Gather for a welcome reception at Restaurante Grano de Oro in San José. Set within a restored tropical Victorian mansion, the restaurant offers an intimate introduction to Costa Rican hospitality and a chance to meet your fellow travellers.

Enjoy a setting where locally sourced ingredients meet refined cooking. The mansion’s garden surroundings provide a quiet contrast to the lively streets of the capital beyond.

Trace coffee from bean to cup at Café Sombra Verde in Sarchí. Go behind the scenes with coffee innovators to learn about sustainability-focused production, and taste freshly brewed coffee amid the gardens.

A special lunch inspired by Costa Rican coffee heritage adds a culinary dimension to the visit. In an artisan town known for its craft traditions, the experience reveals the care and knowledge behind one of the country’s defining crops.

Walk the Arenal 1968 Trail through rainforest and across the volcanic landscape shaped by Arenal’s historic eruption. The route offers views of Arenal Volcano and Lake Arenal, with forest and open terrain revealing different sides of the region.

Underfoot, old lava fields make the volcano’s recent history tangible. The contrast between dark volcanic ground and regenerating vegetation shows how this landscape continues to change.

Explore Arenal’s rainforest trails with an expert naturalist in search of sloths. Look into the canopy for two-toed and three-toed sloths, while keeping watch for monkeys, birds and other wildlife among the branches.

A naturalist’s eye helps reveal creatures that are easy to miss in dense foliage. Beneath the shadow of Arenal Volcano, the walk offers a closer understanding of the forest as a living habitat, rather than simply a scenic backdrop.

Meet members of the Maleku community for a private cacao ceremony in the Arenal region. Listen as your hosts share traditions and explain how their relationship with the forests, rivers and wildlife of northern Costa Rica informs their lives.

This is a personal cultural encounter centred on the community’s own voices. Through cacao and conversation, gain insight into Maleku connections to the natural world that a conventional sightseeing visit could not convey.

Follow a naturalist on a guided rainforest walk after dusk in the Arenal region. Listen to the changing chorus of the forest and look for nocturnal wildlife as darkness alters the sights and sounds of the trails.

The experience includes a private riverside dinner surrounded by rainforest. Sharing a meal beside the water offers time to take in an environment that feels distinctly different from the forest by daylight.

Taste Caño Negro’s regional food through a four-course lunch at Tocu Tent Camp. Each dish pays tribute to the area’s gastronomy and the ancestral influence of the Maleku people.

Set amid the wetlands, the meal offers more than a pause to dine: it introduces the cultural traditions connected to this landscape. The considered sequence of courses gives you time to appreciate how local heritage is expressed through Costa Rican cuisine.

Join an expert-led talk on local jaguar conservation at Tocu Tent Camp in Caño Negro. Learn about efforts to protect this elusive animal and the habitat it depends on; the focus is conservation, not a promise of a jaguar sighting.

Take part in a tree planting ceremony to support regeneration of the hacienda’s biological corridor. The activity connects the wildlife stories you hear with practical care for the surrounding landscape.

Step into the forest near Tocu Tent Camp on a moonlit nature walk. Look and listen for frogs, night birds and the quieter movements of wildlife as the Caño Negro wetlands settle into darkness.

Exploring on foot brings attention to details that can disappear in daylight: calls from the undergrowth, movement among leaves and the shifting sounds of the forest. It is a close-up way to encounter Caño Negro’s nocturnal life.

Savour a five-course tasting dinner at Tocu Tent Camp, with dishes showcasing the foundations of Costa Rican cuisine. The meal is designed as a culinary experience within the camp’s wetland setting, rather than a routine hotel dinner.

Take time over each course as the flavours offer another perspective on the country’s food traditions. Around you, the evening sounds of Caño Negro bring a sense of place to the table.

Glide by private boat through Caño Negro’s waterways, watching for migratory birds, caimans and monkeys among the wetland vegetation. The slow pace gives you time to observe the wildlife and the landscape it inhabits.

Step ashore to share lunch with Doña Rosi, visit Doña Carmen’s butterfly house and learn to bake traditional corn biscuits over a clay oven. These family encounters bring the everyday food and hospitality of Caño Negro into the experience.

Cook alongside local chefs in an intimate evening class in Caño Negro. Take part in preparing Costa Rican food and learn directly from the people guiding the kitchen.

The hands-on format offers a different connection to the country’s cuisine from dining alone. As you work with the chefs, discover the ingredients and techniques behind the flavours encountered throughout the journey, in a setting shaped by local knowledge and conversation.

Visit Llanos de Cortés Waterfall in Guanacaste, where a broad curtain of water falls into a natural pool edged by lush vegetation. Spend time taking in the setting, relaxing beside the water or swimming if conditions allow.

The waterfall offers a close encounter with Guanacaste’s natural landscape away from the Pacific shore. Its open pool and the sound of falling water make this a scenic stop worth experiencing at an unhurried pace.

Walk with your Signature Guide through Las Catalinas, a car-free seaside community on Guanacaste’s Pacific coast. Explore its colourful streets and plazas while getting your bearings among coastal pathways, cafés and ocean views.

Learn how the town was designed around walking and outdoor living. The orientation reveals the thinking behind its intimate streetscape and helps you appreciate the close connection between Las Catalinas and its coastal setting.

Explore Guanacaste’s Pacific waters on a private boat journey with a marine naturalist. Search for marine wildlife, learn about local conservation projects and snorkel in clear coastal waters.

Fresh tropical fruit, local treats and cold drinks are served on board, leaving time to take in the ocean between activities. The naturalist’s insights add context to what you see, making this both a coastal outing and an introduction to the region’s marine ecosystems.

Gather for a locally hosted farewell dinner during your stay in Las Catalinas. Share a meal with fellow travellers and revisit the encounters, landscapes and flavours that have shaped your time in Costa Rica.

Unlike an ordinary evening meal, this is a hosted occasion devoted to the group’s shared journey. Conversation and a celebratory toast provide a warm close to your time together on the Pacific coast.

Paddle across Lake Arenal with views towards Arenal Volcano and the surrounding mountains. Standing on the board gives you a quiet, water-level perspective on the region’s volcanic landscape.

This active Signature Day choice offers space to take in the lake’s broad horizons at your own pace. This optional experience is available at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to availability and conditions.

Float along the Peñas Blancas River on a wildlife safari, watching the banks for sloths, monkeys, caimans and colourful birds. The gentle journey lets you observe the riverside habitat without hurrying through it.

Visit a local family for a traditional lunch and hands-on tortilla-making, adding a personal introduction to Costa Rican home cooking. This optional Signature Day experience is available at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to availability.

Walk Místico’s hanging bridges in the Arenal rainforest, crossing suspended walkways above the forest floor. Look into the treetops for wildlife and take in views of the surrounding landscape from a different height.

The bridges reveal layers of the rainforest that are difficult to see from ground level, making the canopy itself the focus of the walk. This optional experience is available at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to availability.

Discover cacao’s journey from ceremonial drink to chocolate on a rainforest experience in the Arenal region. Learn how cacao was valued in earlier cultures, including its use as currency, and taste its rich flavours along the way.

The tour connects a familiar food with the plant and cultural history behind it. This optional Signature Day experience is available at additional cost and bookable on tour, subject to availability.

This journey is designed to deepen your connection to the country through food and drink. Expect a bucolic lunch with Doña Olga, Maleku indigenous cuisine at Caño Negro, and a celebration of Costa Rican cuisine throughout. Where meals are not included, your Signature Guide will be on hand with considered recommendations, whether you choose to dine together or enjoy the evening at your own pace.