Arenal Volcano Experience Full-Day Tour from San Jose

Wow! We had an amazing day thanks to our guide, Juan. He was extremely professional, kind and quite personable. We did all the stops mentioned on this tour where Juan shared valuable information on each as well as pointed out things of interest along the way. The food on this tour has been the best I’ve had so far on this trip and the portions were more than generous. Thank you Juan for such a wonderful day and for treating us so well!

Upon booking this tour, we received a confirmation instantly including our pick up time. This was much appreciated and when the pick up time came to pass....no pick up. Though it was only 15 minutes passed the pick up, we asked the concierge if they had seen the tour and we missed them. He stated that he had not and made a call to the company on our behalf. Now, everyone told us that San Jose traffic is bad and even worse on Thursday's and Friday's, so we pretty much had expected there to be a delay. The company confirmed that there was indeed a problem with the tour due to traffic, but we should be picked up soon. About 5 minutes later, the company had called the desk at the hotel and asked to speak to me. They started off with a ton of apologies for the delay and relayed that the bus was stuck in gridlock traffic and could not move or get off the highway due to an accident. They explained that another tour would be picking us up and it was the exact same tour and that they should be there in 7 to 12 minutes. No sooner did I hang up the phone then the other tour bus showed up! We got on the bus, and the guide Juan, express is greatest apologies for the delay and reexplained the situation. With that behind us, we were on our way...We reached the coffee plantation on time with no further issues or delays. We were a little more excited as our previous tour guide from the day before had told us that the three generations coffee was the best Costa Rica had to offer and here we were! As we got situation, our original tour showed up. While we were listening to Juan share information about the coffee, Alex came over and waved us to follow him. Alex was our original guide and took us back and gave us the info on coffee and explained we would be touring with him as the other bus had some no shows that grabbed a cab and were getting back on their tour. A little more chaos ensued, but back in the new van and off we went. It should be stated that this is a "highlights tour" and the reason we can do so much in such little time, is just that; it is a highlight of the location, topic or whatever else. Totally worth it; but many people on the tour kept asking Alex about doing things not included in the tour. The drive was long, but worth it, we saw many things and enjoyed our time on the tour. At the hot springs, we were not interested in this portion; but took the tour because we were very interested in all the rest. Alex was concerned and made sure that everything was ok with us; which it was. On the long journey home, we stopped at a little road side diner (for a lack of a better description) where our meals were already cooked, warm and ready to eat! Alex had (as he did for lunch) collected our meal preferences in advance and communicated to the restaurant making it a perfect conclusion to a great tour. Alex, as you may have read in other reviews, is the king of reviews and I just wanted to state that these reviews are true and well earned!

Kenneth was the best tour guide I’ve had in all my travels. His concern for our safety and fun really made our group connect and enjoy every second!

It was a great day! Good experience! Had a lot of fun. Tour guide Alex was fantastic! Food was great, good way to know culture, the drive was long, and we were able to see a little bit more of the country side.

Pick up time was 15 minutes early but it was perfect. There were 6 of us in a van so it was pretty comfortable. The visit to coffee plantation, the 2 waterfalls and arenal volcano was awesome. We had 1 hour to explore La Fortuna because we didn't to the zip lining. The lunch was also great. Both of us had fish and it was delicious with homemade sauce. We also had a couple of hour on the hot springs. The place Paradise Hot Spring was beautiful. And it was a perfect time since spring breakers arrived when we were about to leave. Dinner was also very good and tasty. Overall it was great. And finally, our tour guide Fernando made the trip worth it. It was very educational and informative. Amazing experience. Traffic in San Jose is terrible but you have to keep an open mind and ready for it.

Saul was a great tour guide! He stopped on the way multiple times so we could see sloths. The experience was really fun. The only suggestion I have would be to allow us to get closer to the volcano. We just saw it as we drove by.

Take this excursion. Alex is the best guide. You will do and learn so many things and enjoy the experience.

A long day but worth it. We were lucky enough to have Alex for ourselves, as the other 4 people cancelled the trip last minute, so it was only me and my friend. Alex was great,one of the best guides i have ever met. Dinner and lunch was tasty, big portions, we couldn't even finish the dinner. I would have loved to see a bit more of the vulcano, but i appreciate there isn't enough time for that. The hot springs was good, not too busy, a bit too hot for my liking, but my friend loved it. We spent 2hours there which i thought was a bit too long but my friend thought it wasn't long enough:) The birds were beautiful, the iguanas amazing, loved them. The waterfall is very pretty, but again we didn't spend much time there, i would have preferred more time there and less at the hot springs. There isn't any walking or hiking involved in this trip, very easy and comfortable, as I said it is a long drive, but didn't seem that long because the scenery is amazing, there is always something new to see. Alex even stopped the bus to show us a sloth with a baby sleeping on a tree which was cute, they were quiet close so we could easily see them.

We Oregonians Jerry and Janis Grover took this tour on January 27, 2020. We had an excellent guide, Alex Blanco, both personable and professional who made the tour very enjoyable. That is because he made sure we not only saw all aspects of the full day tour as described but also because he is very knowledgeable about Costa Rican history and ecology and took time to stop the van so that we could photograph an orange tarantula in the road, a sloth in a tree, a horde of Costa Rica raccoons, and many beautiful flowers and plants. We enjoyed a great snack as well as a tasty lunch and dinner. Alex was patient and jovial throughout. We highly recommend Alex Blanco as a tour guide. HE makes the tour.

So glad we took this day tour from San Jose. The trip went so well and we did as what is included in the description of the tour. Our tour guide Alex did an excellent job to make us to have the best experience during the tour. We saw the beautiful birds, a sloth, a toucan, a howler monkey. Very impressed with the water falls and enjoyed the hot spring in La Fortuna where the Arenal volcano is located.