Charlie Soto Tour

[ebslc]

Does Charlie give tours that are in the 3 to 4 hour time range? We do not want to go zip lining, just want to see the sights around the city and hear about Costa Rica in general.

Also, can we pick up his tour from the dock, or do you always have to make a reservation?

We will be on the Summit in Feb.

What is the port of call for your Sumit cruise? If you have a large group you may be able to setup a private tour for 3-4 hours. However, IMHO 3 to 4 hours is not enough for touring Costa Rica. Charlie's tour is well worth the 7 1/2 hours.

[Nanner]

Grace, Charlie charges $45 for his part of the tour, and the Villa Lapas (skywalk or zipline) or Crocodile Man tour adds another $35. I'm certain he would be more than willing to do something with you. He is very fluent in English and he also is very quick to reply to emails.

 

As for picking him up without a reservation, I doubt it. First off, he lives near Limon, and has to make the drive to the other side of the country to run a tour from Puntarenas. Second, his reputation is such that if there are several ships in port you can almost bet somebody has him booked.

 

Charlie's tour was worth every penny, and those monkey photos we got (Hi Deb and Angel!) are priceless.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

When we head back to Costa Rica on the Legend in March we are considering taking a tour with Charlie Soto. Has anyone done the A-2 tour with him recently?

 

We are considering the zip lining - what is the age range of people doing that? I would assume that is was quite the THRILL ride!

 

Did you just drive by a banana plantation or did you get a more in depth guided tour of the facility? Was it worth the time that you spent there?

 

Did you get to see any wild life and other interesting things throughout the countryside while on this tour?

 

Was there plenty of time given to stop and purchase souvenirs and such?

 

Were you satisfied with this tour?

 

Any additional information that you could provide would be most appreciated!

 

Thanks,

 

Tom

[Randy & Kathy]

Tom & Cheryl,

My wife and I were on the Carnival Legend and we were in Costa Rica on Nov. 20, 2006 We had contacted Charlie Soto at okeydokeytours.com and had arranged to take one of the tours that was offered, we settled upon the A-2 tour. We were advised that his tour bus would be at the dock and we should be there within one hour after disembarkation begins. They were easily found as they were holding up a sign reading Charlie Soto. We then got on the tour bus, there were about 22 of us, and we and were given information about Costa Rica by our guide Carlos. He pointed out points of interest and he and the driver were always looking for animal life or plants or other things that were interesting. We also learned of the history and cultural of the country.

We proceeded up into a higher elevation and were provided with several photo opportunities as we proceeded along. We then reached our destination and got out of the bus and prepared to engage in an activity called zip lining. I’m sure that several of us thought to ourselves “just what in the world am I doing here?” We received some instruction regarding getting help from the staff in fitting us with the necessary harnesses and helmets. We were given a demonstration regarding how to properly engage in this zip line activity and also advised about some things not to do. It was then time to get in line and proceed to the first of 13 platforms that we would be using in this adventure. The first few platforms were receiving some nervous first time wire sliders but all handled it well and we all began to share that we were starting to relax a bit and were beginning to look sideways through the trees and at the vegetation on the ground as we were traveling along on a wire some 80 feet above the ground through the tall trees of the rain forest. Some platforms were far enough away that we could not see the next one until about half way to it. This was an amazing activity and one that I had thought would be very difficult. It was not that bad as gravity provided for the motion from one platform to another. There was staff located on each platform to assist you onto the platform, then they would ready you for the next “flight”. They had provided a photographer to film us both while receiving pre-glide instruction and getting “geared up” and also while we were wire gliding he was going with us and shooting pictures of us. At the end of the activity we were given some fresh fruit to eat and were offered a DVD to purchase of our group as we were involved in the various stages of this activity. We purchased one for $20 and have enjoyed viewing it since getting home.

We then returned to the bus and Carlos continued to narrate our tour. We stopped at one corner and a man had a pet monkey there and we were allowed to pet and photo this cute animal. While there they spotted a 3 toed sloth in a short tree next to us and we got another photo op. We then returned to the bus and continued on into the banana plantation. Once there Carlos began to explain the growing and processing of the bananas and we were then allowed to film the various stages of collecting, trimming, examining, washing, drying, placing a sticker on and then the packaging of the bananas and they were then made ready for shipment to places all over the world. Carlos did a great job of explaining many things about this industry and we enjoyed it very much. Once on the bus and returning to Limon we passed by a large container ship being filled with what? Yes, you guessed it, containers of bananas, an entire ship painted yellow with the name Dole on the side of it.

On our way back to town we stopped once again where we then went to a river and boarded boats and went on a river tour through a nature preserve. There were many scenic views here and several photo ops again including bats on a tree, more sloths, birds and then we pulled up to a spot where two little girls were holding 2 very tiny crocodiles, only a few inches long. This was another precious moment and another invaluable photo op. This was another very interesting tour within a tour and allowed us the opportunity to see yet another beautiful part of Costa Rica.

