Elena Mora

Our experience with KimKim and specifically the local specialist team, Serendipity Adventures, was great. Elena and the rest of the Serendipity Adventures team, Nancy, and Adrian, and others, helped plan, organize, and manage my trip. They also worked diligently during our trip to make sure everything ran smoothly for my family.

Based on my responses to the KimKim survey, Elena planned a great vacation including all the activities we wanted to see/do while in Costa Rica. What I really appreciated was that Elena used her expertise/experience to not let me plan too busy of a trip :) I wanted to go to 3 locations but Elena very nicely suggested that, based on the length of our trip, we only do 2 locations so that we were not rushed and could really experience each location more fully. That was the right call!

The hotels Elena/team picked were amazing. The guided tours they set up had the best guides! The guide we had for our private tour of Manuel Antonio National Park was AMAZING. 23 years of experience.

What I want to note is that I feel the true test of a team's customer service and support is when things don't go quite right. I am happy to say that the Serendipity Adventures local team was very available to help when there were occasional small problems or I had a question. An example was the pick up time for our tour of Manuel Antonio park changed from 7:10 am to 11am. However, the driver still arrived at 7am. So, I messaged Adrian via WhatsApp at 7:20 in the morning when I got the call from the front desk of the hotel letting me know the driver was there and Adrian immediately responded to my message and sorted it all.

My husband and I visited Costa Rica 14 years ago and loved it. I had told Elena that we wanted to show the beautifulness of Costa Rica to our almost 13 year old daughter. Elena understood and delivered a trip we will always remember. Thank you!

Hotel Reviews

Hampton by Hilton San José Airport

Alajuela

We stayed here for 1 night at the beginning of the trip. It was a nice hotel. I will have to say though there was a bit of a problem the morning of our check out. Our driver asked the front desk if we had checked in the night before and was told we hadn't! So, that caused a bit of confusion...but it got sorted.

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel La Mariposa

Manuel Antonio

In general, the hotel is beautiful and really showcased the beauty that is Costa Rica. One time when we were in the beautiful pool, a whole troop of Spider Monkeys moved through the trees right next to the pool! Probably 40 or so. We saw up close all the mommy's with their babies jumping from branch to branch! it was so cool. A few little things - one of the front desk team members really wasn't very friendly. I was surprised. And, the other thing that sticks out was on our last day, we had not checked out yet, a maintenance man just sorta came into our room - no knock or anything. It was really odd. But, other than that, really wonderful hotel with amazing views.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Most of the staff were great. One of the front desk helpers was not very welcoming/engaging. Also, on our last day, a maintenance man just opened our door to our room before we had checked out. It was odd.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Baldi Hot Springs Resort, Hotel & Spa

Fortuna

Such a cool hotel. Very neat to get to stay right there with the hot springs. Couple of notes: - There are 4 water slides - 2 of them are really pretty aggressive. - You are going to laugh but, bring ear plugs for sleeping! There was either frogs or crickets that cricked all night! I mean, so much fun but also pretty loud at night. ha ha.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

One of the servers we had in the main restaurant was just not very good with regard to customer service. Forgot to bring us things we ordered, didn't check in. That was a bit frustrating..but other than that, the staff was great and very friendly and helpful.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Arenal Volcano Hike & La Fortuna Waterfall

Arenal/La Fortuna

Well, the weather did not cooperate for us on this. It was very cloud/overcast and VERY rainy. But, we made the best of it. It was a bit interesting, the tour guide picked us up in a van from our hotel. Turns out the battery on the van decided to stop working that morning and he didn't have time to fix it. So, the two times we had to start the van to go to the next stop, we had to push it so it rolled and then could jump it bc it was a manual. lol. So, that added some unexpected excitement to our day.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Manuel Antonio National Park Guided Hike

Costa Rica

So amazing! Our guide was fantastic. 23 years of experience. He saw SO many animals...and he knew how to use our iPhone cameras expertly so we got amazing pictures that he took with our phone :)

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Sky Tram, Sky Trek & Sky Walk

Arenal/La Fortuna

It was all very nice. The zip line part was very legit. The tour was nice - the bridges were cool and our tour guide was very knowledgeable and nice. The guest area was nice also - you can get lunch and see the amazing view.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Catamaran Tour with Meal

Costa Rica

A lot of fun. We met/talked to a ton of the other guests which was a lot of fun. The dinner was soo good. Swimming was very nice and the sunset was amazing.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

All of the guides were knowledgeable and articulate about the wonderful biodiversity we were seeing. All of the transport drivers were punctual to the minute according to our itinerary. The entire trip went exactly as planned. Great work by the entire Serendipity/KimKim team.

