Avispas Adventures

Tours, Adventures, Travel in Guanacaste Costa Rica, Papagayo, Gulf of Papagayo. Owner/ Operators: Amy Lentz and Jose R. M. Vargas provide personal attention and service like no other at competative prices. A few hotels that we serve are: Hilton Papagayo, Sol Papagayo, Monarch Resort, Grand Papagayo, Allegro Papagayo, Four Seasons, Riu Guanacaste, Villa Sol Playa Hermosa, Bosque Del Mar Playa Hermosa, Condovac, La Finistera, Villa del Sueno, Marriot, Riu All hotels in Playa Hermosa, Playa Ocotal, Playa Panama, Playa del Coco, Playas del Coco, Playa Buena, Playa Conchal, Playa Flamingo, Playa Tamarindo, Potrero...just to name a few.

TOURS

Avispa's All Day Beach Adventure                              Click HERE for more info.

Avispa's Arenal Volcano Adventure                            Click HERE for more info.

Avispa's Bar Hopp'n Adventure                                  Click HERE for more info.

Avispa's Buena Vista Mega Adventure                        Click HERE for more info.

Avispa's Culinary Adventure                                      Click HERE for more info.

Avispa's Canopy Adventure                                       Click HERE for more info.

Avispa's Corobici River Adventure                             Click HERE for more info.

Avispa's Eco-Adventure                                            Click HERE for more info.

Avispa's Fishing Adventure                                        Click HERE for more Info.

Avispa's Guaitil Adventure                                         Click HERE for more info.

Avispa's Hidden Treasure                                           Click HERE for more info.

Avispa's Liberia Adventure                                         Click HERE for more info.

Avispa's Mega Water Adventure                                       Click HERE for more info. 

Avispa's Miravalles Volcano Adventure                        Click HERE for more info.

Avispa's Monteverde Adventure                                  Click HERE for more info.

Avispa's Naturally Adventurous, Adventure                  Click HERE for more info.

Avispa's Nicaraguan Adventure                                 Click HERE for more info.

Avispa's Palo Verde Adventure                                    Click HERE for more info.

Avispa's Rincon de la Vieja All Day Adventure              Click HERE for more info.

Avispa's Rincon de la Vieja Hiking Adventure              Click HERE for more info.

Avispa's Sailing Adventure                                         Click HERE for more info.

Avispa's Santa Rosa Adventure                                   Click HERE for more info.

Avispa's Scuba Diving Adventure                                Click HERE for more info.

Avispa's Turtle Tours                                                Click HERE for  more info.

Avispa's White Water Rafting Class II/III Adventure    Click HERE for more info.

Avispa's White Water Rafting Class III/IV Adventure   Click HERE for more info.

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Costa Rica Travel Facts: What You Need to Know When Traveling to Costa Rica

Entry Requirements: Currently a passport that is valid for at least 60 days past your return date and proof of a return/exit ticket is required.  Visas are not needed for stays up to 90 days.

Exit Requirements:  An airport departure tax of $26 is required.  You are able to pay this departure tax upon your arrival into Costa Rica by CASH or VISA only.  They will provide you with a form and receipt that is good for your length of stay.  By paying your departure tax upon arrival you could potentially save a lot of time and hassle waiting in long lines the day of your departure.

Single Parents traveling with a minor child:  Costa Rica is very protective of minor children and parental rights.  Avispa's Adventures recommends that you get a notarized letter from the parent not traveling with you, acknowledging awareness and giving you permission to travel in and out of Costa Rica with their child.  Although this is not a “Requirement”, it has on occasion proven to facilitate entry and exit. 

Time Differences: Costa Rica is the same as U.S. Central Standard and is not affected by day light savings.

Money Matters: The Official Local Currency is the Colon (Clones for plural).  Coins range from 5-500 and bills run from 1000-10000.  Paper bills of 100 and 500 are no longer accepted but are neat souvenirs if you happen to come across one.  The exchange rate floats against the U.S. Dollar.   

