Arenal Volcano Tours in November 2025

This trip will go down as one of my best, if not the best, holiday experiences. If you love birds and wildlife it is not to be missed. There is quite a lot of traveling between locations, 4-4 1/2 hrs according to our guide each time & he wasn't far wrong. However the journey was always punctuated by stops for loo breaks, drinks etc but also for spotting the wildlife be it a soggy looking sloth high up in a tree in the middle of town, a pack of squirrel monkeys crossing electricity wires or a king vulture sitting in a tree that had our driver Randall very excited as he had only ever seen them in flight before. On the plus side 2 nights are spent in each location so there is plenty of time to relax and unwind. Even the early starts were not a problem as it is dark by 5.30pm but light by 5am so early nights were the norm. We soon realised however that our guide was planning the timetable to the weather forecast and if he recommended an early start it was because there was a risk of rain later whilst a late start was because we would be waking up to rain. We had been concerned about going to Costa Rica in October as it is during the rainy season however we were fortunate in that most of the time it rained at night. Only once did we have a whole afternoon of rain and that was when we were in the rainforest! Again our guide must have known as we did 2 early morning walks before the rain started and the rest of the day was free - we still went swimming in the pool, had to be done! On the plus side, going in low season meant that the majority of the time we were the only people in the hotel or doing a tour whereas, knowing the current popularity of Costa Rica, I had expected to be surrounded by other travellers.

This was a great trip which we enjoyed thoroughly. Having wanted to visit CR for some time, I was hoping to see a lot of the wildlife and to experience its rich biodiversity. The itinerary was perfect and allowed plenty of time to enjoy these aspects. The transport and accommodation was comfortable and of a high standard. Our guide was superb.

Excellent trip, lots of wildlife to see, turtles,snakes, frogs,birds,cayman, crocodiles and much more all explained by our knowledgeable guide. Lovely beach for swimming in the Pacific and spas. Locals very friendly, a great place to visit.

Costa Rica is a wonderful country, mainly for its variety and volume of wildlife. Of course Costa Rica is well know for its bird life. While many will have seen humming birds, (as I have) it was a superb sight to be close to these magnificent birds as they weaved their way around us lumbering giants. I never grow weary of watching these creatures. Howler, Spider and Capuchin monkeys using their prehensile tail moving from branch to branch provided an often amusing spectacle. Other animals featured were the Tent Maker Bats and White Lined Bats, Agouti, Coati, Caiman and Green Iguana. Although not an ornithologist, brightly coloured birds such as Toucans, Curassaw, Acorn Woodpecker, Scarlet Macaw, Flame Coloured Tanagen and Emerald Toucanet, I find a delight to watch, particularly watching them feeding. It seemed as though even when driving along the roads animals almost posed for us to record them. One would expect to be roughing it, but it was the last thing I would use describe our accommodation, while the food was always good and often outstanding. The places visited represent the full variety of environments, from high altitude cloud forest (at Savegre) , to transitional forest (Manuel Antonio Reserve), to tropical wet forest (Tortuguero) to rainforest (Esquinas). I cannot leave my summary without mentioning the inspirational Michael Schnitzler who as a conservationist has obtained over $4 Million from his Austrian sources to purchase land and develop Esquinas Lodge. Amazingly he has done this in between travelling to between Costa Rica and Austria, where he is an internationally admired violinist and concertmaster the Vienna Johann Strauss Orchestra. A truly remarkable person developing a remarkable environmental project. Friends who have seen the videos from the trip have been enthralled. Others to whom I have described it have suggested that it be added to their "bucket list".

This was a wonderful holiday from start to finish, with so much to see and do. Our first stopover at Tortuguero was very enjoyable - the lodge was superb and we saw a lot of wildlife both on the boat trips and walking around the forest. It was also refreshing to have a swim in the pool at the end of a busy day. I thought the holiday may have gone downhill after that - but it didn't! The lodges we visited subsequently were just as good, and I continued to be amazed by the flora and fauna that were in abundance at all locations on our trip. Add to that a couple of relaxing days on the beach at the Pacific, and it truly was the recipe for a superb holiday.

In my opinion, this tour is the perfect blend of wildlife, nature, activities and perfect introduction to Costa Rica. They say a guide makes the trip and in this case Andres did, but everything ran perfectly from meals to accommodation, and activities to free time. I was surprised just how much wildlife we saw including sea turtles hatching and making their way towards the Pacific Ocean, hiked in cloud forests and watched the forest below from canopy bridges. Exodus did a fantastic job in selecting eco-lodges which worked with the environment, as opposed to leaving a carbon footprint. I couldn’t have asked for a better Costa Rica experience.