Cycleventures will meet you at the airport and transfer you and your bike to our resort hotel on a lush mountainside just outside of San Jose. Help will be provided to assemble your bike.

This morning we’ll board a small plane that’ll wisk us to our waiting bikes on the Pacific coast for a short warm-up ride to a beautiful beach where we can eat lunch, swim and relax. Then we transfer to the five-star Villa Caletas, a spectacular mountain and seaside resort perched 1150 feet above the ocean.

This morning we’ll leave our hotel and begin our adventure east. Yesterday and today’s rides will be the hottest (by far!) of the trip but don’t worry the air will soon cool down. Highlights of today’s ride include viewing crocs from your bike and mango farms along route. We’ll ride on quiet roads overlooking the mountains of the Carara National Reservation to tonight’s hotel with a pool, great massages and wonderful music. Shorter 24 km ride available. Approximate vertical gain: 2200 ft.

This morning we start out with a beautiful 11 km climb to the town of Puriscal. Don’t stop for too long, this town records countless micro earthquakes everyday and is known for seismic activity. Tonight’s hotel is owned by and Italian and boasts a great restaurant. Pasta tonight! Approximate vertical gain: 3200 ft.  
From Santa Ana, we’ll transfer one hour to the next province, Cartago, where we begin our ride. Today will be interesting for coffee lovers as we’ll traverse info Costa Rica’s biggest coffee producing area. You’ll get to see how coffee is grown and picked and how it ends up in your mug. Oh yea, there’s lots of climbing today! You’ll be very happy when you roll into the picturesque town of Santa Maria. Approximate vertical gain: 5000 ft.
After a good cup of java, we’ll transfer an hour to Tierra Blanca where we start the 10 km climb to the spectacular crater of the Irazu Volcano at 3432 meters, Costa Rica’s highest active volcano. For those who want a very big challenge today they can climb 30 km to the crater rim. Then it’s downhill to the lush Orosi Valley where hot thermal pools at our hotel will be waiting for us. Approximate vertical gain: 4800 ft.

Today’s ride could make it into your top 10 of all time as we pedal though a variety of spectacular regions. We start out along the Reventazon River, one of Costa Rica’s major rivers, through coffee plantations and other interesting plants then we climb 2000 feet up the Turrialba volcano to the town of Pacayas where we descend 4500 feet to the Turrialba Valley, an area known as the main sugar cane producer in the country. Tonight’s hotel is absolutely exquisite. Approximate vertical gain: 3400 ft.
Time for a day off the bike. The Pacuare is one of the world’s most scenic tropical rivers and is a haven for rafting and kayaking. Feeling a little mellower? You can opt to chill around the hotel pool, go horseback riding or hop on your bike for a neat 30 km ride. Tonight we’re in the same hotel.

Our last day of riding will take us up and down more hills to the town of Siquirres where we’ll have lunch and then transfer an hour or so to the dock at Caño Blanco. Here, we board a boat that take us up a mirror-still river through the jungle and out to the Caribbean and to the Tortuguero National Park, which is only accessible by small plane or boat.  This park the most important breeding ground for the green sea turtle in all of the Caribbean. Expect to see crocodiles and turtles along the way and a myriad of tropical birds. Approximate vertical gain: 2000 ft.

Today we’ll join a conservationist for a guided boat tour in the surrounding canals and rivers. The park is famous for turtles, but there is lots of wildlife including three species of monkeys, manatees, toucans, tree frogs, macaws and more. You can also take out a flat-water kayak and explore the shores of the jungle or just lounge by the pool and sip tasty fruit drinks. Another nice option is to go for a long walk on the deserted beach to the car-less town of Tortuguero.

Early this morning we’ll take a water taxi across the canal to the runway and fly 30 mins to San Jose. Then it’s time to visit the interesting natural gold museum, buy some souvenirs and coffee beans before heading up to our resort hotel to pack our bikes.

Your guides will transfer you to the airport for your flight home. Bon voyage!

Van assistance is available for those who wish to shorten the longer days.