Charlie Soto Tour

[Weliketogo]

Just wanted to say what a pleasure it has been to work with Charlie Soto to plan an upcoming tour. He has been very quick to respond to questions and suggestions. There are 40 of us going on the tour and Charlie was so accomodating and willing to plan the tour we wanted. We are looking forward to a wonderful tour with a very nice tourguide. Just hoping this will help some of you planning to visit Costa Rica in the future. I will come back and give you a review of the actual tour when we get back from our cruise on the Galaxy 11-24-05.

[WebStir4]

The best excursion probably ever. Charlie responds to your e-mails very quickly.

 

Was there on November 9, 2005.

Charlie was waiting for us at the pier with a sign with my name on it. Drove about five minutes and picked up the driver and Charlie sat and talked from the passenger seat. $15 pp to either walk through the rainforest or zip line. We opted for the walk. Road steep and muddy from so much rain, so wear proper foot wear and use OFF (bug spray). It was so surreal walking through the rain forest with our guides (Luis and Cindy). We walked for quite awhile. Would definitely do this again! We ate fresh fruit right off the tree. Saw plants that you can't see from a boat. Then saw the floral garden.

 

Next off to a boat ride through the rainforest. We opted out because it seemed like the rain was not going to stop.

 

The people going on his tour on December 22 will be going to his house for a short time to have birthday cake for his son's birthday. I wish I could be there! His son will be two years old!

 

Then to a real Costa Rican restaurant at the beach. $9 for hamburger ($2 US money). We had chicken, rice and beans, and plantos. We all treated Charlie and left a generous tip. The cost in American money was $18 a couple. Souvenirs are inexpensive there.

 

Next, animal rescue center which included holding different birds, petting a slouth, seeing many different animals, and eating fruit off the trees. A definite plus!

 

Someone wanted to buy coffee so Charlie took us to a local supermarket which translated to so inexpensive in US dollars. My bill at the register for a bag of coffee, batteries, pack of cigarettes totalled $7.00. Bought more things in supermarket that totalled another $2.00. Someone wanted a shirt; off we went to a very inexpensive store to buy more things. Someone wanted a lapel; off we went to another store. Buy all your souvenirs with Charlie because the prices are so reasonable. Buy lots of dark roasted coffee because they make excellent gifts to bring back home. I bought flavored coffee which makes about eight cups for $2 each in the souvenir shops.

 

Charlie is the first tour guide that will take you to see whatever you want to see. He wants to please and is a sweet heart. He would keep us as long as we wanted. At this point, we were all tired and ready to go back to our home away from home (the cruise ship). As we said good-bye, you felt like you were leaving one of your family members. His tour is a must and so reasonable. You do not have to worry with him as your tour guide. You feel very safe with him. Tell him what you want and you will have the perfect tour. And even if you don't know what you want, he will give you the perfect tour anyway.

 

The people on his tour on December 22 will be going to his home for a short time since it is his son's birthday and they will be having birthday cake! I wish I was going again then!

[palmtre2]

We are booked with Charlie for 4/15/06 and can't wait!!! He seems very accomodating and helped us put together a tour that would please anyone from 8 to 80.

[Arubalisa]

Just wanted to say what a pleasure it has been to work with Charlie Soto to plan an upcoming tour. He has been very quick to respond to questions and suggestions. There are 40 of us going on the tour and Charlie was so accomodating and willing to plan the tour we wanted. We are looking forward to a wonderful tour with a very nice tourguide. Just hoping this will help some of you planning to visit Costa Rica in the future. I will come back and give you a review of the actual tour when we get back from our cruise on the Galaxy 11-24-05.

Some of us on the 12/17 sailing of the Galaxy will also being touring with Charlie. I look forward to hearing your review. Thank you for the generous offer. Maybe you will be able to clarify that whole ship's time vs. Costa Rica time thing :)

[WebStir4]

Do not worry if your ship does not change its clock to Costa Rican time because Charlie will be waiting for you at 6:00 a.m. at the pier. You will not miss your tour if you can't figure out what time it is in Costa Rica. He will give you a great tour that you will always remember.

 

Make sure that if you are going to the rainforest that you wear shoes good for hiking. The pathway is steep and muddy. The two guides in the rainforest (Cindy and Luis) are terrific. It will be a day that is great.

 

Ask Charlie to take you to purchase coffee. It is an excellent gift and so reasonable. In fact, whatever you want to purchase, tell Charlie and he will take you to non-tourist places such as a real Costa Rican supermarket where the prices are so reasonable.

