Audley travel use SwissTravel as their on the ground agents .We specifically booked this adventure with private tours for myself and my husband . The itinerary we received from Audley and that from Swiss Travel were not the same , the private tours were not booked as such etc.What actually happened did not concur with either itinerary San Jose airport was a scrum without air conditioning with thousands waiting entry in lines , for at least 2 1/2 hours , apparently this is normal in the high season .Not advised this . Driven to Rosa Blanca , appeared lovely , only slept overnight , collected at a much earlier time than 7am , supposedly due to traffic , there was no traffic , we were dumped by the non English speaking driver , 3 hours early at a cafe , he did not inform the dock as is the norm now We were told not to move , by the cafe owner. We were supposed to stop at a meeting point for breakfast .No breakfast , no stop .Eventually I asked one of the other Lodge Guides who found the boat group transfer who had been waiting at the dock , 12 very unhappy , hot people . I apologised for Swiss Travel , Audley and the driver. Manatus was lovely with helpful people and great guides , I booked 2 tours myself , the Kayaking and the night tour , as our private tours had become group tours . Hopeless when trying to take photographs . The transfer could have been direct by small plane , the day we arrived , not wasting a whole day travelling . Arenal , the Volcano tour is a waste of time for Europeans , this is on the outer lower cinder slopes . Go to Vesuvius in Italy .We waited for our private guide , I then asked where on earth was the person , the lovely hotel people ascertained that the guide had collected the wrong people , another group tour took us belatedly to the Park , located the guide and swapped people ,because this was behind schedule , we ran on the cinder paths , somewhat dangerous resulting in my skiing over a boulder and resulting in a knee injury . The multilingual guide spoke worse English than my Spanish . I demanded a refund . Arenal Hanging Bridge tour was splendid , at 5.30 am , before the 100 s of other tourists appear , whilst the animals were still active .I would not advise doing this any later , the queuing for the bridges , the noisy chatter renders photography pointless. Villa Blanca , again the private tour had become a group tour , the Hotel showed me their paperwork from Swiss Travel , no where did it state private tours , again I paid for extra private tours such as the sunset tour on the artificial lake , by boat , when wine and cheese plates were laid out and many birds were seen .Villa Blanca were mortified that I may feel it was their fault it was not . Santa Juana Lodge and staff were lovely , the grounds are beautiful . Rancho Pacifico There were 2 differing times for the Birding Tour , ST Costa Rica then confirmed to the Lodge that we would be going at 2pm , too hot , hopeless for birds , pointless. I was emailing Audley at this point to be told to contact ST as they were on the ground , I pointed out our contract was in England with Audley , it was their responsibility to deal with the multiple problems not mine . I checked with the guides , yes 2pm was pointless , I contacted ST and so did the Lodge , they claimed there were no early morning guides available , at this point I told them I was going to turn up to their office personally and take it out on them , funnily enough threatening produced an early morning guide who was wonderful . A random guide turned up the following day at 9am to collect us for a tour we knew nothing about , ST said there had been yet another misunderstanding , this was about the 6th misunderstanding , as all documented by both emails and phone messages . El Remanso was lovely , the tours and walks within the grounds with the knowledgeable guides absolutely wonderful , photography was possible just from the Lodges and dining areas . Food great , waiting staff delightful . The Sansa flight should have been 9.20 am , this had been changed without telling us to 7.10 am which meant we had to leave the Lodge at 4.30 am , 2 bridges being out , there were indeed places on the 9.20 am flight I checked .We would have arrived in plenty of time for our International flight to Miami .When I messages ST , their reply was the transfer to the airstrip was nothing to do with them , they did care the flight was at a much earlier time . The above is only some of the hassles , ST basically ignored all of the instructions which Audley reiterate they sent regards personal trips only , we feel this is their way to make extra money . Others were also complaining about ST . The only way to deal with ST is by being threatening , marvellous just what I needed .

