Charlie Soto vs. Oscar Brown?

Hi. I'm looking for recent reviews of Charlie Soto (Okey Dokey Tours) and Oscar Brown for day trips. I've gotten information from both of them and am trying to decide which one to use. There were some older posts about Charlie passing people to taxis, etc. and that has me worried. I haven't seen much negative about Oscar Brown.

Any feedback from the past few years would be appreciated. I have looked over the posts and forums, and most of the information is pretty old, so any comments about recent experiences would be a great help. Thanks!

Hi. I'm looking for recent reviews of Charlie Soto (Okey Dokey Tours) and Oscar Brown for day trips. I've gotten information from both of them and am trying to decide which one to use. There were some older posts about Charlie passing people to taxis, etc. and that has me worried. I haven't seen much negative about Oscar Brown.

 

Any feedback from the past few years would be appreciated. I have looked over the posts and forums, and most of the information is pretty old, so any comments about recent experiences would be a great help. Thanks!

We did an excursion two years ago with Charlie and will tell you won't do another one with him. He mislead us on how long the tour would be... We didn't want to be tied up all day on his tour, and he assured us that we wouldn't, but once we were on the tour the very young guide was persuaded by some aggressive passengers to extend the tour, taking in more than we signed on for!!!! Also we dropped of some passengers for the zipline and then took our tour ( feeding of the crocodile) ,when we came back to pick them up they weren't done...waited at least a half hour.....wasted time!!!!

After posting last night, my husband remined me of other things that happened with our tour . If you need more info I'll post for you.

On a positive note. We enjoyed seeing everthing on this tour!! It was just the way the whole thing was handled before...during and after!!!!

My sister and I were robbed at the banana plantation during a Soto tour in December 2012. It isn't only the robbery that I hold him responsible for (although he wasn't the one wielding the machetes or the gun, he *was* the one who set the tour and was in charge of our safety) but also for his shoddy business practice of failing to refund our payment after multiple promises to do so.

In essence ... we were robbed twice!

My sister and I were robbed at the banana plantation during a Soto tour in December 2012. It isn't only the robbery that I hold him responsible for (although he wasn't the one wielding the machetes or the gun, he *was* the one who set the tour and was in charge of our safety) but also for his shoddy business practice of failing to refund our payment after multiple promises to do so.

In essence ... we were robbed twice!

Sorry to hear about your misfortune, I bickered with him for over six months for money that we overpaid. Plus he had promised to send us coffee to make up for all the trouble we experienced on our tour. He kept telling me that he had sent it but guess what it never arrived....

I finally gave up but knew that I would never recommend him!!!

we went with Oscar brown tours in December of 2012. a woman and a driver met us at the pier, outside of the gates & shopping area. we drove to the jaguar rescue center, which was amazing. we felt a little rushed there, with our Oscar brown guide pushing us to leave.

we then stopped at a banana plantation. due to it being sunday, the plantation was closed so we stood next to the trees and learned a little bit about the process.

we then went on a boat ride down the canals for probably an hour or so round trip. a little short, I felt like we really didn't get out of the inhabited area as there was a road running next to the canal for awhile as well as a few homes and a place for police boats. we did see iguanas, birds, monkeys and a caiman though.

lunch was last. we stopped at a outdoor restaurant on the beach. our guide was a little surprised that anyone wanted time to spend on the beach and in the water.

overall, it was a good experience. I felt like it was cut short - small stops such as shopping or a fruit stand were skipped and we were dropped off at the ship with several hours to spare even though it was supposed to be a full day tour.

we ended up dropping off anything valuable in our cabin and walked into the town to buy chocolate, coffee and food from a street cart.

hope this helps!

We had a not so great experience with Oscar (Owner of Oscar Brown Tours) a few years ago. Banana plantation interesting. No zip line reservation made so lots of confusion when he showed up with us, insisted we had time for the canal ride and I finally had to flatly tell him to return us to port. We got there 30 minutes before the must be on board time and Oscar insisted we had to pay him for a boat tour we never took. We are returning to Limon next year and will not be using him!

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