Playa Flamingo

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Beach-mountain & Sloth Refuge Buggy Tour

Badge of ExcellencePlaya Flamingo, Costa Rica

BEACH MOUNTAIN and SLOTH REFUGE BUGGY TOUR

From $256.42

Select Date and Travelers

up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)

3 to 6 hours (approx.)
Pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Experience popular Costa Rican activities on this combination adventure tour. First, hop on an off-road buggy and hit the area's rugged terrain, riding through rivers and over mountain trails. You’ll head to a sloth rescue refuge, which rehabilitates injured, orphaned, or confiscated wildlife. The habitats are designed to provide a natural setting for the animals and allows visitors to experience up-close, safe viewing of sloths, monkeys, jaguars, toucans, pumas, and more. The tour ends with a stop at different area beaches.

Easily experience a jam-packed day of Costa Rican adventures
No prior buggy experience is required
Hotel pickup and drop-off is provided

What's Included

Bottled water
Local guide
Hotel pickup and drop-off

Gratuities
Alcoholic drinks

Meeting and Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Start time

08:00 AM

Pickup details

We can pick you up at at any other location near by the resorts listed.

What To Expect

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Wheelchair accessible
Not recommended for pregnant travelers
Children must be accompanied by an adult
May be operated by a multi-lingual guide
Stroller accessible
A minimum of 2 paying people per booking is required

Please check the Tour options and pricing that you are buying. Since the number of people does not match with the pricing the balance will be pay it at the pick up time in cash.
Child rate applies only when sharing with 2 paying adults
Transportation is wheelchair accessible
Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
Infant meals are not included
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

4.5

39 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

We perform checks on reviews

Showing 1-10 of 39 reviews

Adventure and Learning - A Must for Animal Planet Watchers!!!

IAN_O, Dec 2023

Miguel the Tour Guide was amazing. He was so knowledgeable about all the animals in the Rescue Center. It was the highlight of our trip to Costa Rica! We also noticed that visitors to the Rescue Center that didn't have a guide like Miguel were following us and listening to him - he was just so knowledgeable about all of the animals and talked about them in such an entertaining way. You should do this tour!!!

Amazing experience with a local touch!

Melissa_B, Feb 2023

Alex was beyond amazing. He took us to a local waterfall and swimming hall for a refreshing dip during our tour. He showed us the culture by sampling some Vino de Coyol and topped it off with a beer at his local bar, where his wonderful friends taught me to play dominoes. it was one of the most hospitable experiences we have ever had. I feel so grateful to have met all these wonderful people and the awesome tour experience.

Highly recommend

Candice_J, Feb 2023

We had an amazing time. Our guide, Miller, was wonderful. He was full of information, super friendly and provided us with a fabulous adventure and tons of information about this beautiful country

Sloth and buggy fun

Susan_S, Jan 2023

Awesome guide, Miller was so great! Insight to his family history made it very special!! Loved it! Alex was super also! Made a great team!

Great guide and great company

John_E, Dec 2022

Alex was the perfect guide, very knowledgeable, planned a great route. Explained all about the animals of Costa Rica. Great time, perfect adventure. I really like the fact that Miller and his wife, the owners, are building their small business, and doing it in a quality way. A lot of personal attention, and care for their guests. Highly recommend this company, this adventure and Alex the guide.

ATVing was the trip highlight!

Carey_G, Aug 2022

Miller was a great guide. After some initial confusion about pick-up, the ATV trip was the highlight of the vacation for everyone--it was fun and so much to look at. It's the single thing everyone agreed was the most fun. It was also great seeing Miller on a hike later in our trip with his family, he clearly loves what he does and loves introducing people to Costa Rica.

Rainforest off-roading, monkeys, frogs, snakes and sloths!

Bradshaw_L, Jul 2022

What a fun day with Miller! He was a fantastic guide and was very clear in his directions of which route to follow and when to shift to 4 wheel drive. We had an adventurous day with the buggy, going through deep water and over washed away roads. He stopped to show us Howler and Capichun monkeys playing in the trees. We stopped at a waterfall and the beach. Then we went to the Diamonte Refuge and he was so knowledgable explaining about the big cats, frogs, venomous snakes, birds, sloths and more. The animal refuge is a must see! We would highly recommend this tour or any tours with Miller!

Buyer beware - only 2 sloths and poorly maintained ATV’s.

