Back to Top Hotels

Accommodations in the hotels and lodges are rooms with two beds and private bath or shower. A limited number of single rooms are available. Triple rooms are usually two beds, sometimes with a cot or rollaway. On your Costa Rica tour, Caravan often uses more than one hotel or lodge in a given area. Although each property is wonderfully different and may have many unique features, Caravan's goal is to offer a comparable overall selection so that you can experience the same enjoyment regardless of which property combination you find on your actual tour departure. Scheduled Caravan sightseeing will be the same from all the hotels.

Airline Info

Airfare is not included or sold by Caravan Tours. Here are lists of airlines that service this tour:

Back to Top Local Weather

Clothing Tips

This is a casual tour. Casual wear is suggested for sightseeing and daytime travelling. Dress code for evenings is casual. Suit jackets for men and dresses for women are never required on the Caravan’s Costa Rica tour. It is recommended to wear drip-dry clothing (such as that offered by Columbia, ExOfficio and Travelsmith) in the rainforest. Shirts with long sleeves and long pants are recommended for rain forest and cloud forest hikes. Pants that zip at the knee to convert into shorts are very comfortable in the rainforest.  See Travel Planner: General Clothing Tips

Back to Top Frequently Asked Questions

What is included in the tour price?

Virtually everything! Hotels, all meals, all of the activities described in the itinerary pages, airport transfers, gratuities to hotel porters, restaurant staff and local guides. Caravan’s professional Tour Directors conduct every land tour from start to finish. They are fluent in English, experienced and fun, ensuring a worry free vacation.

What is not included in the tour price?

Prices do not include air travel, country entry or departure fees, airport porters, visas, phone calls, valet, laundry, all items of a personal nature, extra food and beverages not on the regular menu, and tips to the Caravan Tour Director and Driver. General fees and taxes are additional and listed separately beneath each tour’s price.

Can your tours be enjoyed by all age groups?

Usually, you find a mix of different age adult travelers on a Caravan Tour. Most tours will be joined by adults of all ages. Children age five (5) and over are welcome, and children usually join tours offered during Christmas holidays, summer vacation and spring break vacation.

Do your tours include any evening activities?

Yes. Caravan includes an evening nature talk in Tortuguero, and evening visit to the hot springs by Arenal Volcano. Great for single travelers!

How long will each day be?

A well paced and unhurried itinerary is our goal, after all, you are on vacation! Touring days begin and end at reasonable hours and include frequent stops. While the occasional early morning departure is necessary, we do our best to ensure a leisurely vacation and you will arrive at your hotels between 1:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. each day.

How large will my group be?

Group sizes will vary depending on the reserved rooms at the hotels and lodges and the capacity of the boats and motorcoaches used. Usually, group sizes range from 30 to 44 passengers.

Are meals included?

All meals are included on your Costa Rica tour. Included meals for each tour are listed at the end of each day. Meals are shown by B (breakfast), L (lunch) and D (dinner). Full, buffet, or deluxe continental breakfasts are included everywhere. Bottled water is provided free on the motorcoach and purified water is provided at the meals. Alcoholic beverages are not included unless specified.

Back to Top Customer Reviews of our Costa Rica Natural Paradise tour

“We really enjoyed the trip in a beautiful country and the price was right!”

“The pace of the sightseeing and activities was well thought out and executed. Our tour director always prepared us for the next activity. I really enjoyed this trip and have recommended it to others.”

“The sights were absolutely fabulous! We visited both coasts and many places in between ... all the places we were interested in seeing. I wasn’t sure I wanted to visit Tortuguero, but it turned out to be one of my favorite destinations! This was an exceptional tour at an exceptional price. The guides were very eco-minded. We received a good education from them and their passion for preserving their environment was contagious. We totally get it. Your Costa Rican tour was awesome.”

“The sightseeing and activities, these were all that were promised and more! We would never have seen and done everything on our own! Very satisfied with this Caravan tour. Will definitely use your tour company again and have and will recommend it to friends. Pura Vida.”

“You have put together an outstanding package at a very reasonable price. Costa Rica is a great vacation destination!”

“As a travel agent, I would recommend clients to Costa Rica with Caravan. This was an excellent tour, especially since everything was included. We saw and did a great deal in a short period of time.”

“The meals were fabulous and the final with ‘sit down’ and filet mignon was especially nice. The sights were very good, enjoyed the coffee plantation and the cart factory. Had not traveled with Caravan before, but will recommend it to my friends. ”

“The meals were very good and well presented. I enjoyed the lunch stop locations too. Our tour director made this trip very comfortable and fun. This was my first Caravan tour. I would book another one in the future.”

“The hotels were all great in their own way. The meals were very good, tasty,, plentiful and fairly well-balanced. The tour director was unbelievably great, an encyclopedia of information convey tours in an entertaining, caring and interesting manner. You have set very high standards with your tour and guides.”

“The hotels were all nice and a nice variety of different types or styles of doing things. The sightseeing and activities were wonderful. Loved the whole experience of everything offered. A wonderful experience and great value, I will be using you again and will recommend to others.”

“The meals were delicious! It was very easy to keep my vegetarian diet with this tour. Your tour director was WONDERFUL! Never let go of her, she was knowledgeable about everything any of us wanted to know. She was so personable and always happy too. Costa Rica is BEAUTIFUL!”

