Kimkim Trip Reviews for Costa Rica

Costa Rica is a beautiful country with extremely welcoming and genuinely nice people. Overall we had a nice vacation in Costa Rica but mostly because we were able to roll with the things we found disappointing. We found that all the tours/adventures booked for us by Randall were excellent. The tour guides were extremely knowledgeable and the tours/adventures themselves were well executed. The guides were always on time and went out of their way to be welcoming.

The accommodations were from OK to terrible. The Country Inn in San Jose was fine. There was no real restaurant to have dinner at night. The casino next door that did have dinner, was not an appropriate place to have my young son visit.

The hotel in La Fortuna, was serviceable. We did not enjoy the bunkhouse feel of the room. Although the grounds were nice, the hotel room was just ok. Again, there was no restaurant for dinner and we had to walk to town in the dark when we arrived, not knowing where we were going.

Finally, the hotel in Puerto Viejo, the Cariblue, was terrible. Even though we switched rooms, the second room had roaches, had a shower that didn't drain well, curtains that didn't provide privacy and was generally built with old shoddy materials. It was really depressing. And although it had views of the ocean, they were across a busy road with loud motorcycles, construction trucks and other vehicles. It was very loud all night. We did call Coast to Coast about our disappointment, but nothing was done. We felt trapped and frustrated.

I have to say that in my dealings with Randall prior to our trip, I felt he tried very hard to meet our expectations for our trip. However, we obviously were not on the same page (with him or Kim Kim) regarding what I wanted for our vacation in terms of accommodations and beach feel. We expected to stay at much higher quality hotels, like at the Tabacon where we enjoyed the hot springs. And, the Caribbean side was not what I was looking for during the "beach" portion of our vacation. We found the Caribbean much more suited to the "surfer" crowd and was not appropriate for the family vacation we wanted. It was a real party scene and not the tranquil wide open beaches we were hoping to relax on. Most of our tour guides told us that that would be found on the Pacific side. We were really upset that we spent most of our time on the Caribbean. Also we also did not realize that we would be in a van for over 12 hours (at least 4 hours through a congested commercial area that was not very attractive) getting from one location to another. I wished that had been made clear.

In terms of our dealings with Coast to Coast in Costa Rica, I have mixed reviews. Our driver, Jose, was always on time, was very knowledgeable and stopped at restaurants he knew along the way for lunch/snacks. We really appreciated that. However, we did not enjoy being in his older, loud van for 8 hours. We also found him to be an aggressive driver and he seemed upset when we told him to be more careful. We also found him moody, especially after the trip back to San Jose, after we had complained about our hotel to Randall. This made for an unpleasant ride back.

I put the blame on Kim Kim, Coast to Coast and myself for not discerning or appropriately communicating what we were getting/asking for. You should let your customers know that you provide middle of the road accommodations for a middle market. I will not recommend any of your companies to my friends.

Debra Hernandez

Randall has been very responsible in tailoring our tour according to my request, with many back and forth. It’s been a great pleasure to work with him on putting the tour together.

Accomodation at Montechiari was very nice and the people were friendly with one exception. Management handled the exception very well.
The hike into the Hule Lagoon was great, Andre was an excellent guide.
He did at times seem to be in a bit of a rush. It was scheduled to be a four hour hike and we completed in just over three hours.
The pace was manageable but not leisurely. It was just the two of us, great.
The host family at the farm were wonderful and the food was awesome.
The mountain biking was fun but we didn't get to see much and was not at the Volcano as expected. We rode out 16Km and stopped at the lake and were offered to ride back over the same route. We declined. Home by 10:20. It was a private tour with just the two of us, nice.
The guides were very nice , especially Brian who was in training.
The Tabacon Hotsprings was nice. The meal was buffet style but the food was excellent.
The guided tour at Manuel Antonio was a great experience overall and the guide was very knowledgeable. He also managed to get us out for lunch (I am diabetic) and back infor a swim on the same ticket .This was a large group of around 16 people so a bit unwieldy.
We had a private tour of Quepos and the Kids Saving the Rainforest with our guide William.
William was an excellent guide, very knowledgeable. Overall Iguana tours was excellent.
The accomodation at Tabulia Tree Hotel was quite nice and we were treated well.
The kayaking and snorkling was fun with an excellent guide and nice lunch afterward.
Monteverde was beautiful and the Fonda Vella Hotel was excellent. I believe we received a room upgrade as it was a very nice separate cabin.
The hanging bridges tour was very pretty views with a knowledgeable naturalist guide and some interesting sightings.
The coffee, cacao and sugar tour was enjoyable and informative.
Bosque del Mar at Playa Hermosa was very relaxing and the staff were very friendly and helpful.
A relaxing and enjoyable wind down.
The evening cruise was fun with a nice group of people. The snorkelling was a disappointment as we saw very little.
The trip was on a sailboat (OK but a catamaran was advertised.

