JJ Tours in Puerto Limon

[racingraysswimmom]

Hi SE

 

I think you should ask JJ about adding the Sloth Sanctuary. It would be hard for me to judge time b/c of our circumstances. We were pressed for time b/c of the daylight savings time: Ship time vs. Island time. We were late in getting our tour started b/c of that. Make sure you stress in your emails prior to arrival about what time he will meet you ie. Ship time OR Island time. There was a 2 hour difference on our cruise in March.

 

The Veragua Park is not something you can go thru quickly. The aerial tram is one small portion of what you really see. If I could redue our tour, I would have spent more time here. They had many exhibits that we did not get to see. We pretty much got a taste of the park. Our group really enjoyed this tour!

 

Lunch/Beach portion is optional but some in our group were hungry so we went along with what the group wanted. I could have skipped this part easily. I am sure that the restaurant and JJ have some kind of special arrangement etc. so that it benefits both parties. The lunch was good and relatively reasonable with prices so it was OK.

 

Please keep me posted and when you get back from CR, let us know how things went.

 

Jan

[S.E.]

Thank you. I emailed JJ a couple days ago. We are going to do the Veragua Rain forest, Canals and zip line. I mentioned that my daughter really wants to pet a sloth. He said he knows someone and will have my daughter pet a sloth without having to go to the sanctuary.

 

Thanks for your information. I will post here when I return. I am sure it will be great!!

[katron]

Thank you. I emailed JJ a couple days ago. We are going to do the Veragua Rain forest, Canals and zip line. I mentioned that my daughter really wants to pet a sloth. He said he knows someone and will have my daughter pet a sloth without having to go to the sanctuary.]

 

When we toured with JJ in March, there was a young boy at the Banana Plantation with his sloth for people to handle or take pictures with.

On the canal, there was another young boy with a small crocodile for an "upclose" view. Both expected tips----

 

The sloth sanctuary was a good distance from the Canal, and would have cost

$25PP extra to visit.

[S.E.]

Thanks for the info. How much cash would be good to tip the kids?

[katron]

Thanks for the info. How much cash would be good to tip the kids?

 

I think $1-$2 is good, unless you spent a lot of time handling the sloth and taking pictures, then maybe an extra dollar-----I don't know if you would want to handle the croc.

[S.E.]

Thanks. My hubby won't be able to resist the croc. I, on the other hand, will have no problem keeping distance. :)

[glendon3281]

We used JJ the 2nd week of April and would also highly recommend him. Went to the sloth sanctuary, banana plantation & Playa Bonita beach. JJ is very knowledgeable and spoke non-stop for 4+ hours (and I mean that in a GOOD way). We learned so much.

 

The only thing we did not care for was the beach itself. The surf was VERY rough that day. Our DH's were only swimming about 10 minutes and got out cuz they were getting beaten-up pretty good by the waves. Us girls just stood in ankle/knee deep water and talked. The water is also NOT the Caribbean blue/green color that we expected.

 

The restaurant is right at the beach...we had a few drinks but didn't want lunch since we always eat too much on the ship.

 

JJ gets 2x thumbs up from our group! We would definitely use him again if we ever return to Costa Rica.

[S.E.]

You are all so amazing. Thanks so much. :cool: If I can ask another question, what was everyone's impression of Costa Rica itself?

 

 

Thanks.

[cruisin zonies]

Thank you. I emailed JJ a couple days ago. We are going to do the Veragua Rain forest, Canals and zip line. I mentioned that my daughter really wants to pet a sloth. He said he knows someone and will have my daughter pet a sloth without having to go to the sanctuary.]

 

When we toured with JJ in March, there was a young boy at the Banana Plantation with his sloth for people to handle or take pictures with.

On the canal, there was another young boy with a small crocodile for an "upclose" view. Both expected tips----

 

The sloth sanctuary was a good distance from the Canal, and would have cost

$25PP extra to visit.

 

 

We are booked with JJ for our Freedom stop in September. From every map I can find, it appears that the Sloth Sanctuary is in Cahuita (near Cahuita National Park) which is south of Limon by about 43 km/ 24 miles.

 

Tortugena Canals are to the north of Limon and Veragua Rainforest looks like it's due west. Is this correct?

 

Can you tell me where the banana plantations are and where were they in your tour (beginning, middle, end)?

 

We are touring with JJ but we are heading south, going to the Jaguar Rescue Center and Cahuita National Park. Do you recommend that we stop at the banana plantation? Most in our group don't find the idea interesting so I'm researching to see if we will be missing something if we don't go.

