Thank you again for another stess free trip. I will definitely be back to you to book my next trip.
Kept us informed. Answered our queries promptly. Delivered as required!
Brilliant service throughout. We’ll definitely be using the service again! I’ve spoken to various people in the team and all have been super helpful, especially our Travel Manager Molly. We loved our holiday/itinerary, all the information shared was detailed. A few hiccups along the way (all down to the airline and not DialAFlight!) which Molly supported us through immediately.
Marshall is excellent and I will continue to use him and recommend him to all my friends. 5 stars!
It was a faultless and wonderful holiday
Our case was damaged when placed on a boat on the first part of our trip - you are looking into this.
Sam was a great help in arranging the flights and we were delighted with the service.
I’d recommend DialAFlight to everyone. Ian was so helpful and knowledgeable about our flights and never too busy to answer my questions.
Ian Newton was so helpful arranging everything and kept checking in with me via emails and calls … thank you so much for a perfect experience as a solo traveller. I will definitely be in touch for future trips
Thanks Mark. Also the follow up call two weeks before travel. Impressed by that
Very impressed with the customer service - thank you Ethan
Definitely recommend. Fully communicated prior and during our holiday. Excellent customer support
Such a help to have a person to ask questions. Also to have a name, thank you Thomas. Also a pleasant surprise as United Airlines checked our cases through straight to San Jose from London. We did not have to pick up case and recheck. The flights were good.
Great company - used them many times. Would recommend.
Always available and extremely helpful with great advice.
I have flown with DialAFlight several times and enjoy the service and professionalism.
Great customer service, will use again!
Leah sent through information/details around our trip promptly and was very helpful throughout the booking process and in the lead-up to our trip. Would recommend using DialAFlight to others.
Troy Morris is a legend
I really appreciated the assistance of your emergency contact when I arrived at Heathrow to find that my BA flight to Madrid for a connection onto Costa Rica had been cancelled with no prior notice. Your service was excellent which is more than I can say for BA!
It was great to get reminders and a personal phonecall before leaving checking we were all OK and had any questions. The email with the online check-in link was really helpful.
Always answer phone within 5 seconds as they advertise. Very efficient. Email any changes to flights. Will use again
Brilliant service
Great communication and very helpful research as always
Outward flight American Airlines were very unhelpful. Virgin were brilliant on the way back..
I wanted my trip to Costa Rica to be as stress free as possible. Your help in booking the flights made this possible.
All flights arranged by Kylie were good and other than a long wait in Miami they were extremely well organised.
The only issue that I had was no vegetarian meal on the homebound longhaul flight. I do, however, suspect that this was an airline issue rather than DialAFlight.
Note that Ibis Styles does not have transport to airport and the buses from airport don't go there. Would stay somewhere else next time.
Great staff, always available to help with queries. Would definitely use again and recommend
She keeps popping into my head. No doubt teenage eco-warrior Greta Thunberg would approve wholeheartedly of Costa Rica's much-heralded efforts to look after its outstanding natural beauty.
But you just wish Greta would smile more, despair less and have some unadulterated fun.
Thank goodness the five-million people in this spectacular country - with Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the south - smile a lot and have fun. Ticos, as Costa Ricans are called, are gentle, welcoming and wear their eco-credentials lightly.
Almost three million people visit every year, with Britons at the forefront.
Despite its small size (roughly similar to Denmark), Costa Rica possesses more than five per cent of the world's total biodiversity, and its disbanding of its army in 1948 means huge financial resources have been ploughed into education, resulting in a literacy rate way above the Central America average.
Its slogan 'Pura Vida' (pure life) is apt considering the ancient rainforests, volcanoes, waterfalls, coffee plantations, national parks, hippy-dippy surf towns, rumbustious Pacific and calm Caribbean coasts, plus, topping the bill, wildlife comprising 250 species of mammals, nearly 9,000 bird species and more than 250,000 types of insect, including a quarter of the world's butterflies.
We flit back and forth between the two coasts and experience ferocious but exhilarating downpours, plenty of clear skies, high humidity and temperatures around 28 degrees.
In the capital San Jose we stay our first night at Grano De Oro, a colonial-style hotel.
Next day we head in our rental car west to the Papagayo Gulf, where Moroccan/French entrepreneur Mehdi Rheljari has opened a five-room eco-lodge called Kasiiya - one of the most exceptional projects I've ever seen, mainly because you might never know it's there.
Such is the minimal footprint of the tented suites that it's howler monkeys who have more of a presence. The young staff are totally committed to Mehdi's vision. A shaman-type character operates from a treehouse spa; barefoot Bruno, originally from Berlin, offers 'movement sessions' (some of which involve taking your cue from animals); and naturalist Manfred leads hikes pointing out the wildlife (with a tear in his eye when an osprey does a fly-past).
Even with Satnav our next drive, south to Santa Teresa, is a challenge on roads sometimes bumpy, sometimes with giant craters.
Perfectly positioned Hotel Nantipa has been open less than a year. Its modern design (teak wood and huge sliding glass doors) is in stark contrast to Santa Teresa's hostels, shacks and yoga retreats.Mel Gibson has a place in town; so does supermodel Gisele Bundchen.
David Cameron has spent Christmas near here, as has Canadian PM Justin Trudeau .
I'm not a surfer, but if I were this must be one of the greatest places to practise one's 'aerials' and 'backsides'. A two-day stay was far too short, but we headed next for Tortuguero National Park and sloths, iguanas, crocodiles, killer frogs and snakes.
We break our journey in La Fortuna and stay one night at the highly-recommended Amor Arenal. A nearby farm has its own nature reserve, concentrating on sloths. By definition they don't do much, spending hours wrapped around a tree branch.
La Fortuna offers white-water rafting, canyoning, zip-lining, horse-riding and hot springs, in the shadow of the country's biggest active volcano, Volcan Arenal.
The main access point to Tortuguero National Park is some four hours away, in La Pavona. Included in the rate at Tortuga Lodge is one morning and one afternoon safari.
Our final destination is Puerto Viejo in the far south-east. It's a colourful, buzzy little town where Jamaicans settled some 100 years ago. They came to Costa Rica to build the railways - and never left.
It's ramshackle but with a growing number of chi-chi shops, bars and restaurants.
We stay just off the main drag at a delightful little place called Aguas Claras, handy for the beach.
'We've left the best until last,' I tell Joanna as we head for supper at a restaurant packed with locals. Puerto Viejo is a glorious fusion of Central American and Caribbean cultures - and reason enough to return to this gentle and engaging country.
First published in the Daily Mail - April 2020
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