Hi Junko!

Thanks so much for your inquiry! 🙂 And also, for your comment regarding reviews. I’m surprised you saw something negative about us online–I’ve yet to come across anything like that! Was the review you saw posted on a particular website? The feedback we’ve always received has been positive. If you’d like to learn more about our company and service, feel free to read through the 200+ reviews submitted to us by former clients on our testimonials and reviews page here: https://puravidaeh.ca/reviews/

As for our operation, we only offer tour discounts. The tour operators themselves handle all of the tour/activity arrangements and create their own tour confirmations, just as they would if you booked the tour with them directly. What this means is, the tour operator coordinates the tour specifics (i.e., equipment necessary for the tour, the coordination of tour guides, the preparation of applicable meals, payment of applicable entrance fees, etc.). They also generate their own tour confirmations, which they forward on to us. We use the information provided on the tour operators’ tour confirmations to generate our own discount vouchers, which confirm our discounted tour rate(s).

To clarify, the discount voucher you’ll receive (i.e., your proof of our discounted rate) comes from us but the information that pertains to your specific tour reservation (i.e., your proof of the confirmed tour) is issued by the tour operator.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to us again if you have additional questions! 🙂

Nikki

Hi Lisa!

Thanks so much for your questions! 🙂

To start with your inquiry about zip-lining, it’s worth knowing in advance that zip-lining tours in the La Fortuna (Arenal) and Monteverde areas of the country are regarded by many people as the top zip-lining adventures in the country. Each provides a similar experience; you’ll get forest at both destinations (rainforest in La Fortuna/Arenal and cloud forest in Monteverde), and though wildlife is tough to spot while zip-lining, it’s all around in both places. The specifics of each experience (i.e., what is included with the tour, tour costs, tour times, etc.) differ across competing zipline tour providers. To learn more about the zipline tours we like best, please see our related blog post:

Best Ziplines In Costa Rica: Comparing 6 In Arenal And Monteverde: https://costaricatravelblog.com/best-zipline-costa-rica/

As for whether it’s best to visit only La Fortuna (Arenal) or split your time between both areas (in addition to the other places you plan to visit, as you note), this is a very common question that we regularly receive from travelers. Most people inquire about fitting in visits to both areas with a very limited time (such as 5-7 days) in the country, but since you have 2 weeks to spend in Costa Rica (and without knowing what else you want to experience during your trip), my gut response is that you may want to consider adding Monteverde to your itinerary since the destination has plenty to offer beyond zip-lining. To help you decide whether you should visit one or both places during your trip, you may want to read our related blog post:

How To Decide Between La Fortuna / Arenal Or Monteverde (Or Why You Should Visit Both): https://costaricatravelblog.com/la-fortuna-arenal-or-monteverde/

Also, since you mentioned that your interest in visiting La Fortuna (Arenal) is to experience the area’s hot springs, if you’re still in the process of researching hot springs options, don’t miss our related blog post:

Best Arenal Hot Springs In Costa Rica: Comparing 9 La Fortuna Hot Springs: https://costaricatravelblog.com/best-la-fortuna-hot-springs/

For easy reference, these are the pages on our website where discounts for tours that include ziplines and hot springs can be found (we can also offer discounts for the Springs Resort Hot Springs Pass, which are scheduled to be added to our website this week):

Zip-lining: https://puravidaeh.ca/product-category/activities/canopy-tours-ziplining/
Hot Springs: https://puravidaeh.ca/product-category/activities/hot-springs/

Pura vida! 🙂

Nikki

Hi Joyce!

🙂 Thank you so much for your kind comment!

