An amazing experience with plenty to see. - Returned to the Occidental Tamarindo and was looking to go to Palo Verde to capture wildlife with my camera. Left early this morning around 7:30 am and took the hour and a half journey to the Cipancí Wildlife Refuge is a Wildlife refuge of Costa Rica, part of the Tempisque Conservation Area. I was hoping to capture a boat-billed Heron, and Kingfishers among other things and wasn't disappointed. Between crocodiles, Iguanas, lizards, we also came across white-face capuchin monkeys, a a sleepy howler monkey. Add to that several herons (blue, bare-throated tiger, green, and the boat-billed) we also saw a Amazon Kingfisher, a Northern Jacana encountering a small crocodile trying to make a lunch out of him.

Jungle Boat Tour and pottery luncheon - The tour was amazing. We started off watching an artist make pottery on a wheel by hand and explaining how the process works for painting, etc. Then our tour guide was very knowledgeable about the country and all the animals we were about to see. First saw a bunch of holler monkeys, and then arrived at the boat. We witnessed many baby crocodiles, white faced monkeys, and then had quite a show of 12 foot crocodiles. Well worth the time. Leo of Side by Side set many excursions up for us and we have not been disappointed.

Birds, Monkeys, and Crocodiles OH MY! - Exciting, informative and relaxing all at once. My wife and I could not be happier with the tour. Our guide was incredible. Very much a lover of his country, its preservation, its wildlife, and culture. He was also able to give genuine and informative answers to all questions. Leo is who we meet with at Occidental to book. He was open, welcoming and honest about the experiences and the pricing. A great man and a pleasure to have meet. HIGHLY recommend!!

monte verde, sloth sanctuary, catarata waterfall, jungle boat tours. - the views were absolutely gorgeous, and our guide Juan Carlos was so incredibly knowledgeable about every single thing you could think to ask. all of the guides would walk past a leaf that looked boring and then double take and pick it up and it would have a creature on it and they would be able to list off facts about them and answer every question you could possibly think of about whatever you saw. we did the tour of monte verde and the sugar cane, coffee, and cocoa plantantions as well as the sloth sanctuary, catarata waterfall and the river boat tour and each one was breathtaking. i could not reccomend a better company to book tours with.

Monkeys, Birds, Crocodiles and More! - Our guide Alex made this trip an amazing experience. He was so knowledgeable about the animals and about Costa Rica. While on the river, he and the captain pointed out howler and capuchin monkeys, so many types of birds and of course the crocodiles. Safety was always ensured as well as the utmost respect for the beautiful, diverse environment we experienced. The pace was just right and we had lots of time to take our pictures. The breakfast stop was perfect and the food delicious. Having the opportunity to watch the grandfather demonstrate pottery making was a bonus. Everyone we met was so kind and I highly recommend this excursion. Thank you to Alex and everyone we met for teaching us about your beautiful country!

Amazing wildlife interactions - We actually did the river boat tour, waterfall and sloth sanctuary with breakfast (9:30) and lunch (2:00). First this was a 12.5 hour day from Tamarindo that started at 6:30 a.m. At least 6 hours of driving. Second the tour van provides you with no food or beverages for 12 hours. So plan accordingly and bring your own water. You can get water refills at the two restaurants. The the driver of the boat did a great job of getting us up close to the wildlife. We had to make a stop in Farmacia to drop off one participant because she only did the river tour and went back to Tamarindo. The waterfall was beautiful and refreshing. We spent about 30 minutes there. The last place we went to with the sloth sanctuary near Bijagya. I was hoping to see more than two sloths at the sanctuary. But the guide did a great job of pointing out wildlife and various plants. Both breakfast and lunch were very good. We were served with fresh juice at both meals. Our driver did an excellent job navigating through insane traffic in Liberia. Our guide was friendly and helpful identifying everything. I would give this tour 5 stars had I known ahead of time I was going to spend so much time driving around.

More Riding, Less Touring - We were offered a combo tour with the Palo Verde Jungle Boat Tour, a trip to swim in the water fall and then to the sloth sanctuary. We were told we would leave at 6 am, and then it was changed the night before to leave at 7:30 am. We were told we would be back around 5 pm. What we were NOT told is that only about 2-3 hours of that was actually spent touring. The rest of the time, we were in a van in horrible traffic without any water or offers for breaks. We ended up skipping the waterfall because we just couldn't stand being in the van any longer. I think both of those trips are good, but NEVER try to do them both in one day. The delay in departure made it worse as well, as the traffic would not have been as bad earlier in the day. Our guide, David, and his father Willy were great, but the van time put a damper on what could have been a much better day.

Be aware of car time before you book - If you book an excursion with Leo and Side-by-Side at the Occidental Hotel in Tamarindo, make sure you ask a few questions. One is how long you will be in a vehicle/taxi. We spent nine hours in the back of a minivan/taxi on an 11.5-hour adventure. That’s nine hours driving, with at least one-third of it on bumpy dirt roads. Make sure to ask how far away the adventure is from your hotel. In Tamarindo, it was a 2.5-hour drive to see the crocodiles on the Palo Verde Jungle Boat Tour. Our group was convinced to add on the Sloth Sanctuary Wildlife Hike which was a three-hour drive from the river. Three hours in that taxi again. Then the drive was almost three hours home. We were so frustrated and sick of sitting in the car that we removed the waterfall adventure that Leo convinced our group to do for an extra $50 each. So make sure you ask the right questions about long drive times and short adventures. Fortunately, Willie and his son were patient and kind taxi drivers. Next, it is a bit unnerving to see no less than four signs saying not to feed the wildlife at the river… on the front of the bathroom, on the back of the bathroom door, two signs on the boat. But that didn’t seem to matter as the crocs were fed raw chicken and the monkeys were lured on the boat and fed bananas while sitting on people’s heads. But maybe you’re Ok with that. Back to Leo, make him be absolutely specific on hours and hours of car time for a few extra $$$. He did tell those who signed us up in our group how long we would be gone, but he didn’t say that that was nine hours in a car. Bring snacks and water. You’ll want it. And, you’ll need to pay cash up front.

Poor badly run excursion - We booked this tour from the Occidental Hotel in Tamarindo, we were not informed that the ‘boat tour’ would take from 6.30am to 1pm (6.5 hours) to go on a 1 hour boat ride. There was not really any jungle involved just the riverbank and we were left very disapointed that this 1 hour boat tour cost us £110 dollars a person and we lost half a day sitting on a coach. Def not good value for money!

There are better choices than this tour company - "Side by side ATV tours and Wild Life" seemed very disorganized. The transportation to the Jungle boat was very anoying in that we had to change vehicles mid way. The headline for the tour said "Palo Verde Jungle Boat Tour, Guaitil Pottery & Lunch"The tour was to include lunch; It did not! It appeared the tour operator could not get rid of us fast enough