We had asked for a chance to stop at a store as many wanted to buy some coffee and vanilla which Costa Rica is also known for. Carlos came into the store with us and offered advice and guidance as we were shopping for these and other items. We were advised not to buy other things from this location, but to wait until we arrived at the dock as it was a duty free location. They were constantly looking out for us and we much appreciated their concern and suggestions.

We arrived at the dock 30 minutes before the ship was due to leave and we picked up a few souvenirs from the vendors located there and we then boarded the ship. This was a tour that offered all that was promised and provided us a chance to do some exciting things that probably some thought that they were not capable of. We saw some beautiful countryside, some animal life and thoroughly enjoyed our day on this tour in Costa Rica. Carlos did a wonderful job of pointing out many things for us to see and photograph. We met some very pleasant people this day and we much appreciate the chance to spend even a short time with them.

Randy & Kathy

[deb18]

We recently used Charlie out of Puntarena and he was great. After hearing what some of the other pax. did, our tour surpassed the cruise tours. deb

[Weliketogo]

We had a wonderful tour with Charlie Soto in October 2005. We had a rather large group of 42 and Charlie accomodated us comfortably in new buses. Everyone had a great time including the zipline. There is a website with some of our pictures etc. for our group (The Panamaniacs) http://nanada.com/panamaniacs/ also there are a lot of pictures on Charlie's website at www.okeydokeytours.com for Puerto Limon and Puntarenas.

 

Don't be concerned about going on the zipline. It is great fun and a wonderful memory. Our kids could not believe that my wife and I went on the zipline, We are in our mid 60s and I weight 230 lbs. We had no trouble doing the zipline at all. Everyone that did the zipline enjoyed the experience and would have done it again but time did not permit. We highly recommend the tour and the zipline. The tour price is much much cheaper than the ship tours. Good luck and have fun.

[newmexicoNita]

Charlie offers about the same tours as Oscar (I beleive they are cousins) the price is the same and I am sure everything else is as well. If I were you I would check both out before making your decision. NMnita

[2CrusinOldies]

Randy and Kathy,

 

Thanks so much for all of the information about the tour you took with Charlie in Costa Rica. We are already booked on the same tour when we cruise on the Carnival Legend on February 04, 2007. I was wondering did you have restroom breaks and what did you do about eating lunch? Did you take along your own food?

Thanks in advance for your answers. We are really looking forward to our tour with Charlie.

[Randy & Kathy]

Randy and Kathy,

 

Thanks so much for all of the information about the tour you took with Charlie in Costa Rica. We are already booked on the same tour when we cruise on the Carnival Legend on February 04, 2007. I was wondering did you have restroom breaks and what did you do about eating lunch? Did you take along your own food?

Thanks in advance for your answers. We are really looking forward to our tour with Charlie.

 

2CO's,

We had bathrooms that we could use at the zip lining place. We were offered a cold drink and some fresh fruit to eat after zip lining and that really hit the spot.:) We stopped a couple of times along the route in order that people could use the restroom facilities along the way (but they were not anything that you would want to use unless it was close to being an emergency:o). We had planned on stopping for lunch but we were running a bit behind schedule and we were offered the choice of a restaurant or the grocery store to buy coffee, vanilla etc. We decided to forget lunch as many of us had promised to bring some things back home to some people so it was off to the grocery store. While we were on the mini-bus we were offered cold drinks and this took place 2 times so hunger was avoided somewhat. Most of us never really thought about being hungry so I guess it worked out OK for us. Carlos was our tour guide and he, and the driver, were most wonderful to spend the day with.

 

Randy

[2CrusinOldies]

2CO's,

 

We had bathrooms that we could use at the zip lining place. We were offered a cold drink and some fresh fruit to eat after zip lining and that really hit the spot.:) We stopped a couple of times along the route in order that people could use the restroom facilities along the way (but they were not anything that you would want to use unless it was close to being an emergency:o). We had planned on stopping for lunch but we were running a bit behind schedule and we were offered the choice of a restaurant or the grocery store to buy coffee, vanilla etc. We decided to forget lunch as many of us had promised to bring some things back home to some people so it was off to the grocery store. While we were on the mini-bus we were offered cold drinks and this took place 2 times so hunger was avoided somewhat. Most of us never really thought about being hungry so I guess it worked out OK for us. Carlos was our tour guide and he, and the driver, were most wonderful to spend the day with.

