tortuguero infocenter tours

After reading the good reviews about Tortuguero Infocenter Tours on Tripadvisor, I emailed Victor a month before my trip, asking if I could book a 2 day tour with him. The email communication between us was short and clear. I had no idea that Tortuguero is such a heavenly place and I would enjoy Victor’s tours that much.Victor arranged Jungle Tom Safaris to pick me up in downtown San Jose, met me at the dock of Casa Marbella (a great B&B I chose to stay), helped me on checking in and explained all the tours to me.Victor is a local legend. He is highly recommended by several tour books. I found that Victor is much more a naturalist than a tour operator. He knows all the animals, birds and insects in Tortuguero. His knowledge about plants qualifies him to be a college professor. The 2 hour nigh walk with Victor was a lot of fun. We found some amazing red-eyed tree frogs. They were so cool! But the best experience was the canoe tour next morning in Tortuguero National Park.Since we were in the canoe, we could not only circle the islands but also go inside when the water level was high to get a closer look on the plants. We saw a lot of wildlife: howler monkeys, caimans, green basilisk, gray-necked wood rail, yellow-crowned night heron, etc. Comparing to the people who were packed on the big motor boats, I felt like a celebrity, having a private tour.Seeing how much I enjoyed the tour, Victor took me for another canoe tour in the afternoon instead of a jungle walk in the park (the national park admission is good for the whole day). What a treat! We saw so much more, including spider monkeys, sloth, more basilisks and iguanas, adult caimans and baby caimans, river turtles and more birds. The most impressive bird Victor spotted was a boat-billed heron.Going to Victor’s tours was the best decision I made for my trip to Costa Rica. I benefited from reading the reviews written by his previous guests. There were two people talking to Victor before the afternoon canoe trip. I encouraged them to join us, but they didn’t. Big mistake! They had no idea what they missed. Of course, you may still do fine for getting a package from one of the big lodges in Tortuguero. It is such a beautiful place, you will have good time. But if you are a nature lover, I would strongly recommend that you take Victor’s tours: you pay less, see more, eat better in the village, and take home unforgettable stories to brag to your family and friends.Victor is passionate about Tortuguero and its conservation. He enjoyed seeing the wildlife as much as I did. On the personal side, Victor is good family man, a proud husband and father. He speaks perfect English, he is easy going and has great sense of humor. I loved the time we exchanged some monkey stories.Coming back from a 12 day trip in Costa Rica to the frozen east coast of the US, I kept thinking how much I like to visit the country again in the future. Costa Rica is indeed a beautiful country with its volcanos, cloud forest, beaches and national parks, but it is the warm, kind Costa Ricans like Victor made us want to go back. Thank you! Victor, for the wonderful experience in Tortuguero. --Julia

We had a wonderful tour of the canals, I would recommend seeing them via canoe over motorboat so that you can get in the smaller canals and not disrupt the wildlife. We saw many birds, lizards, caiman, and the highlight, a kinkajou. According to Victor, they are never seen during the day. Victor was an informative guide with an amazing eye for spotting things we would never have seen. He also went above and beyond taking us around town and recommending restaurants. This is a must do trip.

Victor Barrantes was terrific. He arranged for round trip transportation from San Jose to Tortuguero, 3 tours (a morning boat tour by canoe, an afternoon jungle walk, and a night walk), and accommodations at Casa Marbella (we didn't want to stay at the less expensive/hostel type place). He was quick to respond to all my questions by email both before and after I decided to go with him, and he was extremely knowledgeable and really really nice. Also very honest and reliable. I am really happy that I decided to go with Victor. I saved a ton of money by not going with one of the lodges, which would have been around $280/pp. I think I paid a total of $320 for me and my husband, including transportation to/from San Jose/Tortuguero, two nights lodging and the 3 tours. The only things that weren't included were the meals and the entrance fee to the national park ($15/pp). We were glad we were able to choose which restaurants to go to (and what to order) since the reviews of the lodge food were terrible. We also liked that we were free to decide what to do when we wanted, rather than being herded like cattle on a big organized tour. I also liked that there were only 2 other customers on the canoe ride/boat tour and I was the only one on the jungle tour (my husband didn't want to go since his knees were hurting him). I was also glad that we were in a canoe rather than on a larger motorboat since a motorboat would not have been able to go into the small inlets that we were able to go into. We were able to see more wildlife this way. Victor arranged for the boat to take us directly to our hotel rather than dropping us off at the main visitor's center in Tortuguero so we didn't have to walk with our luggage in the rain, and he arranged for the boat to pick us up at our hotel the day of our departure.