One quick question… are you looking for these tour types only in La Fortuna / Arenal? I know you’ve already secured our discounts for a rafting tour and hanging bridge tour in La Fortuna / Arenal, but I’m not sure if you’re in search of discounts for an ATV Tour and Cooking Class in the same area. If so, we can certainly help with discounts for a Cooking Class in La Fortuna / Arenal, including discounts for a Cooking Class on its own, a Cooking Class combined with a Dance Lesson, and a Cooking Class combined with a City Tour. For easy reference, here’s where you can find our discounted rates for each:

Cooking Class: https://puravidaeh.ca/discounts/costa-rican-cooking-class-adult-from-la-fortuna-operated-by-desafio-adventure-company/

Cooking Class and Dance Lesson Combo: https://puravidaeh.ca/discounts/costa-rican-cooking-class-dance-lesson-adult-from-la-fortuna-operated-by-desafio-adventure-company/

Cooking Class and City Tour Combo: https://puravidaeh.ca/discounts/la-fortuna-city-tour-costa-rican-cooking-class-adult-from-la-fortuna-operated-by-desafio-adventure-company/

For ATV Tours, at the moment we don’t offer discounts for ATV Tours in La Fortuna / Arenal, but we do offer discounts for ATV Tours in the Manuel Antonio area of the country, if that destination happens to be on your itinerary.

ATV Tour: https://puravidaeh.ca/discounts/atv-tour-adult-manuel-antonio-midworld-costa-rica/

ATV Tour and Canopy Tour Combo: https://puravidaeh.ca/discounts/canopy-tour-ziplining-and-atv-tour-adult-manuel-antonio-midworld-costa-rica/

Pura vida! 🙂

Nikki

Hello again Chris!

Wonderful! Thanks so much for letting us know. 🙂

Our adult discount for the Sky River Drift and Sky Trek Canopy Tour combo is now visible on our website. You can access it here: https://puravidaeh.ca/discounts/sky-river-drift-tubing-tour-sky-trek-canopy-tour-ziplining-sky-tram-aerial-tram-ride-adult-la-fortuna-sky-adventures/

We’ll plan to add our other Sky River Drift discounts (student and child discounts, as well as discounts for the Sky River Drift tour without the Sky Trek Canopy Tour and Sky Tram Aerial Tram Ride) to our website later today.

As a side note, you may already know this (simply disregard this message if you do!), but the Sky Tram Aerial Tram Ride is a complimentary feature of the Sky Trek Canopy Tour (the tram ride is needed to get to the top of the mountain where the Sky Trek Canopy Tour begins, so it isn’t possible to participate in the Sky Trek Canopy Tour without riding the tram). I mention this only because with your original question you expressed interest in the Sky Trek and River Drift combo with no mention of the tram. The discount linked to above, which notes that the Sky Tram Aerial Tram Ride is included, is the same activity that you’re interested in, since you can’t experience the Sky Trek and River Drift combo without riding the tram. I thought I’d confirm this with you because sometimes when we offer this tour, travelers respond to ask for the price without the tram, which isn’t possible.

Until soon! 🙂

Nikki

Hi Prathap!

I’m happy to help! 🙂

For class III/IV rafting from La Fortuna, there are a few other options. The Sarapiqui River offers rafting on two different sections, one is class II/III and the other is class III/IV, so the latter would be the one you’d want. Rafting trips run on the Pacuare River are also class III/IV, however that river is located further away from La Fortuna despite being the best rafting tour “experience” in the country. Both the class III/IV trips that run on the Sarapiqui River and the Pacuare River include round-trip transportation from La Fortuna.

For your last two questions, we have written blog posts that you’ll likely want to read! 🙂

Local Free Hot Springs In La Fortuna / Arenal: https://costaricatravelblog.com/free-hot-springs-la-fortuna/

To specifically answer your hot springs question, we don’t recommend going to the free hot springs as they aren’t safe. They’re also a bit of a logistical nightmare, which you can read more about in the blog post linked to above.

