We just returned from a fantastic vacation in Playa Hermosa. There were 10 in our group, 2 families of five. Our accomdations were two 3 bedroom condos in a small development called Sol y Mar; (Beachfront Properties)Right on the beach the condos were luxurious and well thoughtout ,with pool , grill and beautiful views. However the best part of the trip was using a tour ompany called Avispa Adventures. www.avispasadventures.com

We contacted Amy one of the owners and she helped us plan 4 different tours for our week long stay. Her advise on what and when to do things was spot on. I can't imagine we would have experienced Costa Rica in the amazing and close up way we did with out her help. Avispa Adventures is licensed and insured (important thing when booking in this area!) Amy's guides and drivers were fun and informative and again we can't say enough great things about this company. Using Avispa Adventures helped us see many things we would have missed trying to figure it out on our own.

We had read the reviews on trip advisor and contacted Amy at Avispa to arrnge a tour.We ended up chosing the Miravalles all day adventure and had a great time. Amy responded promptly to our emails before the trip, she contacted us by phone when we arrived in Costa Rica and followed up with all the details.

We met Roy and our drive in the morning and had a lot of fun. Roy was very knowledgeable about the coutnryside and what we were seeing as went went to the canpy tour, to the volcano etc. He was a great guy.

Van was well supplied with water and other drinks. Everything went off without a hitch.

We wanted to do more tours becasue we enjoyed this one so well,but the tours lost out to sitting on the beach and enjoying the weather and scenery. Not becasue ofa ny problems with Avispa. There is so much to do we are already planning our next trip and Avispa willbe part of it.

We spent a week in C.R. with friends. It was their 20 year anniversary and our 15 year anniversary. Four forty-somethings had an incredible time! Amy Lentz and her husband Jose run the business. Amy is from Baltimore, she moved to C.R. about 11 years ago. She is VERY knowledgeable and helpful.

I e-mailed Amy that we were coming and arranged for pick-up at the airport. She e-mailed a confirmation and asked if we had any day trips in mind. She offered advice on her favorites and we booked 3: the Miravalles Volcano Adventure, the All Day Beaches Tour, and the All Day White Water Adventure. We decided tour tour every-other day. My husband couldn't believe I was going to do all this (I might break a nail!) but I did and it was breathtaking! NOTE: C.R. phone system is a little "shaky". Amy sometimes doesn't get your e-mails!! Try sending them a couple of times. I actually called her and finalized our arrangements.

The miravalles Tour was amazing! Jose picked us up-just the four of us-and we drove to the volcano. There was a cooler in the back full of water, soda, beer, wine and snacks. He stopped several times to let us take pictures and shop. He was a wealth of information about the people, vegitation and towns--anything.
We arrived at the base of Miravalles to do our Zip-line Tour. Again we were the only 4 people in the place. We had 3 guides helping us the whole time it was amazing!! The last zip-line is over 1200 feet long!! Afterwards we walked over and had an amazing home cooked C.R. lunch--delicious!! After lunch we drove farther up the volcano until we could go no further. Here we changed over to horseback for about 45 min ride further up. We dismounted and started up a jungle trail and popped out at a 100 foot long hanging bridge that traversed a gorge with a 100 foot waterfall roaring down it--STUNNING! We crossed the bridge and hiked up the trail to 3 more falls. All the while we are the only people for miles! After hiking and riding back down to the van, Jose drove us to the Thermals (bubbling mud pits and steam vents). We had a little tour of the area and the covered ourselves with beautifying volcanic mud (it didn't work!) Then we rinsed off and sat in the thermal pools. Jose brought over some wine and we soaked our forty-something bones for a while. Jose stopped at the grocery store in Liberia on the way back so we could buy the special sauce we'd had at lunch and some more of the delicious C.R. wine he had served us earlier. Jose had been catering to us for 13 hours, yet he smiled and thanked US when he dropped us at the resort.

The Beaches Tour was our second trip with Avispas. Amy and a driver picked us up this time, again it was just the four of us for the day. We had said we wanted to do some snorkeling so she took us to Playa Conchal, a beach made up of all shell bits instead of sand. Next we went to a restaurant on the beach. I sat with my toes in the sand and had a platter full of lobster, jumbo shrimp and calamari! ($17.00 USD) From here Amy toured us around until we ended up at PLaya Hermosa for the sunset. Another wonderful day!!

Our last trip was the All Day White Water Adventure - you have to ask about this one because the 'All Day' isn't on their web site yet. The other couple we were traveling with were not so thrilled with the white water idea but agreed to go since our first 2 trips had been so amazing. It did not disappoint--class III and IV rapids in the middle of the jungle! Please do not let this scare you away it really is a well run operation and they stress safety. We had good quality life jackets (not the little orange cheap things) and helmets as well as knowledgeable guides. There was also a guide in a "safety" kayak on the river with us at all times. They tell how to paddle, when to paddle, when to get-down in the boat and what to do if you get tossed. :) Yes....we got tossed. On our second class four chute we flipped, but really not that big of a deal. You get wet and you get to the edge and then back in the boat you go! It was a bit scarey when it was happening - because its happening so fast- but lookng back it wasn't that bad. We survived the "BIG ONE" with out tipping. An S-shaped 12+ foot drop - (Hail Mary pray for us NOW! this IS the hour of our death! :) Just kidding - None of us would give this day back for anything! DO IT! After we got off the river they shuttled us back for a nice lunch at the restaurant over looking the Coribici River. The rafting company also takes pictures of you and you can purchase them in CD form. We paid $35 for about 75 pictures of us on the river and 250 pictures they had pre-loaded of C.R. wildlife.

AVISPAS offers many adventures just google their website. They are a first class operation with first class service. KUDOS to Amy and Jose for making this the trip of a lifetime!!

Please feel free to contact me with any questions. I'd be glad to offer some insite.

Great personalized tour from Amy at Avispa - she's patient and knowledgeable and works hard - we compared our full day adventure with others at our resort and ours was much better in quality and time spent at attractions - the group never exceeds 6 and on ours it was only 4 people. We saw a large part of Guanacaste province and the neighbouring province and did the Miravelles Adventure for $130/person which included: horseback riding, local shopping, zipline/canopy tour, hike up two waterfalls, lunch, snacks and beverages, and hot springs/mud bath. Great day for adventure in Costa Rica.