guanacaste viajes & tours

We picked this company for transport and a river tour. They were on time, friendly, courteous and helpful. The van was clean and spacious. It was $110 round trip (airport-hotel). The Corobici river tour was good for kids; my husband found it "too mild" but seeing our kids (ages below 10) enjoy the river raft for the first time was enough. Lots of birds, saw a crocodile, iguanas, lizards etc. we had a hearty lunch and it appears that the restaurant is very good because lots of tourists were there. The tour can be limited significantly by road construction so expect a tiring ride. This was not in the guide's control and we don't blame them. We do advice that the time on the road can be long and can be exhausting so spacing tours/excursions is important.

My party used Guanacaste Viajes for a total of three different shuttle transfers. Manuel Duarte (the owner) was very pleasant and easy to arrange the shuttles with. All the drivers were prompt, the shuttles were pristine, and the ride safe. The pricing for all three were among the cheapest I could find, which was great. The drivers were good about stopping for restroom breaks and/or snacks, so probably a great company if you happen to be traveling with children. However I would like to point out that all of our drivers spoke very little English. I have a small grasp on Spanish, so it wasn't too much of a problem, but I thought I would warn those that are not versed in the local language! Either way, a great company for shuttles!

I chose Guanacaste Viajes based on tripadvisor reviews and was not disappointed. There was seven of us in our group and they were waiting for us at the airport to take us to the Riu Palace. The ride was comfortable and though the driver did not speak much English, he was very pleasant. The trip back to the airport was the same. They were very prompt at arriving at the hotel and patient as we gathered the group for the return trip to the airport. The price was reasonable as well.

I checked with another tour company and they would not book this excursion for us because we only had 2 people, but Guanacaste Viajes was more than willing to book it! Our ride showed up right on time, and got us to our destination with no issues. The White Water Rafting tour was amazing. And the price was $70 less PER PERSON than what they wanted to charge through our resort. What a deal! Oh - and we didn't have internet access or cell phone service, so despite the fact that we were not able to confirm our reservation the day before, they still showed up.

We went on the Broinques Combo Canopy Tour it was one of the best tours I have been on. The tour included horseback riding, zip lines, mud baths, hot springs, lunch, and transportation. Our tour guide was great, friendly, helpful, and told us a lot about the area we were traveling thru. This is a great tour!!!!

We chose Guanacaste Viajes based on the exemplary reviews on Tripadvisor, turns out, this was a spot-on decision. We chose them to organize both our to and from airport transfers as well as two excursion tours. The owner, Manual Duarte, was extremely organized and thorough in his pre-trip information for us. He included written price quotes and information about what to bring and what to expect on the excursions. All of their employees were professional and engaged with us during our interactions. I'd particularly like to mention Santo who was our guide/driver for both excursions (Adventure Tour at Guachipelin and Whitewater Rafting at Tenorio, both awesome, exhilarating, and physically/mentally challenging trips by the way) Each of these excursions were 1-2 hours away from our hotel (JW Marriott) and Santo not only got us there safely on the varying quality of Costa Rica roads but also taught us much about Tico culture, wildlife, politics, etc. but also gave us professional-levels worth of high school-college level intermediate Spanish lessons (at our request) in a hilarious and engaging manner. It was like a classroom in the vehicle. My wife and I already had a working, basic knowledge of Spanish and are multi-lingual in other languages so it takes a lot for me to be impressed with the results of a total of 8 hours (total travel time) of language lessons. Anyway, thanks Santos, we really feel like we made a friend. Also thanks to Ariel and our other driver (sorry forgot name) to and from the airport who were also cool, fun, and professional. Thanks again and we will definitely see you guys again our next trip out. When it comes down to it, this company was extremely reliable and put us at ease in a foreign country, which is really all that counts in the end to make a trip great. Pura Vida Mae!

We used Guanacaste Viajes to bring us from the Westin to Palo Verde river boat tour. Our driver and tour guide Juan Carlos picked us up promptly at the Westin in a very clean vehicle and drove us to Palo Verde tour headquarters to sign in. He speaks excellent English and was entertaining and engaging as he talked about the areas we were passing by such as the sugar cane fields, howler monkeys in the trees, herons and other birds (his passion), and the vegetation. He is clearly a naturalist at heart.On the boat, Juan Carlos made sure we had the most experienced river boat captain as we took our private tour on the Tempisque River (Palo Verde national park). Both Juan Carlos and the captain had eagle eyes and pointed out crocodiles, huge iguanas, beautiful birds including a scarlet Macaw (apparently a rare find), and white faced monkeys. Returning back to the Palo Verde tour headquarters where Juan Carlos arranged for us to have a delicious typical Costa Rican lunch. After our lunch, he drove us back to our hotel. After taking several tours and riding on narrow two lane roads as well as poorly maintained sugar cane roads, I certainly appreciated the safety of Juan Carlos' driving. He only passed when he had lots of time to safely do so. He drove carefully on the bumpy roads to Palo Verde.Thank you for a delightful day!