“Our tour director was always accessible and approachable to the group. All in all, this tour was excellent, well planned and varied! I enjoyed it and recommend Caravan to everyone. Next trip, I plan to use Caravan due to the quality and knowing you take care and time to arrange good tours whenever they are offered. Thank you!”

“This was the best vacation I had. It is the only way to see Costa Rica.”

“We had the perfect tour director, very knowledgeable of Costa Rican history, local cultures, and coconuts. Caravan, you should be proud! Besides the fact that you guys do a great job staging all of the sights, wildlife and timing (it was all fake right?!),it was obvious to us that the guides, the hotel staffs, the tour director, the restaurant personnel, etc. All seemed to rise to the occasion for a Caravan tour. You guys are doing something right. Keep it up!”

“The local guides were good at Tortuguero and the rain forest and wildlife park, especially seeing Blondie, the orange colored Howler. The trip was well conducted and we saw a lot of Costa Rica.”

“I liked the diversity of the trip. It was well planned with nice accommodations. It was a pleasant experience, would recommend tour.”

“I very much appreciate the professional manner that we were treated. I am a travel agent, and working in this industry can sometimes be a thankless job, therefore when I am treated with respect, I try to acknowledge. We are truly grateful to Caravan and our tour director for being so accommodating. I can guarantee you that I will be selling Caravan tours enthusiastically in the future! Our tour director’s knowledge and passion for his country is so evident by the way he describes customs, culture, education, wildlife among many other things. All of the sightseeing, I loved every minute of it, great activities and some free time.”

“There was so much food. I got a good idea of foods of Costa Rica. There was variety and lots of bottled water! There was great diversity in visiting different parts of country with attractions, just enough shopping opportunities. The tour director was the sweetest person I ever met. She was always smiling, had great English, always available, very knowledgeable on history, vegetation and country of Costa Rica. She kept things moving, always left on time, very respectful of everyone on tour. She was conservation and safety conscious, had good sense of humor and very accommodating.”

“The hotels were excellent, especially the one at Tortuguero. I’d like to spend a week there! The tour director was wonderful! Excellent! I can’t say enough about him. He was so knowledgeable about the plants and animals. He was an added bonus to the trip!”

“The hotels were an outstanding value. Each was clean, comfortable and had a special charm of its own. The meals were ample, excellent choices wide enough to satisfy a picky eater like me. It ranged from excellent to superb. Mexico’s Ancient Civilizations last year rated ten out of ten with our tour director. This tour director made Costa Rica fifteen out of ten. I will schedule Tikal, Copan sometime next year.”

“My family and friends could not believe how wonderful the accommodations were. Everywhere we stayed the staff was nice and treated us very professionally. At Tortuguero, the staff treated us from the minute we arrived to the second we left as family. I cannot wait to take another Caravan tour, and tell all my friends about this one. Please do not change a thing, you have got it right.”

“The meals were very good. I loved all the fresh fruit. The entire trip was awesome.”

“The driver was excellent. I drove for UPS for thirty years, I know what it takes to handle a vehicle of this size. I have been on many tours around the globe and our tour director was by far the best. He is very detailed, courteous, sincere and a perfect gentleman.****** Six stars.”

“I can think of nothing that would improve this trip. I have traveled with other companies; therefore I have some basis for comparison. You are at the top of my list.”

“I am the last person I would have expected to take an escorted tour. This was a very pleasant surprise! Good work!”

Back to Top About Caravan Tours

Caravan’s Proud History

Caravan Tours began selling fully escorted tours in 1952. We have been under the same management and ownership ever since. In 1965, Roger Mudd hosted a two hour CBS TV special on Caravan Tours. This TV production took about one month to make and was so successful it inspired the 1968 romantic comedy movie “If it’s Tuesday this must be Belgium.” In the early 50’s the Mayor of Dublin presented Caravan with the Key to Dublin for bringing the first American tour to the city after WWII. Since then Caravan has been recognized as a pioneer in travel. More recently, Caravan was awarded the Sierra Madre Explora award for our positive effect on Mexico’s Copper Canyon region!

Great Value, Book Early

Caravan’s strong buying power gives you great vacations at prices much lower than you can find anywhere. Last year many of our tours sold out quickly. Book early for the date you prefer and the best air fare.

Trade Association Memberships

Caravan Tours is a member of ASTA (American Society of Travel Agents), NTA (National Tour Association), CLIA (Cruise Lines International Association), and an allied member of ACTA (Alliance of Canadian Travel Agencies).

How does Caravan Tours sell these tours for such a low cost?

Caravan delivers volume to our suppliers, who in turn reward us with their very best prices, we in turn pass these savings on to you, and you reward us by buying our tours. As volume continues to rise, we then receive even better prices from our suppliers, and we pass even greater savings on to you. This year our tours are better than ever.

How satisfied are Caravan clients?

The short answer is “very.” Our surveys are uniformly very positive. However we continually strive to improve our tours, (they are often updated several times in the course of one year), we study all client surveys and suggestions for improvement very carefully.

Pitch-Free Travel

Caravan includes all activities listed in the tour itinerary page. Caravan does not sell any optional activities which can add hundreds of dollars to your tour price. Your free time is scheduled in great settings where there is no need to buy additional expensive activities.