Hello Richard!

Thanks so much for double-checking with us first! 🙂 Unfortunately we don’t currently work with any jet ski companies in the Manuel Antonio area so we don’t have any jet skiing discounts available. Jet skiing remains one of the last few activities we have yet to personally experience in the country, and since our recommendations are based largely on activities/companies we have firsthand experience with, we haven’t yet had a chance to form trusted recommendations for the activity type.

Of course and as always, if you’re considering any other activities for your trip, don’t hesitate to reach out again as we’re happy to help. 🙂

Pura vida!

Hello Caleb!

Thank you so much for your interest and for double-checking re: Costa Rica’s VAT!

The quick answer to your question is: Some prices on our website include Costa Rica’s VAT and others do not. Here’s why, which requires a much longer response! 🙂

Costa Rica is currently partway through a 13% tax (VAT) roll-out program which began on July 1st 2019. Some tour operators in Costa Rica began charging travelers the full 13% tax from last July onward, and others have opted to take advantage of the government’s 3-year roll-out program, which allows them to charge 0% tax this year (July 1st 2019 to June 30th 2020), 4% tax beginning July 1st of this year (until June 30th 2021), 8% starting next year (July 1st 2021 to June 30th 2022), and 13% from July 1st 2022 onward. You can read all about the tax roll-out program and learn which companies we work with that are/are not currently charging the tax in our blog post: What You Need To Know About The 13% VAT Tax In Costa Rica (https://costaricatravelblog.com/vat-tax-in-costa-rica/). In the meantime, since I’ve just seen (and processed) the two recent orders you submitted to us for discounts for tours through Sky Adventures and Pure Trek, I can confirm that both of these companies are in the group that won’t begin charging tax until July 1st of this year (as of July 1st, their tours will be taxed at the rate of 4%). This means that the discounted rates you see listed on our website for the items you already ordered through us are the final/total rates you’ll pay the tour operators. 🙂

If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask!

Pura vida!

Hey Mary!

No trouble at all! 🙂

For tour transportation to/from El Silencio del Campo, this hotel does fall within Sky Adventures’ normal pick-up/drop-off zone in La Fortuna. This being said, Sky Adventures is a tour operator that does not automatically include round-trip transportation to/from any hotels in any of their tour rates (some tour operators in Costa Rica automatically include round-trip transportation in their rates and others do not; our related blog post https://costaricatravelblog.com/costa-rica-tour-transportation-hotel-pick-ups-drop-offs/ offers more information about this if you’re interested in further reading). Sky Adventures charges an extra fee (you’ll see this noted as the optional “Transportation Option” on their tour listing pages on our website) to any/all travelers who want them to provide round-trip transportation with their tours. Sky Adventures’ prices vary by hotel location, but since El Silencio del Campo falls within their normal transportation zone, their regular, flat rate, round-trip transportation cost of $17 per person to/from La Fortuna hotels applies.

For comparing this to taxi rates, Sky Adventures’ transport service may or may not be the least expensive option. Here’s why…

Taxis called to hotels in the Arenal area typically depart from the main taxi stop in downtown La Fortuna. When a driver needs to drive from downtown La Fortuna out to a hotel to pick-up a traveler, then drive that traveler to a new destination (such as Sky Adventures’ Arenal park), the driver begins counting the charge from downtown La Fortuna. The current going rate between downtown La Fortuna and Sky Adventures’ Arenal Park is 18,000-20,000 colones (the equivalent of about $32-35 USD). This is a one-way cost, which means round-trip transport would run about $64-70 (most taxis seat 4 passengers). Since Sky Adventures’ round-trip transport service would cost your group of 3 travelers $51, this would normally be the least expensive option. The reason why I say above that Sky Adventures’ transport service may or may not be the least expensive option is because you may get lucky and pay less for a taxi. When you call a taxi to El Silencio del Campo the day you wish to visit Sky Adventures, if there happens to be one in the area at that moment, you’ll pay less for the service because the distance the taxi driver needs to travel to pick you up will be shorter than the distance from downtown La Fortuna. Since there’s no way to predict whether a taxi will be in the area when travelers call one, I usually recommend that travelers just pay Sky Adventures’ round-trip transportation cost. Doing so avoids the problem of a taxi not being available (or showing up late) the day you need to get to Sky Adventures. On the flip side, one advantage to using a taxi is that it skips you needing to wait for the driver to perform other travelers’ hotel pick-ups/drop-offs on the way to/from Sky Adventures (assuming there are other people using Sky Adventures’ transport service at the same time as you). Another advantage is that, after finishing your tour at Sky Adventures’ Arenal park, a taxi can take you wherever you want to go (to a hiking trail, to another attraction in the area, or to downtown La Fortuna, for example). In contrast, Sky Adventures will bring you back to your hotel.

Pura vida! 🙂

Hello Tom!

It’s wonderful to hear you’ll be visiting for a month! Which areas do you plan to travel to? I may be able to provide you with some information about fishing depending on where you intend to go. As a side note, if you plan to fish from a boat you’ll need to purchase a fishing license, which you can do here: https://www.incopesca.go.cr/tramites_servicios/carne-ESP-ENG.html

Has Mapache yet responded to your request about a vehicle rental?

Pura vida! 🙂

Hi Sue!

First off, great choice with Nayara Springs! 🙂

For comparing Sky Adventures’ Sky Trek Canopy Tour and Arenal Mundo Aventura’s Big AMA Canopy Tour, both of these tours are fun adventures (I’ve personally done both) so I don’t think you could go wrong with either one.

From a discount standpoint, you may have noticed recently that our discounts for Arenal Mundo Aventura’s canopy tour are marked as “out of stock” on our website. This is because we’re currently evaluating those discounts. At the present time, discounts for Sky Adventures’ canopy tour are still available.

