Dec 15, 2024
Definitely worth the money - Perfectly organized; professional guide; we were well informed about what is going to happen next. Sun and fun experience.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dec 9, 2024
VERY PLEASURABLE! Very scenic ride to Tortuga Island - What a great day to spend my birthday on! This trip started off at a 4:30am pick as I was the first and we ended up picking 16 others. After pick up, we ventured to a small town with a local shop where we had time (30-45 min) for breakfast and then there is a place to change into your swimwear as the next stop was the marina. The Van was very clean and AC provided and comfortable for the trip. Once at the marina, you get into a 'Costa Rican speedboat' and take a 40 min ride to Tortuga Island. We did see dolphins and were able to stop for pictures. Once on the island you can rent a chair ($10) and there are drink stands that provide tropical drinks and beers. The water was great and the beach was not overly crowded. Lunch was served at noon and choice of Chicken or Fish and water and tea are provided. We left around 3:00 and once back on the marina, you must take a shower (8 are available) to get the sand off as they want to make sure the van is kept clean. Our group had German, Polish, Canadian and Americans on it and we ALL had a great time. The tour guide does the presentations in Spanish and English and was great in addressing any questions we had. Make sure you take you own towel and I suggest sandals or watershoes for island. Snorkeling is included but I did not do. One thing to address: Traffic after 2:45pm in Costa Rica is crazy. I went on a Friday so dealt with AM and PM traffic issues so I'd suggest booking on the weekends as traffic should be a little lighter. Great trip and guides and cooks were very good. I'd do this again as it was just perfect and the guides timing was perfect for everyone. Enjoy this excursion!
Review provided by Viator
Dec 4, 2024
The guides were great!... - The guides were great! The boat ride to the island went smoothly and it was a beautiful beach with a ton of friendly pigs!
Review provided by Viator
Dec 15, 2024
Worth the stress - Would have given 5 stars but our day started off a bit rocky. The original pick up time was set for 4:30am. The day before the tour, I messaged Island Tours to confirm the early pick up time. No reply. I called the number multiple times through out the day and no answer. But we figured the email confirmation said 4:30 am so we made sure to be down at the lobby by 4:20 am. We waited and waited and waited. There was nobody there to pick us up. We waited well over an hour hoping they were just running late. We continued to call them but the calls went to voicemail. We called Viator customer service and they were super helpful. They were able to cancel the tour and requested a refund. Around 6:00am we were still on the phone with customer service trying to book a new tour, when our hotel phone rang. The tour guide was here to pick us up. Luckily we were already ready to go! (We canceled our cancellation with Viator)
On the bus, we asked one of the other tourists if they were also waiting for pickup at 4:30 am and they told us they got a text that the tour pick up time got moved to 6:30am. It seems we were the only ones who were not notified!
Other than our frustrating morning, the rest of the day was amazing! Yusef was super sweet and the island was gorgeous. We are so happy the tour worked out! Definitely one of our favorite activities in Costa Rica.
Review provided by Viator
Dec 12, 2024
Well worth it. Long day - The guide, Percy, was fantastic! They could have done a little better with the snorkeling and the time on the island could have been shortened from 5 hours to maybe 3 or 4 hours. Overall it was really great experience!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dec 2, 2024
I met the best guide,... - I met the best guide, Joseph, I never saw such a wonderful people to help everybody.
Excursion was nice but lunch too light
Review provided by Viator
Nov 30, 2024
Great location- mediocre company - There were good and bad things with this tour. On the plus side the island was great, we had a blast. On the boat ride ww saw dolphins, monkeys a crocodile. Snorkeling was fun, just a ton of people in one small area and then later it was totally empty. Seem like they could have staggered the groups going. The vans were nice, although the driver made me nervous. Communication with the company was bad. They didn't respond to messages asking about pick up times. Overall it was a good day - I just might choose a different local company to work with.
Review provided by Viator
Dec 14, 2024
Not good - Food was really bad, tour wasn't great. Didn't seem like they put in a lot of effort. The guides were nice though. Overall, not worth the price. I went on a much better tour during my time in Costa Rica for the same price. At least the bus was clean and nice.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Nov 29, 2024
Very average - It was not for me. Solo traveler living in Miami . This tour is for people that want to stay the day the beach where everybody is at the same spot.
Long drive for that
No interests for me . Guide was very average.
When many other tours are to discover the beautiful Costa Rica.
Review provided by Viator
Dec 5, 2024
Avoid "Inside Tours" of Costa Rica and Viator - The details of the trip are not provided clearly up front by tour operator Inside tours. We left the island at 2.45 pm and the tour bus still has to go to 3 more hotels in this busy traffic and the projected time for my dropoff is 8.45 pm. This is 6 hours and not acceptable and not disclosed upfront. When asked for a reason, tour guide Yosef started shouting in front of all customers. This tour operator is doing this every single day but has not come up with an efficient and fast way to drop off passengers. He could have taken a less congested Does he have to take a very clogged road and change his route based on traffic pattern seen in Google maps. People should avoid inside tours of Costa Rica and viator as a booking company
Review provided by Viator