Small group holiday

Costa Rican Nature Odyssey

This enthralling small group tour, escorted by a local naturalist guide, visits all Costa Rica’s key habitats for wonderful wildlife experiences, lovely scenery and times when local life takes centre stage.

Customer rating 97%

'Costa Rican Nature Odyssey'

What makes this trip special?

Dramatic volcano

Poas Volcano

Striking conical-shaped volcano with a vast crater and sulphorous hot aquamarine crater lake within close proximity to San Jose's central valley.

Coffee secrets

Doka Coffee Estate

See how some of Costa Rica's finest coffee is grown, harvested and prepared.

Lots of easy-to-see wildlife

Tortuguero

Tortuguero's inland waterways are one of the very best places in Costa Rica to see wildlife. Turtles nest on its ocean beaches.

Lush lowland rainforest

Sarapiqui

At the foot of the mountains, where the rainforest is at its lushest, Sarapiqui is home to a myriad of flora and fauna and is a must-see destination for birdwatchers and natural history enthusiasts.

Costa Rica's most active volcano

Arenal

Arenal's perfect cone rises above lowlands, spewing smoke and steam, lava and boulders in its active phases. Make sure you visit the hot springs and explore the 'hanging bridges' through the forest. The area has good options for walkers and there's lots to do for adventurous families.

Carara Reserve & Tarcoles river

Central Pacific

A transitional life zone between the humid tropical forest and the high humidy pre-montane forest. At the Carara Biological Reserve highlights include Scarlet Macaw and an active Orange-collared Manakin lek. The Tarcoles river marshlands are rich in waterfowl and wading birds.

Stunning rainforest backed beaches

Manuel Antonio National Park

Perhaps the most beautiful coastal scenery in all Costa Rica - emerald green wildlife-laden rainforest tumbling onto white-sand beaches lapped by turquoise waters - what's not to love!

Wild, lush coast and marine reserve

Dominical

Sparsley populated and until recently difficult to access, Dominical's forest-backed beaches are most popular with surfers. Further south, you can swim and snorkel at Ballena National Marine Park, where whales and dolphins can be seen in season.

Pristine, biodiverse wilderness

Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula

Visit the Corcovado National Park on the Osa Peninsula, one of the most biologically intense places on earth according to the National Geographic. Home to over 400 species of birds and 114 species of mammals including elusive species such as tapir, ocelot, puma and jaguar

Quiet "Garden of Eden" cloud forest

San Gerardo de Dota & Los Quetzales NP

Tranquil forested valley alive with trout-filled streams close to the highest pass in Costa Rica. Experience 'paramos' habitat above the tree line and keep your eyes peeled - this is the most reliable place in the country to spot the Resplendent quetzal

Costa Rica's capital city

San Jose

San Jose is worth spending time in to enjoy a slice of real everyday Costa Rican life outside of the tourist centres. Aside from the impressive Jade Museum and Pre-Colombian Gold Museum, there are some pretty tree-lined squares, parks and buildings of interest, together with an up-and-coming foodie/cultural scene.

Itinerary

Day Overnight
1 San José
2 San José
3 Tortuguero
4 Tortuguero
5 Sarapiqui
6 Arenal
7 Arenal
8 Carara NP
9 Carara NP
10 Dominical
11 Dominical
12 San Gerardo de Dota
13 San Gerardo de Dota
14 San José
For the detail of each day click the ‘Day-by-day’ tab above.

Designer's notes

Discover the wildlife of flooded forest, rainforest, dry forest and cloudforest in a convivial small group at a sensible pace. We also see two of the country's largest and most active volcanoes, visit both the Caribbean and Pacific coasts and make a boat trip to the remote Osa Peninsula.
We stay at good quality comfortable mid-range hotels and lodges and are escorted throughout by an experienced and knowledgeable professional naturalist guide with excellent English. An excellent way to experience Costa Rica.

Day-by-day itinerary for 'Costa Rican Nature Odyssey'

DAY 1

San José

We meet in San José in the early evening at a comfortable mid-range hotel–our base for our first 2 nights. You are met at the airport from any flight arriving today and driven to the hotel.

