Respected Leader for Costa Rica Adventure & Nature Vacations Since 1991
All other countries: +506 4001-3860
I Want It ALL!
27 days of intense Adventures, unmolested Nature, 30+ different experiences, all Private, all just for you.
✵
Gallop
on spirited, well trained horses - run free in open pasture.
✵
Climb
an ancient tree -- on the inside.
✵
Raft
the Class IV Pacuare.
✵
Zip
on cables through the canopy in lush forest.
✵
Surf
a clean curl.
✵
Swim
under waterfalls, with dolphins, and in exhilarating whitewater.
✵
Stargaze
at an active volcano.
✵
Float
in silent boats with wildlife all around you.
✵
Hike
a private cloud forest.
✵
Soak
in jungle hot springs.
✵
Scuba
with sharks and big turtles and fish.
✵
Pilot
a balloon over rain forest, clouds, rivers.
✵
Romp
in two oceans and loads of fresh water.
✵
Careen
on an ATV through river, mud, pasture.
✵
Tube
your way along a jungle stream.
✵
Camp
on a riverbank in a tent or hammock.
✵
Descend
a waterfall with ropes and harness.
✵
Hold
a poisonous frog
✵
Pull
yourself up to the top of the forest - then eat lunch.
✵
Propel
yourself off a cliff and swing on a rope then plunge in clear water.
✵
Cuddle
a cuddly sloth
✵
Swing
on a jungle vine
✵
Peddle
a bike
✵
Paddle
a Duckie or a paddle board, or both
✵
Snorkel
with coral and sea horses
✵
Para-glide
on a wing (and a prayer!)
✵
Bathe
under a waterfall - you deserve it!
✵
Fish
for ocean giants
✵
Watch
a whale, a dolphin, a shark, a manatee, a turtle
✵
Leap
into a mountain pool
✵
Steal
ripe fruit from a wild tree
✵
Machete
your path into the jungle
✵
Capture
a monkey leaping - with your camera
✵
Scare
a crocodile ✵
✵
Explore
all the places between A and Z
✵
Kiss
a frog
✵
Grow
a little, or grow a lot✵
Pick your favorite days, give us your travel dates - leave the rest to us.
Descending into the San Carlos plains, the bread basket of Costa Rica, with huge farms of sugar cane, rice, oranges, and pineapple. En route is Costa Rica's tallest ✵
waterfall
.
A Simple Man, a Rain Forest Restoration
Serendipity has a few private, pristine nature areas we share with our guests.
Claudio grows nature's bounty. He started with an abandoned cattle pasture, and reconstructed a vibrant, healthy rain forest, with hundreds of species and trees now 40 years old. He has proven it's possible to regrow a diverse forest when it is your passion.
The stars of the farm are frogs, thousands of frogs, red or turquoise, a few bright yellow. And birds, some brilliant and obvious, most well camouflaged. Claudio now grows tropical fish, to sell in pet stores in the cities. It's a small, personal business, made out of recycled plastic containers and old recycled window glass.
Accommodation Options
- Included: (excellent for families and close to the activities in this itinerary) Tilajari Resort, 3+ star country hotel
- Premium: (excellent for families, close to activities in this itinerary) Finca, private villas on our horse farm
- Premium (adults only. Significantly increases driving times) Nayara, La Fortuna, 4 star boutique hotel and spa
- Super Premium: (Significantly increases driving times) The Springs Resort and Spa, La Fortuna, 5 star hotel and spa
ATV Extraordinaire, plus Hot Springs
These are real, and powerful, 4x4 machines. With power steering and automatic transmission, even young kids can handle them. The areas we ride are varied from mountain trails to muddy flatland to pastures and gravel roads. They handle mud and rough terrain like a happy dog free from a leash.
And some trails and routes can take us to our favorite hot springs
in the jungle, so a good place to wash off the mud.
Accommodation Options
- Included: (excellent for families and close to the activities in this itinerary) Tilajari Resort, 3+ star country hotel
- Premium: (excellent for families, close to activities in this itinerary) Finca, private villas on our horse farm
- Premium (adults only. Significantly increases driving times) Nayara, La Fortuna, 4 star boutique hotel and spa
- Super Premium: (Significantly increases driving times) The Springs Resort and Spa, La Fortuna, 5 star hotel and spa
Ascend/Descend a Rain forest Giant
Abraham towers above this ancient primary forest. Attached to the crown of the tree, 135 feet above the jungle floor, is Serendipity's platform... our destination for ✵
lunch
.
Getting up is hard work for arms and legs as you literally ✵
climb
a rope. Or easy, so easy even very young children and older parents can get up - just ✵
sit
and Serendipity does all the lifting.
Getting down can be as easy as taking the chair or taking the ropes, for the rappel of a lifetime.
