COSTA RICA & PANAMA (Sixaola Border)

Day 1 : San José

Arrival at Juan Santamaría International Airport.

You will be met at the airport in order to transfer to the Hotel.

Overnight at Hotel Palma Real.

Day 2 : San José / Doka Coffee Tour / Poas Volcano / La Paz Waterfall Gardens

This morning you will be picked at your hotel in San José for your journey towards the Central Mountain Range where you will visit an authentic Costa Rican coffee plantation and La Paz Waterfall Gardens and Poas Volcano. The main objective of the Coffee Tour is to educate and inform the whole production process as well as the processing of coffee, where you can learn about the production, the harvesting, the processing plant and the roasting of the grain.

Later, we will start our tour to Poas Volcano. As we ascend towards the Poas Volcano we will notice the change in temperature and vegetation; we will see coffee plantations as well as fern, flower and strawberry farms along the way, creating a beautiful landscape. In the Poas Volcano where we will not only admire the impressive main crater with its sulfur fumaroles, but also learn about the different ecosystems in this beautiful national park. Following the visit to the volcano we will continue to La Paz Waterfall Garden for lunch and tour.

On arrival to the La Paz, we will walk through a trail, leading to a spectacular waterfall in the middle of the rainforest. Inside the park we will also visit the hummingbird gallery, the serpentarium, the bird house, the butterfly garden and the frog’s exhibit. Back to San José.

Overnight at Hotel Palma Real.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Day 3 : San José / Manuel Antonio National Park

Transfer to Manuel Antonio. Set sail towards the horizon aboard a catamaran, admiring the marine life as well as islands and rock formations close to the coast, bordering Manuel Antonio National Park.

Overnight at Hotel Mimos.

Meals: Breakfast

Day 4 : Manuel Antonio National Park

Explore the pristine natural beauty of this world famous Manuel Antonio National Park filled with exotic wildlife such as monkeys, sloths, birds, reptiles and butterflies. Your picturesque 2-mile hike will take you to one of the beaches named most beautiful in the world by Forbes magazine. Experience the lush rainforest behind you, white sandy beaches below, and crystallineblue waters during this refreshing 20-minute beach stop. Have your camera ready, as your knowledgeable guide sets his trained eyes on diverse flora and fauna for you to capture along the way.

Overnight at Hotel Mimos.

Meals: Breakfast

Day 5 : Manuel Antonio National Park / Monteverde

Turn a travel day from Manuel Antonio to Monteverde into a nature packed adventure with The Tarcoles River Boat Tour! What a better way of breaking up the 5 hours of travel in between Manuel Antonio and Monteverde than with the Tarcoles River Crocodile sightseeing tour. Keep your eyes peeled for a multitude of wildlife including the famous, huge, 20-ft American crocodiles or rare sighting of the Scarlet Macaw that inhabit the Carara Biological Reserve.

Plus, if you’re traveling with children, they’ll get a kick out of the “Jesus Christ Lizards” that literally walk on water here. You’ll be accompanied by a bilingual guide who will point out the often difficult-to-see wildlife along this two-hour boat tour of the Tarcoles River and into the Guacalillo mangrove estuary. You’re bound to see more crocodiles here than anywhere else in the world!

Overnight at Hotel Montaña Monteverde.

Meals: Breakfast

Day 6 : Monteverde / Arenal Volcano

Located in the heart of the Monteverde Cloud Forest, Selvatura Zip Lines and Hanging Bridges consist one of the few tours in Costa Rica that literarily take you deep within the primary Monteverde Cloud Forest, providing a precious and unique experience we guarantee you'll always remember. Transfer to Arenal in a different way.

Travel between Monteverde and Arenal with Taxi-Boat-Taxi. This van-boat-van service is the fastest and a very scenic way to travel between the Arenal Vocano and the cloud forests of Monteverde. Plus, you get to have a fun and scenic boat ride on Lake Arenal and see gorgeous views of Arenal Volcano!