Most establishments take U.S. Dollars.  However, ask for the exchange rate before paying.  Everyone does not use the official exchange rate. For the most part, Costa Rican establishments do not take travelers checks and prefer cash to a credit card (Visa).  In fact some places may even offer a discount for paying cash.

Avispa's Adventures does not recommend bringing traveler’s checks.  The reason that most establishments do not accept traveler’s checks is because the local banks consider them a 3rd party intenational check and hence usually will not take them from the establishment.  If they do infact accept the checks, they will hold them, the same as international personal checks, for 45 days.   Avispa’s Adventures recommends using a debit/ ATM card to withdraw U.S. dollars (from a private bank's ATM) to access cash but to avoid caring large amount at one time.  By withdrawing U.S. dollars you will avoid the loss when your bank calculates the exchange.  Your bank may charge a foreign ATM fee, but experience tells us there is no fee from the Local bank to use their machine.

Water: For the most part the water is safe to drink.  I would not hesitate to drink the tap water in Hotels, restaurants and bars. However, if you are on a farm or the water is WELL WATER, think twice as the water is only as good as the way the treat it!

Tipping: Hotels, restaurants and bars automatically add on a tax 13 % and a service charge of 10 %, amounting to almost 25%. Therefore tipping in these environments is not required.  However,the service charge is split by the owner or the manager amongst ALL of the employees in the resturant .  For this reason if you feel like you received a good service,it is appropriate to demonstrate your appreciation with a tip directed directly to your server. We would recomend leaving the tip in cash.

Getting around by rental car:  Watch for signs and obey the speed limits, as speed traps are common.  Unfortunately, as a tourist, police sometimes try and attempt to charge on-the-spot- fines for speeding and or other traffic violations.  This is illegal. If it is a legitimate charge, the officer will give you a citation and should only be paid at police stations where you will get a receipt (factura).

In the case of an accident, DO NOT MOVE ANYTHING, INCLUDING THE VEHICLE!  If possible call the rental car company.  They can help you with calling the traffic police; otherwise the traffic police will eventually show up.  In the mean time, do not move the vehicle even if passer- bys or the other driver is trying to get you to move it out of the flow of traffic.  This would automatically put you at fault for the accident. The traffic officer will tell you when to move the vehicle.

Private transportation/Taxi:  Avispa's Adventures (licensed and insured to transport tourists) provides private transportation services with rates comparable to Costa Rican’s official taxis. Official Taxis are red with a yellow triangle with the taxi number painted on the doors. In the cities they use a meter (maria) to determine the fare.  However, in the less populated areas they do not use the meter so you should discus the fare before you depart. There aren’t enough official taxis to go around in the less populated areas. There are many unofficial “piratas” or Pirate taxis that drive their personal vehicle for public transport.  These taxis are not licensed and insured to transport tourist!   

Immigration:  Sometimes there are roadblocks where immigration officials are looking for individuals that are in violation of the immigrant status.  This is not a problem for most tourists, as long as you have your passport with you. (or a copy of the photo page of your pasport AND the page with your entry stamp)

Emergency: 911 is the best number to call for emergency assistance.  However, there are often private local emergency companies that provide quicker arrival times.  Ask at your hotel or Avispa’s Adventures for names and numbers of Private Emergency companies near where you will be staying.

Crime/Theft:  People often ask if Costa Rica is a safe Country.  My usual response is: Do you usually feel safe in the United States with your actions and the decisions you make?   Costa Rica is only as safe as you make it.  What I mean by this is that if you are engaging in activities that you know that you shouldn’t, than you are probably not safe.  But this holds true for anywhere.  In general, there aren’t life threatening crimes, but rather thefts, primarily from pickpockets.  Costa Rica is much safer than neighboring Central American Countries, but that doesn’t mean you should let your guard down. Some words of advice for any international traveler:

Don’t leave your personal posseions un attended (this include at the beach), don’t leave your purse hanging on the back of your chair, don’t keep your wallet/passport in you back pocket (especially on Public busses), don’t wear a lot of jewelry, don’t carry a lot of cash and keep copies of all important documents. 