[c-legs]

:) Hi,

 

Indeed, please share your review when you're back.

We're on INFINITY panama full transit cruise next april and considering ubing him for our excursion in CostaRica.

He's even replied to initial e.mails very quickly.

 

Cheers

CG

;)

 

Just wanted to say what a pleasure it has been to work with Charlie Soto to plan an upcoming tour. He has been very quick to respond to questions and suggestions. There are 40 of us going on the tour and Charlie was so accomodating and willing to plan the tour we wanted. We are looking forward to a wonderful tour with a very nice tourguide. Just hoping this will help some of you planning to visit Costa Rica in the future. I will come back and give you a review of the actual tour when we get back from our cruise on the Galaxy 11-24-05.

[Ferrets]

My DW and I just returned from Costs Rica on Celebrity Galaxy (11/12/05). We took the advice of some CC members and booked with Charlie Soto. I must say that his tour was among the very best that we have been on in more than 20 years of cruising. It ranks right up there with the America Cup Sailing in St. Maarten and one of the ATV motorcycle excursions that we took so many years ago that I don't even remember which island it was on.

 

Charlie got back to us within only a couple of hours of our first email to him and confirmed our reservation. Then, at the CC group meeting aboard Galaxy, on our first day at sea, another couple asked if there was any more room on the tour. I emailed Charlie from the ship and again, within a couple of hours, he replied affirmatively.

 

At the port, he met us in a clean, well maintained and WELL air-conditioned bus. He was very friendly and informative. He gave us lots of interesting information as we went from point to point on the tour.

 

He took us to Jungle Breezes, for zip lines first. It was still early enough in the day that it was not unbearably hot in the jungle. Jungle Breezes runs a very professional operation and are meticulous in their safety procedures. The total length of the zip lines was 1250 meters, with the longest being 270 meters. The highest platform was 78 feet above the ground. I asked what was the total VD (vertical drop), from the top platform to the bottom platform, but they couldn't tell me. They took my card and said that they would email me that info, if thy could determine it. I estimate that on the 270 meter line, you will probably reach between 30 mph and 45 mph, depending on how much you brake on the way.

 

Then we went on a canal tour. They put us on small boats. This gave us a great advantage over those on the large floating tour busses that the larger tours use. We were able to get up close and personal with the wildlife along the shore, while the larger boats were unable to get in that close.

 

After that, we went to a beach, where we had lunch (not included) at a nice little beach restaurant. The food was great. A couple of Costa Rican kids had spotted a sloth in a tree near where the beach became jungle and they kept feeding him little tidbits, to keep him there for photographers and asked for tips from photographers. I thought it was very enterprising of them and was glad to drop a couple of bucks into their make-shift tray.

 

From there, we went to a wildlife preserve, where they have mostly animals that are being rehabilitated or as in one case, was an orphan monkey that was about 3 months old. Though most of the animals were in cages, those animals drew others to the area and I got a fantastic photo of a Keel Bill Toucan that had found a place to light, near one of the cages.

 

We also did some shopping in town, before going back to the port. All in all, it was a great tour and far exceeded anything that the ships ever offer and at a price that was less than what the ships offer for their much shorter tours.

 

We can't say enough good about Charlie Soto's tour. Don't waste your money on what the ships have to offer in Costa Rica tours. Just email Charlie.

[Susa]

Am I missing it?

Has someone posted Charlie's email address or website? I can't seem to find it. We're leaving in a week.

Thanks!

[runner1909]

The e-mail address we used to correspond with Charlie is:

okeydokeytours@hotmail.com

 

He responded very quickly. We will be going with him on our Galaxy cruise next month.

[FunLuv'n]

Thank you WebStir4 and Ferrets for your review of your tour with Charlie. We are booked with him for April 2006 and I have been very impressed with his quick response to my emails and his continued contact. We are doing the same exact tour and can't wait. It was through the CC boards that we found him and this will be our first time booking something without going through the cruise line. I have every confidence that we will have the best time ever, especially after reading your reviews. I haven't read one bad review about his tours yet. Glad you all had such a wonderful time and can't wait to share our experience with others when we get back.:)

[skybird123]

I'm confused, the email address on your tour recommendation is cliffk@nanada.com. That is the website for Charlie Soto's tour. Please enlighten me. Thanks for your help. I didn't realize this until I had asked you how your cruise went. Elenore Parker

[Hondu]

Need some clarification.