Anthony_C, Jul 2022

We had 4 families, 17 people, book this excursion. We did other excursions in Costa Rica and this one was supposed to be the top one for us, per the reviews and the marketing of this excursion. Buyer beware: This tour is advertised as a buggy and “sloth refuge”. There were only 2 sloths in the entire refuge. We were expecting it to be an excursion with a lot of sloths. Poor titling on the excursion makes people think it’s a sloth refuge, when there are only 2 sloths. I had 6 of the 17 on my booking. We had 2 ATV’s for our group of 6. Both of our ATV’s broke down. One two seater Razor stopped running within the first 10-15 minutes. The guide tried fixing, but couldn’t, so another guide offered up his quad, which only one person in that 2 seater razor drove (the wife had to jump in one of the other groups ATV). My four seater, Honda…not too fun like the Razors, overheated a few times and finally about a mile from the finish I had to stop the ATV as it was smoking very badly as I was going up a steep public road (yes, about a third of the excursion is on public narrow roads with regular road traffic). Overall, the people are nice, but the ATV’s need to be maintained much better. The beach restaurant was a hole in the wall, but the food was great. I requested a full refund for our excursion, but Miller only offered $500 refund to avoid bad reviews (he specifically told me this). I then asked him to refund $500 for us, and $500 for the other two families with us as they all had to wait while our ATV’s were broken down. He declined my requests. I’m not satisfied with the refund, and all 4 families on this excursion agree that it was not worth $250 a person as all the kids were hoping to see a lot of sloths, the adults expected Razors (or ATV’s that wouldn’t break down) to do some fun off-roading.

Response from Host, Jul 2022

To our future clients We want to clarify that the review made earlier by Mrs. Carla Cordova and this one made by Mr. Anthony were part of the same group. As we explained before, we greatly appreciate the comments of our clients, since this makes us grow as a company. However, in this case, the clients, despite all the conversations we had with them after the tour, were unable to reach an agreement regarding the refund they wanted. We offered them a refund despite the machines can fail at any time and for any reason, as a company we accept our mistakes and we care that our customers have the best possible experience. We clarify that there was never any intention, never a threat as they say so that they would not make any kind of bad review. The refund of the money was never subject to not making a bad review, otherwise it is to ensure the satisfaction of our customers. That day they took 2 and 4 passenger machines since most of the group were people under 18 years old not allowed to drive those vehicles according to the laws of Costa Rica. This was done in order to ensure the safety of the entire group, since as we have previously clarified for our company, safety comes first. Our tours are focused on our clients having a real Costa Rican experience. That is why if our clients want to have lunch we take them to authentic local food restaurants. These types of restaurants do not look fancy but their food is delicious and their service is the best! Finally we want to clarify what was mentioned about the sloth refuge. The title of the advertisement talks about a sloth refuge because this animal is the main attraction of the place, however, as we describe it on the website in the itinerary or the overview section, in addition to the 4 sloths, we have monkeys, jaguars, toucans, crocodiles , cougars, butterfly garden, serpentarium and more. The Guanacaste area has a warm climate sloth live and reproduce mostly in cold climates so that is the reason why there are few of them in the refuge.

Great buggy adventure plus animal sanctuary!

Brian_A, Jul 2022

Amazing adventure! We loved every minute! Highly recommend!!! Our guides were fantastic. Highlight of our Costa Rica trip! :)

Not worth the $$

Carla_C, Jul 2022

The side by sides were old, not well maintained and multiple broke down during our trip. You also only drive on regular roads. The tour is way too expensive for what you get.

Response from Host, Jul 2022

Our company greatly appreciates the reviws of our customers. We wish to clarify what happened to the buggys that our company uses for the tour. The equipment is given constant maintenance, however it must be taken into consideration that they are machines so they can fail at any time and we are not exempt to this happening. To our bad luck that day, yes, we had an inconvenience which was solved at the time it happened. We were watching over your safety throughout the tour and were aware that you always enjoyed the tour. For that date in Costa Rica there was very bad weather we had a tropical storm crossing through our country so when it rained so much is dangerous to drive through the rivers or go to a small nearby waterfall. There were a lot of trees falling so certain off-road paths were dangerous. For that reason to take care of our clients we try to drive in some sections along the road which is safer. In our company the most important thing is safe first and provide a good experience for our customers in all our tours. We are sorry that you have had an inconvenience with the buggy that we provide you but as you can read in our reviews this is something that doesn't happen very often.

Amazing Family excursion - Miller was the best!

Anthony_S, Jun 2022

This was an amazing family excursion into the jungle. We got to drive through rivers, jungle and more. We then drove to the beach and got to put our toes in the Pacific Ocean. We then headed over to the animal preserve. Our guide Miller was amazing, very safe, fun and smart!

Worth every penny and our...

Sharish_M, May 2022

Worth every penny and our tour guide was amazing! The buggy experience was awesome..messy but WORTH IT.

