3-days Arenal Volcano Baldi Resort -Monteverde - Manuel Antonio

We had a great tour with Luis our guide!. He was very kind and friendly. We recommend 100% this tour the views are very beautiful. Thank you.

The tour was a great way to see different parts of Costa Rica! The hikes in the forests were really exciting, and our guide Luis was very knowledgeable, helped us find a lot of hidden animals, and was accommodating and flexible, even if there were unforseen things like heavy rainfall blocking the roads. The highlights for us were the bridges in Monteverde, a sloth we vere lucky to see up close in Manuel Antonio National Park, the hot springs and chifrijo 😄

Johan, our tour leader did an exceptional job accomodating our requests as well as guiding us to the best excursions. He is very knowledgable. We had a great time!. Would highly recommend this tour.

This was a fun trip with pretty good value. Enjoyed seeing the volcano, the hot springs, the zip line (which was not included, so an additional $80 each, or $90 if you do the superman, which I did and it was awesome) and seeing the animals and beach at Manuel Antonia. Overall our tour guide Luis was cool, but my complaint would be that he was on his phone a lot while driving, chatting with friends which at times made us feel a little unsafe. He can probably turn his notifications off while driving so there isn't a "ding" sound every 2 minutes. And he was 40 min late one morning which made him have to rush quite a bit to get us to the zipline which added some unneeded stress especially since the roads are not great heading to Monteverde and he was driving a little too fast. AyE did hook us up with a pretty good return rate on our ride to the airport since we stayed in Manuel Antonio for a few extra days, which we appreciated.

The most memorable parts of our trip were our tour guide Louis and driver Caesar. Both of them paid personal attention to provide great experiences at Arenal and Monteverde. Louis took the time to explain the history and answer any questions that any of the guests might have. Also, he had great empathy in explaining to us delays or changes to our itinerary. Caesar was a great driver, and he was fantastic in getting us to different destinations safely and expeditiously. My only constructive feedback is to the tour operators ( Aye Tours). They promised commitments when we purchased (ex Coffee and chocolate tasting), but this was reneged upon. It was only until the final day that I showed them a screen shot of my promised itinerary that the tour company agreed to refund me. In summary, this tour offers a lot when in Costa Rica. You get to see Arenal/Fortuna, Monteverde and Manuel San Antonio. I highly recommend Louis as a tour guide and Caesar as a driver. Both of them made the trip memorable. My only feedback is to the tour operator (Aye Tours) who did not always execute on their written agreement.

Experiencing the flora and seeing the fauna was extremely pleasurable. Seeing the lava flow from Arenal and the lush plants was great. We learned a lot from the chocolate and coffee tours. At Monteverde it was cool walking on the hanging bridges and learning about the plants and animals who live there or who migrate there like the quetzal. We learned about humidity forests and the different types of rain forests. We were able to see the three other active volcanoes in the distance en route: Rincon de la Vieja, Miravalles, and Tenorio. Our guides were very assiduous and good at finding the animals for us to see. At Manuel Antonio we were able to see five sloths, a momoto, capuchin monkeys, an agouti, iguanas , and raccoons. We enjoyed our three day tour, and our guide and driver were very accommodating, helpful, and knowledgable. Our three day tour would have been perfect if the accommodation on our second night had been better. The Beach Break Resort has clearly fallen on hard times and it showed.

Absolutely amazing experience!! Very fun and stress free travel. Yancy and Ronald were amazing tour guide and driver. Each location was beautiful. The food and hotels were great. The travel experience was comfortable. I would definitely recommend and would love to travel with them again.

Yojhan and Cucu were amazing guides on this tour. They made the tour flexible to our interests and time, and made extra efforts to make sure we got to see everything we wanted, even when that got us home late some nights. But it was worth it for our group and we enjoyed the time. Both guides were friendly and helpful, and gave us privacy, also. Would recommend.

Amazing tour, Yancy and Cucu were absolutely brilliant, they did their best to keep us entertained and happy. Lovely places. We absolutely loved it. Totally recommended. Muchas gracias. Pura Vida!!!