We booked 2 tours on the same day: early tour in canoa and night tour to see the turtles. Both tours have been amazing experiences (excellent explanations and knowledge led us to see caimans, monkeys and birds amongst other things) and it was very pleasant to start our trip in Costa Rica like this! Thank you Victor!!

I booked three tours with Victor and all were great. Highly appreciated him using a canoe versus motorised boat as this gives you a much more intimate experience while navigating through the canals as well as lets you to get into more narrow canals where bigger boats don't go. Great night turtle spotting tour and an excellent walk in the jungle which ended up spotting some baby turtles hatching on the beach on a late afternoon. Victor possesses great knowledge on the local flora and fauna, is a passionate naturalist and a great individual to be around! I am sure my stay in Tortuguero wouldn't have been the same without his guidance, eyes and ears!! Also, very flexible with bookings and easy communication via email prior to my arrival which put my travel plans at ease and very trouble-less .Highly recommended and I would definitely use this service again!

We book 2 tours with Victor and they were both exceptional! The 1st one was to see the turtles laying eggs in the evening and the 2nd one was a canoe tour. The knowledge of Victor is just unbelievable! He was able to locate animals that took us a few min to locate and also he knew the area like the palm of his hand. We would definitely recommend Victor for any kind of tour in Tortuguero!!!

We took the 1 night pack. And it was great. Victor know everything about the jungle and he is the most nice person ever. He just helped us in any little thing we asked fir. Thank you Victor :)

I want to thank Victor and the Tortuguero Infocenter for a beautiful welcome to Costa Rica. Tortuguero was my first stop in Costa Rica and thanks to Victor and his staff my eyes were opened to a new world. His knowledge of local wildlife, plants and passion to educate others was outstanding. I went on a canoe tour through the canals where Victor pointed out caimans, jesus christ lizards, sloths, numerous bird species, monkeys and medicinal plants. I also went on a great hiking tour where we saw a variety of butterfly species, snakes, monkeys, beautiful frogs and ended up eating a delicious lunch by the beach and kayaking down the canal. I would highly recommend Victor as a guide, he is a true naturalist and is extremely passionate about his work. Thank you!

You know when you go on vacation, it's good to meet people who are connected, right? And it's even better to meet "The Guy" - you know, The Guy who knows everyone, knows how to make things happen faster, cheaper, and/or better... Well, VICTOR IS THAT GUY in Tortuguero. You literally can't go wrong. Very deserving of 5 stars.

It was an amazing experience. We got up at 5 a.m. to be the first ones at the entrance of the Tortuguero National Park. Definitely worth getting up so early since we were the only ones in the canals being able to see animals which would have been gone later. We saw a lot of birds, monkey jumping from tree to tree, caiman babies getting out of the water, spiders, turtles, otter family .... incredible.Our tour guides Victor and Carolina were very friendly, explained us a lot about the animals and even sent us pictures about our trip since our camera run out of battery after taking tons of pictures of all we saw.I can highly recommend going with them on a tour. They also had some very good tips regarding dining and others tours in Costa Rica.Thanks again for the awesome time with you guys.