Wow

Kelly_B, Mar 2022

Spent the day with Alex, he was an amazing guide. I really can’t say enough good thing about him. We were joined by José and he was a fantastic guide when we did the buggy tour. We were able to go to a beach restaurant that by appearance was not impressive but had the best, truly the best Tuna Tartar I have ever had. We also had 2 kinds of Ceviche and Mahi Mahi tacos. It was SO much food, but worth every bite. The adventure park was great for families with kids but we could have skipped that as it was more like a zoo than I expected but the staff there was very knowledgeable. We did not do the zip line but it looked incredible. Plan to be VERY, VERY dirty and bring a face mask/bandana to protect against the dirt in your mouth and nose. I would give this more than 10 stars because of Alex and José if I could.

Worth every cent

Alana_G, Mar 2022

We had an amazing time. The guides were knowledgeable, the equipment was good quality and well maintained, and we got to experience some things we never could have on our own. I would do this again, anytime.

Miller makes the experience special

Perry_M, Feb 2022

We started our day with Miller as he picked us up at our hotel. Friendly clean car and very informative. Miller had us meet with his associates who took my wife and I for a 3 hr buggy ride. Lots of fun going thru the back roads and thru the streams. Dusty and wet, but that was expected. We ended the buggy ride at a local beach free of any other tourists or locals. Very beautiful to see un-developed beach. Probably won’t last long. Miller then took us to an animal conservatory. You are guaranteed to see the local rescued animals up close. What made this part of the trip special was Miller’s extensive knowledge of the animals, birds and reptiles. We walked away having a deeper appreciation of all the wildlife that makes Costa Rica such a special and unique country. I highly recommend Miller and Guanacaste Dream Vacations.

Amazing Adventure

Danielle_S, Jan 2022

My boyfriend and I had a wonderful time on our private buggy and animal tour. Miller was the best tour guide. He was super knowledgeable about the Costa Rica and all the wildlife at the sanctuary. Would 100% recommend this tour to anyone that loves adventure and animals!

Was a very good trip for our honeymoon

Austin_S, Dec 2021

To start the trip off we had Miller pick us up. He was very informative about all of Costa Rica as we were driving to our first destination which was the animal center. The animal center was very amazing. We saw tons of animals jaguars sloths all kinds of different monkeys butterflies. It was very beautiful and my wife enjoyed it for a honeymoon. Shout out to Miller for everything that he did. Now to continue on with Mr. Caesar, the second part of our trip that was for the buggy tour. The buggy tour was very amazing. He took us to all these beautiful destinations through water mudding. It was very fun. Started off in the mountains. Went to a waterfall then went and saw this beautiful view straight down the mountain. Then we proceeded to go down the beach. Mr. Caesar was very attentive to us and paid attention and made sure that we were there behind him the whole time. Would recommend 10 out of 10 five stars all that jargon. These two gentlemen were amazing. Thanks guys for making our time in Costa Rica special. We really appreciate you

Good times, go local avoid using the site

Daniel_S, Oct 2021

Great trip, great tour had a great time!!! So since they want me write more here goes!! Do t waste your money on this site. Wait to book until you show up and meet up with one of the tour guides locally who will charge you 200 bucks less. They are Honest, and will show you a great time.

Response from Host, Oct 2021

Hi, my friend! First of all I want to thank the comment about our product. All of them help us to grow as a company to provide a better service. I would like to clarify a very important point to take into consideration regarding about the price of our company when you comparing it with people who sells a similar tour on the the beach. We are a legal company that meets all the requirements requested by the government (we pay taxes, we have insurance policies, we are legally registered with the Ministry of Tourism). All this gives our clients the assurance that they are buying a quality service. We do not want to say bad things about people who also have the right to offer tours, but I would like you to ask those people what kind of guarantee and security they offer since many times they request money in advance to make the booking tour and they never show up. That is why you bought the tour on this site because Viator gives you the assurance that you are getting a quality product, SAFE, that you will not lose your money in If it is a scam, this is what you are buying with us. Finally I would like to clarify that this tour consists of 2 activities, transportation, 100% PRIVATE tour with your own bilingual guide personalized for you. You can use your time at your convenience. This is why this price is charged.

Miller was awesome

MannyP, Jul 2021

This excursion was simply amazing. Miller was the best tour guide anyone can ever have. Very knowledgeable. One of our group members got food sickness so he called the doctor for us even on a holiday. He treated us like we were his family. The Buggy tour was amazing with many beautiful beaches to see. I would definitely recommend this tour 100%.

Best day ever!!!

kiersten_s, May 2021

So amazing- did soooo much in one day! Miller was awesome! Great with kids and adults!! Loved that it was private. Seemed a little pricey but after experience- well, well worth it!! Best excursion ever in CR! Only feedback would be clearer if lunch is included. A must!! Don’t miss it! Pura vida!!!!