Hotel Reviews

Tortuga Lodge & Gardens

Tortuguero

We loved this hotel. Great staff, excellent food, knowledgeable friendly guides and excursions.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Arenal Springs Resort

La Fortuna

The view of Arenal volcano from our room was like a picture on a postcard.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

El Establo Mountain Hotel

Monteverde

Nice view from our room. Good food at the restaurant. The shuttle service to the rooms from the reception was dependable AND NECESSARY because of the steepness of the slope the hotel was built on.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Guided Boat Excursion Through the Tortuguero Canals

Tortuguero

Great boat trip with lots of animal and plant sightings. Great guide — he really took time to point out details of the environment.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Private Guided Hike in Arenal Volcano Park 1968

Arenal/La Fortuna

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Look

Transport

Safari Float on the Peñas Blancas River

Arenal/La Fortuna

Friendly knowledgeable guide who really took time to show us the plants and animals along the river.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

All Day Adventure at Selvatura, including Zipline, Hanging Bridges, and Fauna Exhibitions

Costa Rica

Selvatura was very well organized and well worth the day we spent there.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Coffee & Chocolate Tour

Costa Rica

Great tour. Very worthwhile with lots of details and hands on experiences throughout the tour. Fascinating to see the processes of coffee, sugar cane, and chocolate cultivation.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private: Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve Guided Hike

Monteverde

Great personalized guide for just our private group. Forest Alive. Very informative and in depth walk through the cloud forest.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Super knowledgeable guide.

Transport

Our family of four (two adults, two kids ages 11 and 12) just returned from an 8-day trip to Costa Rica — our first time — and it was incredible. Elena, Nancy & Adrian at Serendipity Adventures planned everything: airports transfers, two fantastic properties (Arenal Springs Resort and Hotel La Mariposa), and a full slate of daily adventures across Arenal/La Fortuna and Manuel Antonio.

The itinerary was perfectly paced. We hiked Arenal Volcano and the La Fortuna Waterfall and walked the hanging bridges above the rainforest canopy with our excellent and personable guide Mariano, we went whitewater rafting on the Sarapiquí River (Flow Trips was great!), flew through the trees on Sky Adventures zip lines, explored Manuel Antonio National Park with a guide (big shoutout to Soccio and his son/CR's next best guide, Luther, from Endemic Birds), and wrapped up with a catamaran cruise. Every activity was age-appropriate and kept the whole family engaged. All pickups, transfers, and logistics were handled seamlessly — we never had to figure anything out on our own.

There was one minor hiccup on our first full day where a miscommunication about pickup time caused us to miss an excursion, but Elena and Adrian jumped on it immediately and made adjustments to make it right. That was the only issue across the entire trip, and how they handled it actually reinforced our confidence in them.

If you're considering Costa Rica and don't want to deal with the stress of coordinating everything yourself, I'd highly recommend Serendipity Adventures. Elena was responsive, knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and clearly knows the country inside and out. We'd book with them again without hesitation.

BEST VACATION OF MY LIFE.

Traveling with KimKim is a dream. No stress about making big decisions, getting reservations or planning activities. In the past, I've hit a wall vacation planning - not knowing what hotels to stay out, what to do - I would just get overwelhmed and shut down. I plan to travel the world now with KimKim.

Our trip to La Fortuna, Monteverde and Tamarindo was beyond exquisite. I was travelled with my 15 year old daughter and we came home closer than ever before. Hiking, white water rafting, ziplining, sloths, hotsprings, anteaters, rare birds, climbing a volcano, surfing, watching baby turtles hatch, shopping, sun tanning, kayaking, eating, making friends, and most importantly memories that will last a lifetime.

