Not to be missed! - We had a wonderful day with our guide Juan, who drove us from Puerto Limon down to see the indigenous Bri Bri people in southern Costa Rica. He took us to one of their settlements where we were shown many local plants and how they were used for food, medicine, and clothing. The highlight of this part of the tour was making chocolate. We watched and helped! our Bri Bri hosts roast the cacao pods over an open flame, crushing the hot pods with rocks using a primitive mortar and pestle and then grinding the small chunks into pure cacao chocolate which we enjoyed mixed with roasted banana. Yum! This part of the tour was more than enough to make a fun day, but this was only the first part. We then started to head to Cahuita National Park, but not before stopping to hike down to a nice waterfall and enjoy the cool water (bring a swim suit!) en route to Cahuita. We hiked along the trails at Cahuita National Park and enjoyed the beach and scenery before beginning our trek back to Puerto Limon. However, the day wasn't over yet as we stopped for a nice lunch with our guide Juan in Cahuita, enjoying a traditional lunch with beverages before heading back to Puerto Limon. Juan could not have been a better guide, teaching us new words in both Spanish and the native Bri Bri language, pointing out wildlife and other things we might have missed, and all around ensuring that we had the best day possible. We highly recommend the tour and can't say enough about our guide for the day, Juan. Thank you!

Michael Jackson - Our driver and tour guide (Michael Jackson) were outstanding. Funny, polite and very knowledgeable. Would really recommend them to anyone. He took us to the sites, helped us on and off the van, let us enjoy beautiful Limon at our own pace.

Fun and so many great surprises - Catherine our guide was amazing! She started with giving us the history and culture of Costa Rica. Then the chocolate tour with the Birbri Indians was amazing. It was so humbling to learn the benefits of nature and see it being used by the natives. We then did a short hike to the waterfalls. So serene and beautiful. We ended the tour with the national park where we saw lots of monkeys and even a blue morpha butterfly. We were told these butterflies are only seen in the rainforest. Everyone was so kind and I can’t speak highly enough of Catherine and her team. Definitely would recommend.

Awesome guide and tour! - We arrived into port late. The company rearranged the tour for us to see the most important first. Enrique was so knowledgeable, spoke excellent English. I would definitely use them next ttime we visit!

Well worth it! - Our tour guide Juan was amazing! So knowledgeable and fun. He made sure we saw everything we wanted to. Great driver too- he was safe and got us back to the ship in plenty of time. Highly recommend!

Outstanding small group or family only personalized tour. - We booked this tour through Trip Advisor and it could not have gone any better! This is a personal tour with your group/family in a taxi. The representatives of Syltravel Day Tours were very easy to find when you get off of the cruise ship. They are located in a red tent, in the area where travelers are met. This was a very short walk from the cruise ship. They had my wife and myself pre-registered from our Trip Advisor booking. As soon as we arrived, they placed us with Juan (Taxi 278). He served as both our driver and our guide. Check out with the port authority was easy and we were on our way to the chocolate forest and national park tour. It was about a one hour drive to the chocolate forest tour. During the drive, Juan was like having a personal Google of information about the plants, animals and the people of Costa Rica. Along the way, he would stop to show us monkeys in trees, a sloth or other interesting sights. We found a cashew tree and tried the fruit from it. At the chocolate forest tour, a native Indian family introduced us to many of the rainforest plants and trees and Juan provided the translation. The end of the tour took us to a native hut where we participated in converting the raw cacao beans in to chocolate. We roasted the beans, ground them with a stone, removed the husks, and then processed them through a fine grinder making them into chocolate. We then got to sample this with roasted and fresh bananas. We also had this mixed with hot water to try the ceremonial drink and then the more family drink mixed with brown sugar and powdered milk. Processed balls of the chocolate were available for purchase. We then went to the Cahita National Park where Juan continued as our guide. He again pointed out several sloths, monkeys, butterflies, enormous spiders and a venomous eyelash snake. At the end of our walk through the park, we found a vendor selling coconut milk and fresh fruit. TIPS: There is a moderate amount of walking in the native area and some of it is over some moderately steep inclines. There is also a moderate amount of walking on a well marked, flat path in the national park. This is not a suitable tour for those with a walking impairment. Ask for Juan if he is available.

Great experience. - Enrique was a wonderful guide. Knowledgeable and patient with our questions. The transportation provided was clean and well maintained. Mario our driver was great at assisting the ladies in and out if the vehicle. I highly recommend this tour.

Amazing Excursion! - Our guide was amazing!! Monkeys, raccoons, and a caiman! Enjoyed experiencing the chocolate making process. The tour was fantastic! We Highly recommend to friends and family!

Great value, great sights, and great guide! - Enrique, our guide, was magnificent! We were given several opportunities to enjoy the local populace and sights, making it more intimate. Definitely would do this tour again, and I’d request Enrique!

Misrepresented - not really about chocolate - This excursion is misrepresented. It says you will taste chocolates (chocolateS plural) from around Costa Rica, which you do not (only one). It says you will make your own chocolate bar, which you do not. It says there is a "chocolate creation lab" but there is not. This was an interesting tour but chocolate was a very tiny part of it - less than 10 minutes for us to mostly watch them make some hot cocoa. No bars. The tour guide was very good and we did enjoy it but we were really excited about the chocolate part and that was a big let down. The transportation was great and air conditioned. They took us to a great spot for lunch (although it was very expensive tourist prices). The stop for fruit was really not a thing (more like a gas station) and we opted not to do the banana plantation thing bc we saw the fields from the car and that was really all it was. Overall I don't think I'd do this one again since the chocolate wasn't what it was represented to be.