Kimkim organised a 16 day self drive tour of Costa Rica for my family (my, my partner, our kids 5yrs, 8yrs, 11yrs and my mum). They were extremely prompt, very responsive and personal throughout the planning. They showed great attention to detail regarding our car seats, wifi and GPS. Fabulous accommodation everywhere. We had a wonderful time. It was great to have that extra flexibility a package tour cant provide.
Marco and the team are Evergreen Lodge in Tortuguero were an absolute highlight. We loved the whole immersive experience of living on the rivers and in the jungle.
I was really glad we drove down the Carribean Coast. El Encanto Inn was great. Dinner at Sonja's home restaurant was gorgeous. We walked to a great Calypso night from the hotel and El Encanto organised all our tours. Luis escorted us to a Medicinal and Chocolate Farm in the Bri Bri reservation which was wonderful. The Jaguar Rescue Centre was also fabulous, thanks to our guide Carlotta. Puerto Viejo was a wonderful swimming beach and we narrowly missed a world surf comp. Playa Negro was sadly quite polluted but it was a great community to walk amongst. We saw several sloths up close from the road.
The drive to Sarapiqui was a big one. The Rain Forest Lodge was a bit of a let down with its Museum closed and Gallery never opened. It seemed to cater for large bus groups and wasnt quite our style. KimKim were right that we needed to stop somewhere closer than Arenal that night though so we were glad of somewhere to sleep.
Arenal Springs was luxurious. Their hot pools were a huge hit with the whole family. I wouldnt book a tour through the hotel though as they add a hefty surcharge.The local laundromat gave fabulous local advice and we had our own car. The road to El Castillo wasnt nearly as bad as the guide book says and we really enjoyed our visit to the Eco Zoo, meeting Victor and our guide Andrew. Victor's wildlife photography is stunning.
The Pacific Coast was much more commercial than I had hoped for but we were excited to see Turtles nesting there (we were out of season in Tortuguero). Pasa Tiempo was a great lodge with a fantastic shared living, dining, entertaining area. We were treated to love music and enjoyed the pool, reading and playing cards amongst others.
Monteverde and Manuel Antonio were both spectacular. It was really worth saving our ziplining for the cloud forest. 60km per hour through a cloud was truly exhilarating. The guides at Selvatura were fantastic with our family.
If you have already been to Tortuguero you dont need a guide at Manuel Antontio. I was pleased we did it independently to allow the kids to travel at their own pace. Gorgeous beach. I'd never seen a raccoon before so that was exciting! Plaza Yara was gorgeous and Roger was a fabulous host who even gave us a wee gift on departure.
Trapp Family Country Lodge was a fabulous airport oasis. Definitely recommend over a chain hotel.
Thanks for everything Kim Kim we will definitely use you again.

We had a fabulous trip. I had asked for an active, adventurous itinerary, and that's exactly what we got. I'd have to say the highlight was river rafting, and camping on the river. It was gorgeous and fun and our guide Maurice was absolutely fabulous. He was a great guide on the river and fun companion, sharing lots of interesting things about the river, animals and Costa Rica. The food was excellent and the camp was comfortable, the rafting was exciting but we felt safe throughout.

The trip to La Fortuna was easy, and our guide Roy for the hanging bridges and waterfall was great. We really appreciated that he wasn't in a rush and that we could take our time through the woods and enjoy. He had interesting information to share about all the animals we saw.

The ziplining was fun and enjoyed by all. It was great to have the woods all to ourselves, and was a good experience even in the rain.

The only glitch in our trip was the trip from Arenal to Quepos. Initially a vehicle that was too small for our group was sent, so we had to wait about 45 minutes for a 2nd vehicle. We all fit in the 2nd vehicle, but not by much - it was very cramped, and the driver was not smooth.

Our time on the coast was lovely - snorkeling was fun, and it was good to have a day on our own. We organized a night hike for ourselves which was also fun.

We reached out to Randall partway through the trip to change our hotel in San Jose for the return. The KC hotel was not in a neighborhood where we could easily walk to restaurants, and we got hassled a bit when we were out even though it was not late. He was very accomodating, booked us in the Sleep Inn which was perfect. We were able to walk to a nice restaurant for our final dinner in San Jose. I also appreciate that he was able to hold a spot on the tour for my husband, as he wasn't sure he'd be able to join us til just a couple of weeks before the trip. Overall he was very helpful and a pleasure to work with.