www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Hey yall, headed for my third trip to CR in a few days. Going to be there from 12/5 - 12/9

I like to do toursity activities during the day time but the problem I found was that every thing out of San Jose required waking up at 6am and sitting on a terrible bus ride for 3 hours each way and then returning back to San Jose wayyyy to late.

I found staying in Jaco eliminates this problem greatly, everything is only 10-15 minutes away. However everything seems to be booked in Jaco for my trip dates, so I think I will just stay in San Jose

Any hoo, can anyone recommend some good tour companies that leave out of San Jose and aren't terribly long? I enjoy ATV riding and scuba diving, I do NOT want to go zip lining or hiking, haha.

Thanks!

Bungee jumping?

Bungee falling?

Anything related to a Bungee?

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bypassin' kinky, and usin' the whole chicken!!!

haha, sounds too dangerous for me

The Volcan Irazu and Orosi Valley is a good one. Leaves around 8am and gets back around 4pm. You could probably book it at whatever hotel you are going to be staying in.

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Here is a link to Grayline Tours Costa Rica: http://www.graylinecostarica.com/ Select "day tours," and you will see there are a lot of day tours to choose from. There are smaller tour companies that offer basically the same packages, and you probably could negotiate a better deal with your hotel making the arrangements. Prices have more than doubled since I took my first day tour over 10 years ago. I've done the Tortuga Island boat ride, the 4-in-1 combo tour, Sarapiqui River adventure, Arenal & Irazu tours. The Tortuga Island and Arenal tours make for a long day... the combo tours are well-planned, and fit very well into a short day. Once I got my feet wet, and learned my way around, I would rent a car and take my own day trips and road trips throughout Costa Rica.

Awesome, good info. My main thing is just not having to rot on a loooong bus ride. On my last trip I went to tortuga island, and some baldi hot springs. Both were a disaster because I was on a cramped going up and down windy hills for a total of 6 hours...never again.

Yes. The San Jose - Arenal day tour is a long day trip. When I did that trip, we left at the crack of dawn and did not return to the gulch until 11:00 pm

One of my best day trips was to purchase RT airfare to Quepos. Arrived in Quepos at 11 am after a 30 minute flt and spent the day at Manuel Antonio park and ate at Si Como No. Returned to SJO on SAnsa at 6pm

I would really like to check out Manuel Antonio, but I only have four days and am already flying in on shitty Spirit, I doubt i'll have the energy, time, or desire to get on another plane mid trip. But thanks for the rec.

I would really like to do some white water rafting and something with ATVs

You don't have to spend 3 hrs. each way from SJ but you will have to spend about 1.5 hrs. for most tours. Haven't heard much about ATVs lately other than near Jaco, CRT had a sponsor at one time and I took that tour but he may have gone out of business. As far as rafting I believe the Pacuare River is your only option for a 1 day trip. Other tours closest to SJ that will get you back to the gulch at a reasonable hour are a Coffee tour, Poas, San Luis canopy, La Paz and possibly the Areial Tram. And you know there's actually a lot of things to see in San Jose, many within walking distance of the gulch. Not sure about this company but here's a list of most tours available-
http://www.rainforesttours.com/costaric ... _tours.htm
Your best bet is to just go see Manfred at the Sportsmen's Lodge, not only does he know all about the tours but he's been on most of them and can book them for you. Have fun and post a report.

We used to have a guy, Bro Prolijo, who was great for in-depth reports on such as this--he is sorely missed. All the above looks to be solid advice but as a backstop or reinforcement, try searching TripAdvisor. I wouldn't rely on them exclusively (too many problems with "bought" positive reviews and negative reviews being suppressed) but they are a big source and maybe worth your while.
This should give you a start: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Search?q=day ... nTo=__2F__

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

I've been a member of TripAdvisor since 2008, and actively contribute reviews for locations in South, Central and North America. I sometimes question whether reviews have been "bought", too, or a troll is paid to wreck the reputation of a business because he/she has vested interest in the competition. If you can learn to interpret the reviews and the distribution of grades, after awhile you will figure out which reports were written by shills or trolls, and eventually get to the bottom of things. I also take nationalities into account when interpreting reviews.

Yeah, I work in the hospitality industry in the US. Many hoteliers and small businesses are getting tired of the power TripAdvisor and yelp have taken on, there is A LOT of buying good reviews and tarnishing good business, unfortunately it doesn't seem like we are going to be moving away from this social media review style format any time soon, but boy is it a pain in my ass.

I am staying at La Amistad, I believe they do tours as well and I love the staff and ownership there, I would like to give them the commissions of booking my tours, but I guess I need to just research ahead of time to figure out who the good companies are (in terms of food and transportation)

I have a trip report from my first trip, I should get around to posting that.

I would not recommend any of the standard tour operators that I have witnesses in CR. I've seen how they rush tourists through attractions so that there will plenty of time to stop and shop at the stores they get a kickback from.

Rent a car or hire a driver, you'll have a better time.

http://www.rainforestadventure.com/cost ... rial_tram/ is less than one hour away from San Jose. It's not merely a canopy gondola deal, either. The guided little walk through the forest is not arduous and is less than 15mins as I recall and you don't have to take it if you don't like. They'll provide the transport to and from. There are curios to be purchased if so inclined.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_R ... Limon.html is the TripAdvisor link. Think for yourself.

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"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand."
- Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, Ch. 16