¡Pura Vida!

  • 12 Days
  • Classic Trip
  • Most Popular V2 Created with Sketch. Most Popular

We're always ready to personalize
a tour to your unique needs

¡Pura Vida! Get Started

Map & Route

Depart

San Jose

1 1 Night

Tortuguero

2 2 Nights

San Carlos

2 2 Nights

Monteverde

2 2 Nights

Puntarenas Region

3 3 Nights

San Jose

1 1 Night
Return
map ¡Pura Vida!

What's Included

Our itineraries reflect 40 years of experience in crafting exceptional educational tours. That means we know exactly how to make the best of your time abroad—incredible destinations, immersive activities, centrally located hotels, and smart, well-traveled tour managers who ensure your educational goals are met. Here are some of the exceptional features of this tour.

ACIS Guarantees

We have high standards, which is why we take care to include these features in every tour.

Round-Trip Flights

Leave the airlines to us.

3- or 4-Star Hotels

After a busy day, comfort is key.

Centrally Located Hotels

Save the commuting time, beat the morning crowds and keep right on exploring after dark when your hotel is in the heart of the city.

Daily Breakfast and Dinner (unless otherwise noted)

Delicious, authentic, multi-course dinners at local restaurants with meal times tailored to maximize your experience.

24-Hour Tour Manager

Part guide, part educator, part engineer, part mind-reader, part magician—ACIS Tour Managers are your travel partner.

Start Exploring

Never wait hours at the airport to share a transfer with other later groups.

Service Guarantee

We're so sure you're going to love your tour, we guarantee it!

Global Network

24/7 on the ground support whenever and wherever you need it.

All Local Transportation

Urban transportation is on us, allowing you to explore each destination with ease.

Exceptional Experiences

Our tours are designed to help you and your students be in the moment and experience everything the world has to offer.

Maleku Indigenous Reserve Tour

Maleku Indigenous Reserve Tour

The Maleku are an indigenous Costa Rican tribe whose population has diminished drastically in past century. As you tour the Reserve and learn about their culture, language and traditions, you will help play a role in keeping this important part of Costa Rica's history alive. Adept at rainforest living, a hike through the vegetation with your Maleku guide (narrated in the tribe's native language, maleku jaica, and translated into English) will take you past pre-Columbian burial grounds, show you medicinal plants, and help you understand how the Maleku live in harmony with the surrounding ecosystem. In the community house at the Reserve, the tribe will show you some of the traditional crafts they produce, such as weavings, colorful masks, drums and other carvings, before performing a ritual fire dance ceremony composed of dances, legends and stories native to the tribe.

Learn More

The Maleku are an indigenous Costa Rican tribe whose population has diminished drastically in past century. As you tour the Reserve and learn about their culture, language and traditions, you will help play a role in keeping this important part of Costa Rica's history alive. Adept at rainforest living, a hike through the vegetation with your Maleku guide (narrated in the tribe's native language, maleku jaica, and translated into English) will take you past pre-Columbian burial grounds, show you medicinal plants, and help you understand how the Maleku live in harmony with the surrounding ecosystem. In the community house at the Reserve, the tribe will show you some of the traditional crafts they produce, such as weavings, colorful masks, drums and other carvings, before performing a ritual fire dance ceremony composed of dances, legends and stories native to the tribe.

Monteverde Canopy Tour and Hanging Bridges

Monteverde Canopy Tour and Hanging Bridges

Founded in the 1970s to protect the region's biodiversity, the high-altitude Monteverde Cloud Forest is home to more than 400 species of birds, 100 species of mammals and 2,500 species of plants within a reserve comprising 6 distinct ecological zones. Gain a bird's-eye perspective on this important wildlife refuge as you cross tree-top suspended hanging bridges and zip-line through the canopy.

Learn More

Founded in the 1970s to protect the region's biodiversity, the high-altitude Monteverde Cloud Forest is home to more than 400 species of birds, 100 species of mammals and 2,500 species of plants within a reserve comprising 6 distinct ecological zones. Gain a bird's-eye perspective on this important wildlife refuge as you cross tree-top suspended hanging bridges and zip-line through the canopy.

Costa Rican Folklore Show and Dinner

Costa Rican Folklore Show and Dinner

The people of Costa Rica have strong traditions in the arts and culture. Clap along and get caught up in the spirit of the Ticos as native musicians and dancers in colorful traditional dress perform traditional folkloric dances and songs, mostly from the colonial late 1800s. The notes of the songs and choreography of the dances will tell the stories of the Ticos in a way that only the performing arts can.

Learn More

The people of Costa Rica have strong traditions in the arts and culture. Clap along and get caught up in the spirit of the Ticos as native musicians and dancers in colorful traditional dress perform traditional folkloric dances and songs, mostly from the colonial late 1800s. The notes of the songs and choreography of the dances will tell the stories of the Ticos in a way that only the performing arts can.