Our guide Juan and driver Edwin made the day. Juan shared so much information about the country, the area, the animals — he was an absolute joy. The river tubing was beautiful - we saw blue butterflies and special birds. We saw several sloths! Most sleeping high up but our guide had a very good telescope. And it was nice to be in the rainforest. Many, many thanks to Juan and Edwin.

We had a wonderful full day tour with Juan and Raoul. Our tour was booked with the Swiss Travel desk at the Westin Hotel. We ended up having to book a private tour due to limited group availability on the only day we could go. The tour was expensive but felt worth it at the end of the day. We started by visiting the Las Pumas wildlife sanctuary. Juan guided us through and knew all about the animals and specifics about why some animals were at the Sanctuary. We then visited the hanging bridges and enjoyed a very tasty lunch at the Heliconias Rainforest Lodge. While enjoying lunch there is fruit placed right outside to enjoy the birds, lovely pair of toucans kept coming back. Juan joined us for the entire hike pointing out foliage and wildlife, very knowledgeable! We finished the day with a tubing trip down the Rio Celeste. Although the tube trip was not run by Swiss Travel. Juan and Raoul met us promptly at the pick up spot and gave us time to enjoy snacks and change. The ride to most tours from the Westin is quite long but our guides gave us plenty of time to nap and a bathroom stop which had shops for souvenirs etc. My suggestion to Swiss Travel is to add the days specific tours run to their brochures and websites. We most likely would have planned our trip around this rather than being left with limited options when trying to book. For instance white water rafting was something we were looking to do but it only runs one day a week unless booking a private tour.

We have just finished our tour of Costa Rica. To say we enjoyed every moment is an understatement. We booked from the UK through Trailfinders, Chris Brimble was excellent in handling our requests and providing information, we will certainly use Trailfinders again. We flew to San Jose and stayed a beautiful place in San Jose, called Finca Rosa Blanca, this is a simply an amazing place, the staff and the level of service was brilliant. My wife, due to jet lag left her earrings at Finca Rosa when we moved to Arenal Springs Resort and Spar, they contacted us via email and then arranged with Travel Excellence to have the earrings sent to our next destination in Monteverde, what a great piece of service that was, big thanks to everyone involved. Arenal Resort and Springs was just a good in terms of facilities, staff and service, they couldn’t have been more helpful or interested in our well being, a loverly place to enjoy the local sites. Onto Monteverde, and the cloud forest, again Hotel Senda was a fantastic place to stay and the opportunity to enjoy the treks and night time treks was something not to be missed. On top of that, Finca Rosa Blanca, Arenal Resort Spar and Springs, and Senda the staff and food were delightful, the standard of service and quality was exceptional. All the transfers between the hotels and then from Monteverde to Puerto Caldara for our Star Clipper adventure, were excellent, all the drivers were friendly and very knowledgeable, stopping for great photo opportunities, or a meal break, a big thank you to Victor Vargas and the team at Travel Excellence for their fantastic organisation, it was first class. The Star Clipper experience was also excellent, the knowledge, friendliness of the crew and the places we had the opportunity to visit was excellent. The food and entertainment on board was fantastic, and we will be going on another Clipper in the near future…….if we are lucky enough to stay above ground! All in all it was a beautiful experience, thank you to everyone who made it so special.

We did the 2 hour ATV tour and had a blast! Anthony was our guide and he picked us up at the W hotel. We drove about 10 minutes and were off on the ATV's soon after that! We saw parts of Brasalito, drove on a beautiful beach, and stopped to see Flamino beach, and after that stopped at the Flamingo Marina. Was a lot of fun- would highly recommend. Was a highlight of our trip !!! ( Warning- you will get very dirty/dusty!)

Bryan was our tour guide on an excursion to the Rio Celeste waterfall, an authentic lunch and demonstrations of coffee, sugar cane and chocolate production. The waterfall was stunning. Bryan told us it would be 250 or so stairs and it was. This allowed great spots for pictures. The lunch was delicious and the demonstrations were amazing. We also saw a sloth. Because it was so high, hidden in a tree, Bryan helped us all see it and get pictures with some type of telescopic lens. We highly recommend this tour. Bryan was very knowledgeable, fun and made it an awesome experience.