I know that everyone enjoys a moonlit walk on the beach….but before you do ask at your hotel if it is recommendable.  In general, we do not recommend that you walk the beach after dark.  As this is not customary for locals, it labels you as a “tourist” and leaves you in a more vulnerable situation.

Lost/ Stolen Property: In the event that you loose your passport, travel documents or credit cards, make a police report and notify your embassy and immigration immediately. 

* Note: My personal experience from extensive international travel has taught me to always have a notarized copy of my entire passport.  If I am traveling alone, I leave a copy with someone at home, and one in the hotel, otherwise, I have someone else that I am traveling with, carry the copy.  In the event that your passport is lost or stolen, this will make your life so much easier when replacing your passport at your Embassy in a foreign country.

Electricity: The power supply is 110 volts, using the standard North America 2 prong outlet.  However, electrical outlets are not always grounded.  Be careful when plugging something in barefoot.  (In the upper-end hotels and resorts this is not a problem)  A surge protector is a nice thing to have with you to protect your electronic. Blackouts are common. (Especially laptops)

Bathrooms/Toilets: When looking for a public bathroom, ask for “servicios sanitarios or banos”.  However, don’t be surprised. You may need to take your own toilet paper and often, used toilet paper is thrown away in trashcans because the Tico plumbing can’t handle it.

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Helping Us Help Others

Avispa’s Adventures likes to give back to the communities in which it is based and tours. If you are interested in helping us, help the community, please take a look at the different ways you can help us, help others.

Helping the Kids of our Community

School Supplies/ Corralillos (Click Here)

Christmas for the underprivileged (Click Here)

Helping our Four Legged Friends (click here)

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Family of Friends From Canada Jan/Feb 2010

We were in Costa Rica the last week of January and first week of February 2010.  Our group included myself, & my two siblings, our spouses, my son and two good friends.  We booked two tours through Avispas Adventures.  I had read about Avispas on-line through reviews of our resort.  Although the reviews were geared toward the resort, I lost count how many folks
commented on Avispas Adventures and the great service/value they received.  I cannot say enough about their service.  We booked ahead by e-mail and got a phone call from Amy (to us in Canada) to discuss what experience we were looking for.  Customer experience/service is their number 1 objective and they really deliver - in spades.  Not only do they understand what
experience you are looking for, they anticipate your needs.  I also felt like our group was the only customer Avispas had (and I know they were extremely busy with excursions the weekend we were there).  But, everyone was very attentive.  They want to make the experience as personal as possible for the group.  No tour buses - just you/your group and the guides.   Amy accompanied us the Fiesta at Coco Beach and it was like going with your sister/aunt - very much like family (yep, she even had to put up with my two brothers - kudos for that one, Amy).  We left a video camera on the bus and returning it to us was absolutely no problem and they did everything they could to get it back to us quickly (so as not to miss taping any of our vacation).

Our first tour was to Miravelles Volcano.  What a day.  I won't go into the actual tour as it has been written about many times.  But let me tell you about our experience.  Hugo Boss and young William were our guides and they were fantastic.  We had a blast.   There was nothing they wouldn't do for us.  You want to stop and take pictures, just say so.  You want to stop and go shopping, just say so.  The day is yours.  I'm sure if we wanted to stop and skinny dip, they would have obliged (don't worry Amy, we didn't - lol).  Their knowledge of Costa Rica was beyond anything I would have expected.  And trust me, we had some pretty off the wall questions.  Learning about the culture, flora, fauna, language, food, etc. of Costa Rica was an added bonus to experiencing the excursion.  And, the champagne served to us in the hot springs was a nice touch.


The second tour was a trip to a local Fiesta (like a small town fair) in Coco Beach.  We tasted the local food and it was delicious.  We watched the bull riding and what an experience.  Local people running around teasing the bulls after the rider was finished.  Talk about entertaining
and scary.  The people were right on the field with the bull running around and would climb up the fence when he came to close.  It was great fun to watch.

Again, I can't even put into words how great this tour company is.  All I can say is....Amy you've got a gem of a company and you should be proud. Your customer service surpasses anything I've ever experienced and should be held up as a standard for other service industry companies to achieve.