After telling Charlie upfront that we do not want to zipline, he replied that we would be doing Tour-A (8am to 3pm) which includes:

Banana Plantation

Rainforest

Animal Rescue Center

Tortuguera Canal

Bonita beach

local market

 

Now, after reading the above posts, I am wondering, does he have more than one tour and more than one bus going?

Will we be with the group that is ziplining and have to stand around for an hour and 45 mins.? He said in the email the price includes "everything" but someone mention a $15 extra fee to walk thru the rainforest?

 

Another question: Do Charlie's boats sailing the Canal have life vests onboard?

[captainron]

Hi Folks,

Tour A is exactly that and runs about USD$45 per person. This tour can be done separately from the zipline, bridges etc, which if selected generally will run you an additional USD$40 depending on your choice.

If you do zips or bridges plus Tour A it will last about 7.5 hours altogether. On its own, Tour A is about 4hrs+/-

Hope this helps.

 

Ciao for now!!!

 

Tour A is

[KaC-Cruiser]

Just got back from our cruise and we had a group of about 44 booked with Charlie on 11/29 ..... so we were split into 2 buses of 22. Charlie was on bus 1 (with Cliff aka Weliketogo) and I was on bus 2 with tour guide Carlos. Had the absolute BEST time ... it was the highlight of our whole 11 night cruise. About 14 of us did the zip-lining on our bus. A few did drop out at an early platform, but most of us made it the whole way. The guides were great. The others had the opportunity to do horseback riding, or tour the forest. I don't know the costs, if any, involved for those. I'm very afraid of heights, and the zip-lining was amazing! Would do it again in a second! We did that 1st, then the canal boats (and I believe there were life preservers on the boats) then the Animal Sanctuary. We decided to skip lunch, and head straight to the Banana Plantation, then into town to hit the supermarket for coffee and hot sauce. Bus 1 did a different rotation so we weren't all in the same place at the same time. As Cliff was on bus 1, I'm sure when he checks in you can get some other information from how things went with his group! From my perspective, it was well woth the cost of $49 for our tour and $40 for the zipline!!:D

[Hondu]

Hi Folks,

Tour A is exactly that and runs about USD$45 per person. This tour can be done separately from the zipline, bridges etc, which if selected generally will run you an additional USD$40 depending on your choice.

If you do zips or bridges plus Tour A it will last about 7.5 hours altogether. On its own, Tour A is about 4hrs+/-

Hope this helps.

 

Ciao for now!!!

 

Tour A is

 

Great !!! and Thanks for the info and it now makes sense. We are paying $49 per person, so we are definitely not on the zipline tours. That make me feel much better.

[Weliketogo]

Hi Everyone,

 

I notice that there is some confusion about Charlie Soto's Email address. Here is how you can contact him okeydokeytours@hotmail.com or through his website at www.nanada.com/tours . We just finished a tour with Charlie 11-29-05 and throughly enjoyed ourselves. Everyone on our tour of 42 had a wonderful time and would go back without hesitation. Charlie is very fast to respond to emails so if you have any trouble getting in touch with him, send me an email and I will try to contact him. I have not had any trouble corresponding with him. My email address is listed below.

[grabbit97]

We were on Charlie SOTO's tour on Dec 7, 2005. We just returned from a cruise on the Carnival Legend. Here is what happened...

 

Charlie met us at the pier, as he said he would, with a card with our name on it as well as 4 other couples. 10 total. He had ONE couple doing the ZIPLINE tour, and then picked up another couple on the dock. Now he has 8 of us NOT doing the ZIPLINE, who had signed up with him via email, and 4 doing the ZIPLINE, only ONE of which did sign up with him, and a couple that he picked up at the pier.

1. FIRST was a tour of a banana plantation, which was very good.

2. SECOND was when the horror story started. He told us he was going to take the ZIPLINE folks to the place where they do that.. and we would then come back and pick them up.............we dropped them off, and the WAITING began. First we waited until they were fitted with the gear.. then we waited until they were instructed on HOW to do it, then Charlie said he would have to wait with them, so he put us back on his bus, with another fellow names CARLOS and took us on an HOUR ride down a very bad bumpy dirt road. That is all we did, ride on this horrid road for an hour... there was nothing to see or do. We then told CARLOS that we wanted to turn around, and go back to the ZIPLINE place, and go back to the ship... We went back to the ZIPLINE place, and there we waited another HOUR for them to return from their experience, so a TOTAL of THREE HOURS was wasted, out of the FIVE and 1/2 that her promised us.