We made it home with many fun memories! Thank you for your dedication to make our stay amazing and covid accommodation gave us much relief! Thank you again. Jenny and Julio were our driver and tour guide.... they were A+. We felt taken care of and truly enjoyed their company. They taught us Español and all about the 🇨🇷 Costa Rica way of life. They were so flexible with our needs and covid "speed bumps". This tour is alot of driving though with lots of curvy roads. 6-8 hours of driving per day. Comfortable van that is clean and newer with air conditioning. Plan to wear swimsuit for two days and take your own towels. Bring a nice rain jacket also. Pura Vida! Thanks again Yojhan for being so attentive to our needs...AMAZING JOB!

My family of 4 went on this 3-day tour. Our tour guide was Vancy and the driver was Kathia. They both were very nice people. They stayed with us the whole time and took a good care of us through the entire trip. Vancy gave us several great information about the locations and also provided good tips to do in those locations that were specific to my family. On the trip to Monteverde, the winding roads on the mountains made my daughter felt nauseate. But Vancy gave her some medicine and also took us to a nearby shop and bought her some gums to make her feel better. With the medicine and gums, my daughter felt better and was able to enjoy our entire zipline tour in Monteverde. I appreciate the guide's timely help in this situation. During the zipline tour, as we couldn't take pictures of all of us, Vancy took videos and pictures of us doing the zipline and shared them with us. This tour has become one of our memorable tours.

The duo we had Katia as a driver and Yancy as the tour guide were fantastic. They made us feel welcomed and like family. I would highly recommend Yancy and Katia, they are friendly and knowledgable people to take care of tourist while in Costa Rica. When booking your trips, request these wonderful people. You will not regret it.

I booked and payed this tour on 24 January, for 2 adults, via viator, with instant confirmation.The days of the tour should have been Feb 20 to Feb 22. In the mean time, I tried to contact A&E travel twice, but they did not bother to response at all. Three days before the tour should have started, while I was in Colombia(I live in Croatia), I received an email from viator that my tour was CANCELLED, without any appologize and additional explanation. I had to find additional 2 days hotel accomodation immidiately and to book at least 2 additional tours to Monteverde and Arenal. No problem for me, because I am experienced treveller, but I am not sure how would less experienced tourist would manage that.Guys, DO NOT TRUST A&E Tours Travel.

The tour was very nice. Our guide was Yohann. If you choose this tour not to drive yourself in Costa Rica it’s a great choice. The guide does not give much info on the history of the country. The hotels we stayed at were all nice. The restaurants where we stopped for lunch were excellents. Be aware that this tour requires a lot of road time. Don’t look up the distance KM, it takes much more time. Also, meals are at odd hours. Make sure to bring snacks. Communication of planning could be a bit better. Overall we enjoyed the 3 day trip.

The tour was great and it was a very efficient way to see several locations in the country in a very short time, combining 3 different day trips while cutting out the backtracking to and from San Jose to give you more time at each location. They also worked with me to extend my stay for an extra night at the final hotel. My one complaint is that the company was not responsive to me prior to my arrival. It took several attempts to contact them and assistance from Viator for them to actually respond to me. Thus I didn't really know what to expect each day beyond the limited amount of information given on Viator's site. This seemed to be a common problem with many of my fellow travelers. That being said, I thoroughly enjoyed each day and all of the tour guides and drivers were excellent.

This trip has a great amount of variety and for the most part doesn't feel too hurried. Juan Jose and Johan were very accommodating; my father is 81 and walks fine but was slower than some of the other group, and Juan Jose split off with him so that the rest of the group could travel at their own pace, and my father could enjoy things at his. When I wanted to split off and do the zip line while the rest of the group did the coffee tour, they coordinated the complicated change on the fly without a hiccup. They were friendly and fun to be around, and I would definitely recommend them as guides. The tour itself does keep things moving, so be prepared to see a lot. Monteverde was a real highlight, especially the zip line.

