Costa Rica & Panama tour

Planet

The very ethos of our style of travel is responsible; small groups on fully escorted tours, experiencing the very best of a region, a culture and a landscape, with a friendly local hand guiding the way. Our itineraries are designed to give our travellers real life experiences without compromising the part of the world we are exploring; to travel responsibly is at the heart of our commitment as a global tour operator.

This no frills holiday exploring Costa Rica and Panama has been designed to follow our company ethos of operating low impact and even positive impact In addition to this we encourage all our passengers to take steps to ensure that their trip is environmentally responsible as possible. Should you take the opportunity to go snorkelling, explore the national parks on foot or take a cycling tour, we ask that you take on board the safety briefings given as they are to protect you and these delicate eco-systems. We want our visits to assist in the preservation of all these stunning locations and you will be encouraged to treat them with care. For example, your leader will brief you on the dos and don’ts of snorkelling to help protect the fragile marine environments. You’ll be encouraged to stick to the marked pathways in the jungle environments and to treat all destinations with respect.

Your group leader will also be on hand to assist with the appropriate disposal of rubbish en route, recycling wherever possible and we encourage all our travellers to use refillable water bottles with purification tablets rather than contributing to the rapidly escalating problem caused by the copious number of plastic bottles discarded globally on a daily basis.

People

This no frills holiday exploring Costa Rica and Panama has been designed to follow our company ethos of operating low impact and even positive impact tourism. Staying in small, locally owned budget accommodation, travelling on public transport (mainly buses, but with the occasional boat to reach the islands), and utilising local services throughout, this trip supports local industry and initiative, helps to provide in country employment opportunities and encourages and supports environmental conservation where ever possible.

Operated in close collaboration with our Central American partners, your support team on the ground will all be locals, recruited from within Costa Rica and Panama and you’ll be accompanied throughout by an English speaking local group leader. Working in this way not only provides stable long term employment opportunities within Central America, but we believe gives our travellers the best holiday experience possible. The saying goes ‘a little local knowledge goes a long way’ and we believe when travelling this is invaluable.

Upon arrival in each destination your group leader will be on hand should you need help organising what you want to do. From the best local bars and restaurants, to recommending local suppliers to use for things such as snorkelling tours in Bocas del Toro, cycle hire in Boquete and guided tours.

Meals on this trip are at your own expense giving you the freedom to choose the places you eat. You’ll notice that your group leader will tend to favour smaller, often family run restaurants if you ask for advice, or if you are all dining together. Supporting these smaller businesses is a great way of putting money back into local economies, but they are also often the places that the locals eat and where we can get the best regional specialities.

There is the opportunity on this trip to visit a number of national parks and conservation projects. The Jaguar Rescue Centre in Puerto Viejo is a not-for-profit organisation that works towards the rescue, rehabilitation and ultimately the release into protected areas of these stunning creatures. Your visit will help support their great work. Likewise the requested donation for entering Cahuita National Park goes directly towards assisting with conservation efforts.