Costa Rica Guided Tours: Are They Necessary, Valuable, And/Or Worthwhile? https://costaricatravelblog.com/costa-rica-guided-tours/

For guided tours, I almost always say yes. You’ll just miss so much if you don’t go with a guide, assuming your eyes aren’t trained to spot what most tour guides do. This being said, I know the costs of guided tours can add up quick. If the trip budget is a concern, it’s better touring places like the hanging bridges without a guide than not touring them at all. If there’s some cushion room in the budget, I see great benefit in having a great guide. See the blog post linked to above for more info. 🙂

Pura vida!

Nikki

Hi Prathap!

Your itinerary looks great! The 8-day, San Jose -> La Fortuna -> Manuel Antonio -> San Jose itinerary is one of the most popular Costa Rica trip plans experienced. I’m sure you’ll have a great time! 🙂

Re: your questions…

1. In my opinion, day #2 on your itinerary is busy, but not tight. Several Arenal combo tours combine four activities in one day, so experiencing three activities is certainly possible. Most canopy zip-lining tours only last a few hours, so assuming you plan to participate in one during the early morning, you should have plenty of time to grab lunch midday, then spend the afternoon hiking around the national park.

Depending on which hot springs you plan to visit, you may have access to the property over the course of the full day, or only for the evening (some evening hot springs passes begin at 5pm, others at 6pm). With an evening hot springs pass, you’ll have the full evening to enjoy soaking in the springs. If you choose a hot springs property that provides full-day access, you could head straight to the hot springs earlier on in the day, as soon as you wrap up your hike at the national park, and continue your visit there well into the evening.

2. In my opinion, day #3 on your itinerary is trickier to plan for, because it’s tough to guarantee rafting tour return times. These can be affected by several factors, including rafting group sizes, road traffic to/from the river, and river water levels, which are often unpredictable since they’re in part determined by rainfall the day of or the night before the tour. Might I ask, which exact rafting tour (and through which rafting tour operator) were you planing on reserving? Another important item to consider is whether or not the rafting tour includes lunch. If it doesn’t, you’ll need to factor in some time to eat lunch between your morning rafting tour and afternoon hanging bridges visit.

Assuming the rafting tour is able to return you to La Fortuna for 1:30pm (and assuming the tour includes lunch), it will be possible to tour the Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park during the afternoon, though timing will be tight. If you have your own rental car, you can make the approximate half-hour drive between La Fortuna and the Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park and arrive around 2pm (the drive time may be shorter or longer than a half-hour depending on which La Fortuna hotel you plan to stay at and its location). Since the Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park closes at 4:30pm, this will give you 2.5 hours to explore the attraction. I’ve toured the Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park on several occasions; walking quickly, without a guide and without making any stops along the way, it can be covered in an hour. Walking at a normal pace and with a tour guide, who will make several stops along the way, tours typically run around 2.5 hours. It’s worth mentioning that the Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park’s last daytime guided tour begins at 2pm, so you’ll need to arrive before this time if you wish to catch it. Alternatively, if you plan to arrive at the Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park after 2pm, you can tour the attraction during the afternoon on your own without a guide, or else you can take the Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park’s guided night tour.

Depending on which rafting tour you plan to participate in, it may be an option to switch the order of your day’s activities. For example, we offer a discount for an afternoon Sarapiqui River Rafting Tour (class II/III rapid section) that departs from La Fortuna around noon. With this option, you could tour (with or without a guide) the Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park in the morning.

3. Yes, as per the Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park’s policy, advance reservations for visits are required, even if you plan to tour the attraction on your own and not participate in a guided tour. This is because the attraction has capacity limits. Since the park is only able to allow a certain number of people in at specific times, advance reservations are required of all visitors.

4. Unfortunately I do not have any personal experience with Green Motion so I cannot comment on their service or car rental quotes. What I can say, however, is that the phrase “Mandatory Liability Insurance included” is quite vague. In my opinion, this phrase warrants reaching out to Green Motion to have them specifically confirm which liability insurance they have included with the rental. As we detail in our related blog post linked to below, there are two types of “mandatory” insurance (see the breakdown of SLI/TPL insurance vs. CDW/LDW insurance/waivers in our blog post). Some rental car agencies automatically include both types in their quotes, but most do not in order to help their prices appear less expensive. If Green Motion happens to be a car rental agency that falls into the latter category (i.e., if their phrase “Mandatory Liability Insurance included” refers to SLI insurance, TPL insurance, or a similar insurance), it’s possible you’ll be required to provide documentation from home to prove that you have obtained part car insurance from your home country. If you can’t, you’ll likely need to pay significant additional insurance fees when you rent the vehicle.

