Gandoca Sea Turtle Project
10 DAYS
San José 1 • Gandoca 4 • Tortuguero National Park 2 • Arenal Volcano area 1 • San José 1
Basic Inclusions
Accommodations
Accommodations in centrally-located three-star or four-star hotels. Rooming on a triple basis. Dormitory style residences on Days 2 - 5. Double rooms: $50 per night, per person.
Meals
All breakfasts. Eight lunches. All dinners.
Transportation
Round-trip transportation on scheduled airline. All public transportation tickets included where applicable.
Guide
English-speaking tour escort throughout. Special arrangements as noted.
Travel Protection
Passports provides and pays for a Post Departure Travel Protection Plan that includes coverage for Trip Interruption, Trip Delay, Medical Expense and Evacuation and more.
Tour Summary
Itinerary Includes
English-speaking tour escort throughout
One Checked Bag Included Per Person
Day 1: Arrival San José
Arrival transfer
Day 2: San José - Gandoca
Poás Volcano Visitor Center and Overlook Trail to crater rim, Coffee Plantation
Day 3: Gandoca
Gandoca-Manzanillo Sea Turtle Project
Day 4: Gandoca
Gandoca-Manzanillo Sea Turtle Project
Day 5: Gandoca
Gandoca-Manzanillo Sea Turtle Project
Day 6: Gandoca - Tortuguero National Park
Banana Processing Plant, Riverboat to Tortuguero
Day 7: Tortuguero National Park
Boat excursion along the Tortuguero canals
Day 8: Tortuguero National Park - Arenal Volcano area
Depart Tortuguero by riverboat, Arenal Volcano National Park
Day 9: Arenal Volcano area - San José
Arenal Volcano National Park
Day 10: Departure
Departure transfer
UNPARALLELED STANDARD OF EXCELLENCE
CITY-CENTER HOTELS
Stay right in the heart of it. Why settle for staying outside of the city? Wake up in the city. Explore. Have dinner in the city. Explore. Return to the hotel at your convenience.
Check out our typical hotels
3-AND-4 STAR HOTELS
We’ve scoured each city for the finest hotels for our groups. Comfortable, conveniently located, clean and safe. That’s what we do.
HOTEL CHOICE
We give you options - but the choice is yours.
AMAZING FOOD
Student tour dinners don’t have to stink! Enjoy authentic, high-quality food, and lots of it. Three-course meals that you will want to post on social media.
Check out what our food is like
INDUSTRY BEST TOUR DIRECTORS
Passports contracts only the finest, A+ Tour Directors in the industry. With decades of experience, our team is second-to-none in terms of experience and professionalism. Read more about our amazing Tour Directors.
24-HOUR SERVICE
Your Tour Director will meet you at the airport and stay with you every step of the way until your return flight. They are your own personal travel expert.
INCLUDED FLIGHTS
We work with the airlines so you don’t have to.
BEST AVAILABLE ROUTINGS
We look for the best possible routings for your group with a minimal number of legs and ideal layovers. We try to get you in early - but not too early - to maximize your time overseas.
MORE INCLUSIONS
UNLIMITED PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION INCLUDED
You don’t want to have to worry about getting metro tickets when you’re pressed for time. We provide pre-loaded travel cards so that you can hit the ground running.
INCLUDED OVERSEAS MEDICAL COVERAGE
Passports provides and pays for a post-departure travel protection plan that helps protect you while on your trip with coverage for trip interruption, trip delay, baggage loss, theft or delay, emergency medical expenses, evacuation and more.
ALL TIPS INCLUDED OPTION
Tour Directors receive tips at the end of the tour. Including the tip in the up-front tour cost saves your group from carrying around extra money overseas or being surprised with an extra expense at the end of the tour. This is just another way that Passports is honest and up-front about all expenses. You can choose to include the tip ahead of time - or not to. Passports gives you the option.
NO ON TOUR UPSELL
Ever been pressured on tour to purchase an excursion? Or been shuttled into one workshop after another? Not with Passports.
VALUE VALUE VALUE
Dollar-for-dollar Passports is the best value you can get. Our tours are packed with included activities for a price that you can't beat with any other company.
HUMAN-FIRST POLICIES
FANATICAL CUSTOMER SUPPORT
We are here to be your partner. We support our group leaders 100%. Through thick and thin, we will work with you to make your travel program an annual success.
BEST REFUND POLICY IN THE INDUSTRY
Passports refunds 75% until 30 days prior to departure as our default policy. Early cancellations have fixed, low cancellation penalties. We would love for you to compare our cancellation policy to our competitors. Passports acts as the best partner we can, for every traveler, on every tour. That’s our promise.
SINGLE POINT OF CONTACT
Our Tour Advisors are amazing people who work with the group leaders during the pre-sale, enrollment, pre-departure, on-tour and post-tour periods. They check in when the group is overseas. They are the point of contact throughout the entire process to assist in all phases of the tour. This is more important than you would think unless you’ve been with another company and changed hands several times in the course of the tour. The point is: trust and accountability are critical in our relationship with a group leader.
