Upon arrival, we will set you up with the necessary gear, provide you with some safety instructions and start our hike along the river locally called "Rio Blanco". Our local river guide will tell us everything about this region. We will enjoy incredible views of caves, canyons, flora and fauna. On our way up the river, we will pass through many different viewpoints all locally named in this order: Poza El Parto, Poza el resbalón, Poza Los Arcos, La Cueva de murciélago, Paredones, Farallones de Rio, Catarata la Ducha, Poza el Palo and finally La Cueva de la Leona where our biggest prize will be waiting for us. After a swim we will make our way back once again, we will hike out while we enjoy the stunning and unique blue color of these waters. A Costa Rican typical lunch will be waiting for us before we head north to the higher part of the National Park to enjoy the Rip negro Hot Springs and mud bath. The hike time is about 2.5 hours in total, and the difficulty is easy to moderate.
This was one of the most amazing tours we have taken. The hike was a little strenuous but seeing the waterfall and swimming in the lagoon made the effort worth it. Our driver Jose was very professional and our tour guide Cezar was hilarious! Would definitely do this tour again!
This was our first trip with Playa Grande Shuttle and Adventures and it was so good we booked another trip with them 4 days later. What made it was our guide Jose! He was right no time at 6 am both days we went! On this day we had no idea what to expect. Jose got us Liberia and helped us order some breakfast first and told us all about Costa Rica. Then we hiked through Rincon De La Villeja National Park or the Volcano. While we were there Jose told us about the volcano and it was awesome! Even better was the Iguana we saw. Jose showed us a pic of the Boa snake he saw a couple days before. Then on our way out we saw a family of Spider Monkeys that he spotted for us and that was awesome. Then we swam in the waterfall which was very refreshing and Jose showed a lot of patience with us as we took our time in the Hot Springs! Finally, our lunch was incredible and finally he got us a couple of souvenirs at the shop when we were on our way home and we will keep those to remember him by no doubt. The experience was so good we booked another trip with Playa Grande and Jose 4 days later! We could not recommend this group and Jose highly enough! Just amazing!!!
The team at Playa Grande took great care of our large group and our ever changing needs and bookings! We were there for a yoga retreat and Playa Grande took care of all our airport transfers, excursions, and even our grocery shopping! Communication was easy, and they were very pleasant to deal with. Highly recommend!
Magical. Majestic. Dreamy. An unforgettable, core memory experience, and also one of the more adventurous days of my life. All words and phrases to help describe the experience that my husband and I had during our personalized guided hike with Playa Grande tours in Costa Rica. It was a 10/10 experience, and I could have not asked for more from our Playa Grande tour guide and also the super fun, infectious-spirited gentlemen, Cesar, who lead us our trek through the rainforest, to the breathtaking La Leona waterfall. Please note my husband and I are very fit and active so Cesar took us on a harder route, but he will customize the route for all fitness levels. On our personalized hike, we swam through rivers, cliff-jumped, climbed through small crevices in the rocks because we wanted to immerse ourselves in the Pura Vida experience. So, if you are physically fit, or even just moderately fit, request the adventurous route. If not, he will adjust the hike to your level, so do not worry! After the hike, we had a delicious local lunch and one of our favorite meals of the trip, and ended the hike with a trip to the most beautiful natural hot springs deep in the rainforest. The vibe and energy was unmatched. If you are eyeing this tour and reading this review, please trust me. BOOK THIS.
Ariel and his team are absolutely the best! Friendly, punctual and incredibly helpful. We arranged for transportation to and from San Jose to our Vrbo house. They helped us plan our daily outings from waterfall hikes to sunset sail on a yacht. Our trip wouldn’t have been as smooth without Playa Grande Shuttles and Tours. Thank you so much!
Wonderful hike! Guides were friendly and knowledgeable and the waterfalls were gorgeous, we had an awesome time!
Very professional and friendly and most of all patient with us as we tried to make plans with 14 people in our group. Highly recommend this tour group.
If you don’t hire this company you are probably nuts. This was the best decision of my life. I am a better man because of this. We hung out with an incredible guy named Jose. He drove us there and hiked with us. Added so much to the trip. Amazing guy. Overall the highlight of the trip. Great company
I just came back from a weeklong trip in Costa Rica, and had the most AMAZING time because of Playa Grande Shuttle and Tours! I genuinely I had the greatest experience with this company. I found them through TripAdvisor and reached out to the manager Ariel through WhatsApp. He called me back right away, learned about the activities I was interested in, and set up a personalized tour of Costa Rica for me. I was able to do everything that I wanted to do — zip lining, horseback riding, waterfall hikes, trying the local cuisine, visiting Tabacón, sailing, the list goes on. My tour guide was José and he was so genuine, kind, and warm. He made me feel so welcome and at home in Costa Rica. I miss him already! If you’re looking for high quality experiences, at fair prices, with genuine people, look no further. You won’t regret it. I cannot say enough great things about this company. Pura vida and thank you so very much!
Ariel was so amazing! I had a difficult time choosing what service to use and what excursion to select so I emailed Playa Grande asking a few questions. I was responded to immediately with extremely helpful information that helped make the decision. Then the weeks leading up to the trip, Ariel sent important information that made the process very easy. He was on time to our pick up and he answered all of our questions about the country and provided immense information beyond what we could have asked. While on our hikes he pointed out exotic animals and plants, we saw monkeys, insects, arachnids, birds, and more. We stopped for coffee in the morning and had lunch at a wonderful restaurant. I would recommend Ariel and his team to everyone! My suggestion would be to ask Playa Grande for recommendations on the area before arriving. They are full of knowledge and are so immersed in the local community.
I ended a 2 month trip with a 2 day tour of some of Costa Ricas most beautiful landmarks. Not only was Ariel super knowledgeable but he was a pleasure to spend so much time with. He made the tours fun and informative.
We used this company for an ATV/snorkel tour, waterfall, hot springs/ mud bath hike and transportation around Costa Rica and to the Liberia airport. Ariel and Fernando were super friendly and made our trip memorable. They were so accommodating and knowledgeable about the area. We will definitely use this company on our next visit.
Wow, what can I say. This trip was awesome. Birds, trees, monkeys and streams to name a few. Fernando was an excellent guide and quite the photographer (with his phone no less). He was also very personable. Working with the owner Ariel, was also a pleasure. This is the first review I have ever given and I rate our experience as A1. Well worth your time.
As I was saying above, the tours were awesome, getting into the waterfall was amazing and getting our pictures taken there and at the hot springs was really appreciated! We made a lot of great memories on this trip. We were picked up and dropped off at the airport also by this company and all was on time. I would definitely recommend this company!
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