DAY 2

Poas Volcano & Doka Coffee Estate

After breakfast we gather in the lobby for a morning drive through lush coffee growing areas and then through cloud forest as the road climbs up the slopes of the mighty Poás Volcano. We walk to the rim to see across the volcano’s massive crater with its hot aquamarine lake steaming below us. After some time to explore this strange landscape we continue by road to the prestigious Doka Estate, a long-established family-run coffee estate. Here we tour its well-tended plantations and learn about the complexities of cultivating, harvesting and roasting high quality coffee. Note: We may not be permitted to approach Poás Volcano if it is in a very active phase. Instead we would visit La Paz Waterfall Gardens where a very scenic garden trail beside a series of waterfalls is accompanied by a hummingbird gallery, walk-in butterfly house and ranarium for close up views of tiny bejewelled frogs.

DAY 3

BLD

Tortuguero flooded forest

This morning we drive down through the Braulio Carillo National Park, then through banana plantations to Caño Blanco dock near the Caribbean coast. From here a boat ride (1½h) takes us along the waterways of the flooded forest into Tortuguero National Park. We stay 2 nights at a cabin-style lodge with a swimming pool and well-tended gardens.

DAY 5

BLD

A full day at Tortuguero where we explore the smaller channels of the flooded forest by boat with the lodge’s naturalist guide. The wildlife we see should include three-toed sloths, large iridescent blue morpho butterflies, howler monkeys, white-faced capuchin and spider monkeys, toucans, poison dart frogs and the ‘Jesus Christ’ or basilisk lizard that skips across the water surface.

DAY 5

Sarapiquí lowland forest

Leaving Tortuguero we travel by boat (1½h) and road (2h) to Sarapiquí to stay 1 night. The afternoon is free to enjoy our lodge’s facilities, relax by the pool or in the gardens, walk or birdwatch.

DAY 6

OTS La Selva

Today we visit the Organisation For Tropical Studies La Selva Biological Station, one of the world’s most important centres for research into tropical rainforests. A resident bilingual naturalist joins us for a guided walk and provides an overview of the centre’s research, education and conservation programmes. Showy birds such as toucans, parrots, trogons, and hummingbirds, and mammals such as monkeys, peccaries, agoutis, and coatis, are seen frequently. After lunch we drive (2½h) to La Fortuna below Arenal Volcano where we stay for 2 nights at a mid-range lodge with good views of the volcano.

DAY 7

Arenal Volcano

This morning we take a walk along a system of trails on the forest floor and suspended walkways high in the forest canopy. Here we hope to see a variety of birds and possibly a troupe of howler monkeys, as well as beautiful views over the forest canopy and out onto the valley below with Arenal rising up in front of us. The afternoon is free to relax in the grounds of our hotel and try bathing pools fed by springs warmed from deep in the earth.

DAY 8

BLD

Tropical dry forest and cowboy culture

We drive across the mountains and down to the shores of the Gulf of Nicoya in Guanacaste state. This is Costa Rica’s cowboy ranching region where weekend riders sport well-groomed horses, stetsons and frilled jackets and working days are dusty and hard. Here the dry season is so pronounced that woodland trees shed their leaves to minimise water loss. After a suitable lunch we travel south to Carara on the mid-Pacific coast for 2 nights.

DAY 9

Wildlife on the Tárcoles river and in the Carara reserve

We take a boat trip through mangroves along the Rio Tárcoles for a good variety of sea and water birds including boatbilled heron and black-necked stilt, with a good chance of seeing crocodiles (some very large) and alligators. Back ashore we visit the nearby Carara Reserve, a transitional area between dry forest and rain forest ecosystems. Mammals include monkeys, armadillos, agoutis and most of the large felines- though, of course, the latter rarely allow themselves to be seen. Birds include toucans, trogons, guans and macaws. A wonderful sight in this area is scarlet macaw returning from their feeding grounds in the hills to roost in the mangroves (particularly reliable between January and March). The sequence of today’s activities could be switched around according to the times of the tides.