In order to a see a lot, you will have to sit in a nice air conditioned mini van for a couple of hours, maybe wake up early. But by booking this trip you will have the luxury of sitting back, relaxing, and watching the beautiful landscapes of Costa Rica or sleep while getting to your desired destination. We got to do so much and see a lot of this beautiful country within three days thanks to our amazing driver Juan Jose and Erick. They always picked excellent places to eat at where the food was homemade and fresh (I was a little worried about this since I consider myself a huge foodie) and clean hotels. One of our hotels was right on the beach where we got to enjoy breakfast before conquering the day. For a change, it was great not having to stress about where to eat and find parking. I would 100% recommend this tour if you want to see a lot of Costa Rica and don't necessarily speak Spanish. This tour was worth every penny and the tour guides are easy going and friendly, they really want you to enjoy your time and see as much as you can. The tour is also customizable to a certain extent, I mentioned to them how much I love watching sunsets once. They showed and stopped for us to watch it every evening (going out of their way). They also pulled aside for us when we mention how much we love strawberries when we were driving across the fields. Yes, their English is not perfect but they are trying and truly get across what they want to say. One just has to be patient, their English is a lot better than most of our Spanish. A little about me, I went with a friend on this trip we are both in our mid twenties and speak no Spanish. We truly felt well taken care of and safe during this entire trip. I highly recommend it to everyone of all ages!

This tour was amazing! Jordan and Carlos and then Juan Jose were very enthusiastic and extremely helpful. Jordan was so knowledgable about flora and fauna and nature in general. It was clear he loved what he was doing and tried to instill all of us with his love of the places of Costa Rica. The days were very full, The places we ate were good as were the hotels. Three days was enough. They were all packed! I felt that I received a wonderful overview of Arenal Monteverde and Manuel Antonio. Thank you Jordan.

My family and I just got back from this trip and had a wonderful time. Eric and Carlos were great at catering to my daughters' (ages 9 and 11) wish list of experiences. We saw sloths, monkeys, crocodiles, macaws, a tree frog, leaf cutter ants, beach raccoons?, crabs, iguanas, and many birds. There always seemed to be unexpected surprises to make this trip memorable for all of us. We were a bit surprised that it was only our family the majority of the trip, but felt like Eric and Carlos were friends by the end of our journey. A majority of the food was amazing, with only one meal that wasn't our favorite. The hotels were not 5 star places, but charming in their own way. The only downside was there was a lot of driving and the curvy roads were rough on both my daughters' and husband's stomachs. Thank you for an awesome time!

My husband and I just took this tour and found it to be a very mixed experience. So I will start with the good and follow with the bad. The best thing is the value. For all that is included, it is a very economical way to see a lot of Costa Rica without having to drive around on all the windy, unfamiliar roads. The tour did include transportation, breakfast, lunch, and hotel for 2 nights. The food was good. We ate traditional Costa Rican food for all but one lunch in La Fortuna - a fairly good Italian restaurant with lots of wine choices. Any alcohol bev's were not included; but it was nice to always have the option of beer or wine along the way. We were lucky enough to meet very nice people on this tour. The best time had by all was Monteverde Cloud Forest bridges (included) and optional zipline (ticket not included $55) followed by an excellent, fun and informative coffee/chocolate/sugar cane tour (optional $35) at Don Juan's. Manuel Antonio Park and beach was nice - we saw Capuchin monkeys along the trail up close, a sloth far up in the tree and howler monkeys in the distance. Not as many jungle sounds/birds/butterflies as I was expecting - hardly any! Arenal volcano/La Fortuna was super rainy. OK now the BAD: We were at the mercy of our driver and his choice of cousin's hotels which I would NOT advertise as local. The amount of driving was RIDICULOUS and unorganized. The hotels were sub par. One would have been nice had the drapes not been moldy. Our main guide spoke some broken English. The driver and one of our other guides speaking VERY limited English and one driver spoke no English! When we asked questions - like how far are we going, or when we will get to the hotel - we NEVER got a straight answer. We arrived at the hotels too late to eat or swim, and tired after driving an hour or more out of the way (on the way for their drive back to San Jose; I suppose). If I did it again - I would do the research, rent a car and do the tour myself since it was mostly self guided anyway! I would get to a local hotel and skip all the excess driving.