 

And did you stop for coffee? Was that at the end of the tour and was it pretty quick?

[cruisin zonies]

We used JJ the 2nd week of April and would also highly recommend him. Went to the sloth sanctuary, banana plantation & Playa Bonita beach. JJ is very knowledgeable and spoke non-stop for 4+ hours (and I mean that in a GOOD way). We learned so much.

 

The only thing we did not care for was the beach itself. The surf was VERY rough that day. Our DH's were only swimming about 10 minutes and got out cuz they were getting beaten-up pretty good by the waves. Us girls just stood in ankle/knee deep water and talked. The water is also NOT the Caribbean blue/green color that we expected.

 

The restaurant is right at the beach...we had a few drinks but didn't want lunch since we always eat too much on the ship.

 

JJ gets 2x thumbs up from our group! We would definitely use him again if we ever return to Costa Rica.

 

Can you tell me a little more about your tour? Did you go to the Sloth Sanctuary first? How long did it take to get there?

[grandmato4]

 

 

We are booked with JJ for our Freedom stop in September. From every map I can find, it appears that the Sloth Sanctuary is in Cahuita (near Cahuita National Park) which is south of Limon by about 43 km/ 24 miles.

 

Tortugena Canals are to the north of Limon and Veragua Rainforest looks like it's due west. Is this correct?

 

Can you tell me where the banana plantations are and where were they in your tour (beginning, middle, end)?

 

We are touring with JJ but we are heading south, going to the Jaguar Rescue Center and Cahuita National Park. Do you recommend that we stop at the banana plantation? Most in our group don't find the idea interesting so I'm researching to see if we will be missing something if we don't go.

 

And did you stop for coffee? Was that at the end of the tour and was it pretty quick?

 

Can't answer your questions about location since I don't remember exactly where it was located but I can say that when we did our tour with J.J. in 2009 we visited a banana plantation and packing facility and we were amazed at how much we enjoyed it and learned about bananas from J.J. We hadn't expected to learn and enjoy nearly as much as we did and we heard others on our tour comment the same way that we did.

 

If you have the opportunity to visit a banana plantation with J.J. I'd say that your group will likely enjoy it but if it just doesn't fit into your schedule and you are able to see and enjoy all the other things that are at the top of your groups list then I wouldn't worry about not seeing it.

 

Our last stop before returning to the ship was at a large grocery store in Limon where we purchased coffee and vanilla for very reasonable prices. J.J. gave us recommendations on the different coffees we had to choose from. We thought it was interesting that the cash register rang the purchases up in both their own curency and in US dollars. It was a quick stop at the grocery store but very worthwhile:)

[cruisin zonies]

thanks grandmato4! i appreciate the advice :D

[Docpaxel]

:)I booked a tour for our group of six, and then opened it to fellow travelers on our cruise. We ended up with 20 happy tourists----

Kathy

 

:)

J.J.'s e-mail address is joiner72@hotmail.com Hope you enjoy your port day in Costa Rica as much as we did ! :)

 

Thanks for the tip We just booked our March 5, 2011 Celebrity Equinox trip with JJ

[ncmomof2]

We had a great day with JJ in March 2009. I highly recommend him! You can read my description/review of our day with him here.

 

I just got an email from him and he wanted to let you all know that he now has a webpage at http://jjcostarica.bravehost.com/index.html

[rsail203]

You posted that you booked JJ for March 5th. We're on that cruise and are thinking of using him. Can you tell me where you're going and if there's room for 2 more people?

Thanks, Rich

[Rackytoronto]

We just back yesterday from a Panama Canal cruise and stopped at Costa Rica and booked a tour with JJ. He is just the nicest man you'll ever meet. He bent over backwards to make our Costa Rica experience truly memorable. As an example, JJ climbed a 12 foot chain link fence to get close up pictures of a 3 toed sloth with everyone's camera. We went to a banana plantation, took a boat up a river where we saw abundant wildlife, and we went to a beautiful beach. He then took us to a local supermarket in town that sold Costa Rican coffee for $3.00/lb. which was half the price at the tourist shops. I give him my highest recommendation. A comparable ship tour was twice JJ's price.

Can some send me JJ email address.

Many thanks

Rochelle

[girlofthewest]

I used them on a Princess cruise in 2010 in December and I got switched. We had four of us on this tour and it was horrible. They brought us to a horrible beach with garbage all over and the trip through the rainforest was on a dumpy boat. The driver drove way too fast. We didn't know the other two people....a mom and daughter but we all thought it was horrible. tread lightly.