Costa Rica Educational Trips | Caribbean Experience

CARIBBEAN EXPERIENCE EDUCATIONAL TRIP | 8 DAYS / 7 NIGHTS PACKAGE

For your Costa Rica Educational Trips, Greenway Tours offer this exclusive school package for experience the best of Costa Rica.

VISITING: San José, Tortuguero National Park, Puerto Viejo de Limón. 

ACTIVITIES:  Hiking, Swimming, Birdwatching, rain forest, whitewater rafting, banana plantations, indigenous communities, national parks.

LETTER CODES: (B) Breakfast, (L) Lunch, (D) Dinner. 

Day 1. WELCOME TO COSTA RICA (D). Your Costa Rica Educational Trips start with the group arrival to the International Airport Juan Santamaria. Upon arrival at the San Jose airport, you will be met by one of our representatives how will explain your itinerary, answer any questions and provide you with a package with vouchers and information about your trip. Transfer to Hotel Park Inn and free time at leisure.

Optional and depending on arrival time: City Tour: Visiting: San Jose, University of Costa Rica, San Pedro, Principal buildings as National Museum, National Teather, Congress, Yellow House, Plaza de la Cultura, Gold Museum, etc. Residential areas and principal Malls. Welcome Dinner.

Day 2. TORTUGUERO NATIONAL PARK: (B, L,D). Our exclusive journey to Tortuguero from San Jose is an amazing experience where you will enjoy a pleasant bus transfer to Guapiles Town. Along the way, admire the pristine rainforest of the Braulio Carrillo National Park and Biosphere Reserve declared by UNESCO in 1988. Crystal clear rivers and beautiful waterfalls will be part of the landscape that you can enjoy during this short transfer. Once in Guapiles Town, a stop will be made to enjoy a delicious typical breakfast. Continuing the journey through the lower parts of the Costa Rican Caribbean, crossing extensive plantations of bananas, pineapple, cocoa and other agricultural products common in the area, we will reach Caño Blanco, an area of rivers and lagoons where a boat awaits us and will take us to deeper in the jungle and our final destination Tortuguero.

The boat trip will take about 90 minutes and it will be a one-in-a lifetime experience surrounded by a great variety of flora and fauna. Upon arrival to Tortuguero, enjoy a refreshing drink and a delicious Lunch. After you get your room, get comfortable for explore the area and visit the museum, the beach area and the small and picturesque town of Tortuguero. A delightful dinner will be served upon arrival to the lodge. 

Day 3. TORTUGUERO NATIONAL PARK: (B, L, D).  Discover Costa Rican flavors as you enjoy breakfast at the lodge.  Get ready to hike Tortuguero Hill or travel along the well-known Tortuguero Canals and have the experience of your life in this unique paradise of magnificent flora and fauna. After the tour, Enjoy a delicious lunch at the lodge. During the afternoon, take your time to enjoy our private trails, ride a boat through the canals or just relax. Dinner at the hotel. OPTIONAL NIGHT TOUR: Walk on the beach and admire the green turtles nesting (July through September). 

Day 4. TORTUGUERO- PUERTO VIEJO DE LIMON. (B, L, D).  After breakfast, departure by boat and bus to your next destination: Puerto Viejo de Limon. This area located in the southern Caribbean of Costa Rica is an amazing place with lots of natural resources, pristine beaches and culture. Upon arrival, check in at Atlantida Lodge or similar. Evening, dinner in Town and Exploration.

Day 5.  INDIGENOUS TOUR AND CULTURAL EXPERIENCE (B, L, D). Breakfast at the lodge and departure to the tour.

The Bribri Indigenous Territory Tour is an excellent way to spend the day experiencing the richness of the Pre Columbian culture of Costa Rica. You will have a cultural, anthropological and natural immersion in the Watsi Bribri Community in the foothills of the Talamanca Mountains.

The tour begins with a hike in the rainforest which will lead you to a waterfall. You will observe the tropical flora and have the opportunity to see red frogs and maybe other inhabitants while you relax and enjoy a refreshing swim in the natural pool.

Then, you will visit a medicinal plants garden to learn about the indigenous natural treatments and healing powers of the plants, trees, roots, leaf’s, barks, etc. You will be hosted by the medicine man or medicine lady.

Finally, you will meet a traditional Bribri family of five generations to learn about their way of life, their heritage and resources for farming, cooking, healing, building and hunting, using organic materials found in the surrounding forest.

After crossing a hanging bridge and walking through a cacao plantation, you will reach the house of the family. You will engage in the ancestral organic chocolate process using Pre Colombian tools which has been passed down from generation to generation. At the end of the Chocolate making demonstration you will be able to taste the Chocolate that has been freshly made experiencing the distinct flavor of pure organic chocolate. You will have a lecture of medicinal plants and their use. You will participate in a hunting demonstration with typical bow and arrows with a Bribri local.

After this activity, return to the lodge and lunch. In the afternoon, Free time for visit the beach. Dinner at the lodge.