DAY 10

Manuel Antonio NP and Dominical

Today we visit the popular Manuel Antonio National Park for beautiful scenery of coves and rocky headlands leading to Cathedral Point, a ‘tombolo’ or island connected to the land by a sand spit. Ocean waves break on sparkling white sand beaches backed by rainforest teeming with wildlife including monkeys, coatimundi, racoons, sloths, iguanas, toucans and parrots. The nearest beach is 1km from the entrance and there are hiking trails into the forest. If the park is not too busy we take our picnic lunch here and continue in the mid afternoon to our new base further down the coast to the quieter less-developed Dominical area where we stay for 2 nights.

DAY 11

Corcovado and the Osa Peninsula

We set out early this morning for a boat ride to Corcovado National Park on the Osa Peninsula. We would expect to see sea birds, probably whales and dolphins, and perhaps turtles along the way. From our landing we take two guided walks on different trails deep in the rainforest, each of about 2 hours. Just being in such pristine rainforest is a wonderful experience on its own, and we would expect good chances of seeing sloths, spider, howler, and white-faced monkeys, coatimundis and raccoons, and possibly even tapirs. There is a great variety of birds to find and a huge array of different plants and trees. A picnic lunch is served near the ranger station at the end of the first walk, and after the second we arrive at the boat again which takes us back to base. For anyone who doesn’t enjoy a boat trip on the sea we can arrange a guided nature walk in Ballenas national park instead–just be sure to let us know in advance.

DAY 12

Los Quetzales NP cloud forest

Turning inland we drive up into the hills and stop at Los Cusingos Refugio des Aves, a wonderful private reserve and birding hotspot that continues the work of the late naturalist and writer, Dr Alexander Skutch. The road ascends as we continue into paramó highlands, over the mountain pass of the Cerro de la Muerte, and turn down into the very pretty cloudforested valley of San Gerardo de Dota where we stay for 2 nights.

DAY 13

This is the most reliable part of Costa Rica to see Resplendent Quetzal as their favourite food source, the wild avocado tree, bears fruit here all year round. We take a walk in this lush, cool habitat looking out for quetzals, toucans, trogons and enjoying the rich flora and fauna of the cloud forest, its trees festooned with bromeliads, epiphytic orchids and ferns. It has been a busy few days so we take an afternoon off to relax at the lodge where there are opportunities for strolling and birding in the grounds.

DAY 14

San José

To spend as much time as possible in this beautiful valley we leave in the late morning to drive back towards the capital. En route we stop at the Lankester botanical gardens, full of bamboos and orchids, and make our way into San José for our final night in Costa Rica downtown in the capital.

DAY 15

Walking tour of San Jose, depart Costa Rica

This morning we have an informal walking tour in the city centre perhaps stopping at one or two museums or galleries (entrance fees not included). Then in the afternoon you are taken to San José airport in good time for your flight home.

Route map for Costa Rica 'Costa Rican Nature Odyssey' holiday

The maximum number of passengers for this tour is just 12, which means we travel with ease and flexibility, group dynamics are relaxed, and we are better engaged with the places we visit and the wonderful experiences we will have. Wildlife experiences are a particular focus of this trip, and are much better with such a small number. Some of the hotels vary slightly with each departure, please contact us for details.

Departure dates and prices

tour code	starts	ends	price per person	single supplement
CRN026/1	15-Jan-26	29-Jan-26	£4,995	£1,165
CRN026/2	05-Feb-26	19-Feb-26	£4,995	£1,165
CRN026/3	26-Feb-26	12-Mar-26	£4,995	£1,165
CRN027/1	13-Jan-27	27-Jan-27	£4,995	£1,165
CRN027/2	27-Jan-27	10-Feb-27	£4,995	£1,165
CRN027/3	24-Feb-27	10-Mar-27	£4,995	£1,165

Prices are per person and include:

all transport within Costa Rica
all accommodation (sharing a double/twin room)
meals as indicated B=Breakfast, L=Lunch, D=Dinner
shared services of an experienced English speaking local Natural History guide who accompanies the group throughout
entry fees to all attractions and National Parks listed below

Prices do not include:

international flights
travel insurance
items of a personal nature such as drinks, tips, laundry, etc

Customer reviews for 'Costa Rican Nature Odyssey'

Average customer rating 97%

The local service you provided was excellent - professional and friendly. Costa Rica is a fabulous country - I would recommend it to anyone. Thanks for a wonderful holiday! Could not fault it in any way!