Pam - Canada

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Making tamales at Community Center

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SPECIAL Friends!

We were in Costa Rica over Thanksgiving and couldn’t have been more thankful to have spent nearly the entire time with the team at Avispa’s Adventures. From the moment Amy (owner and operator with Jose) responded to my e-mail with “we’ll take you wherever you want to go whenever you want to go”, I knew that her team was extraordinary.

When we were met at the airport, it was even more apparent that this tight-knit group of knowledgeable, accommodating, genuine, dedicated and fun-loving guides was going to exceed expectations every step of the way. We took and I highly recommend their most popular tours including the Arenal Volcano, Miravalles Volcano, Palo Verde and Turtle tour. We also took a day-trip to Nicaragua, had a lovely woman named Ana come and cook us a traditional meal and spent others days on personalized trips planned by Amy to accommodate our sense of adventure and desire to get to really see this beautiful country.

If there was an alligator on the river… they found it.

If there was a party in the community center… we stopped to see the tamales being made.

If we were driving through the country-side… we laughed, learned and were comfortable on the way.

Amy and Jose run the kind of business that gives back to the community and their ability to cultivate strong relationships with those at the “must see” sites in Costa Rica, as well as their ability to develop fabulous rapport with clients, leads to an unparalleled experience in this magical place. Everyone I know who has been to Costa Rica has loved it but no one I’ve ever spoken to has had anything that compared to the vacation that Avispa’s Adventures can provide.

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Maureen & Tom Riha Miravalles Waterfalls

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Friends from Villa Sol

My husband I and came to Costa Rica on our honeymoon from July 20-25th, 2009 and had a great time. We did a bunch of research on the area and looked online and heard good reviews about Avispas tours so decided to book a trip with them. We are from Wisconsin and don't know Spanish that well, so were happy that Mario, our guide, was such a great translator for us along the way. We got taken care of pretty well--we even had someone pick us up from the airport the day we got there and dropped us off at our hotel and again dropped us off at the airport the day we left at 6am. And of course the van was always stocked with delicious Costa Rican munchies and drinks.

We did the Miravalles Volcano Adventure the second day we were in Costa Rica. In the end, it was just me, my husband, our own tour guide, Mario, and our personal driver, Carlos. It really was more personalized to what we wanted to do..The Mega Adventure was a whole day of fun--we went on a zipline canopy tour, which was my favorite part. For this part, we had Mario as our translator and guide as well as two other zipline specialists who assisted us. It was our first time doing this, so we were a little scared at first, but by the end we were even ziplining "Superman style"! Next we stopped for lunch at this excellent restaurant...we liked the salsa for the rice so much that Mario showed us a store that sold it and we took a little side-trip. After that we went horseback riding to the rainforest and then hiked with a new guide. On the whole hike, we were again the only people there. Beautiful waterfalls, trees and vines were everywhere. Next we rode our horses back, then went to this volcano area and ended up in a mudbath and then a natural hot springs. Mario brought us Costa Rican wine to enjoy as a treat in here. It was a busy day, but defintaly worth our money! We stopped at an ATM on the way back to the hotel. After we were dropped off, I noticed I lost my wallet! I called Amy in a panic and they cleaned out their car and Mario even went back to the market where we were last and asked around and looked for it. Luckily in the end another American had found it in the street where we got out at our resort (was I relieved!), but I was still very impressed with everyone's help at Avispas Tours.