3. THIRD.. we did do the CANAL tour of Tortega.. it was OK.

4. He stopped at a store so we could buy coffee.. (we did not)

5. Returned us to the ship with no time for shopping, very little time remained before the ship would sail.

 

I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS MAN FOR ANY TOUR WHAT SO EVER. WASTING OUR TIME FOR THREE HOURS WHILE 4 PEOPLE HAD A GREAT TIME DOING THEIR THING.. WAS NOT A GOOD WAY OF CONDUCTING A TOUR. I WISH WE HAD GONE WITH OSCAR BROWN...

[Thorben-Hendrik]

I guess we were the ones having ALL THE FUN on the very same tour while I can not commend on what was happening while we were doing the ziplining I can only say that Chalie and Oscar were WONDERFUL in the way they did the tour !!! The ZIP-Line took about 1,5 hours at THE MOST so you are lying about your wait and since you also mention the ather things that were done everybody can see that you are not telling the thruth because with the timeline you are painting all that would have to be done within 2 hours !!!:eek:

Please be honest!!! By the way Charklie is NOT responsible for the condition of the roads in Costa Rica !!!!:rolleyes:

[Thorben-Hendrik]

I would SURE recommend Charlie !!!

[gulfcruiser]

We were on the 12/7 Charlie Soto tour off the Carnival Legend. Charlie met us on the pier as promised with a very comfortable air conditioned van. Charlie and Carlos were very friendly and we felt very safe. The banana plantation tour was very interesting. The 4 persons who zip-lined were very well pleased and very enthusiatic about the zip ling. The remainder of us who did not zip line had 3 hours of our tour "in limbo" waiting. The zip lining took an hour and a half but the drive to zip line location, the outfitting the participants, and the drive to canals added up to about 3 hours total. We were NOT given any alternative choices for activities--Carlos stayed in our van--Charlie stayed with the zip liners--we had a long drive to see a waterfall which never materialized, we saw some tiny frogs and plants and did a lot of standing around. Then we were taken to the canal (about 15-20 minute drive) for an abbreviated boat tour lasting about 50 minutes. We did get a 10 minute stop for coffee and vanilla. We did not get a lunch stop, beach stop, or get to the sloth sanctuary. Early in the tour we did stop by the side of the road to take pictures of a child holding a sloth. Charlie told us the sloth sanctuary was closed due to a problem with licensing but our cabin neighbors on the ship told us they had a wonderful tour of the facility. We arrived back at the ship at 2:40 pm--I was nervous that we may be late and felt rushed to return--there was no time to shop at the pier. Our tour cost $49.00 per person. All in all, I enjoyed the banana plantation and the shortened boat ride in the canal but was disappointed we were not allowed to visit the sloth sanctuary and felt the 2.5--3 hours spent waiting for the zip liners detracted from our tour. It would have been better if we were taken to the canals and had a more leisurely boat canal tour--the zipliners could have joined us after their adventure or separate the zipliners and not try to do too much in a limited amount of time. If I ever visit Costa Rica again I will seek alternative tour planning.

[KaC-Cruiser]

Seems rather odd that up until I returned from my recent cruise, Charlie only had glowing reviews (at least that we could find!) Now a few people are really trashing him big time. I find it surprising since our group seemed to have such a good time. And as I understanding it, our other group (on a separate bus) also had a terrific time. If any of the non-zippers were upset, bored or irrate, I didn't hear about it ..... so I wonder, are these a few isolated incidents? The 3 hour ordeal seems a bit exaggerated - from off the bus to back on the bus took us about 2 hours for zipping. and we had a large group of about 14 actually zipping. Best I can suggest is that Charlie needs to split his groups up at the pier - those on a zipping tour together and those not zipping in a different group.

 

I will say, that if I make it back to Costa Rica, I would book with Charlie again - no question! If was really the highlight of our 11 day trip.

[runner1909]

We were with Charlie last week and had a wonderful tour. We saw so much and got to enjoy many things. He did take separate vans for the zip-liners and non-zip-liners, so there was no problem there. It was his son's third birthday, so we were all invited to the birthday party and that greatly added to our day. I would highly recommend his tours to anyone. Oh, and his driver Manuel, was an extremely good driver. I have been on some tours where the drivers scared me silly, but he was very cautious.