Overall we had a great experience, had a great trip with Juan Jose and Eric! This was a convenient way to get around, get a taste of 3 different Costa Rica hot-spots, and have food, travel and lodging taken care of. Definitely a great deal, and would do it again and recommend to friends. We were picked up at the airport, pickup went smoothly. The first day we went to Arenal- we unfortunately had bad weather and couldn't see the volcano and the hike was rather rainy. Nonetheless, we still made the most of our experience and enjoyed the hot-springs that day. The hot-springs we went to were not natural, and were more like heated pools, but still had a good time. First night hotel was nice enough, clean, quaint. Second day we went to Manuel Antonio. We did a small nature walk and then had some time at the beach. Like I mentioned above, this trip is the bare bones- there were many other tour groups walking around with guides who had fancy telescopes and pointed out many different types of wild life, while our guide, Eric, had a pair of binoculars. We got to see some animals, but definitely did not get the complete experience. The second day was rather short, and got back to our hotel at around 6:30pm. Second hotel was a little creepy, beds looked dirty, was in the middle of nowhere so when we were dropped of at 6:30pm, didn't have much to do. Third day headed up to Monteverde. We did the hanging bridges there which were SO cool, then paid $55 for a zipline tour-- highly recommended!! Also had an option for a coffee tour, which we skipped- happy we did in the end, because got to stop along the way to see the sunset. This day was definitely our favorite. then returned back to san jose around 8:30pm. To summarize... we loved our driver Juan Jose, both he and Eric tried to make sure we had the best experience. They stopped at veiw points along the drive and allowed us to get beautiful pictures of the sunset. Their English was both average, but were able to communicate with the help of google translate when needed. We had special dietary needs and they made sure each restaurant we went to could accommodate us. If you are looking to see a lot of different places in a small amount of time and a limited budget, and willing to "rough it" a little with the hotels, this is the trip for you! If you are looking for a more complete experience, with a thorough guide, and making sure you get the "complete" experience at each of your destinations, then you may want to splurge on separate day trips.

I agree with Kim P's assessment of the tour. We met her and her husband on the first day of our tour (their last day). Juan and Eric did a great job and were quite pleasant to travel with. Went with my 32-year old son and his girlfriend. Our favorite parts of the tour were the hot springs in La Fortuna (Arenal area) and the Cloud Forest canopy walk in Monteverde. We paid separately to go on the zip lines. Really enjoyed them. Food was good and good hotel rooms. I highly recommend the local chicken and rice for lunch (and breakfast!). All in all, a great experience and a great value!

The tour guides/drivers were great. The driver Juan Jose was friendly and relaxed. Eric was alongside and he was the “guide” providing information on the sights/wildlife. He was an excellent spotter of sloth and other wildlife. His English was quite good- they both really tried hard on that front since we did not know any Spanish. We were surprised by the amount of time to get to the sites of interest but we took it all with stride. We had amazing weather, food was great, hotels were nice and we had a good amount of time at each of the locations. There’s some flexibility needed as the tour guides mix the day plan based on the anticipated weather and other “joiners” to the tour. We had a couple join us for a day trip on our first day and a few people join our 3rd day (that was their 1st day). Overall I liked this as it was fun to meet new people along the way. We felt like overall we got a “taste” of Costa Rica in three days. For us it was a nice option so we had to do little planning in advance. We were overall very happy with our tour!

We really enjoyed our trip by A &E tour. Johan, our guide and Larry, our driver were very friendly and knowledgeable persons. The hotels, we stayed and the restaurants, we had our meals were of high quality. We really enjoyed the local foods, they were delicious. Only one suggestion is to revise the itinerary for the 1st day as we were picked up at 5.30 am and checked in to our hotel at 11pm. It was very hectic with more than 10 hours of driving through the hilly roads. It will be a good idea to stay near Arenal volcano and making the trip 3 nights. I will recommend this tour to have a hassle free vacation towards the western part of CR.

Terrible service, they cancelled our trip the day it was supposed to occur. Not only that, they cancelled 45 minutes after our arranged pick up time. No one responded to our calls or messages through the app. Had to contact Viator an hour after our pick up time to get any information. On top of that they claimed to cancel because of bad weather. My wife and I watched tourists get picked up for the same location (Arenal) and the other travel companies did not cancel or seemed at all concerned with the weather. Plus we looked up the weather and it was nothing unusual. I find it hard to believe that only A&E Travel knew about the weather, or were so worried about the customer’s experience. Especially given their lack of communication. We had to scramble to find a place to stay for the next 3 days, and book other excursions. Tough to do during the busy season. We ended up pretty much wasting a whole day of our trip making other arrangements. I’m not one to write bad reviews, but this was egregious. Do yourself a favor and book with another company. I read a similar review before booking and thought “That won’t happen to me”. My mistake.