Short version: BOOK WITH VICTOR NOW! He is beyond amazing, and you will be in great hands! He's funny, informative, and extremely friendly. Long version:**THE TRIP**I don't even know where to begin when it comes to reviewing Victor. The back story: I was planning a trip to Costa Rica for 5 people, and it feels very foreign to me to have someone say "don't worry about paying now, your email is fine to confirm and I'll see you then!". I guess I was worried that we would show up, and not have our guide show up. And the trip would be ruined.Boy, was I wrong.Firstly, Victor is AMAZING at putting your mind at ease over distance! He responded to all of my emails promptly, helping answer questions as to what the tours would be like, suggesting an itinerary that would maximize our time, and helping defunct stories that bad tour operators were telling me over email (like having a private guide was impossible in Tortuguero, ya right).Secondly, our flight got cancelled and that put a massive damper in our plans as we were suppose to go on a turtle night tour with Victor the day we landed. I was stressed all day while we tried to get on the next flight out, stressed that we would miss more of the tours we had signed up for, or would have to pay for something we cancelled at last minute even though the circumstances were beyond our control. Victor was my calming voice through-out the panic. He answered all my emails with complete calm and said "don't worry, we'll make it work". And he did! His flexibility was great in rearranging our tours so that we still managed to go on most of them even though we arrived more than a day later than originally scheduled.In addition to the great tours (where he definitely knows more English and Latin than the average guide), Victor was sweet enough to arrange transportation to/from our hotel for us and even send us some photos he snapped of our group as we explored the area. He made our entire duration in Tortuguero outstanding. We just needed to show up, and he took care of the rest. HIGHLY, HIGHLY RECOMMEND!**THE TOURS**1. Jungle Walk: Our first event was a walk through the jungle, where Victor blew us away with his knowledge of the primary and secondary forests, the animals and the history of the area. He pointed out animals that we would have missed completely, helped us set up for photos and managed the right pace for a group.2. Turtle Night Tour: Victor took us on a nice 2-mile stroll along the beach in the pitch dark in search of nesting leatherbacks. Even though we didn't find any, I didn't feel that we had wasted our night. Victor was informative through out the evening, found other animals for us to look at, and kept us amused the entire night so that we didn't feel so let down about not finding any turtles. (I would probably recommend you go during green sea turtle nesting season, as they are easier to find).3. Canoe Tour: This is the best! Watching the hotel motorized boats overcrowded with 40+ people squished together and trying to spot animals, while we paddled quietly around, was extremely amusing. I have no idea how anybody managed to see anything on a boat that size. The canoe ride was perfect. It's private and intimate. Victor pointed out to us the different types of birds and animals in the area, and took us in back canals that the larger boats wouldn't have been able to even see. It was very enjoyable.And so, if you made it to the bottom of this review....what are you waiting for? Book with Victor now!

Victor Barrantes was incredibly knowledgeable as he guided my family and I through the canals. He speaks perfect English and is very personable and friendly. With Victor as our guide, we were able to see tons of wildlife and learn about the ecosystems in Tortuguero. The beach tour was also fantastic. I will never forget this experience! Gracias Victor! Pura Vida! :)

Spending 2 days exploring Tortuguero with Victor was the most memorable part of our trip!! Victor was an amazing naturalist who could sight and identify endless fauna and flora in Tortuguero. He was welcoming, accommodating and knowledgeable, and provided us with a wonderful experience that we will remember for a long time. We saw many wildlife (i.e. monkeys, frogs, snake, birds, lizards, caiman, sea turtle etc.) and flora during our tours. We especially enjoyed the early morning canoe tour and the encounter with a Leatherback turtle nesting at the National Park beach at night.We highly recommend Victor at Tortuguero Infocenter and hope to visit again soon.Nora and Bill ShangIthaca, NY

What a memorable two days with Victor at Turtuguero! A genuine, decent and knowledgable tour guide and always put his customer in the first.Hopefully see you soon, Victor!

Contratamos una salida nocturna y el paseo en canoa al amanecer (en total 45$ por persona). La salida nocturna fue bastante floja porque casi no vimos nada. Obviamente, la fauna es algo que no se puede controlar y cuando no se quiere dejar ver no hay nada que hacer, pero ahí un buen guía marca la diferencia porque sabe como adaptar sus salidas a las condiciones de cada caso. Según Víctor no pudimos ver casi nada porque iba a llover y los animales se había subido a las partes altas de los árboles. Sinceramente, su explicación no me convenció demasiado... Como ni siquiera pudimos ver la ranita verde de ojos rojos, nos llevó después al jardín de su casa donde finalmente sí pudimos dar con ella. Creo que debería haber sido más honesto y habernos recomendado de no hacer la salida, si las condiciones no eran buenas, o aún mejor, habernos llevado a la playa a ver el nacimiento de las tortugas, algo por lo que le preguntamos y que descartó inmediatamente porque se suponía que no era temporada de tortugas.El paseo en canoa a la mañana siguiente estuvo bien. Vimos bastantes cosas, aunque no más de las que luego hemos podido ver en otras salidas similares en otras partes de CR. Esto no es culpa de Víctor, si no más bien del sitio que tiene demasiados turistas. Lo que sí echamos en falta de Víctor es un poquito más de explicaciones sobre la fauna. Ni siquiera llevaba una guía para enseñarlos lo que, en muchas ocasiones, casi ni pudimos ver.Su trato fue muy amable, nos llevó al hotel y siempre nos vino a buscar a él, e incluso nos prestó unas botas de goma, además de organizar el pago de las entradas al parque y los alquileres de los botes en las dos salidas. No obstante, en el aspecto de guía naturalista le vi un poco flojo. Quizás es posible que nosotros esperábamos algo más avanzado...