NO HIDDEN CHARGES
No adult fee. With Passports, adults pay the same as students. Oftentimes adults will opt for a double room as they can’t room with students, and there is a charge for the double room. But there is no charge simply for being an adult.
No hidden airline fees. No hidden tripwire fees. With Passports, what you see is what you get.
Detailed Itinerary
Day 1: Arrival
It's an easy airplane flight south (no jet lag) to the capital city of San José, Costa Rica. Spectacular rain forests and cloud forests, and the warm climate make this Latin American country a mecca for environmentalists and nature lovers.
Over a quarter of the hinterland and almost half the coastline is protected in Costa Rica, which is situated in one of the world's most bio-diverse regions. You will have the opportunity to experience eco-friendly tropical adventures during your trip.
Overnight: San José
Day 2: Poas Volcano, Coffee Plantation, Gandoca
Today's ride takes you to the Caribbean coast, where pristine beaches and a coastal rain forest create a unique backdrop for a remote ecological paradise. Tonight, you may dream of yet undiscovered species.
Your coach takes you up to the summit of the 8,900-foot-high Poás Volcano, known for its bubbling and fuming crater pool. From the Visitor Center, follow the short Overlook Trail to the the viewing platform set above the crater rim: you're looking at the world's largest active crater, nearly a mile wide.
A visit to a plantación de café will introduce the history and processing of coffee, from growing the bushes to roasting the beans, as well as the final stages of coffee preparation, prior to packaging for shipping.
Travel to Gandoca, a jungle village located six miles from the town of Sixaola and the border with Panama.
Gandoca is a gateway to the vast Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge, a rainforest and wetland habitat that extends out to sea to a coral reef.
Overnight: Gandoca
Day 3: Gandoca-Manzanillo Sea Turtle Project
Meet the staff and volunteers who work at the Gandoca-Manzanillo Sea Turtle Project, a non-profit organization founded in 1978 to help the people of the Talamanca region become more economically self-reliant while preserving the area's extraordinary rain forests and coastal wonders. In this region, the turtle nesting season lasts from March to July, peaking in April and May. Incubation takes about two months, with hatching taking place through August.
Your program includes a unique opportunity to do volunteer work on projects that include a variety of tasks, such as the nighttime beach patrols led by an experience patrol leader to search for nesting females. Night patrollers take carapace and nest measurements, tag rear flipper, collect the ping-pong-size eggs and place them in a safe nesting area on the beach or at the hatchery. Other daily tasks involve building nests to specifications, construction and cleaning work at the hatchery, and beach cleanup.
Overnight: Gandoca
Day 4: Gandoca-Manzanillo Sea Turtle Project
Spend your day involved in a project and interacting with the locals.
Overnight: Gandoca
Day 5: Gandoca-Manzanillo Sea Turtle Project
Spend your day involved in a project and interacting with the locals.
Overnight: Gandoca
Day 6: Banana Processing Plant, Tortuguero
Visit a banana processing and packaging plant to learn all about banana farming techniques and the different varieties of bananas as well as the properties of the fruit, its origin, and the many hidden ways in which it is consumed, such as in flans and ketchup!
Enjoy the ride to La Pavona, where you'll board a riverboat headed to Tortuguero National Park.
You'll see why this park is called the "Venice of Costa Rica" as your boat follows waterways that meander through the dense lowland rainforest.
Overnight: Tortuguero National Park
Day 7: Excursion along the Tortuguero National Park Canals
Hop back aboard a riverboat to explore the many secondary canals of the national park, an area extremely rich in flora and fauna. This humid tropical forest is home to many species of birds, insects, and other wildlife such as crocodiles, jaguars, Howler Monkeys, and peccaries.
The Tortuguero coastline is the most important nesting site for Green Sea Turtles, but Hawksbill, Loggerhead and Giant Leatherback Sea Turtles also nest on this shore.
Overnight: Tortuguero National Park
Day 8: Travel to the Arenal Volcano area
Today, depart Tortuguero National Park by riverboat.
Board your coach and travel to the Arenal Volcano area.
Visit Arenal Volcano National Park to get a look at its namesake cone-shaped volcano, which is steadily active below ground level.
The remainder of the day is free to plan as you wish.
Overnight: Arenal Volcano area
Day 9: Arenal Volcano National Park, Travel to San José
Visit Arenal Volcano National Park to get a look at its namesake cone-shaped volcano, which is steadily active below ground level.
Travel to the capital city of Costa Rica.
Overnight: San José
Day 10: Departure
¡Hasta la vista! You'll remember the warm, balmy air, the hot sun and the natural wonders.
For now, enjoy the flight home, eager to share your discoveries with family and friends.
CUSTOM TOURS
All tours can be customized to your particular needs.
Or start from scratch - we will build your dream tour!
San José, Costa Rica
Paos Volcano
Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge
Gandoca-Manzanillo Sea Turtle Project
Tortuguero
Tortuguero National Park Canals
Arenal Volcano area
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