Day 6.  VISIT MANZANILLO WILDLIFE REFUGE AND BANANA PLANTATIONS (B, L, D). After a full Costa Rican breakfast, our driver will take the group to Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge for a nature walk in a beautiful pristine rainforest and hidden beaches. The Gandoca Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge is situated in one of the most stunningly beautiful regions of Costa Rica. Located just a few kilometers north of the Panama border in Talamanca County, this wildlife refuge protects some the region’s most endangered flora and fauna. Lying on the Caribbean coast of Limon province and bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the east, this refuge is classified as a humid tropical rainforest and looks after the only natural mangrove oyster beds found along the reefs of the coast. 

Encompassing several rare habitats like a lowland rainforest, a wetland and a mangrove swamp, the Refugio Gandoca Manzanillo also safeguards the only Orey and Jolillo palm swamps in Costa Rica. This wildlife reserve is very important from an ecological point of view because it contains the only intact mangrove swamp in the Atlantic, and the primary lowland small rainforest found here is the only one of its kind in the region. A unique habitat, this reserve includes a 10-kilometer beach strip, a 740-acre forest, a coral reef and 2 swamps. The Refugio Gandoca Manzanillo is also the nesting area for several species of turtles, manatees, crocodiles, caimans, tarpons and dolphins. The turtle nesting season here lasts from March to May.

After the visit to this protected area, lunch in town before to continue our journey to one of the multiple banana plantations in the area, where many interesting facts about this amazing fruit will be explained: The Crop, harvesting, processing, packing and exportation. Costa Rica is the second largest banana producer in the world and 80% of the plantations are in Limon province, becoming one of the most important economic activities in the region.

After all this, return to the hotel and free time. Dinner in Town.

Day 7. WHITEWATER RAFTING TOUR & RETURN TO SAN JOSE. (B, L, D). Breakfast at the hotel and departure to San Jose. On the way back, we will experience one of the best adventure tours in Costa Rica. The Pacuare Whitewater Rafting Tour.

The Pacuare River is the best choice for white water rafting Costa Rica. No other adventure trek in the country exists that offers you a perfect blend of wilderness exposure and excitement, all in one day.

Pacuare is world famous for its sheer beauty. A true river gorge, it is flanked by steep, green walls. Here you enjoy the feeling of total isolation from urban life and the realness of being connected with nature. 

You see waterfalls cascade into the river from both sides as colorful, tropical birds fly right over your head. Amazing views of this virgin tropical rainforest area appear before your eyes as you descend this true exploratory land. Wildlife is abundant, with sloth, toucans, parrots, coatis, morpho butterflies and colorful frogs being common sights.

The white water is equally exciting. It is not an overly challenging river, but it has a lot of rapids, therefore giving you an adventure filled with lots of fun. The 18-mile one day run includes a total of 52 rapids. Few rivers in the world can offer you so many.

The first 4 miles consist of fun class II-III rapids which is a perfect time to test your new river skills and gain confidence in your team. Here you can find pockets of secondary growth forest that is extremely beautiful. After about 40 minutes we will enter the famous Pacuare River Gorge, which is 5 miles of some of the best white-water rafting Costa Rica has to offer. You will also see the Huacas watefall, a 150 foot dramatic drop into the river. After the gorge the rivers opens up to a 5 mile stretch on the Valle del Pacuare, where the river has a different character. It is wide open, which gives you the opportunity to rest a bit and take the opportunity to do some wildlife spotting. The forest remains just as lush, and the rapids just as fun.

During the tour a Pick Nick lunch is included. After all this amazing experience, you will continue to San Jose until arrive to Hotel Park Inn. Free time and get ready for the Farewell Dinner.

Day 8. TRANSFER OUT & GOODBYE. (B) Transfer to the International Airport according with your scheduled flight and good bye.

RATES: Please contact us for a quotation indicating number of students, adults and possible travel dates. Rates based on Triple & Quad occupancy for the students and double rooms for the teachers. No single rooms available unless a single supplement is paid. 

CHAPERONES:  One free ticket for every 20 students.

MINIMUM: No minimum

INCLUDE: 7 nights lodging in high quality Hotels, all land transportation within Costa Rica, all airport/ hotel transfers on scheduled arrival/ departures dates only, specified meals, specified tours, private transportation and naturalist tour guide. 

NOT INCLUDED: International air fare, airport departure taxes, meals not specified in the itinerary, alcoholic beverages, personal equipment, extras in hotels (laundry, phone calls, room service), gratuities, or costs associated with changes in your itinerary for reasons beyond our control. 

WHATS TO BRING: Hiking Shoes, Bathing Suit, Binoculars, Camera, Beach Sandals, Suntan Lotion, Hat, Mosquito Repellent.

Greenway Nature Tours is a Certified Travel Agency and Tour Operator by the Costa Rican Tourist Board with special certification in Sustainable Travel (CST). We are members of SYTA (Students Youth Travel Association). For more Costa Rica Student Travel Programs visit our main page: https://greenwaytours.com/tours/student-tours-to-costa-rica/