Me and my family had a great experience taking the 3 days tour with A&E Tours. The service was outstanding, the guides were so kind and thoughtful. The places we visited and the food were amazing! I fully recommend to take tour with them.

I booked my tour for Dec 3-5. They cancelled on me on Dec 2, at night. No reason provided for cancellation, yet. I now need to find a new hotel, and hopefully new tours. I booked several months ago, and emailed again on Nov 10 to re-confirm. I contacted the tour guide myself for pickup time on Dec 2, then trip was suddenly cancelled. Communication should be better and not last minute for everything.

The tour operator went out of his way to accommodate my personal timings and likings for this 3 day trip in Costa Rica. Nice hotel stay, excellent food, guide speaking English about the sub-cultures of the country, all in all an enriching experience for me. Strongly recommend this.

We, a group of 6 people took this tour from August 29th through September 1st 2019. Our tour guide was Yojhan and the driver was Juan Jose. Even though Yojhan cannot speak English fluently he did his job in an excellent manner. One way or the other he conveyed his messages and plans to us. Whenever there is a jungle animal or bird on the roadside he tells the driver to stop the van let us watch them. The fist night stay was in Cabins in La Fortuna and the second day it was in a budget hotel at Manuel Antonio. Kudos to our driver Jose who did a marvelous job by driving through the zip-zap mountain roads. We highly recommend this tour. Thanks to A&E Tours Travel and Viator.

Words cannot describe the exhilirating 3 day Arenal and Monte Verde and Playa Manuel Antonio trip. Apart from the spectacular sights, our driver Juan Jose and guide Yojhan were 5 star, exceptional gentlemen who ensured that we did all that we wanted to do and more.

Viator assained A&E tours and asked me to contact the tour company by providing a local costa rica Phone number. I tried several times to contact tour companu without any answer. I contacted Viator at least 3 times regarding at what time tour guide pick us uo at hotel where we are staying in. Until last minute Viator or Tour guide gave us any reply. On the day of the tour one gentleman named Yojhan Esquivel came in a car to take us to tour. He is nice gentleman but he is not a tour guide. he does not know much English and also he doen not understand well also. On the last day he put us in a dinky small hotel in Manuel Antonio with out AC and very small room.

Great experience with yojan and Jose. Fantastic tour guide and driver. Our family truly enjoyed our vacation , each trip was made very special and lots of information about the Country of Costa Rica , the history, the dedication to keep the culture was very good to know

Our driver Juan José and our guide Yojhan were indescribably wonderful. Easy going, helpful, warm, knowledgeable, safe - we were a group if 10 and Juan José and Yojhan were incredible. I highly recommend them and am so grateful for their considerate handling of the arrangements

Yojhan (like Johan) and Alvaro were absolutely fantastic guides on this three day trip. They picked us up at our hotel near the San José airport and we drove to the Arenal Volcano. Great hike and Yojhan really knows the local fauna and animals. Afterward we enjoyed local hot springs and then hopped back in the van and drove to Monteverde. The next morning we had a good breakfast and headed to the Cloud Forest. The hike was very cool as you moved in and out of different types of forest and the clouds blew in and out. It looked like time lapse photography, but in real time. A good lunch and then back into the van to head to a hotel just outside Manuel Antonio National Park. At one point Yojhan and Alvaro stopped to buy Mamones, a fruit that looks like Dragon Fruit, but taste like pear/pineapple/cherry with the consistency of grapes. They also stopped at a bridge to see crocodiles who were lined up like trucks at a weigh station. The last day we toured Manuel Antonio and saw a sloth, two kinds of monkeys, iguanas, fish, and lots of crabs. There is a nice beach. One last meal and we were off. Our family had planned to ride back to San José and then catch a bus to Jacó to go surfing, but Yojhan and Alvaro simply dropped us off at our hotel in Jacó. They really went the extra mile. The hotels were very clean and had great breakfasts. The hikes were challenging and Yojhan was a great guide to each park, pointing out interesting plants and animals, like the Quetzal we saw in Monteverde. My family and I are bilingual, so our tour was in Spanish, but Yojhan said it was his first tour in Spanish in four months (all others were in English). Alvaro was the driver and he had interesting conversations as we drove, pointing out interesting sites and stopping whenever my daughters needed a restroom In sum, a worthwhile adventure with really great guides.