From a distance standpoint, Sky Adventures’ park is located an approximate 20-minute drive from Nayara Springs whereas Arenal Mundo Aventura’s park is located an approximate 15-minute drive from Nayara Springs. Arenal Mundo Aventura includes round-trip transportation to/from Arenal Springs in its tour rates but Sky Adventures does not (Sky Adventures charges $17 per person to include round-trip transportation).

As for the canopy tour experiences themselves, there are two major differences between the two tour operators:

1. Sky Adventures uses a more modern, automatic breaking system whereas Arenal Mundo Aventura uses the traditional hand-breaking system. Both systems are regarded as safe, but some travelers prefer one over the other.

2. Sky Adventures’ canopy tour automatically includes the Sky Tram Aerial Tram Ride (this is part of why Sky Adventures’ canopy tour is more expensive, it’s essentially two experiences in one). The tram ride is used to get to the top of the rainforest canopy where the zip-lining tour begins. Arenal Mundo Aventura’s tour does not include a tram ride (it begins with a hike).

Lastly, it should be noted that Sky Adventures’ also has a hanging bridges park on-site (their hanging bridges are called the Sky Walk Hanging Bridges). If you don’t plan to tour the other hanging bridges park in La Fortuna (called the Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park), and you don’t plan to tour hanging bridges at another destinations in Costa Rica (such as Monteverde), you may prefer to visit Sky Adventures’ park so you can go zip-lining, ride the tram, and tour the hanging bridges all at the same place.

Pura vida! 🙂

Hello Tom!

Thanks so much for your inquiry! 🙂

Unfortunately we no longer process car rental reservations on behalf of travelers (we handle requests for day tours only), but to help give you an idea of what to expect in terms of pricing, the vehicle rental agency we most often book through (more information on them here: https://costaricatravelblog.com/our-preferred-costa-rica-car-rental-agency/) charges $426.00 for a compact, non-4×4 vehicle (Toyota Yaris) for 7 days during the low season and $486.00 for a compact, non-4×4 vehicle (Toyota Yaris) for 7 days during the high season. Those rates include CDW insurance, which covers the two types of basic mandatory insurance you need to have to rent a vehicle in Costa Rica (more on car insurance here: https://costaricatravelblog.com/costa-rica-car-rental-insurance/). Additional, optional insurances would be available to purchase through the car rental agency for an extra charge if you want them. The rates do not include car delivery service to the Jaco area, so that would be a cost to discuss with the car rental agency.

Though we don’t accept vehicle rental (or hotel or shuttle service) requests anymore, we do offer free discount codes for these services that travelers are welcome to give to Costa Rican car rental companies, hotels, and shuttle service providers in return for savings when they place reservations direct with those companies. Our free discount codes are available on our blog here: https://costaricatravelblog.com/free-costa-rica-discount-codes/

For the car rental prices noted above, these would drop to $261.00 in the low season and $318.00 in the high season if you use the free discount code we link to above.

Pura vida! 🙂

Hello Cheryl!

Great question! 🙂 You’re allowed to bring a camera (of any type) with you if you participate in the Sky Walk Hanging Bridges, but only GoPro cameras are permitted if you participate in the Sky Trek Canopy Tour (zip-lining). If you have your own GoPro camera and helmet strap, you’re welcome to use them during the Sky Trek Canopy Tour. If you don’t have either, you’re welcome to rent them through Sky Adventures directly at the park for use during the Sky Trek Canopy Tour.

As a side note, if you wish to participate in both the Sky Walk Hanging Bridges Tour and the Sky Trek Canopy Tour and you want to bring your own non-GoPro camera for use during the hanging bridges portion of the tour, you can store your non-GoPro camera in Sky Adventures’ lockers while you participate in the zip-lining portion of the tour. Sky Adventures also offers a photography service with their Sky Trek Canopy Tour, so if you wish to purchase photos taken during the tour, you can do so directly at Sky Adventures’ park upon tour completion.

Pura vida! 🙂

Hello Mary!

One quick question… when you mention “hike over to the Mistico hanging bridges”, do you mean that literally (i.e., you want to travel between the waterfall and the hanging bridges on foot)? Or do you just mean that you’ll drive yourselves from the waterfall to the hanging bridges and then hike the hanging bridges? If it’s the former, unfortunately Catarata Rio Fortuna and the Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park sit too far from one another to reach via walking. If it’s the latter, your plan is doable if you keep to a very strict schedule.

If you’re able to drive yourselves between attractions, you can plan to participate in Arenal Mundo Aventura’s 8:00am canopy zip-lining tour, which should wrap up around 11:30am. From there, you’ll need to drive up the road to Catarata Rio Fortuna (this drive takes a little under 10 minutes) and hike the waterfall as quickly as you can. Since the last permitted entry at the Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park is 2:00pm, and the drive between Catarata Rio Fortuna and the Mistico Park takes a little over half an hour, you’ll need to plan to leave the waterfall by 1:15pm at the latest. This means you’ll have about an hour to explore the waterfall, which is possible if you hike quickly and don’t plan to swim in the river at the waterfall’s base. Of course, if you opt to tour the bridges during the evening (as part of the Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park’s Night Tour experience), you’ll have a more relaxed day and plenty of time to enjoy the waterfall since the night tour doesn’t begin until 6:00pm.

As for touring the hanging bridges during the day versus the night, the two tours provide two different experiences (though the property you’ll visit is the same with either). If you tour the bridges during the day, you’ll be treated to stunning views of rainforest canopy and the Arenal Volcano, and you’ll have an opportunity to see diurnal birds and wildlife. In contrast, the purpose of the night tour, which is run in the dark, is to discover nocturnal birds and wildlife.

Pura vida! 🙂