San Jose Tours

Ecoscapes Highlights Tour is great if you have little time in San Jose. This tour allows you to see the La Paz waterfall gardens, visit a banana plantation, hike in the rainforest, and experience the Sarapiquí river by boat. They also arrange your transportation and provide lunch and breakfast. Cost is $79 per person. Phone: 297-0664.

A popular day trip from San Jose is to tour the Poas or Irazu volcano. Poas is the largest geyser in the world and the massive Irazu is 3,378m high. The passage offers beautiful scenery and with luck, you can view the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea simultaneously. Admission is $7 and there is a public bus route that leaves from Avenida 2. Poas offers a great stretch of preserved forest and the beautiful Botos Lake, formed in the extinct crater. Tour companies that offer day trips:

• Costa Rica Expeditions, Phone: 257-0766
• Costa Rica Sun Tours, Phone: 296-7757
• Horizontantes, Phone: 222-2022
• Rainforest Aerial Tram Caribbean offers a 90 minute ride through the rainforest treetops, which gives a very intimate view of the wildlife. Trails, a restaurant and bungalows are offered down below. Tours include breakfast and transportation from San Jose and cost $79 per person. Phone: 257-9561.

Rios Tropicales will prompt you to cascade through the white water of the Rio Pacuare and pass through the green tropical forest. You’ll pass the famous waterfall from the movie Congo and ride the river’s infamous class four rapids. This may be one of the best choices for those with few days in San Jose. Day trips as well as multi-day trips are offered. Full day trips include meals and run around $100 per person. Phone: 233-6455.

Go on the Café Britt Tour and learn the ins and outs of the coffee production process. Tours end with informative and delicious tasting sessions. Admission is $26 per person and includes transportation. Phone: 277-1600.

TicoTips
Mt. Chirripó in the Chirripó National Park is Costa Rica’s tallest mountain. On a clear day you can see both the Pacific and Caribbean waters.