Turtle Watching Tour

Let me start off this review by stating we were mostly with Lester who was GREAT. He was very kind and told us a lot about the turtles. Overall the experience was very strange because we thought we would be with a group but we were picked up by a separate taxi and driven to the beach where we would go see the turtles. Upon arrival the leader/owner of the company was called to be informed that we were there. He was very rude and seemed not to care that we were waiting with no guide. It was also raining. We got to the beach where no turtles, hatchlings, or our actual tour guide was to be seen. There was definitely a slight language barrier with Lester (also our tour guide was supposed to speak english) but he tried his best to make sure we were interested still. It was about 45 minutes to an hour later when the guide actually showed up with the tour group. (The tour was supposed to begin at 6pm he did not arrive till after). We had already decided to leave because it was thundering and lightening at this point. (The tour description states that good weather was required for the Tour. We were not informed that we should cancel due to the poor conditions). The guide spoke to Lester and didn’t seem to understand why we were leaving. At this point we hiked back to the car and went back to our hotel. The overall experience was poor.

The van we we’re picked up in was old and the the a/c wasn’t working properly. It did break down after arriving at the beach but a replacement arrived for the return trip and it was comfortable with strong a/c. Our guide Anthony was great, explained everything in English and made sure everyone had a chance to see the turtles up close. We saw a mother arriving on the beach. Another mother digging her nest and then laying her eggs and some babies going into the ocean. We had a great experience. I would recommend.

It was quite a drive from Tamarindo. The guide was knowledgeable and respectful of the conservation rules. We saw about 5 Pacific greenbacks in total. We saw them coming in and out of the ocean, 1 digging a nest and 2 babies heading for the sea. As a genuine nature lover it did feel intrusive to me. They say they can't see the red light but any animal would sense that human presence. That said, the tourists help fund the conservation.

Our tour guide and separate driver barely spoke any English which made both experiences difficult and not enjoyable. We wish we could’ve asked a lot of questions and been able to learn about everything possible. But we couldn’t due to the language barrier. Fortunately we ran into two other groups and their tour guides spoke English and we tagged along. I rated this an overall 4 due to we saw turtles and that made it an enjoyable and amazing experience. If we didn’t see the turtles I would’ve gave this a one or two star review. This really should be fixed and shouldn’t happen to another customer.