Special mention must be made to our guide Daniel. A superb communicator and naturalist (especially birds) his sense of humour, patience and good grace added enormously to our enjoyment of the holiday.

Best parts: Tortuguero and Arenal Hot Springs

Best parts: Wildlife watching in Tortuguero

Very impressed at the organisation of transfers and the quality of guides and the country in general (floral, fauna, cleanliness and food)

Our guide and the driver were always very professional, courteous and aware of our needs. Their English was excellent. When travelling our guide, Jorge, gave us lots of information about the country, politics and social services. En route we were shown

Best parts: The diversity of the country, 'the jungle' and the company of the group, we all gelled well.

The tour was professionaly run with an excellent guide and driver. We had an unforgettable holiday and would not hesitate to use Geodyssey again.

Best parts: Tortuguero and Monteverde.

The tour was very well organised, both guide and driver were faultless and I have high praise for them both. The guide threw in loads of extra bird walks and looked after us very well. We would be happy to recommend Geodyssey to others and are keen to c

Best parts: La Selva, Carara and Monteverde.

Overall we were extremely pleased with the tour and have recommended Goedyssey to other travellers that we met.

Best parts: Tortuguero and Monteverde.

We really appreciated the sensible pace of the tour. It would be difficult to improve on our guide, communication, organisation and knowledge. As a lover of wildlife I was nevertheless relieved none were to be seen in the hotel bedrooms! Facilities in all

Best parts: Tortuguero & Monteverde.

The holiday was very enjoyable and the services of our tour leader and the driver were excellent. Our guide, Jorge was extremely good at spotting and identifying the birds, plants and animals we came across during the holiday.They both contributed to an e

10 was an excellent group size, well organised. Super driver and guide!! Our first experience of a small group and the arrangements for our individual travel at the end…132 birds!!!

Best parts: Tortuguero, Selva and Palmar Sur

Everything worked really well.

Best parts: Fantastic holiday! I thoroughly enjoyed the trip

We thoroughly enjoyed the holiday and have recommended Geodyssey to our friends.

Best parts: I really enjoyed turtle beach, the whole experience was magical.

All in all the tour was well planned, group size was good, bus/van size excellent and comfortable. The tour guide and driver very capable. Tour was well balanced, not too tiring. Good diverse holiday. Great job!

An enjoyable and interesting trip. Varied scenery and environment, well assisted by an excellent guide and driver. Good standard of accommodation.

Best parts: Tortuguero, Arenal, Monteverde, Central Pacific coast

The tour was extremely well organised and run. I must mention the guide. He spoke perfect english, was extremely knowledgeable about the country, the flora and fauna and especially the birds. He created a friendly, enjoyable atmosphere and had a wonderful

Best parts: Tortuguero and San Gerardo de Dota

Best parts: We loved the wet rainforest in Tortuguero and Sarapiqui. The night and day boat trips were very good

Very good coach driver, coach was comfortable. Always someone to ask. Gillian was very helpful and always rang back if she was unavailable.

Best parts: Tortuguero, excellent guide, organisation, knowledge, manner. All brilliant

Best parts: Mangrove boat trip on Tarcoles river

Best parts: Mangroves by boat was amazing.

Tour leader and driver were excellent.

Best parts: Canal trips, Tortuguero, Arenal Volcano and Ecotermales.

The knowledge of our guide relating to birds, wildlife, flora and fauna was excellent. Particularly liked the provision of drinking water in hotels and on the minibus.

Best parts: The night excursion at Tortuguero and the boat trip of Guanacaste.

Best parts: We had a lovely introduction to Costa Rica, the only thing missing could have been some history/culture - perhaps a museum visit in the capital. A lovely trip. Thanks for organising it.

Main guide, Leo, was outstanding and made the holiday. Driver Dave was excellent. We had a great holiday. It lived up to our expectations. A good group of people.

Best parts: Boat trip and Carara Reserve. Would have liked more time there.

I had the best time ever! Really well organised, good balance of activities - wildlife, volcanoes, coffee tour, rafting. Great guide, lovely group. Thank you so much for organising it. The trip exceeded my expectations. I can't stop thinking about it now.

