Adventure Travel
Costa Rica Multisport Adventure

Day 1 > Embrace San Jose Culture

Upon your arrival at Juan Santamaria International Airport, you will be greeted and escorted to your hotel, where you will have ample time to unpack and relax in your hotel’s beautifully landscaped gardens and soothing Jacuzzis. You are also free to explore the vibrant capital of Costa Rica, San Jose, before you meet up with the rest of the group for dinner and introductions.

In the city, you can walk around the Plaza de la Cultura for a taste of Costa Rican culture. The plaza offers local eateries and shopping as well as the Museo de Oro Banco, Costa Rica’s National Museum. This historical landmark is housed in a converted army barracks still bearing bullet holes from the civil war of 1948. The plaza also is home to the National Theatre, the National Center of Art and Culture and the Jade Museum. While strolling through open-aired stalls at the Plaza de Democracia, pick up some souvenirs to remind you of Costa Rican daily life and your upcoming adventure.

Day 2 > Rainforest Whitewater Rafting

On your first full day in Costa Rica, you will head out of the city to reconnect with nature and eat breakfast by the Pacuare River, which is known for its sheer beauty, exhilarating rapids, and abundant wildlife. Steep, foliage-covered walls frame the river and allow for dozens of dramatically dropping waterfalls, including the famous “Huacas waterfall,” which plunges over 150 feet.

As you float, paddle, and maneuver through 52 class I-IV rapids, take in the virgin rain forest while tropical birds soar above your head. Wildlife is abundant along the river and you may also spot sloth, parrots, toucans, coatis, morpho butterflies, and several species of vividly colored frogs. After a morning of challenging paddling, your guide will prepare a traditional lunch including hot flour tortillas, fresh Monteverde cheese, jalapenos, and “River Cheesecake” on a beach along the river. Reenergized, you will leap back in the rafts for the final leg of the river.

The trip ends at the rafting center, where you can shower, explore the gardens and terrace, and sip a cold beer. This evening, head to the Alajuela Province to prepare for tomorrow’s exploration of the Venado caves that surround the active volcano, Arenal. 

Day 3 > Venado Caving and Starlit Hot Springs

Formed over 15 million years ago, the Venado Caves are one of Costa Rica’s natural wonders. Originally below sea level, the caves became accessible by foot during a shifting of tectonic plates. Now the water drifts through the caves, forming an underground river; the currents follow limestone openings that reveal stalagmites, stalactites, and other intricate formations.
Today, you will don a miner’s hardhat and set out to explore. The cave’s structure varies vastly, changing from tunnels with 20 foot ceilings to crevasses such as the “Birth Canal” formation that you must squeeze through on your belly. Your guide will show you an assortment of creatures that call the caves home, from four different species of bats to numerous types of spiders, some of which have long feelers to help them navigate in the darkness.

Upon exiting the cave and readjusting your eyes to the daylight, you will have time to clean-up, rest, and eat before the group goes for an optional starlit dip in the famous Tabacon hot springs, which are heated naturally by the Arenal Volcano.

The Tabacon River begins inside Arenal Volcano. From here, the river splits into several smaller rivers, joining with cool water from a different river to make dozens of pools of varying temperatures, shapes and sizes. These rivers meander through acres of verdant tropical gardens, which creates a magical atmosphere. 

Day 4 > Canyoning and Monte Verde Cloud Forest Tour

This morning, rise with the sun for an early canyoning expedition. First, take a 4X4 drive through the tropical rain forest to reach a trailhead in the shadow of the Arenal Volcano. The trail leads deep within the forest, where your experienced guide will provide you with all the gear and knowledge you need to rappel down gushing waterfalls and dry rock faces.

After hiking back to base camp, you will board a boat for a short ride across the inlet to head to Monte Verde, where you will check into your hotel overlooking the Monte Verde Cloud Forest Reserve. This evening, a local naturalist guide will lead you on a hiking exploration through a wind-sculpted elfin woodlands reserve. Continue under a forest canopy, which forms a cathedral-like ceiling above your head while below, orchids, bromeliads, ferns, vines, and mosses adorn the majestic tree trunks. As you fall asleep after an exhilirating day, listen to the forest outside your bedroom window—the songs of Three-Waddled Bell Bird, the elusive Resplendent Quetzal and the calls of jaguars and ocelots.

Day 5 > Canopy Tour and Treetop Walkways

After a hearty breakfast, you will float, swing, and zip through the clouds in Selvatura Park, a cloud forest conservation area in Monteverde. Attached to the earth only by a safety cable, you will travel by zipline through the treetops of one of the most biodiverse regions in Costa Rica to 18 different platforms built far above the forest floor. The tour consists of 10 cable systems, the longest of which is 427 meters long (1,400 feet), and 127 meters high (417 feet). Straddling the Contential Divide, the cloud forest is home to over 100 mammal species, 400 bird species, 2,500 different types of flora, and tens of thousands of insect species. You will also swing through the jungle, hollering at the top of your lungs, on the “Tarzan Swing.”

To recover from your adrenaline rush and quietly observe the distinct forest layers, you will picnic in the park and then spend time absorbing the sheer beauty of the cloud forest on a guided nature walk across the treetop walkways. The two miles of trails hold eight bridges, some which span over 560 feet in length and 300 feet above the ground. Later, you will spend the evening relaxing at the hotel or strolling through the Cloud Forest Butterfly Garden, home to one of the world’s largest live butterfly exhibitions.

Day 6 > Carara National Park

Today, you will hike the trails of Carara National Park, unique in that it lies at the apex of the Amazonian and Mesoamerican ecosystems—a transition zone from the dry of the Pacific north to the very humid southern coast—and is a meeting place for species from both. The park, over 14 times the size of Central Park, is considered the last significant stand of primary forest of its kind on the Pacific coast.

The Carara National Park is home to the highest diversity of trees in the world and some of the rarest and most spectacular animals in tropical America are: American crocodiles, great anteaters, ocelots, spider monkeys, and poison-arrow frogs. Carara is also one of the best bird-watching localities in all of Costa Rica. Fiery-billed aracari and toucan are common as are boat-billed herons, with their curious keel-shaped beaks. Around dawn and dusk, scarlet macaws can be seen in flight as they migrate daily between the wet forest interior and the coastal mangrove swamps.
Numerous pre-Columbian archaeological sites dating back at least 2,000 years can be found in Carara. Extensive tomb sites have been excavated here, uncovering the remarkably complex burial places of high-ranking officials.

Day 7 - 8 > Manuel Antonio National Park

Over the next two days you will explore Manuel Antonio National Park. The park and its surrounding waters became a protected area in 1972 after environmental degradation, caused by logging, forced many native species to the brink of extinction.

Begin the day with an easy hike through the tropical forest to reach the Manuel Antonio beach. Relax on the beach or use the next two days to explore the area at your leisure. Ride an ATV over rough terrain, gallop on horseback along the beach, cruise the river at sunset by boat, or spend the days sport fishing, snorkeling, diving, or sea kayaking.

Day 9 > Bungee Jumping and Homeward Bound

Before boarding the plane on your last day in Costa Rica, why not take a death-defying leap from one of the highest bungee bridges in the Americas. At 265 feet, the Old Colorado River Bridge has seen over 26,000 jumpers since 1991 ranging in age from four years old to 80! Due to its extraordinary height, lack of traffic, and scenic beauty, the bridge has become one of the foremost sites in Latin America to experience the emotion, adrenaline, and flight sensation of bungee jumping. Too soon, you will hop back on the bus to return to the San Jose airport for your flight back home.