Costa Rica self drive holiday
From
£1230
To
£1385
10 Days excluding flights
More info:Price based on 2 people sharing a room at mid range hotels and using a 4WD vehicle e.g Terios Bego with full insurance x 1 named driver. Price depends on season - supplements apply over peak dates such as Christmas, New Year and Easter
Travel Team
If you'd like to chat about this holiday or need help finding one we're very happy to help. The Travel Team.
01273 823 700 Calling from outside the UK? rosy@responsibletravel.comDeparture information
We offer a complete tailor made service allowing you to decide where you stay and what to do
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Holiday type
Tailor Made Specialists in Costa Rica
Our specialists have carefully designed this holiday to be the best of its type. You can choose it with confidence straight 'off-the-peg', for any date. You can add days before or after the itinerary if you have more time available. We can also design something just for you on a fully tailor-made basis. A tailor-made service naturally adds a little to the cost of a trip, but you are making sure that you get the most from your valuable holiday time and from the rest of your budget. For inspiration, we provide informative brochures and a comprehensive website. When it comes to planning things in detail our advisers are a phone call or email away. They know Costa Rica exceptionally well, and there's nothing they like better than to share that knowledge with you. We are based in London, fully independent members of AITO, with full financial and legal protection.Responsible tourism
As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we screen every trip so you can travel knowing your holiday will help support conservation and local people.

Outlined below are hotels we use that employ sustainable tourism methods.
Arenal Observatory Lodge is located within the Arenal Conservation Area, a zone of primary or unaltered forests with uncontaminated rivers and streams. They try to maintain their surroundings and they are careful with their business operating practices. They watch out for cases of environmental alteration and contamination, they promote the efficient use of resources, they reduce the generation of wastes through recycling, and they use proper wastewater management. The hotel also helps the community indirectly by creating jobs (98% of the workers are local people).
Si Como No is a unique blend of the country's incredible bio-diversity and the deeply-rooted cultural values of the Costa Rican people. For the original construction of the hotel, provisions were made to keep the ecosystem as undisturbed as possible - amazingly, only one tree was intentionally removed. Great care was taken to ensure that habitat was protected, including animal corridors, to assure the least impact on flora and fauna. The same strict standards applied for the development of the adjacent Butterfly Botanical Gardens and the Crocodile Lagoons. Si Como No uses well water for gardening and maintenance, Bio-digesters for sewage, a gray water plant for laundry, biodegradable products for housekeeping and city water for guest and employee usage. A Bocashi compost program utilizes waste from food preparation, and the hotel donates all glass, plastic and aluminium products to a local women's auxiliary in Quepos (ASOMUFAQ) each month. Si Como No utilises solar panels to heat water along with back up "on demand" instant gas water heaters. Double insulated windows and ceilings, plus natural canopy shade factors help reduce energy demands and maintain natural comfort values for the hotel guests and employees.
On this trip you will have the opportunity to visit the National Parks of Arenal, Carara, Monteverde and Manuel Antonio. The entrance fees contribute to the conservation of these protected areas.
Environment


Outlined below are hotels we use that employ sustainable tourism methods.
Arenal Observatory Lodge is located within the Arenal Conservation Area, a zone of primary or unaltered forests with uncontaminated rivers and streams. They try to maintain their surroundings and they are careful with their business operating practices. They watch out for cases of environmental alteration and contamination, they promote the efficient use of resources, they reduce the generation of wastes through recycling, and they use proper wastewater management. The hotel also helps the community indirectly by creating jobs (98% of the workers are local people).
Si Como No is a unique blend of the country's incredible bio-diversity and the deeply-rooted cultural values of the Costa Rican people. For the original construction of the hotel, provisions were made to keep the ecosystem as undisturbed as possible - amazingly, only one tree was intentionally removed. Great care was taken to ensure that habitat was protected, including animal corridors, to assure the least impact on flora and fauna. The same strict standards applied for the development of the adjacent Butterfly Botanical Gardens and the Crocodile Lagoons. Si Como No uses well water for gardening and maintenance, Bio-digesters for sewage, a gray water plant for laundry, biodegradable products for housekeeping and city water for guest and employee usage. A Bocashi compost program utilizes waste from food preparation, and the hotel donates all glass, plastic and aluminium products to a local women's auxiliary in Quepos (ASOMUFAQ) each month. Si Como No utilises solar panels to heat water along with back up "on demand" instant gas water heaters. Double insulated windows and ceilings, plus natural canopy shade factors help reduce energy demands and maintain natural comfort values for the hotel guests and employees.
On this trip you will have the opportunity to visit the National Parks of Arenal, Carara, Monteverde and Manuel Antonio. The entrance fees contribute to the conservation of these protected areas.
Community

Climate

2 Reviews of Costa Rica self drive holiday
4 out of 5 stars
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Reviewed on 16 Mar 2016 by Janet Sutherland
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Lots of very memorable moments, but the best was finding a family of sloths at Playa Punta Uva on the Carribean Coast who were so close we could have touched them. They were moving down the tree to drink from the river, as we stood in it. Magical! Right next to the beach. Also walking along this beach to Manzanillo, the end of the road, close to Panama, seeing monkeys and birds along the way. We spent a few days at the beginning on the Caribbean coast and at the end on the Pacific Coast, and this was a wonderful way to bookend our concentrated time exploring the 3 different forest environments and the Arenal volcano area.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Our holiday providers were wonderful, all the travel arrangements with the hotel shuttle bus uses worked perfectly, all the hotels were good
and the tours were excellent, particularly spending a whole day at Selve Verdi Biological reserve, and another whole day in the Monteverdi cloud forest.
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Tourism is the biggest industry in Costa Rica, and all the people who helped make our holiday such a success were friendly and helpful. Usual contradictions as our travel and hotel stays clearly impact the natural environment, but tourism is leading to reforestation, and an awareness of the impact of agricultural pesticides etc on wildlife, so hopefully overall is beneficial.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Excellent.
Reviewed on 06 Aug 2014 by Jane Fowles
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Our time at El Remanso lodge in the osa penninsla it was a super place and had some wonderful wildlife sightings there.
2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Be careful what time of the year you go as we had some very wet weather for the first week and some of our hikes had to be cancelled.
3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Yes definitely especially at el remanso they only employ local people and have a very good environmental record.
4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Fantastic!
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From
£1230
To
£1385
10 Days excluding flights
More info:Price based on 2 people sharing a room at mid range hotels and using a 4WD vehicle e.g Terios Bego with full insurance x 1 named driver. Price depends on season - supplements apply over peak dates such as Christmas, New Year and Easter
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