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WUC

Discover Costa Rica - with Dominical

Discover Costa Rica – with Dominical Expert Local Guides
Discover Costa Rica – with Dominical Award Winning Adventures
Discover Costa Rica – with Dominical Nature First Adventures
Discover Costa Rica – with Dominical Support Local Communities
15 Days from
16 Days from
USD 5,599
Wildlife
Ways to Travel :
Guided Group, Private Group Adventures
Activity :
Wildlife
Activity Levels :
1 out of 7 - Leisurely You are healthy, enjoy the outdoors and want a relaxing trip. No experience is required.
Group Size :
5 - 9
Ages :
16+
Trip Code :
WUCB
Overview
Itinerary
Gallery
Essential Info
Accommodation
Experts
Dates & Prices

Experience the rainforest, mountains and coast of this tropical paradise

Costa Rica is renowned for having proportionately more protected land than any other country, making it ripe for wildlife tourism. What is less known is the marvellous, often bizarre, variety of animals from catatonic sloths, screaming howler monkeys, screeching toucans and nesting green turtles. Throw in the Caribbean and Pacific coastlines and it is easy to see why so many return.

This itinerary differs from Discover Costa Rica, spending 2 nights at Dominical instead of Piedras Blancas. This option is a great alternative as this area has much to offer: beautiful beaches with great sunset views, waterfalls and natural swimming holes, and the chance to explore nearby Marino Ballena National Park.

Highlights

  • Unrivalled wildlife viewing – howler monkeys, caiman and sloths
  • Visit the beaches and waterways of Tortuguero, an important nesting site for green turtles
  • Verdant rainforest, lush mangroves, lava fields and serene cloud forests
  • Wonderful naturalist guides who will share their love of Costa Rica with you
  • Relax on idyllic Pacific coast beaches
  • Stay in comfortable ecofriendly lodges and hotels

Key Information

  • Travel by air-conditioned bus and boat
  • 14 nights in comfortable hotels and eco-lodges
  • Some departures with specialist birdwatching guide
  • Green turtle nesting season: July to October
  • Countries visited: Costa Rica

What's Included

  • All breakfasts, eight lunches, six dinners
  • All accommodation
  • All transport and listed activities
  • Tour leader throughout
  • Arrival and departure transfers

What's Not Included

  • Travel insurance
  • Single accommodation (available on request)
  • Visas or vaccinations

People, Places & Planet

We work hard to create trips that improve life for the people and places we visit, and look after the planet we explore. Find out more about our sustainable travel ethos and practice here, and find out about the work of the Exodus Travels Foundation here.

Some sustainable travel highlights of this trip include:

People

How this trip helps improve life for local communities.

  • The use of a local guide means our customers will be well informed about local traditions, and cultural and social sensitivities.
  • This trip brings income and opportunity to the destination community through the inclusion of locally-owned hotels and restaurants, the emphasis on eating locally produced food and support of other local enterprise.
  • We use fairly small, family run and locally staffed establishments which ensures that we are benefiting local communities.
  • Our activity also benefits the rural village of Copey, which is nestled in the highlands of the Central Mountain Range. By passing through this area, seeing how the locals live and work and having lunch in a typical home, we are encouraging cultural exchange and providing valuable avenues of income here.
  • There is an option for clients to directly support local schools by packing a gift of educational supplies when we visit Copey area on this tour.
  • This is a small group tour, meaning that we have a low impact on the environments and communities we visit and are able to ensure that we do not disrupt or lead to the displacement of local people.
  • Our local operator is very involved in supporting community projects. On International Tourism Day in 2019 they took part in cleaning a beach at Guacalillo. They collected a total 150 Kg of waste and all the plastic lids collected were donated to the Fundación Proparques, for a project developing walkways to improve accessibility for people with mobility problems in the country's protected wild areas.
  • In 2017 Exodus Travels introduced the Inspiration Project, where we’ve worked with our partners to take more than 6,000 children in 30 countries on a day of adventure and exploration. Each inspirational day out is designed to introduce young minds to the wonders of our world and their place in it. From visiting cultural heritage sites to natural wonders, each trip has been packed with firsts – their first time leaving their own village, their first time seeing the sea, their first time visiting a busy city. We continue to operate these days out to inspire children to protect and preserve the world as they grow up.

Places

How this trip helps protect and conserve local landscapes and nature.

  • Read about our commitment to nature protection and restoration here, including our rewilding commitment for every customer who travels.
  • By travelling in a small group, led by a local guide, we ‘tread lightly’ to minimise our impact on local resources and the environment.
  • Being a wildlife-based tour, we are very conscious of our effects on the environment and how we can reduce negative impact and aid conservation. We visit national and private parks, including the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve, one of the first community-managed reserves in the country. Our entrance fees also directly support conservation efforts in the areas we visit.
  • Our local operator has a policy of Animal Welfare that requests suppliers to comply with the minimum conditions of animal welfare.
  • Our local operator has been awarded by the Costa Rican Tourism Board for their sustainable tourism practice & dedication to improving sustainability standards. This means that efforts are made to rationally use water and electricity, provide adequate waste management, and positively impact communities, among many other actions.
  • Most of the accommodation and restaurants we visit on this trip use locally sourced food such as fruit which is always sourced locally and abundant. Esquinas lodge have their own policy whereby they produce their own organic vegetables and fruit, marmalade, juices, mayonnaise, bread, chocolate and seasoning.
  • Vegetarian options are available if notice is given which include a variety of fresh fruit, vegetables, and rice.
  • To reduce our carbon emissions, we use a shared coach at the beginning of the tour to transport clients from San José to Tortuguero rather than an internal flight. During the trip, we travel responsibly using appropriate methods of transport; therefore, depending on group size, a minibus/coach will be used.
  • Our trips adhere to ABTA’s industry-leading animal welfare guidelines to ensure the best possible practices with regard to working animals and wildlife viewing. Our animal welfare policy can be found here.
  • We work with our partners on the ground to proactively eliminate or reduce waste, for example eliminating all single-use plastic water bottles and instead providing refills for re-usable bottles.

Planet

How we seek to keep the carbon footprint of this trip low.

  • Read about our climate action here, including our carbon reduction and compensation commitments.
  • An example of eco-friendly accommodation on this trip is the Esquinas Rainforest Lodge, a model project combining conservation, environmental research and community development in a rural area. The plot is surrounded by approximately 3,000 hectares of untouched rainforest which acts as a carbon sink and the lodge itself is 100 % carbon neutral, meaning it will take action to remove as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they produce.

 

Tips for sustainable travel on this trip

  • Leave no trace: We do all we can to ensure we leave no rubbish behind in the wild and beautiful places we visit; we ask that you do the same. If there are no recycling facilities in-country, we’d ask you to consider bringing recyclable materials home with you.
  • Plastic waste reduction: Please bring your own re-usable water bottle on this trip; filtered water will be provided where tap water is not drinkable.