Sehr guter, aufmerksamer und freudlicher Tourgide. Leider hat das Reiseunternehmen aber nicht die in der Beschreibung enthaltene Leistung erbracht (und der derauf angesprochone Unternehmensvertrer hat allen Beteiligten mit seinen wirren Ausreden am zweiten Abend die Reise sehr vermiest): Der Nationalpark Manuel Antonio wurde ebenso wie die Wasserfälle nicht besucht. Das erste Hotel war eher ein ungepflegtes Motel, auch wenn die Lage gut war. Diese Reise ist aber wegen der Nichterbringung der versprochenen Leistung ihren Preise leider nicht wert.

Well organized tour to see some major sites of Costa Rica in a limited time. Comments and useful information from the driver-guide who also ensured comfortable and safe transport.

One of the best local travel agencies we have tested in the world. First, the Service of Yancy (the guide) and the driver (Ronald). Their Service is personalized and they adapt to all our needs when there was an 18-month-old baby with us. We had the Poas circuit, coffee tour, Arenal, Baldi thermal baths and Manuel Antonio. For the price paid, 4 days and 3 nights, hotels and almost all meals included with drinks and juices and admission to all national parks and sites, for $685 per person, in a personalized vehicle and mini van. In addition, each of us had the personalized attentions.

It is one of the most beautiful Tours in Costa Rica and the Enterprise is excellent and at a fairly affordable price. Highly recommended.

We had a cancellation problem via Viator, we wrote to the agency with whom we rearranged a tour. The agency was able to be responsive to get us to join a group. Our group was international and multicultural, which allows to have exchanges with other non-French tourists. We had a Jordan guide for 2 days, very positive, dynamic, with a good knowledge of local biodiversity. It explains the culture of Costa Rica and the riches of the 3 places Monteverde, Arenal and Manuel Antonio. The driver Juan José brings the extra touch of services that does the most of this agency (bring fresh coconuts just when we particularly want to after visiting the antonio manual park, or manage oversights in personal business hotels). We have created a special bond with this warm and professional team. I highly recommend this tour which simplifies complicated logistics (no car rental), and allows to start a stay with a good value for money. Do not hesitate to communicate your desires so that the guide knows your expectations in order to facilitate exchanges and make them personal. I loved the ride in Monteverde, don’t leave Costa Rica without doing it and if you like thrills the zip line (which is extra for 35$). Have a nice trip and thank you to the team (Jordan and Juan José)

Traveled with a couple of friends from Mexico, recommended by me best friend who had already done it, at first we had doubts about the accommodation once we contacted the Enterprise a luxury deal, and the great hotels, you have to take into account the places to visit are away from the Capital and can be a little tired, it is better this to do everything in a separate day mode include the hotel, these güeys=maes are pure life know the routes, animals, plants very complete, The great food, I read several reviews before buying and simply if you are a little demanding, maybe you are not at ease, if you read the reviews maybe you can save a little money since if you contact them you could save some pesos.Recommended.

My father and I visited Costa Rica for 3 days supported by the A&E Tours Travel agency who solved all the needs of accommodation, transportation and food at a very competitive price. Given my father’s advanced age the agency always showed flexibility and adapted the pace of the tour to what we needed. Our experience in Arenal and Monteverde was very pleasant and we enjoyed nature and landscapes with simple but useful explanations from the guide. They also included a visit to San José and the national museum that allowed us to learn more about that nation. We will gladly return to Costa Rica with A&E to learn more about that beautiful country.

Excellent Service and extraordinary places. Excellent staff care, punctuality, care, very good quality food

Costa Rica is a country worth visiting. Thanks to our guides Jordan Abarca and Juan Jose Leiva, for being so patient and professional. Recommended 100% 🤗