Would like feedback for Puntarenas excursions

[chrismch]

We will be doing the Panama Canal full transit which has a stop in Puntarenas. Looking at the ship's excursions, 3 look interesting - Mangrove boat excursion on the Tarcoles River, Pacific Aerial Tram, and a combo historic train, boat & bus tour. I have looked on the Costa Rica port site and there is limited feedback there so I thought I would try here:p

[robtulipe]

I don't know what cruise ship you are on but the tours you listed are similar to the ones listed for the Regal Princess Panama Canal cruise we will be taken out of San Juan PR next Saturday. Please look at the Manuel Antonio National Park and Beach tour if it is available to you. I was in Costa Rica for a land based vacation last Jan. and went there. It was fantastic with much widelife and a beautiful light sand beach. We saw three differents species of monkeys, sloths, iguanas, other reptiles, agoutis, couti mondis, birdlife and other animals there. You need to hike the trails to see these and it is over some rought terrain in places but overly difficult if a peraon is in good health.This park is the pride of the Tico population. It is a long two hours plus bus ride from Puntarenas but the coastal highway is paved all the way and the scenery is very good. A few single lane bridges which looked quite depressed tended to cause bottlenecks at times and slowed traffic down. We were in a Toyota Yarish and when I saw one bridge, I made sure the bus and transport truck together in front of us were well across this bridge before I moved onto it.

In our tour book this tour ( PA4-O ) it is a bargain at $89 for adults and $71 child. As a bonus the route down to MA park crosses the Tarcoles river where Carara Nature Preserve is and if you ask your tour guide to stop there for 10 or 15 minutes you should see many crocs on the banks of the river under the bridge there. I suspect they will stop there anyway but ask to be sure.

If it is wildlife you want to see I would not do Aerial Tram, Skywalk or Zip Lines tours as these are noisy and tend to scare animals away from the area they are in. The other two tours you mentioned would also be good in my opinion but you may not see much wildlife from the train. Keep in mind that I have not done either tour. Comparing the Princess tour prices we have and what you get cost ,time and quality wise they are lesser value options. Other who have done these tours may differ on this opinion.

[macusr]

Will be on the Regal Princess in Feb 2007 and am looking for feedback on any of these four excursions:

Manuel Antonio National Park & Beach

Tropical Forest Skywalk & Pura Vida Gardens

Exclusive Rain Forest Tour to Bosque De Paz with Lunch

Jewels of the Monteverde Cloud Forest

[robtulipe]

You need to hike the trails to see these and it is over some rought terrain in places but NOT overly difficult if a person is in good health.

 

Please note correction to my above post.

[du2cruise]

I have also been looking at the Aereal Tram or Skywalk tours offered by Holland America. Has anyone been on either of these? In the description of the Aereal Tram it mentions a "short walk through the forrest" Approx. how long? Also is the Skywalk tour not partly on paths through the forrest? It mentions something about possible muddy trails. My concern about the Skywalk tour is that it does NOT say anything about being accompanied by a guide or naturalist. Is it self-guided? The naturalist being on board for the Aereal Tram sounds good. Would appreciate any feedback.

BTW Manuel Antonio National Park and Beach is not listed as an option for us. I'm also wondering if in order to see the amount of wildlife mentioned above you need to be in a VERY small group - something we will likely not have.

[robtulipe]

We were in a group of 8 at Manuel Antonio and of course were at times with others in the same area. The animals there seem to be use to humans and didn't scurry off when we approached them. In fact they allowed us to get very close at times allowing close up photo shots. One alpha male white faced capuchin (sp?) monkey challenged me as I took shots of his group by approaching me and howling/jumping up and down in front of me. This action allowed me to get some great shots of him.

You must hike the forest trails to see most widelife. Most people simply walked the trail along the sea coast and stayed on the beautiful beach at MA park.

[SweetP2]

Hello Chrismch, I will be on HAL in April 2007, which has a stop in Puntarenas. I came across your post. Have you been on your trip yet? I am anxious to hear which excursion you chose and your feedback!

We are not too anxious about getting onto a bus for several hours...we are debating to taking the off road adventure which is the shortest, return for lunch and freshen up on ship and then hire a taxi for a tour of the general area and possibly into the town of Puntarenas before sailing away. Needless to say, we are reading any reviews we can find on people's expriences.

[Desert Cruizers]

My husband & I when we took the 17 day Panama out of Ft Lauderdale to Seattle, Wa, did the Santa Lucia Village tour. We were taken to this lovely setting, where a fabulous show was offered and fantastic lunch. Highly recommended. The gardens were magnificent.

 

RADIANCE OF THE SEAS, HAWAII OCT 11, 2008

[Desert Cruizers]

SweetP2, the St Lucia show and tour was not more then 3 hours I believe. We had a relative short drive to the Gardens and Village where the show was. After the show we could walk around the gardens before catching our Vans back. the feedback we heard from others on differant tours, were all favorable. If you haven't already, go to the Princess site, & Panama Cruise, then Excursions for Punterenas. You could print them out. Have an enjoyable cruise.

 

RADIANCE OF THE SEAS, HAWAII OCT 11, 2008

[Polar Bear]

I don't know what cruise ship you are on but the tours you listed are similar to the ones listed for the Regal Princess Panama Canal cruise we will be taken out of San Juan PR next Saturday. Please look at the Manuel Antonio National Park and Beach tour if it is available to you. I was in Costa Rica for a land based vacation last Jan. and went there. It was fantastic with much widelife and a beautiful light sand beach. We saw three differents species of monkeys, sloths, iguanas, other reptiles, agoutis, couti mondis, birdlife and other animals there. You need to hike the trails to see these and it is over some rought terrain in places but overly difficult if a peraon is in good health.This park is the pride of the Tico population. It is a long two hours plus bus ride from Puntarenas but the coastal highway is paved all the way and the scenery is very good. A few single lane bridges which looked quite depressed tended to cause bottlenecks at times and slowed traffic down. We were in a Toyota Yarish and when I saw one bridge, I made sure the bus and transport truck together in front of us were well across this bridge before I moved onto it.

In our tour book this tour ( PA4-O ) it is a bargain at $89 for adults and $71 child. As a bonus the route down to MA park crosses the Tarcoles river where Carara Nature Preserve is and if you ask your tour guide to stop there for 10 or 15 minutes you should see many crocs on the banks of the river under the bridge there. I suspect they will stop there anyway but ask to be sure.

If it is wildlife you want to see I would not do Aerial Tram, Skywalk or Zip Lines tours as these are noisy and tend to scare animals away from the area they are in. The other two tours you mentioned would also be good in my opinion but you may not see much wildlife from the train. Keep in mind that I have not done either tour. Comparing the Princess tour prices we have and what you get cost ,time and quality wise they are lesser value options. Other who have done these tours may differ on this opinion.

 

We are sailing on the Coral in April..full transit to Vancouver...we have been looking at this tour,in our book it is listed as PA4-368...and reading what you have said about the tour this is the one for us..it has nature, animals, beach and lunch for huddy. I have been having such a hard time finding any info on tours for Puntarenas...thank you for your post.

[mii]

Just do a search under "Search this forum" and put in Puntarenas excursions and all sorts of info comes up.

 

Marilyn