I would absolutely recommend Guanacaste Viajes for airport transfers. We found this company on Trip Advisor. We communicated via email prior to our arrival in Costa Rica and everything that we were told would take place, in fact did. The driver was waiting for us at the airport and took us to our resort in a new, air conditioned vehicle. On the day of our departure, the driver arrived on time and was very courteous and competent. We had inquired about a tour and received helpful information and all questions we had were answered promptly via email. Any concerns were addressed in a very timely manner. Should I have the opportunity to visit Costa Rica again, I would not hesitate to use this company. Many thanks to Juan and Manuel.

We just used this tour company for two excursions last week in Costa Rica and we were very happy. Before we left, I received e-mail confirmations from Manual Duarte with the company. The driver was there to pick us up at our hotel right on time or early. Guide, Juan Carlos on rafting trip, was great and very knowledgeable about the wildlife etc...The tour was fantastic. Rolando was one of the guides for the zip-line tour and he was great. Very personable and nice. The only problem we had (which was no big deal) was that the driver for the zip-line tour spoke no English. When it came time to pay, we were supposed to be able to pay in cash or credit card but he had no credit card machine so we had to get cash when he took us back to the hotel. Just a small hiccup. We had to cancel our 3rd scheduled excursion and when I called Manual to tell him, there was no problem at all. He was grateful for the phone call.

I arranged a private tour for myself and husband prior to arrival. Driver was prompt to pick us up from our hotel and very informative and friendly on the 30 minute drive to Congo Trail. He was unclear about what our tour included as ATVs and zipline were both offered. I thought ATV only. Prior to our leaving on our great two hour ride through a preserve, small town, and beach - including a stop at a supermarket with well priced snacks and drinks, I understood that we had paid for ziplining, but my husband and I were undecided as to whether we would do it. When the driver met us upon our return, he was still friendly, but seemed rushed. He said I had been correct that our tour only included ATVs. We started our drive back and he asked me how we were paying. I said I had told Manuel I would pay by credit card. That seemed to be an issue as he didn't have a way to process the card, but said we'd have to stop anyway to switch vehicles and drivers. I was very surprised by that. Indeed, we did stop along side the road and were asked to switch vehicles with no explanation. The payment was handled and it wasn't a problem to switch vehicles - just unexpected. The second driver's English was not good, but that turned out to be a good thing. As my husband had so many questions about attractions and towns, I was forced to get out of my comfort zone and actually start using my Spanish! All in all, we had a great excursion.

We booked for Airport transfers and both on arrival and return we were taken good care of by Jose. On the way to our resort he took us to the store first for beer-soda-water, etc. Which was a great convenience. He was prompt for our very early morning return to the airport. My only dissatisfaction was that my emails to the company to book a tour once we were there were never responded to, so they lost our business to another tour operator. I appreciated the reliable airport transfers that they provided.

We used Guancaste Viajes tours for two separate trips while we stayed in Costa Rica.First day was with Jose who drove us to Tamarindo Beach to surf. Although our Spanish was limited and his English limited we had a great time. He showed us his hometown and was truly interested in making sure our day was perfect. To our surprised he was with us the whole day, from dropping us at a surf shop to escorting us to lunch. He even stopped on the way home to show us some monkeys. The second trip was with Juan Carlos and Mr. Walter (who was our driver). They were awesome and took us to our day of adventure and escorted us every bit of the way. Juan Carlos was so full of information about his country and even gave us his recipe for black beans and rice! This is a very well run company with reasonable prices. Would highly recommend them!!!

Planning our first time in Costa Rica turned out easier using Guanacaste Viajes & Tours. We decided to contact this company because of the good reviews it had. After booking our first tour, our driver arrived early and was ready to leave as soon as we walked out of our hotel. Walter, our driver was very knowledgable about Guanacaste. Overall, he was a pleasant and amusing individual. He was very generous and he made an effort to make every trip memorable. Walter was our driver for all our tours and he also transported us to the airport on our last day. We loved the combo tours especially and we recommend Buena Vista Combo tour, white rafting at Tenorio river, and the beach tours. Playa conchal was amazing and beautiful with white sands and clear water. The only tour that we don't recommend so much is the Palo Verde tour because we did not see a variety of species as we wanted, but the tour can be entertaining for children. We definitely recommend Llanos de Cortez waterfall that Walter took us to, it was beautiful :-) Overall, we highly recommend this company and Walter as your driver!

Manuel, you delivered! We arranged a private tour for our 14 adult family members via email before we arrived in Costa Rica. We stayed at the Hilton Papagayo and everything went smoothly with our first tour. Our tour guide was Juan Carlos who was super friendly, impressive and educated. We had a great time traveling to Arenal together in a private mini bus in great condition. We liked our tour so much that we booked 2 others through them during our stay.

This was my third time using Guanacaste Viajes for my transfers. I used the service to go from San Jose to Playa Conchal. It was over a 4 hour ride. Walter was my driver. He was prompt, kind and congenial. This was the second time Walter was my driver and he remembered me. I really enjoyed the ride. Fabian was my driver from Playa Conchal to Liberia airport. This was the third time Fabian was my driver. Again, can't say anything but complimentary comments about Fabian. Manuel, is the owner and he is always pleasant when I call and knows that I am a repeat customer. Guanacaste Viajes is priced fairly, they are prompt and dependable. I recommend them to anyone. You won't be sorry. Will use them again when I return next year.