Costa Rica vacation, off the beaten track

Planet

Making a difference to planet and people underpin our itineraries and travel philosophy, across destinations. Costa Rica is one of the best examples of this, if not the best example of this, in the world. As a hot spot for eco conscious travelers who are keen to immerse in local culture in a meaningful and informed way, we have gone above and beyond to ensure that we maximise the positive impact of international travel in the locations that we offer.

One of our central USPs is that we work with locally owned, boutique style special stays as opposed to international chain hotels. This works twofold, by providing the traveler with a once in a lifetime experience full of authentic, local flair and also supporting the local community through investment in locally owned ventures and the employment of local staff. Many of these hotels and independent guesthouses also have policies to reduce their environmental impact. For instance in Boca Tapa you will stay in a unique eco lodge which is part of the Green Circle Hotels Program together with 5 other outstanding eco lodges in Costa Rica. They also feature blogs on their website like ‘Sustainable Travel In Costa Rica’, where they describe the conservation and protection of our natural resources as a pillar of sustainable development.

Carbon reduction policies extend beyond accommodation. As part of your tour package, you will also enjoy a range of excursions and activities that have been checked and vetted by our team. These involve a range of human powered transport such as volcano hikes and small boat transfers. All our trips can be made vegan and or vegetarian friendly on request and our helpful assistance travel with zoe can give specific food recommendations to accommodate more environmentally friendly choices.

As a business, we are keen to practice what we preach. As a UK team, we recycle 80% of our waste in a closed- loop system, work in a b-corp office space, and are working towards b-corp status ourselves. We also partner with Earthly, a company that chooses nature based solutions to invest in the future of the natural world. This aims to protect, better manage and restore ecosystems while addressing global challenges. All of Earthly’s projects remove carbon, restore biodiversity and improve livelihoods. A £5 donation is added to each parties itinerary as standard. Environment and wildlife

We are a proudly nature positive tour operator. This is realised through our itineraries in multiple ways.

Due to the unique location in an immersive natural environment, our places to stay naturally bring the traveler into closer proximity with the environment, ensuring their reconnection to nature. This is an investment in their future interest in sustainability. Due to this proximity, the accommodation is also invested in rewilding and other nature protection projects, and many of the tours we offer are operated through their local guides.

Many nature based excursions contribute to the travelers renewed investment in the natural world, from staying in Tortuguero, to climbing Arenal volcano and wildlife spotting in Boca Tapada.

Our travelers will pay entrance fees to all national parks and similar spaces, helping to support the upkeep of these protected areas.

Even before take off, we offer tools to our customers to encourage sustainability, carbon reduction and caring for the environment both at home and away. These include 'zero waste while traveling: our top tips', as well as our 'make it meaningful policy' that promotes animal welfare (underpinned by our relationship Animondial, an animal welfare group), 0 waste (exemplified in our almost entirely paper free office), and a slower pace of travel. We’re serious about this animal welfare stuff and want to do everything we can to improve the welfare of animals in tourism. We’ve therefore teamed up with animal welfare experts, Animondial. Their vision is to minimise tourism’s impact on animals, natural environments and the people that depend upon them. They’ve helped us to improve the welfare standards of our trips even further and create long-term plans to support animals in tourism. Best of all though, we’ve worked together to create an [](http://animondial.com/animal-welfare-starter-kit)Animal welfare in tourism starter kit for small businesses, to help other travel companies improve their animal welfare standards too.

As a team, we believe that protecting the environment goes hand in hand with building stronger communities, which is why we have both lead and joined in with beach cleaning initiatives with surfers against sewage, and local community gardening initiatives.

People

Our trips aim to put positively impacting local communities at front and center of our itineraries, as local interactions are what make our trips so fantastic.

We work with small, boutique style special stays full of authentic flare work twofold by offering you a unique experience and also supporting local business ventures and local employment, thus supporting the local economy. During your trip, there is a wealth of local shops, cafe’s, bars and restaurants to visit and enjoy. This helps bolster the local economy further.

We are constantly looking for meaningful trips which give back to the community and add something really special to our customer's experience in Costa Rica. During this itinerary you will stay in a Tico Village where you learn how to cook traditional Costa Rican food and learn about rural life. This is a fantastic initiative that supports and champions women in particular.

One of the key aspects of our itineraries is that we work with local partners who are based in country in order to provide the most authentic insight into everyday life in the destination, and divert from the usual tourist trail (which is important when considering the mitigation of environmental degradation in tourist hotspots) but also supports the country's economy even before our customer has touched down as the local partner helps to develop their itinerary. Our local partner in Costa Rica has sustainability at the forefront of their ethos and they have demonstrated this by achieving the highest level of 5 leaves as part of the Certification for Sustainable Tourism Program. This program is based on the degree to which they comply with a sustainable model of natural, cultural and social resource management. This influences their choices when it comes to accommodation and excursions they offer.

We maximise local economic opportunities further by using only locally owned excursion companies where you will meet and learn from expert local guides throughout the trip on excursions, for instance when wildlife spotting in Boca Tapada. These local guides can tell you all about the wildlife, plants and trees here and how best to protect them (and help you spot them!).

Costa Rica is world famous for progressive LGBTQ+ rights.