Overnight at Hotel Arenal Paraíso Resort & Spa. 

Meals: Breakfast

Day 7 : Rio Celeste

In search of the blue waterfall in Costa Rica! The Rio Celeste National Park is a beautiful :

1.5 hour scenic drive from the Arenal Volcano through rural villages. The Río Celeste waterfall is near the Tenorio and Miravalles Volcanoes and is becoming an increasingly popular area to visit in Costa Rica for hiking. Once we arrive, we will begin a hike through the dense, lush, tropical rainforest that surrounds the Tenorio National ParkWhen we arrive to Los Tenideros, where two rivers come together, you'll be amazed at the celestial turquoise blue water color that comes from the waterfall.

Local legend as explained by members of the Maleku indigenous group of the area claim that God was painting the sky a celestial blue color and reached down to dip his brush to turn the river its magical blue color. But for a more scientific explanation, the celestial blue color is created when the inerals in the water: aluminum, silicon and oxygen are suspended in the water and refracts light from the sun so that the flow looks blue.

Day 8 : Arenal Volcano / Tortuguero National Park

We begin our trip early in the morning between 5:00 am from Arenal Volcano. On the way we will stop for breakfast at Selva Tropical Restaurant where you can enjoy a butterfly garden with a variety of tropical flowers. After breakfast we will continue our trip to Caño Blanco deck driving by banana plantations. At Caño Blanco, you will board the covered boat to the lodge, passing the Tortuguero canals arriving between 12:30 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.

In the afternoon you will visit to the Turtle Museum of the C.C.C. (Caribbean Conservation Corporation) and to the colorful Tortuguero town. You will return to the lodge around 5:30 p.m. Free time to enjoy the pool, the bar service and prepare for your dinner. Dinner service from 7:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and then rest of the night free to enjoy the surroundings, pool and bar.

Overnight at Hotel.  

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Day 9 : Tortuguero National Park / Bocas del Toro

Enjoy a boat guided tour through the national park’s narrow canals and admire its vast green filled lush rainforests where one can appreciate abundant wildlife.

Continue to Sixaola Border with Panama and transfer to Bocas del Toro.

Overnight at Hotel Turtle Beach House.

Meals: Breakfast

Day 10 : Bocas del Toro

Free Day. Overnight at Hotel Turtle Beach House.

Meals: Breakfast

Day 11 : Bocas del Toro / Panama City

In the afternoon flight to Panama City. Overnight at Hotel Eurostars Panama City.

Meals: Breakfast

Day 12 : Panama City & Miraflores Locks

Panama City Tour & the Panama Canal starts out with a fascinating visit to the Miraflores Locks Visitor Center. You will then continue to the Biodiversity Museum.

Continue for lunch to the Casco Viejo historical part of town. End the tour with a historical walking tour through the historic center which is home to beautiful restored colonial houses and interesting architecture, beautiful cathedrals and plazas. One of the most interesting sites on this tour are the Miraflores Locks of the Panama Canal where you will witness the raising or lowering of a ship as it passes through this impressive engineering feat. The Miraflores Visitors Center also contains a Canal Museum which holds information on its history from the first construction efforts by the French to its upcoming expansion.

Overnight at Hotel Eurostars Panama City.

Meals: Breakfast

Day 13 : Embera Indians Village at Chagres Tour

A perfect opportunity to visit an indigenous village in the midst of an exceptionally wonderful natural setting that supports in harmony their lifestyle and traditions. The Embera indigenous people still live today as many decades ago in their original homes deep in the Darien. Learn about their traditional dances, music, singing, use of plants and flowers as natural medicine, construction of their housing and many more customs they are still practicing.

Overnight at Hotel Eurostars Panama City.

Meals: Breakfast, L

Day 14 : Panama City

Transfer to Tocumen International Airport.

Meals: Breakfast

End of the Tour