[grabbit97]

I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND CHARLIE SOTO AGAIN. WE WERE TOLD THAT WE WERE NOT GOING TO THE ZIP LINE TOUR, AND THEN WOUND UP WITH FOUR PEOPLE OUT OF 12 THAT WANTED TO DO THE ZIPLINE, AND THE 8 OF US WERE STUCK FOR THREE HOURS... MIND YOU THREE HOURS, WHILE THE OTHERS WERE ZIPLINING. CHARLIE STAYED WITH THE ZIP LINERS, AND STUCK US WITH SOME GUY NAMES CARLOS, WHO TOOK US DOWN THIS DIRT BUMPY ROAD TO SEE SOME WATERFALL. THE ROAD WAS SO BAD, THAT WE TOLD HIM TO TURN AROUND, TAKE US BACK TO THE ZIPLINE PLACE, AND THERE WE SAT FOR ANOTHER HOUR WAITING FOR THEM TO FINSIH. WHAT A BUMMER TOUR. WE SAW THE BANANA PLANTATION, AND HAD TO CUT OUR TOUR OF THE TORTUGGA CANAL (SPELLING???) SHORT BECAUSE OF FARTING AROUND WITH THE ZIPLINE TOUR FOR THREE HOURS. NEVER DID GET TO SEE THE BEACH, AND THEY STOPPED AT SOME STORE FOR ABOUT FIVE MINUTES SO PEOPLE COULD BUY COFFEE, ALL WE WANTED TO DO WAS GET BACK TO THE SHIP.. WHAT A HORRID DAY IN COSTA RICA.. YUK

 

 

We were on the 12/7 Charlie Soto tour off the Carnival Legend. Charlie met us on the pier as promised with a very comfortable air conditioned van. Charlie and Carlos were very friendly and we felt very safe. The banana plantation tour was very interesting. The 4 persons who zip-lined were very well pleased and very enthusiatic about the zip ling. The remainder of us who did not zip line had 3 hours of our tour "in limbo" waiting. The zip lining took an hour and a half but the drive to zip line location, the outfitting the participants, and the drive to canals added up to about 3 hours total. We were NOT given any alternative choices for activities--Carlos stayed in our van--Charlie stayed with the zip liners--we had a long drive to see a waterfall which never materialized, we saw some tiny frogs and plants and did a lot of standing around. Then we were taken to the canal (about 15-20 minute drive) for an abbreviated boat tour lasting about 50 minutes. We did get a 10 minute stop for coffee and vanilla. We did not get a lunch stop, beach stop, or get to the sloth sanctuary. Early in the tour we did stop by the side of the road to take pictures of a child holding a sloth. Charlie told us the sloth sanctuary was closed due to a problem with licensing but our cabin neighbors on the ship told us they had a wonderful tour of the facility. We arrived back at the ship at 2:40 pm--I was nervous that we may be late and felt rushed to return--there was no time to shop at the pier. Our tour cost $49.00 per person. All in all, I enjoyed the banana plantation and the shortened boat ride in the canal but was disappointed we were not allowed to visit the sloth sanctuary and felt the 2.5--3 hours spent waiting for the zip liners detracted from our tour. It would have been better if we were taken to the canals and had a more leisurely boat canal tour--the zipliners could have joined us after their adventure or separate the zipliners and not try to do too much in a limited amount of time. If I ever visit Costa Rica again I will seek alternative tour planning.

[KaC-Cruiser]

Whoa, all caps? Wait just a minute. And no one appreciates your crude and non-courteous language. I do not know what tour you were on, but Charlie provided us with a first class, memorable tour. Bad roads? Hey, you're not the road commissioner. Show me where you live that there is not rough roads. He is very customer oriented person, a family man, and a person who provides first class service who cares about his customers and tourism in his country.

Ditto 'Runner' ... we had a wonderful time on our tour that was set up with Charlie. Would book with him again no problem!!

[Arubalisa]

We were with Charlie last week and had a wonderful tour. We saw so much and got to enjoy many things. He did take separate vans for the zip-liners and non-zip-liners, so there was no problem there. It was his son's third birthday, so we were all invited to the birthday party and that greatly added to our day. I would highly recommend his tours to anyone. Oh, and his driver Manuel, was an extremely good driver. I have been on some tours where the drivers scared me silly, but he was very cautious.

I believe we toured on the same day. Part of the NON-zippers, we were a family of six. I had fulled explained to Charlie beforehand that we were touring with my elderly grandmother. She does not walk far, but was going more for the "sights". Even she had a great day! Taking my grandmother into consideration, and not wanting to hold anyone back, he supplied our family with our own mini-van, driver and Jenny. I would not hesitate to tour with Charlie again. Perhaps be specific that you do not want to be "idle" while others are doing the zip line???