Costa Rica Car Rental Insurance Information: https://costaricatravelblog.com/costa-rica-car-rental-insurance/

Once you’ve read the above blog post regarding Costa Rica car rental insurance, you may also be interested in our blog post about Costa Rica car rental scams, which discusses other possible rental fees you may be charged.

How Not To Fall For Costa Rica Car Rental Scams: https://costaricatravelblog.com/car-rental-scams-costa-rica/

Pura vida! 🙂

Nikki

Hi Amanda!

No problem about not visiting Manuel Antonio! All the more reason to come back again in the future. 🙂 Plus, the La Fortuna/Arenal area (which you plan to visit) offers plenty of experiences, so I’m sure you’ll be able to fill your time with awesome things to do in that area of the country.

For one-way transportation, yes! This is half the cost of the round-trip service cost. Desafio Adventure Company would charge you a $15 transportation fee if you end up dropping off your rental car in La Fortuna and meeting Desafio at their office (in downtown La Fortuna) prior to the start of the tour, then using their transportation service to get dropped off at the Heliconias Nature Lodge in Chachagua after the tour.

Pura vida! 🙂

Nikki

Hi Allan!

Your trip plan sounds great! 🙂

As for fitting in a day trip to Monteverde, this is almost always possible. The more important question to ask is whether or not you’ll find the day trip to be worth it, since trying to fit in a visit to Monteverde to/from the La Fortuna (Arenal) area doesn’t leave much time to actually enjoy Monteverde.

Deciding whether or not day trips to Monteverde are worth it from La Fortuna (Arenal) depends on several factors, like whether or not the day trip can be fit in at the beginning of your trip (i.e., if it will fall on itinerary Day #1, so only one-way travel to La Fortuna is necessary) or during your time in La Fortuna (i.e., if you’ll be in La Fortuna one day, then want to visit Monteverde to/from La Fortuna the next, then have the third day in La Fortuna again); whether you’ll have a rental car (i.e., to drive yourself to/from La Fortuna and Monteverde) or whether you’ll need to coordinate the day trip around transportation provider schedules; and whether the timing of activities you want to experience in Monteverde fit well with your transportation arrangements to/from the destination. These factors (and others) can help you decide whether you should (or shouldn’t) make the 3-3.5-hour drive to Monteverde from La Fortuna (Arenal) and back in one day.

To confirm, your question is one of the most popular we’re asked by La Fortuna and Monteverde travelers. In fact, we wrote a blog post on this exact topic that explores some of the points we touch on in much more detail:

How To Make A Day Trip To Monteverde From La Fortuna / Arenal Or Vice Versa: https://costaricatravelblog.com/how-to-make-a-day-trip-to-monteverde-from-la-fortuna-arenal-or-vice-versa/

The first part of our blog post linked to above talks about why you might want to consider not trying to squeeze in a day trip to Monteverde. If you’ve considered the downsides and still decide to make the day trip, the second half of our blog post linked to above will teach you three different ways (option A, option B, and option C) to execute it. 🙂

If you forge ahead with the plan to make a day trip to Monteverde from La Fortuna (Arenal), you might also want to read our related blog post about transportation between the two destinations, just so you know what to expect and what types of transportation services are available if you won’t be driving yourself.

Best Ways To Travel Between La Fortuna To Monteverde (Or Vice Versa): https://costaricatravelblog.com/travel-from-arenal-la-fortuna-to-monteverde/

Pura vida! 🙂

Nikki