Our local guide Elena was beyond extraordinary. She was available at the drop of the hat via Whats App. She provided fantastic recommendations and helped with last minute reservations.

For the hotels : The Arenal Springs Resort was fantastic. PERFECT for families and for couples. Rooms were the best on our trip. You get your own private condo like structure which provides a sense of privacy - with a view of the volcano. Breakfast was great. Hot springs were to die for. Location fantastic.

Sibu Hotel Lodge was boutique and had a gorgeous restaurant. All teak tables and interior that rivals an NYC hotspot. You get access to a nearby sister hotel with a pool, jacuzzi and spa. View was fine but very centrally location.

Diria Hotel in Tamarindo was great. Elena booked us a beachfront room with a view. I would've NEVER done that on my own and it made all the difference. We were right on the beach with astonishing sunsets. She connected us with a local surf instructor who took us sea kayaking and then taught us how to surf the next day. Nico was so awesome. We were both able to actually surf at the end of the lesson. Priceless. The turtle tour was fine. I gave Elena my feedback and she handled it immediately.

Elena also rented a car for us. I was hesitant to drive on roads, but she encouraged us to do it (plus its cheaper than a driver). BEST DECISION. We had freedom when traveling between cities and got to stop and take pictures of the breathtaking landscape. People do not drive fast so you can really control the car on the roads up and down the mountains. My only criticism is that I would've driven to the zipline park in Monteverde instead of getting picked up at the hotel by a shuttle bus. It would've given us more freedom to leave when we wanted to.

Activity Reviews

All Day Adventure at Selvatura, including Zipline, Hanging Bridges, and Fauna Exhibitions

Costa Rica

I would've driven to the location instead of taking the shuttle bus.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Arenal Volcano Hike & La Fortuna Waterfall

Arenal/La Fortuna

Our tour guide Bella was outstanding. He was able to spot animals and birds that were SO FAR AWAY. The hike was fantastic. Very interactive and fun.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Whitewater Rafting Sarapiqui River (Class III-IV)

Costa Rica

We had our tour guide Bella again. He was so much fun and awesome. Challenging - but not too challenging. LOTS OF LAUGHS.

Quality of Experience

Bella

Food

SO GOOD. Real Costa Rican food.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Knowledgable and kind.

Transport

Couldn't have asked for a better family trip to Costa Rica, and so grateful for all the help, responsiveness, and attention from Serendipity Adventures. Elena really helped narrow down our itinerary providing multiple updates based on our specific needs accounting for two couples, three seniors (66, 69, 77) and one person with mobility issues.

Our accommodations were perfect, and exceptionally nice facilities. The activities were the perfect balance of seeing a lot and not overdoing it for the older couple.

Our favorite guide was Roy who was with us for the arenal volcano hike and Arenal Hanging Bridges tour over two days. Such a resource of knowledge, passion, attention, and friendliness! All guides were excellent and the parks were all great to visit exceeding expectations.

Adrián was also very helpful during the trip getting back to me very quickly and willing to check on last minute adjustments and requests.

Hoping to be able to enjoy Corcovado next time around and will certainly work with Serendipity Adventures again and recommend them to anyone traveling to gorgeous Costa Rica. Pura Vida!

It is with great pleasure that I am writing this review. The service we received from KimKim and from Elena in Costa Rica was superb. Our family went to Costa Rica to celebrate my husband’s birthday. Every place we went we were greeted with decorations and treats, organized I imagine by Elena. We were 11 people. Transportation was on time and comfortable. Freddie our driver who took us to and from Monteverde, was great. Our guides were informative. Andres, also known as “Sosio” in Manuel Antonio was patient kind and fun. We had an extraordinary time on the catamaran. I would greatly recommend doing that. Above all, I would say that every interaction with Elena was pleasant, helpful, productive and timely.
We wish all of you great success. You deserve it!