Accommodation Options
- Included: (excellent for families and close to the activities in this itinerary) Tilajari Resort, 3+ star country hotel
- Premium: (excellent for families, close to activities in this itinerary) Finca, private villas on our horse farm
- Premium (adults only. Significantly increases driving times) Nayara, La Fortuna, 4 star boutique hotel and spa
- Super Premium: (Significantly increases driving times) The Springs Resort and Spa, La Fortuna, 5 star hotel and spa
Horseback with Serendipity
The joining of horses and humans predates written history. Serendipity's horses elevate this union again. For expert riders we have ✵
horses with wings
. For beginners, peaceful and gentle horses. You decide what kind of riding experience you want. Before the day is over you have rivers and running, pastures and trails, and freedom to run or walk as you want. It's not nose to tail riding, and always supported by Serendipity's guides.
Accommodation Options
- Included: (excellent for families and close to the activities in this itinerary) Tilajari Resort, 3+ star country hotel
- Premium: (excellent for families, close to activities in this itinerary) Finca, private villas on our horse farm
- Premium (adults only. Significantly increases driving times) Nayara, La Fortuna, 4 star boutique hotel and spa
- Super Premium: (Significantly increases driving times) The Springs Resort and Spa, La Fortuna, 5 star hotel and spa
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Zip lines and the Ocean
On our way to the Caribbean we're stopping for lunch and the most famous of Costa Rica's tourism attractions -- the canopy tour.
We have private use of the canopy now. It's only you, your companions, and your Serendipity guide.
The ✵
Caribbean
coast is another 2 hours towards the east, and the Caribbean culture is remarkably different from the rest of Costa Rica. More natural, less crowded, and food, excellent food.
Accommodation Options: near Puerto Viejo
- Included: Shawanda Lodge, small, personal beach hotel
- Premium: (Our favorite) Cariblue, Less isolated hotel on surfing beach
- Premium: La Cameleon, 4 star chic hotel
Snorkeling
You can snorkel in gentle waves right from the beach in Manzanillo. Or go out farther, past the small reef, and snorkel in transparent water, looking down onto sea horses and brilliant fish. The ideal combination is to ✵
hang on
to the back of a sit-on-top kayak and let your Serendipity guide tow you to places more interesting.
Accommodation Options: near Puerto Viejo
- Included: Shawanda Lodge, small, personal beach hotel
- Premium: (Our favorite) Cariblue, Less isolated hotel on surfing beach
- Premium: La Cameleon, 4 star chic hotel
Sea Kayaking, and Turtles
The rivers flowing into the Caribbean carry nutrients from the high tropical forests. Riverbanks hide birds and lizards, wild flowers and river otters. The sit-on-top sea kayak is a good way to see the local fauna without disturbing it.
During nesting season (February-July) it is well worthwhile to explore the beach between Manzanillo and Gandoca. Giant ✵
leatherback turtles
, weighing up to 1500 pounds, drag themselves ashore in the moonlight to lay their eggs before returning to the sea. ✵
Hatchlings
dig their way to the surface after 60-70 days. Sometimes hatchlings and egg-laying females moving to the ocean together.
Accommodation Options: near Puerto Viejo
- Included: Shawanda Lodge, small, personal beach hotel
- Premium: (Our favorite) Cariblue, Less isolated hotel on surfing beach
- Premium: La Cameleon, 4 star chic hotel
Cross country to Turrialba
Moving from the Caribbean coast to the mountains, about 4 hours on pavement. But Serendipity knows a "long cut" through mountain villages - a great way to use our 4x4. ✵
Guayabo
Ruins, Costa Rica's only pre-columbian site open to the public, is a good place to stop, stretch legs, explore ruins from a culture older than the Mayans.
If you want more hiking we know an isolated ✵
Waterfall
up a steep trail. It's a strenuous hike, but a big splashy reward -- cold mountain fresh water dropping 250 feet to wash your sweaty body.
Accommodation Options:
- Included: Villa Florencia, 3 star country hotel
- Premium: (Our favorite) Volare, private home overlooking Turrialba Valley
- Premium: Casa Turire, 4 star boutique hotel
Mountain biking - and another waterfall Waterfall
Turrialba is the heart of Costa Rica's famed mountain biking. From flat lands to steep hillsides, from ✵
pasture
to coffee plantations, from rugged ✵
single file
to river crossings. And all along the way there's places to stop to dip feet or heads into clean, cool, water.
Accommodation Options: near Turrialba
- Included: Villa Florencia, 3 star country hotel
- Premium: (Our favorite) Volare, private home overlooking Turrialba Valley
- Premium: Casa Turire, 4 star boutique hotel
Duckies - easy whitewater yet high adrenaline
Adults go solo, or with a friend, or with a Serendipity guide. Kids - always with a guide. The first run is exhilarating - ✵
small rapids
feel like waterfalls coming over the front of the boat.