The boat ride was calm and the staff were very friendly and kind. The food was great as were the drinks. We saw dolphins at sunset and had a great time snorkeling in a small cove. Several people enjoyed the paddle boards and kayaks and the kids played on a floatable mat. Great experience!

Thank you Yeudi for an incredible day we will never forget! We loved every part of this action-packed tour. The boat ride on Arenal Lake was serene and we even saw a caiman lurking in the waters! The hanging bridges park was breathtaking, with incredible views of the rainforest, the volcano and plenty of monkeys. We even saw a deadly snake (from a safe distance). Lastly, the hot springs spa was the perfect way to relax and the dinner afterwards was great, with plenty for vegetarians. Our tour guide, Yeudi, was very knowledgeable and helpful - we can’t thank him enough for a fantastic day!

We booked the ATV excursion at Coco Trails through Swiss Travel at the Westin Reserva Conchal. We felt much safer going through this company versus meeting someone on the beach, since it is the company recommended/stationed inside of the Westin. The two men working the desk here were so informative, patient, and very knowledgable on their tours! They were not pushy at all, and they helped me book the perfect tour for my family, including our two boys who are 5 & 8 years old. We LOVED our excursion and will be writing a review on their Trip Advisor page as well. I highly recommend booking through Swiss Travel!!! It cost us about $50 more in total to book through Swiss Travel instead of the people on the beach, but the peace of mind, insurance coverage, and security was WELL worth that!! We will again be booking through Swiss Travel for excursions when we return to Costa Rica again. Thank you so much for your help and for a memorable trip!! Pura Vida!

Today (Jan 28) we did the rio Celeste waterfall hike and coffee, chocolate, sugar cane, and pineapple tour with Bryon with a Y! He was incredible, one of the best tour guides I have ever had. He was so knowledgeable and very personable. He was fantastic and I would do any tour with him again, he definitely made the experience all the better! The driver Lydia also made us feel very safe and comfortable in the ride to and from our resort. All around 10/10 would recommend.

The package put together for myself and my son was seamless from hotel pick ups to transfers from one location to the next.. we did a 3 centre trip and the staff were professional and efficient and the modes of transport were luxurious and comfortable…. Very helpful and accommodating staff right from inception to experience .. thank you so much Rodrigo and staff at Swiss Travel

Fabulous tour, the guides were incredible, the site amazing, and Swiss Tours was impeccable at organizing. I would do it with them again.

Guide does not care about his people. Cruise ship tour not Recommended. Not enough space expects strangers to cram together.

The private tour package was so detailed, we relaxed and let them hold our hand during our first (not our last) visit. Professional and knowledgeable guides for each day. Accomadations were diverse from a basic room in the rainforest to luxury options at 5 star hotels. You must go!!

We did two tours with Swiss Travel - the half day San Jose Tour and then we did one where we did a full day visiting the Poas Volcano, Doka Estate Coffee Farm and the La Paz Waterfall tour. They were both amazing - to start with the San Jose trip, it was really well organised. Our guide was called Hector and he was full of information, The bus took us from museum to gallery to restaurant, etc and we were entertained with music on the bus as we went. Felt we saw most of the sights of the city within the short tour. The second trip was to the coffee farm, volcano and waterfalls / animal sanctuary. It was genuinely one of the best experiences my wife and I have had on a holiday. We felt like we'd seen three days worth of sights at the end of the day, and we felt there was ample time at each. We never felt rushed and had plenty time to explore and do our own thing whilst at the same time being fully informed by our guide (I didn't catch his name - argh! - but there's a photo of him attached sporting a coffee picking basket!). He was incredibly friendly and full of information on all things Costa Rica. It was a pleasure to have him as our guide! We were only in SJ for a week filming a conference and only had two days to ourselves, but we couldn't have made a better choice than using Swiss Travel for our experiences, booked directly at hotel reception at the Marriott Hacienda. Thoroughly recommend!