database. The fastest and easiest way to get in touch with us is to leave us a comment in our Questions and Answers Forum.
What if I have already reserved my Costa Rica day tours? Is it too late to access your discounts?
Unfortunately, yes. Our discounts can be applied to new bookings only; they cannot be applied retroactively to preexisting reservations that you made through the tour operator or another company, such as a travel agency or hotel. Tourism in Costa Rica is incredibly competitive (sharks aren’t limited to the Pacific Ocean here!), and as a result, we prefer not to step on the toes of other businesses. While we would love to be able to apply our discounts in all cases, most tour operators will consider you to be their client, not our client, once you’ve established direct contact with them. Since our discounts are exclusive to our clients only, they cannot be accessed once another company views you as their client. We respect the tour operators we work with highly and we’d hate to steal you away from them if you were working with them first. Of course, If you have already reserved some but not all of your desired Costa Rica day tours through other companies, you’re welcome to become a Pura Vida! eh? member and place an order for discounts for any day tours that you haven’t yet made arrangements for elsewhere.
How will I know where to go for my day tour, what my day tour pick-up time will be, and/or other important day tour information?
Costa Rica day tour details, which are provided to us by tour operators, are noted on the Pura Vida! eh? discount voucher you’ll receive from us once your discount order has been finalized. Details vary from tour to tour but typically include your order number, a confirmation number, a tour date, a tour pick-up time and location (if applicable), tour cancelation information, and tour operator contact information. Of course, if you have additional questions after receiving and reviewing the discount voucher, you can contact us at any time and we can answer them for you.
Does Pura Vida! eh? secure availability for my chosen day tours? Or do I do that directly through the tour operator?
When you submit an order for discounts through our website, we forward that request to the applicable Costa Rican tour operators on your behalf. This process not only informs the tour operator of your tour preferences (saving you the hassle of reaching out to them directly) but it also informs them that you are our client, so they know to charge you our discounted rates (not their original rate) for the tours. If the tour operator has availability for your chosen day tours on your chosen tour dates, they’ll hold the spaces for us on your behalf. This mean there’s no need for you to contact the tour operators directly to secure availability. For a step-by-step explanation of our operation, please see our How Pura Vida! eh? Works page.
When I request day tours through Pura Vida! eh?, what cancelation policy applies?
Fortunately for you, we do not have a cancelation policy of our own. We know that life happens and changes are inevitable, so we don’t mind if you need to cancel or change your plans, and we don’t charge any fees or apply any penalties in the event of cancelations. (Note that refunds are not provided for no-shows.) With respect to our memberships, if you purchase a particular “Discount Level” (i.e., membership) in order to access our tour discounts and you later need to cancel your trip to Costa Rica, we’ll refund your entire Discount Level payment—no questions asked. If you purchase a particular Discount Level and you need to downgrade to a Lower Discount level because your travel plans changed and you don’t require as many tour discounts (or the tour operator doesn’t have availability for the tour discounts you want), we’ll refund the difference in price between the two Discount Levels. If you accidentally purchased the wrong Discount Level, we’ll refund that error too.
With respect to your chosen Costa Rica day tours, please note that we are required to enforce the cancelation policy/policies of the tour operator(s) you’ve chosen for your trip. As a result, when you submit an order for discounts through our website, you agree to abide by the tour operator’s cancelation policy/policies because it is the tour operator that is responsible for accepting and processing your tour payments.
Assume, for example, that a canopy tour company says they require 24 hours’ notice for tour cancelations without penalty. If you choose to participate in their canopy tour during your trip, you’ll need to cancel at least 24 hours in advance in order to avoid their cancelation penalty. In addition, when you submit an order for discounts through our website, you agree to accept the repercussions of failing to give due notice to the tour operator(s) if you don’t cancel the tour(s) within their penalty-free window. Cancelation policies can be found on most tour operators’ websites.
