The Experience
Do you and your special someone love nature and outdoor adventure? This vacation combines romance with adrenaline-pumping experiences, such as white-water rafting and zip-lining through the forest canopy – all in lush natural settings with rushing rivers, smouldering volcanoes, waterfalls and exotic wildlife. You’ll feel like a pampered Adam and Eve in Costa Rica’s unspoiled Eden. Stay at award-winning boutique hotels that quite simply define romance.
Inclusions:
All Ground Transfers
1 Night San José
2 Nights Pacuare Lodge
Candlelit Dinner by the River
3 Nights Arenal
Hanging Bridges Tour
Ecoglide Canopy Tour
Welcome Gift
Daily Breakfast
Day by Day Itinerary:
Day 1 ~ Arrive San José: You’ll be met at the airport and transferred to your hotel. Depending on your energy and interest, you can explore some of San Joseés best attractions, such as the Jade Museum, Costa Rican Art Museum, Museum of Pre-Columbian Gold or stroll in the Parque Nacional, where you can smooch on park benches like the young locals do. Or relax and recharge at the hotel in anticipation of the adventures ahead. Overnight San José. (Accommodations, San José)
Day 2 ~ San José to Pacuare River: Your guide picks you up early for a drive through verdant farmland to the wild and scenic Pacuare River. After a stop for a typical Costa Rican breakfast, you reach the edge of the tropical rainforest inside the protected Pacuare area, where you get a short course in white-water rafting and rafting safety. Soon, you and your river guide are gliding past tropical foliage, colorful birds and butterflies, and through some Class II and III rapids to get to your accommodations. Perched on the banks of the river is Pacuare Lodge, considered one of the world’s premier eco-lodges with palm thatch roof. Your private jungle bungalow has a river view and a welcome drink waiting. Enjoy a gourmet lunch then relax or take a zip-line canopy tour of the treetops. Dinner is served with candlelight, Champagne and a serenade by treefrogs. Fall asleep to the sounds of the river outside your window.
(Breakfast, San José; Dinner, Accommodations, Pacuare Lodge)
Day 3 ~ Pacuare River: Wake up to sounds of birds singing and enjoy a hot breakfast served in the privacy of your bungalow. Cross the river in a gondola to take a horseback ride through the forest to a farming village, where you are invited to visit a home and a school supported by our local partner, who promotes environmental education and reforestation to offset the impact of tourism. Plant a tree, then stop at a waterfall for a refreshing dip.
It’s a short ride back to the lodge, where lunch and a leisurely afternoon await. Enjoy a massage, aromatherapy or other treatment using local, natural products at the spa. Or watch the birds – the surrounding area is home to an extraordinary diversity of exotic species. Gourmet dinner and overnight at Pacuare. You’ll wish you’d booked a third night in this paradise. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Accommodations, Pacuare Lodge)
Day 4 ~ Pacuare River to Arenal: Breakfast in your bungalow and hike to a waterfall before embarking on an exhilarating white-water rafting trip that take you through class III and IV rapids, steep towering walls of a narrow gorge, sparkling waterfalls, fantastic jungle flora and a rainbow of tropical birds. You’re treated to a picnic lunch by the river on a farm owned by Cabecar Indians before the last stretch of rafting. At Siquerres, change to dry clothes for the drive to Arenal, Costa Rica’s most famous volcano. Dinner at your luxury boutique hotel, Arenal Naraya, where you have your own secluded bungalow overlooking the volcano. On a clear night, enjoy the volcano’s lightshow of lava flows and shooting sparks. Overnight Arenal.
(Breakfast, Lunch, Pacuare Lodge; Accommodations, Arenal)
Day 5 ~ Arenal: Have an early breakfast so you can start on a 4 hour tour of natural trails and hanging bridges, a series of airy suspension bridges that let you walk among the treetops of the primary rainforest. It’s a bird’s eye view of the forest, its wildlife, exuberant vegetation – and the volcano. Return to the hotel for lunch and maybe indulge in one of the treatments at the award-winning hotel spa. For those looking for a more active afternoon, consider adding on optional Arenal hiking tour. This 3.5 hour tour takes you to the area of the 1992 big lava flow, and the area destroyed in the 1968 awakening of the volcano. Or for a change of pace, select the 4 hour kayaking tour on mystical Lake Arenal, the country’s largest freshwater lake. Overnight at Arenal. (Breakfast, Accommodations, Arenal)
Day 6 ~ Arenal: Breakfast early and start with either the included Ecoglide Canopy Tour (4.5 hours) or another optional tour, maybe the Penas Blancas Safari Float Trip (4 hours). Both tours have morning and afternoon departures, so you can do one in the morning, the other in the afternoon.
The Ecoglide Canopy Tour has 18 platforms and 15 zip-line cables, as well as a Tarzan Swing. Each platform is designed to provide several angles from which to see the forest and its resident flora and fauna.
A professional guide accompanies you on the safari float trip down the Penas Blanca River where you can spot monkeys, sloths, iguanas and a wide variety of tropical birds. Dinner and overnight at Arenal.
(Breakfast, Dinner, Accommodations, Arenal)
Day 7 ~ Depart Arenal: After breakfast at the hotel, bid a fond farewell to the volcano and depart for San José, or your next destination in Latin America. (Breakfast, Arenal)
