FAQs

No, we do not charge any additional fees or fuel surcharges. The listed price of the tour is the price you pay. Some tours do include a small VAT sales tax which will be shown to you on the Cart and Checkout page. Some tours do offer some optional extras (such as additional activities, rentals, transfers) which can be paid through us or with the tour operators. We will advise if you want to book these optional extras and how you can pay for them.

For the most part you do not need to print your booking to show the tour guides on the day of your activities – most of our operators will have your names and booking on file. We also love to save paper here at Eco Tours & Travel. However, it is always a good idea to keep the digital receipt incase this needs to be shown to the guide. You can simply keep your booking in your emails or take a screenshot of the booking which is to be shown to the guide if necessary. Otherwise, you can simply contact us if needed.

This will depend on the tour operators, but we generally we will not take payment until either the day of the tour or up to 24-48 hours before your tour or activity begins (unless specified). This is incase the tour needs to cancel due to inclement weather or unforeseen circumstances.

Some of our operators require an additional VAT sale tax of about 8% (to be increased to 13% later in 2023) per a person. Other operators have already included the VAT sale tax in the price of the tour. The tax on these tours has already been worked out for you and will be shown to you in the subtotal of all your tours and activities (which can be seen on the Cart and Booking pages).

Under the tours description you will see a tick and cross list of all services, activities, food, etc, which is included and which is not included in the tour or activity price.

The 10% booking is added automatically to anyone who books more than one tour or activity. The most expensive tour or activity in your cart will be paid at full price and all subsequent tours or activities will have a 10% discount deducted from the final price. If the cart does not show the 10% discount in the total, complete the booking anyway and we will manually include the 10% discount on your reservation when we take the payment.

Recommended clothes for particular tours can be found on the “Bring” section under the tour/activity description. Though Costa Rica is a tropical country, there are also a number of regions with “micro-climates”. For example, many activities inside the central valley may be at cooler temperatures than you were expecting due to it’s elevation, while activities along the coastline tend to be in warm tropical weather. Please dress accordingly. Likewise, Costa Rica’s rainy season is usually between May and December and it’s normal for rainstorms to appear throughout the day. For that reason it might be recommended to bring a rain jacket or light poncho on some tours.

Everything that we suggest you bring can be found below the tour or activity description under the “Bring” section. As a rule of thumb, it’s always a good idea to bring things like cameras, additional money (if needed), sunscreen, etc. We do advise that you avoid bringing unnecessary valuables and to keep things like phones, wallets, etc, secured. We are not liable for any items that you may have lost on your tour or activity.

Reservations can be cancelled a full 48 hours before the day of your excursion or activity for no cost (unless specified). Within 48-24 hours of the tour departure there will be a full charge of the tour or activity with the exception of unforeseen circumstances such as emergency situations or happenings fully outside of your control (flight cancellations, etc). There are one or two activities that we offer which do require things like a non-refundable deposit (such as the Tamarindo Fishing Charter). Similarly, any private tours or tours for large groups (usually 10 or more per booking) may result in a penalty if cancelled after a certain date. We will advise the specific cancellation policies for these bookings.

We do consider ourselves reasonable people and for us it would be a lot better to simply move your booking to a different date or move you to a different tour or activity than cancel. We ask you contact us as soon as possible if you need to cancel or amend any tours or activities.

If you do not show up to your tour or activity (i.e. no-shows), then you will be charged the full amount for any activities you booked with us for that specific day. Likewise if you cancel the day of the tour. If you do need to cancel your tour or activity with us, please contact us as soon as possible.

The 10% booking is added automatically to anyone who books more than one tour or activity. The most expensive tour or activity in your cart will be paid at full price and all subsequent tours or activities will have a 10% discount deducted from the final price. If the cart does not show the 10% discount in the total, complete the booking anyway and we will manually include the 10% discount on your reservation when we take the payment.

The reason you cannot book a tour for tomorrow is because we need at least 48 hours notice before your tour or activity begins. This gives us enough time to confirm your booking with our tour operators and providers. If there is a tour that you would like to book with us for tomorrow, please call or message us directly so we can confirm that their is availability.

Yes, you can change the date of your tour or activity provided you give us at least 48 hours notice before your tour/activity date.

Yes provided it fits within our cancellation policy and that we are given notice of at least 48 hours before the departure date. Please email or call us if you would like to amend or change a booking.

Though many of our tours operate in rain or shine, the answer to this question is yes, in some conditions inclement weather can make conditions unsafe for our travellers and tours can be cancelled. Poor weather conditions can also cause things like road closures and very rough seas in rare cases. If a tour or activity does have to cancel due to inclement weather, you will either not be charged for your tour or activity or offered a full refund.