Then -- the second run. Return upstream, and take on the river again... this time, you are in charge of steering, powering the rapids. You are no longer a passenger -- you are a ✵
commander
.
Accommodation Options: near Turrialba
- Included: Villa Florencia, 3 star country hotel
- Premium: (Our favorite) Volare, private home overlooking Turrialba Valley
- Premium: Casa Turire, 4 star boutique hotel
Para-gliding between volcanoes
On the slopes of ✵
Volcan Turrialba
, Costa Rica's most active volcano, conditions are ideal for lifting wings... para-gliding.
A dual flight with ✵
you
in front. It's a running take-off, filling the wing until, suddenly, you feel your feet dangling in free air.
The vistas are overwhelming. Below you the rain forest and city, above you the volcano's top, usually puffing smoke. Then, in 25-30 minutes, you return to reality -- and land ready to run.
Farther east is ✵
Irazú Volcano
. Now dormant enough to permit peering down the slope of the cone, Irazú was super active in about 1980. The boiling lake in the cauldron still bubbles and creates its own clouds. Irazú will erupt again (as will all 18 Costa Rica active volcanoes)... when its turn comes up.
Accommodation Options: near Turrialba
- Included: Villa Florencia, 3 star country hotel
- Premium: (Our favorite) Volare, private home overlooking Turrialba Valley
- Premium: Casa Turire, 4 star boutique hotel
Canyoning - Ropes, harnesses, waterfalls, WHEEE!
Serendipity's canyon cuts through the jungle, with a series of waterfalls and pools deep enough to leap into. The descent, using ropes, harnesses, and gravity, requires a great deal of trust in yourself, and your ✵
team
.
Someone from Serendipity was smart enough to bring a thermos of hot chocolate and some cookies and crackers. And thank heaven for the blue paddle jackets - it gets chilly in the pounding water, in spite of 85°F air temperature.
&Accommodation Options: near Turrialba
- Included: Villa Florencia, 3 star country hotel
- Premium: (Our favorite) Volare, private home overlooking Turrialba Valley
- Premium: Casa Turire, 4 star boutique hotel
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The Astonishing Pacuare: Class IV White Water
The Pacuare River, more than any other adventure, is what defined Costa Rica as the adventure capital of the world.
The Pacuare, when full, is a raging, powerful river. In low water it is gentle enough for ✵
young kids
on the first day.
The sweet spot is right in the middle... high adrenaline Class III and (on day 2) Class IV rapids, yet still with pathways allowing even ✵
children,
, and Duckies with athletic water-savvy paddlers, to be part of the adventure. When the rapids get too rough for inexperienced and younger participants they switch over for a while to the ✵
oar-boat
, and switch back for the gentler sections.
Accommodation Options on the Pacuare
- Included: Serendipity Campsite, private, comfortable camp with your own Serendipity crew
- Premium: Pacuare River Camp, private cabins with bathrooms overlooking Pacuare River
- Premium: Pacuare Lodge, 4 star lodge on Pacuare River
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Day 2 of Pacuare River - Class IV
The second day the river is bigger, and meaner, and faster. Any timid souls will leave by 4x4 and meet you at the take-out.
Serendipity's depth of experience and versatile boat options from ✵
cataraft
to oar-boat to maneuverable paddle raft to hot rod ✵
Mini-Me
to ✵
Duckies
to kayaks allow us to customize the Pacuare descent around your trip.
Key to Serendipity's rafting is our extraordinary paddler to kayaker ratio. Safety kayakers are there to lead the rafts, let the raft guides know the line to follow, and are ✵
ready
to pick up anyone who goes out. Kayakers wait for the disasters -- and the surprised paddler often finds himself being pulled by his life jacket before he realizes he's actually fallen out of the raft.
Accommodation Options: near Turrialba
- Included: Villa Florencia, 3 star country hotel
- Premium: (Our favorite) Volare, private home overlooking Turrialba Valley
- Premium: Casa Turire, 4 star boutique hotel
Cross-country to the Pacific
The paved way takes about 5 hours to Dominical. There's a "longcut" that adds an hour. The ✵
unpaved
unpaved way - well, a bit more interesting. Have you ever really driven a 4x4 off road? This is your challenge today.
The payoff is one of the most unspoilt regions of Costa Rica that is still accessible by car, has some remarkable places to stay, and a coastal area full of nature and adventure -- without the crowds.
Accommodation Options: near Dominical
- Included: Cusinga Lodge, small, personal beach hotel
- Premium: San Martin, private house, Private house with outstanding views.