At our hotel we saw a few buses come by with other travel agencies, but there were always about 50 people on the tours and maybe one guide...and from what I heard cost more for seeing less. Like I said, we only booked this one day trip and wanted to keep our options open, but after we had so much fun, we booked a second trip going on the river boat tour. Carlos and Mario picked us up from our hotel and on the way we saw some howler monkies and some crazy, huge catillars--so they pulled over so we could take some pictures. Again, on this trip were only my husband and I, so it was very personalized. There were other people besides us going on the tour, so since they were 25 minutes behind schedule, the boat guide took us on our own mini-boat tour for a half hour while we waited. The other boat guides did not speak English, or at least not much, so we were very happy that we had Mario with us. He was very good at identifying the animals and telling us more informaiton about all of them. We saw alligators, white-faced monkeys, howler monkeys, all kinds of lizards, all kinds of birds, and much more. It was another great tour I would recommend. We also stopped for lunch on the way back at a traditional Costa Rican restaurant. We had a great time and I know if we go back around the area we would defintely pick Avispas Adventure Tours again. Both tours were very personalized and unique...we had a great time! PURA VIDA!
Maureen & Tom

Maureen & Tom Riha Miravalles Volcano

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Renee and Burt Cheezem in Mud bath

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Lifelong Friends

My husband and I just returned from a trip to Costa Rica celebrating our 35th wedding anniversary. We learned about Avispas tours online and arranged in advance for the Palo Verde River trip and also the day long Miravalles Adventure. We have traveled internationally and usually avoid tours, but we were absolutely delighted by our experience with Avispas. Amy was fantastic in helping us choose the excursions we would enjoy most, and Jose, our guide for both trips, was knowledgeable, eager to please, and just a fun traveling companion. We saw fabulous wildlife on the river trip, enjoyed a great lunch at a small local restaurant, and had the chance to experience a bit of what community life is like off the beaten track. Jose was happy to give us extra time for a shopping side trip. The five hour tour stretched into a leisurely 7 hours with no extra fees. We quickly saw that this is the hallmark of Avispas Tours. The itinerary always remained flexible, and we were never rushed. On our Miravalles day trip, we were the only travelers. However, since we had booked in advance, Amy was gracious enough to give the standard group rate. We began with a morning of zip lining. We'd never done this before and were a little nervous about it, but the guides at Papagayo Canopy Tours walked us through the process, and two of them escorted us all the way, never pushing us to go more quickly than we wanted. It was the most fun ever! Then we enjoyed another beautiful meal at an open air restaurant including traditional Costa Rican coffee service. Then it was on to go by horseback to the hiking trailhead for Miravalles falls. The views were breathtaking. After the horse trip back down, we were able to hike around the volcano crater and enjoy the relaxing volcanic mud soak followed by a sauna and nature hot spa. We weren't sure about the mud bath, but Jose really encouraged us to try it. If you take this trip, it is not to be missed! I've never felt so relaxed in my life and didn't have a single sore muscle the next day. Again, our day was leisurely and self paced with time for shopping and even a stop at the grocery store for airplane snacks and bags of coffee to take home with us. On our way back to our hotel, Jose pointed out a small town that would be hosting a bull riding competition the following night. "That sounds like fun." we commented, and he immediately offered to take us if we were interested. We arranged it with Amy and for a ridiculously small charge for transportation, off we went. This may have been our favorite part of the trip. Everyone in town was there from the grandpas to the babies. Outside the bull ring was a small carnival and vendors selling, among other things, delicious barbecued ribs. We arrived early, so Jose took us to experience beers and a local shrimp dish at a small neighborhood bar. The bull riding event itself was a slice of local color and excitement. Amy came by to meet us as well bringing warm cinnamon churros for us to snack on . As we enjoyed the evening together, she also shared a bit of how Avispas is giving back to the community through events like the children's Christmas parties that were going on during our stay. We were grateful for the opportunity to help purchase some of the food for one of those outreaches and so excited to meet someone who is committed to making a difference in the surrounding community. As an ESL teacher, I've volunteered with similar projects in Ethiopia, and felt such an immediate kinship with Amy's passion for impacting kids' lives. While in Costa Rica we stayed at a large resort hotel that offered a variety of very corporate group tours. We were so thankful that we had connected with Avispas. We were never just a customer or "one of many." When we left we felt we had become lifelong friends with Amy and Jose. While we hugged and said our goodbyes, we knew that we would heartily recommend Avispas to anyone we knew lucky enough to be visiting Costa Rica! As we said to Jose and Amy both, "How do you thank someone for a priceless memory?"

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