Best parts: Difficult to say as so many highlights!

Excellent driver and guide. Guide had excellent knowledge of birds, wildlife, flora and fauna.

Best parts: The night boat excursion at Tortuguero and the boat trip of the Guacalillo were particular highlights.

We would advise anyone to strongly consider Geodyssey based on our experience.

Best parts: Well balanced. Best were Tortuguero, Monteverde& Arenal

The organisation was brilliant. We packed a lot in and were very tired at the end. Worth it to see so many animals and 170 different species of birds. Main guide Jorge was very knowledgeable. His enthusiasm for Costa Rica was infectious. Julio was a

Best parts: Arenal, Rincon de la Vieja and Central Pacific Coast

We really enjoyed our trip and were very pleased with the variety of places we visited. The tour lived up to expectations. In terms of where we spent time I would have sacrificed a bit of Sarapiqui for more Arenal but would much endorse going to Rinca de

Best parts: Osa Peninsula was fantastic.

All the arrangements went very smoothly.

Best parts: Seeing the wildlife and plants and a lot of different areas. Victor and Rafa were really excellent and helped make the holiday.

Thoroughly enjoyed the trip in spite of unseasonal weather. The guide and driver were excellent and really delivered on what the group wanted - wildlife! We loved Costa Rica. It was everything we hoped for.

Best parts: Mangrove boat trip, Monteverde Cloud Forest, hot springs.

All arrangements went well and drivers and guides all punctual. Generally an excellent trip and we would recommend Geodyssey.

Wonderful guide and driver. Self-drive would miss so much. Having only 8 in-group was perfect. Thank you.

Best parts: Tortuguero and Tarcoles - wildlife seen from the water.

Thanks Gillian. I had a great time and we saw 177 species of birds and lots of animals! All arrangements and guiding were excellent.

Best parts: I enjoyed every day.

I enjoyed the tour a lot. Being a small group, we saw a lot of special things a bigger group would not. Our guide was very enthusiastic, which was great.

Seasonal information for 'Costa Rican Nature Odyssey'

Select your month of travel:

Along this route in January

Day	Location	Max °C
1	San José	24°C	14mm
2	San José	24°C	14mm
3	Tortuguero	30°C	412mm
4	Tortuguero	30°C	412mm
5	Sarapiqui	30°C	254mm
6	Arenal	30°C	194mm
7	Arenal	30°C	194mm
8	Carara NP	32°C	8mm
9	Carara NP	32°C	8mm
10	Dominical	32°C	64mm
11	Dominical	32°C	64mm
12	San Gerardo de Dota	16°C	85mm
13	San Gerardo de Dota	16°C	85mm
14	San José	24°C	14mm

Typical weather for January

Max °C figures are the average daily maximum temperatures for the month. Rainfall is the average precipitation for the month.

Hotels for 'Costa Rican Nature Odyssey'

Select your preferred accommodation option

Days 1 - 2

Bougainvillea

Heredia

Average rating 4.8 (297 ratings)

Hotel Bougainvillea is a very nice 3-4 star hotel set among ten acres of lush flower filled gardens and surrounded by coffee plantations and citrus orchards. Situated in Heredia it provides a quiet first/last night hideaway just 15 minutes from the international airport and from downtown San José. Bedrooms are rather bland, but spacious with two double beds, a sitting area and the full range of facilities including free wifi. Rooms have views of the beautiful hotel gardens on one side and the mountains/San José skyline on the other. Some have balconies. There is a light and pleasant dining room, a large inviting swimming pool and 2 tennis courts. This is a good option for gardeners, birdwatchers and those who prefer to stay out of the city centre. It is not ideal if you intend travelling around Costa Rica by shuttle bus transfers.

Days 3 - 4

Aninga Lodge

opposite village Tortuguero

Average rating 4.6 (7 ratings)

This is a 32 room lodge situated beside the lagoon opposite Tortuguero Village. It is situated on the Pachira Estate but run independently. The wooden cabins have private facilities with hot water and fans, they are connected by a wooden walkway in the forest. There is a swimmming pool and restaurant.

Day 5