- Premium: Toucans, private house with outstanding views, great for kids
Surfing - for beginners, for experts
Dominical is one of the most famous (but unpopulated) surfing destinations of Costa Rica.
For beginners we have Henry, an great ✵
instructor
here (and he started as a Serendipity guide, too). For experts we have Henry's favorites.
And for those who stay on the beach, we have local ✵
entertainment
in the trees overhead.
Accommodation Options: near Dominical
- Included: Cusinga Lodge, small, personal beach hotel
- Premium: San Martin, private house, Private house with outstanding views.
- Premium: Toucans, private house with outstanding views, great for kids
Scuba Diving
For pelagic life the area around Dominical and Caño Island are unparalleled in Costa Rica. Not only brilliant reef ✵
fish
in shallow water but sharks, ✵
turtles
and giant pods of ✵
spinner dolphins
.
Accommodation Options: near Dominical
- Included: Cusinga Lodge, small, personal beach hotel
- Premium: San Martin, private house, Private house with outstanding views.
- Premium: Toucans, private house with outstanding views, great for kids
Deep Sea Fishing
All those fish waiting for you.
The big fighting fish come quite close to the coast near Dominical - it's a prime feeding area. So ✵
bill fish
.
Accommodation Options: near Dominical
- Included: Cusinga Lodge, small, personal beach hotel
- Premium: San Martin, private house, Private house with outstanding views.
- Premium: Toucans, private house with outstanding views, great for kids
Paddle Boarding, and Hit the Beach
Stand-up boards require some balance and calm waters, but are excellent for seeing everything around you.
The rest of the day is spent loafing. Stroll, or float in quiet waters - there's endless deserted ✵
beaches
here, or drop a line in the ocean for some ✵
surf fishing
-- snook, jacks, rooster fish abound.
Accommodation Options: near Dominical
- Included: Cusinga Lodge, small, personal beach hotel
- Premium: San Martin, private house, Private house with outstanding views.
- Premium: Toucans, private house with outstanding views, great for kids
Manuel Antonio National Park
Our return towards the airport is up the coastal highway. Costa Rica's oldest and most popular national park, Manuel Antonio, is on the way.
The park is an island - you walk, waist-deep, through a bit of salt water to get there. Because it is an island few predators can enter, and the current animal population grew up walking among tourists. It's easy to spot every species of ✵
monkey
, and sharp eyes will see everything from ✵
anteaters
and ✵
coati mundi
. There's an endless parade of animals to greet you.
Accommodation Options: near San José airport
- Included: La Riviera Hotel -or- Holiday Inn at Airport, convenient to the San José airport for early departure
- Included: Del Conde, a private home 35 minutes from San José airport for mid to late morning departure
- Premium: Great if you have a late morning departure Kivu, Private Residence 25 minutes from Airport
- Premium: Finca Rosa Blanca, Boutique hotel that's family friendly
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Plenty of Time to Stop for Serendipity
Days aren't super packed - there's time to stop to explore a stream and unmarked trail, eat leisurely lunches, even drop a fishing pole in a stream.
Do It All! is easily reduced or expanded to your dates and priorities, and operated for almost any age person, and almost any physical ability. Just challenge us to do it for you... Call Us!
What we won't do is compromise on elements that create an unacceptable risk.
While we're at it, let's talk about Risk. It's one of the most important aspects of any adventure. We're proud of our record, and our commitment to setting the standard in Costa Rica for minimizing risk.
It's time to call us.
PRICING for 27 Days of I Want It All
This Itinerary Sample Includes:
- all adventures, operated privately just for your trip, with Serendipity's guides and equipment*
* exception: sea kayaking on Caribbean uses rented equipment plus one of the company guides in addition to your Serendipity guide. There are no other people during our reserved time. - full time Serendipity guide/
driver/ translator/ naturalist, plus specialist guides for hiking cloud forest, tree platform, hiking and sea kayaking at the Caribbean coast - 4x4 vehicle with all the extra equipment we feel is essential for your comfort and security
- Breakfast and lunch daily, dinner on Day 1 and Day 2 (in the cloud forest). Your guide will suggest places for dinner based on your interests in food style, and will take you to your choice. You dine without your guide, and your guide has this time to prepare the car and ice chest for the following day.
- Accommodations assume 2 persons per room, except in a Family Suite which is for up to 5 people
(For upgrade accommodations, see approximate pricing on each upgrade hotel linked pages, above. These prices change frequently.) - All service fees and taxes.
- 4 to 5 persons: U.S. $29,780 per person (peak season: $32,700)
- 6 to 10 persons, with two full-time guides, two 4x4 vehicles: $27,800 per person (peak season $29,490 per person)
- 2 or 3 persons: $38,200 per person (peak season: $43,400 per person)
Sorry, we are not able to combine you with other guests to reduce costs