EXT Client Experiences

Tortuguero Transportation – Passengers Beware !!!

By EXT Clients ⋅ August 25, 2008 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

My friend and I decided to visit Tortuguero as part of our Costa Rican adventure. We had been advised that the trip from San Jose to Tortuguero would last approximately 8 hours including a 6 hour bus ride to the port and then a 2 hour boat ride to Tortuguero. As part of the hotel arrangements, the tour guides picked us up at our hotel in San Jose very early in the morning. In fact, the pick-up was scheduled for 5:45am. So early! Anyways, we departed for Tortuguero after picking up more people at different hotels. Since it was so early, we attempted to sleep a little bit. However, this was quickly made impossible. At around 6:30am, the tour guide starting interpreting what we were seeing. We thought at first that this would be a quick 10 minute presentation, however, we quickly found out that it was not. The tour guides talked the WHOLE way to Tortuguero. Therefore, we were unable to sleep and were very annoyed.

I must admit however, reflecting back on that day, it was, after all, an educational tour. One goes to Tortuguero to learn and not to sit on the beach and relax. Plus, I still remember the majority of the information that was shared as it was very informative. All the information was given in both English and Spanish.

After our visit in Tortuguero, we decided to visit Puerto Viejo which is also located on the Atlantic coast but in the Southern part. During our trip, we discovered that it was possible to take a water taxi directly from Tortuguero to Moin (which is the port next to the city of Limon). The company would then arrange for a taxi to pick us up in Moin and drive us directly to PuertoViejo which is about an hour away. The cost was 25 for the water taxi then another 15 for the taxi (each). We were told that it would take 3 hours. So, we thought that it would be a great idea (financially and time-wise). When the time came, we were waiting at our hotel for them to pick us up. The man arrived on time but in a scary looking boat without a shirt on and we were the only ones. He did not speak any English. He then took us to a loading dock just past Tortuguero and told us to disembark and to take our luggage with us. We then waited almost 45 minutes for them to get another boat and to find more passengers. Once the boat was filled, we departed for Moen. We were happy not to be the only passengers (especially since we were two blonde “cringas”!) The boat then travelled the 80 km journey. They had told us it was going to take 3 hours. However, in reality, the tour took approximately 5 and a half hours! It was a very long journey. Then, once we arrived in Moin, there was indeed a taxi waiting for us. However, I have never had such an uncomfortable ride! The taxi driver was wearing two huge gold rings on each finger with large gold chains and truly looked like a gangster. Again, he spoke no English. On the way to Puerto Viejo, he stopped to make a suspicious exchange with someone on the street, went to buy a case of beer and had conversations with people on the street on several occasions. Then, he brought us to another town called Calhuita and tried to convince us to stay there even though we already had arrangements in Puerto Viejo. All in all, it was not a very pleasant day!

If we had one word of advice, please stick with known companies! Smaller companies truly run on the oh so famous “Tico Time” and customers well being aren’t always their first priority. After this adventure, we realized that we should have taken the transportation that was arranged by our travel agent and not ventured off on our own. However, if you are adventurous, on a small budget and have a limited amount of time, this could be a good option for you!

This Blog post was generously submitted by Stefanie Brunelle.