Costa Rican Adventure

  • 8 Days
  • Explorer Value Trip

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

Costa Rican Adventure Get Started

Map & Route

Depart

San Jose

1 1 Night

San Carlos

3 3 Nights

Guanacaste Coast

3 3 Nights
Return
map Costa Rican Adventure

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-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.

Jauri Tropical Farm

Jauri Tropical Farm

With characteristic Tico hospitality you will be welcomed at this self-sustaining organic farm in the Costa Rican rainforest started by retired school principal Don Juan. Keep an eye out for tropical plants, birds and other animals as you learn about the planting and harvesting of native produce using environmentally-friendly methods, its various medicinal and cooking uses, and how to process sugar cane (including a sample of the fresh pressed juice, agua dulce).

Learn More

With characteristic Tico hospitality you will be welcomed at this self-sustaining organic farm in the Costa Rican rainforest started by retired school principal Don Juan. Keep an eye out for tropical plants, birds and other animals as you learn about the planting and harvesting of native produce using environmentally-friendly methods, its various medicinal and cooking uses, and how to process sugar cane (including a sample of the fresh pressed juice, agua dulce).

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.

Hot Springs

Hot Springs

Río Frío Wildlife Boat Cruise

Río Frío Wildlife Boat Cruise

Santa Rosa National Park

Santa Rosa 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: San Carlos

Today drive to the beautiful province of Alajuela with a stop at Jauri Tropical Farm, an ecological farm owned by a retired school principal. This evening view the Arenal Volcano and swim in the therapeutic waters of the hot springs at it's base. Spend the night in San Carlos, also known as Ciudad Quesada, the agriculture capital of the north.

Day 3: San Carlos

Today travel north to Caño Negro and the Río Frío. Comprised of swamp and marshlands, the area covers about 1,977 acres in the wet season. Enjoy a boat trip on the river while you share company with exotic creatures such as osprey, storks, caimans and monkeys, as well as the unique gars, which have lungs, gills and a nose. Lunch will be included today instead of dinner. Return to San Carlos for the evening.

Day 4: San Carlos

Depart this morning on a full-day excursion to the Maleku Indigenous Reserve, which comprises three different settlements. Our trip includes hiking with a Maleku guide through the village and forest to learn more about the ways they co-exist with the abundant natural resources around them. Later, the Maleku perform a traditional fire dance ceremony in their native Maleku language and dress. In the evening, we return to San Carlos.

Day 5: Guanacaste Coast

Journey to Guanacaste on the northwest side of Costa Rica, an area containing one of the last tropical dry forests on the planet. You'll travel by Arenal Lake. The lake is important for both producing 12% of the country's energy and as a popular destination for windsurfing, kayaking and fishing. We also stop at the Santa Rosa National Park, founded in 1971 as the nation's first national park and a beautiful site for extensive environmental research. In the late afternoon, arrive at your seaside hotel and its pristine white beaches.

Day 6: Guanacaste Coast

Enjoy a free day at the beach. This is a wonderful place to learn about how conservation can go hand-in-hand with development projects as you soak up Costa Rica's beautiful sun and surf.

Day 7: Guanacaste Coast

Rest and relax at the beach today or explore more of the region's ecosystem and culture in your own way.

Day 8: 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, at the beginning of your tour.

Price This Tour

Price This Tour

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 $400

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 $280

Add to Tour

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