Hotel Reviews

Hotel La Mariposa

Manuel Antonio

The hotel was beautifully situated, designed and maintained!

Authenticity & Character

Location

It has panoramic view of the Pacific Ocean

Staff

Pleasant and helpful

Cleanliness & Comfort

Everything.

Arenal Springs Resort

La Fortuna

Even in the rain, the hot spring pools were gorgeous.

Authenticity & Character

Vegetation and birds added to our experience.

Location

Staff

From porters to front desk to restaurant staff, all were attentive and pleasant, embodying “ours vida.”

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Catamaran Tour with Meal

Costa Rica

The boat was clean. The crew were wonderful. We saw whales. What could be better?

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

It was punctual and easy.

Coffee & Chocolate Tour

Costa Rica

Our guide was wonderful. We had children with us and the guide made it especially fun for them! The chocolate was delicious.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Arenal Volcano Hike & La Fortuna Waterfall

Arenal/La Fortuna

We saw very little in the way of animals.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

There were communications issues about arranging drivers.

Transport

As above.

Private Manuel Antonio National Park Guided Hike

Costa Rica

Our guide showed us a variety of animals that we would never have spotted, with lots of information about each animal and its habits.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide, Andres, was personable and knowledgeable, sharing information and locations with other guides.

Transport

Worked smoothly.

Serendipity did a fantastic job organising our trip in Costa Rica- plenty of planning discussion on the hotels, schedule and wildlife experiences.. Elena and Nancy were extremely helpful and had lots of useful suggestions to make sure we had plenty of bird watching, nature tours, and visits to Guayabo monument and Turrialba volcano. The trip was amazing and we had great fun managing to dodge between the rain showers even in Tortuguera which provided excellent photographic opportunities on the boats to get close to wildlife, including sloths! Adrian was on hand via the WhatsApp link and was extremely helpful in suggesting additional trips and making sure our pick-ups went to plan. All accommodation was spot on - clean, spacious with great restaurants - lots of rice and beans! All our guides were really knowledgeable and highly motivated. All in all a wonderful holiday, thank you KimKim and Serendipity!

Hotel Reviews

Hampton by Hilton San José Airport

Alajuela

Close to airport and welcoming, frequent shuttle. Special Valentine's breakfast!

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Le Cameleon Boutique Hotel

Puerto Viejo

Fabulous jungle setting, restaurant and beach across the road but very easy access.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Easy to get access to Cahuita and Manzanillo parks. Try Nenas restaurant close by for rice and beans!

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rancho Naturalista

Cartago

A wonderful place for bird watching and knowledgeable guides ! Meals at set times on shared tables, so plenty of opportunity to talk with other guests

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Tortuga Lodge & Gardens

Tortuguero

Superb room overlooking the river, excellent food and great guides (Manuel and Bernardo). Fantastic boat trips getting close to wildlife.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Casa Turire

Turrialba

Wonderful hotel full of character and with fabulous gardens. Huge room and great service.

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Guided Boat Excursion Through the Tortuguero Canals

Tortuguero

Boat trips allowed you to get close to wildlife and great opportunities for photography

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Cahuita National Park Excursion + Group Snorkeling

Puerto Viejo de Talamanca

The Park was good and the guide excellent - saw 10 sloths and 2 snakes but relatively few birds, great path by the sea. Part of the track was closed due to wet weather. Our snorkeling was cancelled due to poor visibility following turbulent sea.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Private Hike Turrialba Volcano

Costa Rica

Once the cloud cleared (luckily) great views and an interesting hike around the side of the volcano seeing the dead forest and new agriculture.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Archaeological Tour of Guayabo National Monument

Turrialba

Interesting - you do need a guide to understand the history and what remains of the structures.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Our guide Roseta was especially enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the archaeology and birds. Sergio was a great and safe driver and took us to an authentic Soda cafe for lunch.

Transport

Private Birding at Rancho Naturalista

Turrialba

Thoroughly enjoyed the bird watching- from the early morning feeding of the birds in the garden to the walk around the estate.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Fabian was an excellent guide - spotted lots of birds we would have missed.

Transport