Braulio Carrillo National Park and Riverboat

Braulio Carrillo National Park and Riverboat

La Fortuna Waterfall

La Fortuna Waterfall

Chocolate Tour and Tasting

Chocolate Tour and Tasting

Hot Springs

Hot Springs

Carara Biological Reserve

Carara Biological Reserve

Manuel Antonio National Park

Manuel Antonio National Park

Video

Costa Rica

Featured in this video

Itinerary

This itinerary is the starting point for your tour, but it’s not set in stone. If there are days you would like to change, or specific places you’d like to go, we can work with you to create a personalized program that fits the needs of you and your students.

Day 1: San Jose

Depart from the USA. Arrive in the Costa Rican capital of San José, meet your ACIS Tour Manager, and begin to discover the country's famous Tico hospitality.

Day 2: Tortuguero

Begin today with an early drive through the spectacular cloud forest in Braulio Carrillo National Park, one of the few places in Costa Rica where a road winds through the rain forest. Keep your eyes peeled for sloths and quetzals as you go. Continue on a riverboat journey, which will take you to your lodge in Tortuguero. Enjoy spotting the wildlife as you travel, looking out for the West Indian manatee, caimans or spider monkeys hanging down over the river! All meals are included while in Tortuguero.

Day 3: Tortuguero

Wake up in Tortuguero National Park, home to the most important green sea turtle nesting ground in the Western Caribbean. Today's sightseeing adventure within the park includes boat tours and hiking. The park is comprised of a series of canals, mangroves, swamps and lagoons that create perfect opportunities to study not only the vegetation but also the multitude of wildlife.

Day 4: San Carlos

Leave Tortuguero and drive inland to the northern plains region of San Carlos. Arrive in the small town of La Fortuna, a sunny and charming little town a mere 4 miles from the Arenal Volcano. The volcano is a perfect cone more than 5,000 feet high.

Day 5: San Carlos

Today discover the beautiful La Fortuna Waterfall and hike to the swimming hole below. The water here is clear and cold, so in the evening, visit the nearby hot springs where you can take a dip in the hot pools. As you relax in the therapeutic, geothermal waters, look up at their source, the Arenal volcano, above!

Day 6: Monteverde

Today we travel to Monteverde and explore this important and intriguing cloud forest. Originally settled in the 1950s by a group of Quakers from Alabama, Monteverde Cloud Forest is home to more than 400 species of birds, 100 species of mammals and 2,500 species of plants including the jaguar, ocelot, Baird’s tapir, three-wattled bellbird, bare-necked umbrellabird, and the famously elusive resplendent quetzal. Once we arrive, you’ll have time to get settled and learn more about your natural surroundings.

Day 7: Monteverde

Today get ready for a different perspective on the forest as you will swing far above the forest floor on the world famous Monteverde Canopy Tour. You will have views from a series of platforms, suspension bridges and thrilling zip-lines.

Day 8: Puntarenas Region

Journey to the Carara Biological Reserve where the dry tropical forest meets the northern, greener forest. It was founded as a biological reserve in 1978 and remains one of the best sites for bird spotting in the country. Then arrive in on the Pacific Coast and spend the rest of the day getting a feel for the local culture and relaxing in beautiful natural surroundings.

Day 9: Puntarenas Region

Today explore Manuel Antonio National Park. Your guide leads you on a hike along the trails and introduces you to the park's numerous untouched beaches and local wildlife, like its friendly, white-faced Capuchin monkeys who play in the forests just behind the beach.

Day 10: Puntarenas Region

Today is free. Why not soak in more of the local culture during a relaxing day on the Pacific coast? There are shops to look for local handicrafts and a long sloping beach with inviting waves and warm water.

Day 11: San Jose

Enjoy a free morning on the beach today. Return to the capital and celebrate your last night in this beautiful country with a Costa Rican folklore show and dinner. You will experience the traditional songs, stories, dances and customs of the native Tico people.

Day 12: Departure

Depart for the USA.



Optional Extensions and Extra Nights:

Further immerse yourself in the culture and wonders of Costa Rica with an extra night in San José, including the services of your ACIS Tour Manager.

Optional Extras

Ultimate-Plus Protection Plan

Most Enhanced health coverage, program interruption, baggage delay/loss and travel delay protection while on tour. Plus, enhanced medical/job loss cancellation refund policy

Rate $600

Add to Tour

Ultimate Protection Plan

Enhanced health coverage, program interruption, baggage delay/loss and travel delay protection while on tour. Plus, enhanced medical/job loss cancellation refund policy

Rate $420

Add to Tour

Please Login

Please login to save this itinerary to My Account.

Don't have an account? Fill out this form instead.

This trip has been successfully saved to My Account.

Please go to My Trips to view the trip.

An error prevented us from saving this trip to My Account: