Elena Mora

We had an amazing trip to Costa Rica - 9 days/8 nites in La Fortuna for 4 and Manuel Antonio for 4. Volcano, hanging bridges, zip lining, waterfall and then onto the beach and the rain forest. Elena w/ KimKim and Serendipity Adventures were responsive, pleasant, flexible when some of our plans changed and always willing to help. I would highly recommend them for your plans to go to Costa Rica! Thank you so much!! 😍

Activity Reviews

Catamaran Tour with Meal

Costa Rica

We saw whales! Great 1/2 day excursion w/ lunch. As we were on the Pacific it was a little wavy which caused some motion sickness but when we got in the water all was well. I would have spent less time looking for whales and more time in the water but overall it was a great time. Water slides were fun!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Manuel Antonio National Park Guided Nature Hike

Manuel Antonio

A great day exploring the National Park with a very knowledgeable guide (Antonio). He had "hawk-eyes" and pointed out so many amazing animals on the walk. We ended at the beach for a relaxing dip and then lunch right in town.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hanging Bridges, La Fortuna Waterfall, and Arenal Volcano

Arenal/La Fortuna

an amazing day to see all that Costa Rica has to offer; my only suggestion is to split out the volcano from the hanging bridges/waterfall as it was a lot to do all 3 in the same day. Mariano was an amazing guide!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We were a little late in getting to plan our family vacation (for 6) to Costa Rica. We had a rough outline, and Elena and her team helped us make our dream a reality and took a lot off of my plate! From our initial call, Elena had a plan the next day and had planned everything we wanted, with effective communication and clear instructions for when we landed. Once we got to Costa Rica, Serendipity Adventures responded quickly to all our questions and reminded us of the times and what to bring to our excursions. It made planning and going on our trip so much easier! We had a blast ziplining, on our safari boat tour, and catamaran sunset tour. Our first hotel was amazing as an off-grid Ranch with fun yoga classes, horseback riding, and beautiful grounds to explore. Overall, I am really glad we went with Kimkim and Elena at Serendipity Adventures to help us plan and execute our family trip. It made things so much more enjoyable and relaxing! We loved Costa Rica! Pura Vida!

Hotel Review

Rancho Margot

La Fortuna

We LOVED this hotel. The food, the horseback riding, the bungalows, the grounds itself- all of it was so much fun to explore and learn about! The road was bumpy for the last leg to this hotel but it is worth it!

Authenticity & Character

Outdoor yoga classes, outdoor dining, horsebacking riding, the handmade furniture, all of it was so cool to explore!

Location

The road to the hotel was bumpy!

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Sunset Catamaran Tour

Costa Rica

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Safari Float on the Peñas Blancas River

Arenal/La Fortuna

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Arenal Volcano Hike & La Fortuna Waterfall

Arenal/La Fortuna

Beautiful hike with amazing views!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sky Adventures Zip Lines

Arenal/La Fortuna

Elena was incredibly responsive and helpful while we were planning our itinerary. She responded quickly to our feedback regarding hotel rooms and activities and answered our questions about finalizing our planning.

We loved both hotels we stayed at. We booked our trip fairly last minute, and most places were nearly fully booked. Elena got us into two hotels we really liked, and she even managed to get us adjoining rooms in both hotels, which was one of our key objectives.

Serendipity Adventures was our point of contact on the ground in Costa Rica. Wilman was in constant touch with us via WhatsApp, ensuring we had the most current information and confirmation numbers, updating information as it changed, and answering our questions about specific activities. Mariano, our guide in Arenal, was terrific. We enjoyed all of the trips we took.

This was our family's favorite vacation so far and we can't wait to return!

We had such a great trip with Serendipity Adventures. We were well taken care of by Elena and Wilman.

The drive from the airport to our first hotel in Monteverde was wonderfully relaxing as Fernando from RideCR took us to the Cloud Forest Lodge.

Cloud Forest Lodge was everything we could have hoped for in Monteverde accommodations. Nestled in the Cloud Forest the grounds were beautiful. The room was large and clean. I loved the bed and especially the pillows!

We had a fantastic Bird Watching hike in the Curi-Cancha Reserve with Andy from Forest Alive. Andy was so knowledgeable and we got so much out of it. Andy stopped at a local bird watching site early in the morning to point out all of the early riser birds. Then we had a great stop at the Monteverde Coffee Center, where we treated to the Costa Rican method of brewing coffee called Vandola. It is an elaborate method and the coffee was superb. After a rest we proceeded to the Curi-Cancha. I like the Curi-Cancha reserve because it is quieter than the Monteverde Cloud Forest and while different many of the sam birds are at both places.

In the afternoon, we had a Coffee & Chocolate Tour at the Don Juan Monteverde center. The tour was great and very informative. Chocolate and Coffee as well as Sugar Cane were demonstrated with the process for each. These are such important commodities for Costa Rica, that I think you can't really go to Costa Rica without such a tour.

The next day had us up bright and early for another bird watching tour in the Monteverde Cloud Forest. We got to see the Resplendent Quetzal as well as a lot of other birds on our hike.

After an afternoon nap, we were ready for a night walk in the Children's Cloud Forest. We did not see as much as I would have liked, but you can't predict what may be out after dark.

Sadly, it was time to leave Monteverde and travel to La Fortuna. We had a private transfer over the mountain and down to Arenal Lake for a ride across the lake to La Fortuna. Glad we were not driving! The drivers do such a good job of navigating narrow and difficult roads. Loved the boat ride. Our boat captain found a Howler monkey on the way, very exciting.

We arrived at our lodging the Arenal Hotsprings Resport and Spa. It is an amazing place with beautiful grounds. Our suite was perfect. The beds comfortable and the pillows good (not as good as the Cloud Forest Lodge, but I would not complain about them.) We had a great view of the Arenal Volcano from our room.

The next day again started early with Mariano from Serendipity Adventures. We did an early morning hike at the Arenal Volcano and then a hike at Hanging Bridges before visiting the La Fortuna Waterfall. It was an amazing day. We saw so much and Mariano was just a wonderful guide.

The next day we did a canal tour of the Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge with Canoa Aventura. Our guide, Joda (I think that's right, we called him Jo), did a great job showing us what the Rio Frio had to offer as far as wildlife. Would not have missed this tour for anything.

The next day we transferred to Tortuguero with a private driver. It turned out that Mariano was our driver for the day. He was so much fun and we had a very pleasant trip to the "boat dock" for the boat that would take us to Tortuguero.

The river crossing is a little difficult in March as Costa Rica has not had much rain by then and the river is down making the boat captain really earn his pay to successfully navigate the shallow waters. But Ronny handled the trip superbly. Our hotel, Manatus Hotel, provided the boat, the driver, and our guide for the trip Lilly. It was a great introduction to Tortuguero.

I can't say enough wonderful things about Tortuguero. I just love floating down the canals looking for birds, monkeys, lizards, caman, crocodiles and anything else we run across. It is so beautiful and so peaceful. I don't think I would ever get tired of it. We did early morning canal trips and afternoon canal trips looking for beautiful birds and amazing wildlife. Our guides, Ronny, Bony and Lilly were all so great.

Well all good things come to an end and it was time for the trip back to San Jose for the journey home. The Hotel Manatus provided transportation back to San Jose in a comfortable bus. It was a good trip with our guide providing fascinating information about banana production and information about Costa Rica.

We spent the night in the Hilton Garden Inn, at La Sabana. After our amazing trip, this was a good hotel to relax in before our flight the next morning.

We had a private transfer with Fernando again of RideCR. Can't say enough about have private transfers in Costa Rica. You can drive, but I have seen the roads and the other drivers and just do not think it is a good idea.

We totally loved our trip and can't wait to do it again.

Hotel Review

Arenal Springs Resort

La Fortuna

Arenal Springs Resort & Spa was definitely the highlight of my accommodations on this trip. The place was simply luxurious and stood out compared to the other hotels. Everything about it was top-notch, from the atmosphere to the services provided. I felt entirely pampered during my stay. It's one of those places you can't help but look forward to coming back to after a day of exploring.

Activity Reviews

Private Guided Boat Excursion Through the Tortuguero Canals

Tortuguero

I told you I can't say enough good things about Tortuguero and cruising around the canals looking for wildlife.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Guided Boat Excursion Through the Tortuguero Canals

Tortuguero

Love, love, love touring through the Toruguero Canals. You see something different all of the time. Our guides were great: Ronny, Bony and Lilly did an excellent job!

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Tortuguero Village Visit

Tortuguero

Great little walk around the village. You do not realize how close you are to the Carabean Sea until you walk through the village. A nice fruit milkshake just hit the spot on a hot day.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Boating in Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge

Arenal/La Fortuna

This was a fantastic tour. You just see so much more from the vantage point of being on the water. Great tour!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Hanging Bridges, La Fortuna Waterfall, and Arenal Volcano

Arenal/La Fortuna

Awesome tour with Mariano! He was just great. So informative. He had a great sense of humor and was just so fun!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Night Walk in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve

Monteverde

The history of how the Children's Cloud Forest was created is amazing. European children were moved to conduct bake sales and other fund raisers to help preserve what is now known as the Children's Cloud Forest in honor of their efforts.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve Guided Hike

Monteverde

Monteverde Cloud Forest is just awesome. You can do the walk without a guide, but you get so much more out of it, if you have one.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Coffee & Chocolate Tour

Costa Rica

This was fun and informative tour. Chocolate and coffee are so important to the history and economics of Costa Rica. It was great to learn about the growing and the processes for making coffee and chocolate. Definitely glad I did this tour.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private: Half-day Birdwatching Hike in Curi-Cancha Reserve

Monteverde

Our guide Andy, made this a very special trip. He was so fun and easy to be with. He really knows his birds and helped us find and identify many that we would not have seen without him. I do like the Curi-Cancha Reserve. It is so beautiful with lots of opportunities for seeing special birds.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

We had an amazing trip to Costa Rica! The coordination between Kimkim & our local Costa Rican specialist of Serendipity Adventures, Elena, created a great itinerary for us. We split our time between the La Fortuna & Manuel Antonio areas. Our accommodations in both locations were terrific, as well as the activities that were booked for us by Elena and Wilman of Serendipity Adventures. The transfers to and from the airport, as well as to activities, were seamless. Our guides, including Mariano, Alex, and others were all very helpful & knowledgeable.
We would recommend Kimkim & Serendipity without hesitation to create a great itinerary for anybody travelling to Costa Rica.
Pura Vida
Isaac & Shari Harris