Should/must I reserve Costa Rica day tours in advance? How much time is required?
Please note that due to tour operator policies and demand for our discounts, we require orders for discounts to be placed a minimum of ten days prior to your requested tour date.
Since most companies in Costa Rica either require online payment or credit card information from travelers in order to guarantee tour reservations, it is to your advantage to provide the tour operators with this information before leaving home. If you wait to request your chosen day tours until after you’ve arrived in Costa Rica, not only could you miss out on tour availability, but also you could find yourself scurrying to provide payment or payment information to tour operators during your vacation, which is a waste of your precious travel time. It’s usually much faster and easier to take care of tour operators’ requirements from home.
What if I am unsure of my travel dates?
In order to submit an order for discounts, you must be able to provide specific travel dates (i.e., the dates for which you want to participate in the day tours). If your travel dates have not yet been set, please wait to place an order through our website until after the dates have been confirmed, keeping in mind that we require orders to be placed a minimum of ten days prior to your first requested tour date.
What if I want to modify a day tour request (i.e., change a date/time) but not cancel it entirely?
We understand that plans change and we’re happy to modify discount requests to suit your needs, pending tour operator availability. Change requests that are made in advance (ideally before you come to Costa Rica) are almost never an issue, as most tour operators are accommodating. Last-minute changes (i.e., changes within a week of your set tour date) are more difficult but not impossible to arrange. Keep in mind that changes are subject to the specific cancelation policy of the tour operator, so to best avoid a penalty of theirs, it’s best to make changes as early as possible.
What are Pura Vida! eh?’s Terms and Conditions?
Please see this page for our Terms and Conditions.
Why are prices listed in USD? Is it possible to pay in CAD, Euros, Costa Rican colones, or other currencies?
The majority of Costa Rican tour operators only accept payments in USD or the local currency (Costa Rican colones). Payment in other currencies is extremely rare. Since Costa Rican tour operators quote their original tour prices in USD, we follow suit and advertise our discounted rates in USD. To remain consistent, pricing for our memberships is also in USD. Since memberships are paid through PayPal, depending on the setup of your PayPal account (if you have one and choose to use it), the payment may be collected in your home currency (i.e., the payment may automatically be exchanged into your home currency from USD by PayPal).
What if I do not have a credit card?
You do not need to have a credit card to purchase one of our memberships because payment is handled by PayPal, which provides options to pay through your bank account or a Visa debit card.
With respect to paying Costa Rican tour operators for your chosen day tours, some tour operators require travelers to pay by credit card and others don’t. If you do not have a credit card, please inform us of this in advance so we can make special arrangements for you to pay tour operators via an alternative method of payment.
What type of currency should I bring to Costa Rica to pay for my day tours that don’t require advance payment?
USD and Costa Rican colones are widely accepted throughout Costa Rica. CAD and Euros are rarely accepted. Most items are priced in USD and the majority of tourism-related services are paid for in USD, if not by credit card. To best prepare for your trip, we recommend reading our related blog post Spending Money In Costa Rica: What To Know About USD, Colones, Credit Cards, And More!
What are Pura Vida! eh? discount vouchers?
Our Pura Vida! eh? discount vouchers serve as the tour operators’ tour confirmations. Details on each voucher vary from tour to tour but typically include your order number, a confirmation number, a tour date, a tour pick-up time and location (if applicable), tour cancelation information, and tour operator contact information. Our discount vouchers are also your proof of the lower tour rate you obtained through us. One discount voucher is provided for each tour discount ordered through our website. So, if you place an order for a rafting tour discount and a hanging bridges tour discount, you’ll receive one discount voucher for the rafting tour and a separate discount voucher for the hanging bridges tour.
How do I receive Pura Vida! eh? discount vouchers?
In an effort to save paper, the discount voucher(s) will be sent to you email. They’re digital (PDF) documents that can be viewed online. They can also be saved and printed, if you’d prefer to have a hard copy.
