Puntarenas --Several questions about independent tours?

[n2cruisin2]

A few questions about OkeyDokie (Charlie) tours and independent tours other that what the ship offers--

 

1. Do you need to book ahead (make a reservation) with Okeydokie?

 

2. Does he require payment before the tour, at the point of meeting on the dock, or afterward?

 

3. Are there other tours available at the dock (meaning are there other, independent drivers willing to take you around not associated with OkieDokie) that have given good-to-great tours?

[n2cruisin2]

Anyone have any of the answers to the above questions? Those of you who have done the tours with OkieDokie tours.....did you pay before you got to Costa Rica or pay when you met with Charlie?

 

Plus do you know if Charlie has room for a scooter?

[mytime53]

Last month several on our ship independently did the CrocodileMan tour with Greenway tours. It was excellent...only 8 of us, compared to 20 or more who were on other tours.

[doreen22]

Hi

I have reserved a tour with Okdoky Tours ,and per his email ,Charlie Soto only requires payment at the end of the tour. I would think reservations are the way to go.

[Floflegs]

We toured with Charlie but did not get the tour we were promised. he took us a lot longer than we wanted - DH has a bad leg and doesn't like long tours - and didn't guide us himself. We paid after the tour but only left the amount we had agreed and a copy of Charlie's email. He seems to try to get as many as he can and amalgamate all the tours. I would not recommend him.

[Lady Meer]

We too didn't get what we booked with Charlie. Our group was split between 3 buses as he hadn't hired enough buses for the day. We were very disappointed - the animal park was just a pull-in on the side of the road. We waited over an hour at the zip-lining and over an hour for lunch. We just gave him the price we had been quoted but some wouldn't pay him the full amount. It was a waste of a day in a country we were looking forward to seeing (also didn't see any sloths :mad: ). All in all not a very good experience. I get the impression it is pot-luck with Charlie!!

[TCF]

We did a tour with Oscar Brown on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica that was great. He delivered exactly as promised plus just a little extra....left and got back on time...etc.

I know he also does tours on the Pacific side. Yo0u may want to email his sister Carol who handles the bookings and ask her what they have.

[Floflegs]

We had tried Oscar before booking with Charlie. However Oscar had a booking on the Atlantic side the day we wanted to go so couldn't take us. If you don't mind paying half in advance try Coach Costa Rica. We had originally booked with them but it was too much trouble from the UK to organise payment in advance. They seemed very efficient though.

[mytime53]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=WZuCoRDlFRs

 

This youtube video doesn't really do it justice, but this is the tour we were on out of Puntarenas. I think it would be possible to purchase at the pier, but you run the risk of them already being full.

[Beave8920]

We just got back yesterday and took the ziplining tour from Charlie Soto last week. It was a full day of excellent adventure and he delivered everything he promised. He quoted us $95pp and there we 16 of us on his bus. I booked ahead of time online and he was waiting for us as we got off the ship. The tour was about 7 1/2 hours, but was fun from start to finish. The only odd thing was that we paid directly for the ziplining and we/he deducted that from his price....but the price was the same either way and you paid at the end....no deposit. His tour included all the beer, soda and water you could drink, we fed the wild monkeys, toured a fresh fruit plantation and sampled the fruit (excellent!!!!) toured the rain forest, ziplined, had a wonderful lunch with margarita on the beach, stopped at a crocidile river location, and even had time for some shopping for coffee. Charlie was an outstanding tour guide and we really enjoyed his company. He was friendly and funny. I do agree that it took up most of our time in Costa Rica, so if you're looking to do something else, this tour may not be for you. But if you want a full day with many different experiences, I highly recommend this tour.

[Bucky3]

We returned May 10 from the Island Princess 19 - day RT to the PC from LA. We originally wanted to book with Charlie but finally decided to take a ship's excursion. When we arrived at Puntarenas we were glad we were on the ship's tour, because there is a very LONG cement pier that I think we would have had to walk down to get to where we would meet Charlie. The buses that picked up for shore excursions BACKED their vehicles right up practically to the ship's ramp for boarding. It was very hot and humid, and I know it would have been too long a walk for my arithritic legs to do that walk. They did announce that there would be a shuttle available, but not until 10:30, and that would have been too late.

 

If you went with Charlie, what was your experience? We would love to take this same cruise again and take Charlie's tour in Puntarenas the next time, but I couldn't do the walk on that pier to meet him if that's what you need to do. Hope someone can clarify this as this is just what I assume is the case from my observation.