What tour company do you recommend?

[Driftwoodgal]

Bob,

 

I have posted about the trouble that Puerto Limon has at times with their email service. The problem isn't just with Oscar it is with Almonds and Corals as well. I never could get through to Oscar or A & C by email when we were trying to book with him last year. Because of all of the wonderful things I read about him, I just picked up the phone and called him. 011 506 350 6415 that is his cell phone. Use a international phone card to call as it is cheaper to do it that way, unless you have a phone plan that will let you call internationaly.

 

Another problem you might have is that your server might be looking at Oscar's return replies as SPAM. Do you have filters on your email account. I know Oscar did post that he was having alot of problems with AOL accounts. It is frustrating when you are trying to get in touch with him and you can't. He does honor the guidelines of the CC Board so he won't post to you on here, except to say email him. I would call him if you really want to use him.

 

Colleen

[CRUISAYEAR]

Got an E-mail from Oscar yesterday (12-23-04). He says he does not know "Janecruise"/Manuel. Not connected to him in any way.

[cadreamer]

We just returned form Oscar and there were 8 of us plus him and the guide and we felt really full. None fof us is large and two are petite. I would say 10 is absolute capacity. I understand why he would like to take more but it will be uncomfortable and if it is hot is will be really uncomfortable since the air conditioning is not the greatest in furthest back seat. If there are 10 of you someone or two will definitely have to get in the back. The tour is great and were very glad we did it with him but were glad there were 8 of us.

[bwerner317]

I have e-mailed Oscar 3 times and never got an answer. Read many other responses here that said they never got a reply from him. Guess he's too busy from all the publicity he gets on this site.

Bob

Just got back from cruise on the Celebirty Horizon and took a tour with Oscar Brown and it was the best part of the cruise. his van was full so Oscar also has a taxi and his nephew took us on tour in cab. can't say enough about the tour guide he did anything we asked we needed to mail some cards he took us to post office and he went in and mailed things for us also took us to best place in town to buy coffee. i would use Oscar again but i surly wouldn't go on the Horizon ship again

[katkong]

We were sailing on Radisson Seven Seas Navigator and arrived in Puerto Limon Dec. 9, waiting for Oscar or his representative to take us on the zip-lining tour at the planned time of 8am, but no one showed up. I suspect we were double-booked; a large group from the Brilliance and NCL were going on his Canal tour the same day and was supposedly full. I wanted to go zip-lining and emailed him for availability, even though I knew his vans were full. I surprisingly got a response saying there was availability. But that morning of 12/9, I knew it wasn't true. There were vendors milling around the pier, so we asked around for zip-lining tour information. One man I talked to, he didn't give much information about the tours he was offering, just "Yes, we take you to the zip-lining and drive you around town." Luckily, we bumped into a nice man named Lester. He worked for Oregon Tours, and described where he was going to take us and showed us on a map areas of interest that were included on his tour. He drove a 14-person van and it was just John and I, and Lester!

 

As we drove through Limon, Lester told us about how the city got its name and other tidbits of information about the parts of the city he was driving through. He took us to the Chiquita plantation and explained the banana processing. He stopped at the side of the road to get some local bananas for us to taste...the bananas were delicious (smaller sized than normal). During the long drive to Almonds and Corals (about 1 hr, some parts of the road were so out of repair...), he pointed out things of interest like hotels and small towns.

 

Our experience at Almonds and Corals was fantastic! First time zip-lining, and I am now interested in trying the more "intermediate" zip-lining course in the mountains. (I don't know the name of it, but someone on the ship told me about it, where you really need to brake!) The staff was very knowledgeable and careful for our safety. At the end of the zip-lining, fruit and juice were included. We met back up with Lester and headed back.

 

We stopped by Cahuita National Park (not too far from A&C) and Lester took us on a guided walk, pointing out plants and animals. We couldn't walk too far, since some of the path was flooded, but it was still a great time, especially seeing cutter ants transporting big leaves into their anthill. On the way back, Lester stopped on the side of the road and picked a ripe cacao gourd for us to inspect. He had a jar of raw cacao beans, and another jar of roasted cacao beans in his van and described how cocoa was processed. We inundated him with questions about the country, the people, the wages, the real estate, the tourism industry, his family(!) and he happily answered every one of them. We had a great time and we were glad we bumped into him.

