Costa Rica — The Caribbean Coast

After immigration, baggage and customs, the group is met in the arrivals hall at Juan Santamaría International Airport by our local representative, who runs through the plan for the week before the short private coach transfer to the hotel.

The airport sits in Alajuela province rather than in the capital itself, so the first evening is spent on the western side of San José in Santa Ana, close to the airport and well placed for the early start on Day 2.

Learning link

Costa Rica's Central Valley: where the capital, most of the population and the country's universities are concentrated.

An early departure by private coach heads east over the mountains towards the Caribbean lowlands, stopping for breakfast at a local restaurant on the way. At Caño Blanco pier the group swaps the coach for a shared river boat for the final hour into Tortuguero.

Tortuguero has no road access at all; the village sits on a strip of land between the canals and the sea, and everything arrives by boat or light aircraft. After lunch at the lodge there is a guided walk on its private rainforest trails, then dinner together.

Learning link

Why some communities are reachable only by water, and how that shapes daily life and trade.

After breakfast the group heads out on a guided boat trip through the national park's network of rivers, lagoons and canals, some natural and some man-made. These waterways are some of the best wildlife-watching in the country: herons and kingfishers, monkeys in the canopy, two- and three-toed sloths, caimans and crocodiles, and, with luck, the endangered West Indian manatee.

Back at the lodge for lunch, then a visit to Tortuguero village to see how this remote community lives and works. Free time at the pool before dinner.

Learning link

Wetland ecosystems and biodiversity: species spotting, food chains and protected-area conservation.

After breakfast the group takes the shared boat back to Caño Blanco pier and joins a private coach heading south along the Caribbean side of the country, stopping for lunch at a local restaurant on the way.

Puerto Viejo, in Limón province, has a relaxed pace, an Afro-Caribbean culture and food scene unlike anywhere else in Costa Rica, and beaches backed directly by rainforest. The hotel sits just outside town at Punta Cocles.

Learning link

The Caribbean coast's Afro-Caribbean heritage and how it differs from the Central Valley.

A guided visit to the Jaguar Rescue Center at Playa Chiquita, which takes in injured, orphaned and confiscated wild animals, rehabilitates them and returns them to protected areas wherever possible. Students see the work up close: monkeys, sloths, wild cats, anteaters, reptiles and amphibians, plus a collection of the country's venomous snakes.

The afternoon is free to enjoy the beaches and the town, with dinner together at the hotel.

Learning link

Animal welfare, the illegal wildlife trade and how rehabilitation and release work in practice.

Breakfast at the hotel, then the private coach collects the group for the return journey across the country to Juan Santamaría International Airport, timed to meet the flight home.