 

I know that Oscar is very popular for touring, but if he is full, please consider going on a tour with Lester. He offers the same tours as Oscar such as the canal and the zip-lining. Lester's email is oregontouroper@racsa.co.cr. His company's website is http://www.oregontourscr.org, but probably best if you email Lester since I don't see any prices for cruise excursions on the website.

Happy cruising,

Kat

[EDNADELMAN]

We will be hiring a van to take us around to a few places in Puerto Limon. In order to better plan out our stops, I need to know admission prices, travel time, time needed at each stop and which places are near each other.

I am interested in each of the following:

Rain Forrest Canopy Aerial Tramway

Tortuguero Canal Boat Ride

Banana Plaantation

Sloth Sancturay and Canoe Adventure

Cahuita National Park

Crazy Monnket Canopy Ride (zipline)

Butterfly Garden

 

Thank You

[Driftwoodgal]

I don't think that you could do all of those things in one day. I will post what I know about the prices.

 

Zipline was and may still be $40 per person and they do accept some credit cards. It took us over an hour to get to the resort because the roads aren't in great shape getting there.

 

Bananna Plantation... We didn't pay anything to walk through them and Oscar, our guide, explained the entire process from the start to the finish. We did have to go to several plantations to find one that had workers working that day.

 

If you have any more questions I would just email Oscar and ask him direct questions.

[ncdachsiemom]

I toured with Oscar on the Feb 3 sailing of the Galaxy when we docked in Limon...had me, and my 80 year old parents. He was wonderful, and I recommend him without hesitation. He was waiting when we got off the ship, and took 10 of us in his van on Tour 1...the canals, banana plantation, to see a sloth and hold a baby monkey, saw lots of monkeys in the trees, and went to a great restaurant overlooking the city... wondeful food, then he took us to buy coffee and cocoa. I would definitely use him again.

[cruisinlivin]

For our 01/02/05 Celebrity cruise of the Western Caribbean we booked the TortugueroCanal and Banana Plantation tour in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica with Lester Milliner of OregonTours. We made the arrangements through their

Website:

email address: oregontouroper@racsa.co.cr

There are a number of posts on this thread that recommend Lester.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=131670

[capashops]

We used Charlie Soto this past February (2005) after reading all of the posts on this site. We were a little worried about some of the problems people had with Oscar (and the fact that if he is full he has someone else lead the other car, etc.) so to be on the safe side I contacted two other people who had been recommended - can't remember who the other one was, but he wanted about $70 per person to do a day's tour. Charlie Soto, who we went with, charged us only $40 per person (of course we added a generous tip!). He did an excellent job, is a very kind and considerate person, and is working hard to build his business. He went out of his way to do the things we wanted to do and hung in there with us even though it poured the entire day. He's got a great new van and everyone in our group (8 people) were extremely happy with his tour. :) capashops

[cruisingschool]

We toured with Xavier from Almonds and Corals. He was very good. He took us to Almonds and Corals zip lining. We then stopped in a little village to "shop." You can contact him via Aurora and Almonds and Corals.

[Corey]

We just return from Costa Rica and would highly recomend Danillo we have beeb on 100's of excursions this had to be the best ever!!!!!!

Corey

[CynBen]

I have to recommend Mambo tours if you have someone who is wheelchair bound. We were in Puerto Limon in December on the Rotterdam and we had not made previous arrangements even though I had done much research on this website. My father is in an electric wheelchair and was sure he wouldn't be able to do much more than cruise around town in his chair.

The man at the Mambo Tour booth insisted that he could get a van with a lift if we just wanted. We said yes and negociated for $25 per person to go to the Canals, to the restaurant up on the hill, to the banana plantation, to see a sloth, and to tour the city. There ended up being 7 of us besides my father, a driver and a translator. When we got to the canals, we thought my father would have to stay there, but these fellows who were fishing said, no, they would lift him up, carry him down the steps and put him in the boat. We thought this would be impossible because my father weighs about 250lbs, but they did it with no problem. We put the wheelchair back in the van and toured the canal. It was great! When we returned the fellows picked my father up like a sack of potatoes and put him right back in the wheelchair. They wouldn't even accept a tip or anything! We were very touched by their kindness.

It was a great tour that was made even better by my father's being able to particpate with us. Mambo Tours' lift van allowed us to have a great visit to Costa Rica.

 

Cynthia

[marshaatn]

I just did a post recommending Charlie Soto -- his price was reasonable, he received no kickbacks from the restaurant that he took us to for lunch (wonderful food!) and is very friendly. We had a wonderful day with Charlie.