 

Randy

 

Randy...thanks for all of the information!!:)

[MMW37]

We booked a tour with Charlie Soto's okeydokey tours prior to cruising. We took his A-2 tour, which included ziplining. That was our first activity. Carlos (Charlie) was our guide, and they met us at the pier with our names on a card. This doesn't particularly bother me, but the roads in Costa Rica are not very smooth. Just be warned, if this could spoil your tour. Ziplining is a great time. The hiking is not at all strenuous, and the only difficult part was the next day I felt like I'd been doing situps at the gym. We have ziplined previously, and they have updated the procedure. You no longer have to brake yourself, and you cannot spin around as you zip. I am sure this makes it safer, although we were fine the first time as well. You are harnessed in very carefully, and the larger men actually wore a second harness to aid in weight distribution. There is also a 250 lb. weight limit. There were 13 towers and 12 lines. They get progressively longer and faster, and there are two opportunities to turn back if you decide it is not for you. Also, others have complained about having to wait for the zipliners - Charlie has solved this problem. We were on two separate buses. We did have one gentleman who opted not to zip, but his wife and friend did so he came on the bus and waited for us and took pictures. He was not charged the extra $40.

 

Ziplining did take a little longer than planned, so the rest of our day was slightly hurried. Carlos did not want us to miss anything or the boat. We did the Totuguero canal boat trip next. This price was included. There are many many boats on the canal unfortunately, so we didn't see as much wildlife as we had hoped, but we saw some interesting birds and lizards. Our captain took us by a little boy who had in the bottom of his boat two baby crocodiles, turtles, and a crab. Make sure you bring a few small bills so you can hold them and take pictures. I am sure that he or someone similar is out every day, trying to make his family some money (there was an older man in a nearby boat watching him).

 

Next we went to the banana plantation. This did not take long. We just parked the bus and got out and Carlos explained to us how the plantation works and how the bananas are grown. It was interesting, but I couldn't imagining spending my whole day on the boat-sponsored "banana plantation tour." We were short on time, so we skipped having lunch, but still took us to the restaurant so we could look at the beach and take pictures. Also, we stopped the bus so more young kids who had caught a sloth could bring it on and we could take more pictures. Again, bring some ones if you want to do this, they aren't part of the tour.

 

Make sure you eat breakfast if you're on the A-2 tour. It's time consuming, and lunch was what we skipped. A small bowl of fruit was included after ziplining, and the tour included Costa Rican Imperial beers, sodas, and water. We did stop at a local grocery to pick up coffee, and now we were very short on time. Please, if you are on a non-boat sponsored tour, keep an eye on the clock. Go in, buy the coffee that Carlos or whoever your guide is tells you to buy, pay, and leave. That's what I did, but a few people seemed to linger and browse the whole store. The rest of us began to get very nervous, as we arrived about 20 minutes after we were supposed to. Now this was still 10 minutes before the boat was leaving, and thankfully a Carnival tour was late getting back so there was still a good-sized line. I was glad we got to see everything, but it was slightly nerve-wracking cutting it so close. This was the fault I think of our group members though, not our guide. The store was also only about 5 minutes from the pier, and we could have hopped a very cheap cab back if we were too worried. I decided to trust Carlos, since he does this for a living and depends on our positive reviews. This was a fun, intense, and informative tour and we got to see most of the highlights of Limon.

 

 

 

I know this is long, sorry, but all these reviews were so helpful to me in making my choices...please ask any questions that you may have.

[Randy & Kathy]

MMW37,

That is amazing, our tour there with the same people, Nov.

20th, was almost exactly like yours. I mean right down to the kids on the river with the small animals, a man standing next to the entrance of the banana plantation with a monkey that we petted and photographed (then we spotted a 3 toed Sloth in a tree next to us), skipping lunch, people taking too long wandering around after being at the grocery store and our pushing the limit on the time left at the end of the day. As it turned out the ship was 45 minutes late leaving the dock so we were OK. I think that it was the most fun one could have for the money spent and the time allowed to us, a great day filled with wonderful memories for all of us in our group.

Randy

[MMW37]

I think a lot of people in poor cities send their kids out to make $ off tourists. I lived in New Orleans for a long time, and parents send their kids out to tap dance on the street corners for spare change on school days. We actually had other kids appraoch us at the beach place with a treed sloth, but we already had pictures of other ones and we were pressed for time. I read about sloths and monkeys in almost every review pre-cruise as well! The time crunch must be common then too, I guess that's why I decided to not freak out and to trust Carlos to get us back in time. He did, and we definitely got the most for both our time and our money! Glad y'all had a good time too! Now when can I start planning the next one...

[Caliber1]

MMW do you remember what the price was for the tour? Or Randy and Kathy, any help would be appreciated.

[MMW37]

The general tour is $49, plus $40 for ziplining. They only accept cash. Also, your guide will collect the $40pp for zipping when you get to the entrance to the park and then you will pay the other at the end. The one man who chose not to zip on our tour was not charged the first 40. For that reason, try to bring 20's so your guide won't have to make a ton of change.

[sarasota-dad]

I did Charlie Soto's A-2 tour on December 22. The day was definitely worth the money. The zip lining was great. The canal tour was okay. There were sloths, bats, and more to see.

 

The zip lining though took up more time though than expected so we had to rush the banana plantation and the beach visit/lunch. No one could eat lunch there so the 20-30 minutes was a waste of time. If you can't eat lunch due to time, tell the tour guide to skip it. I thought we would get to go into the banana plantation to see the processing, but again time did not allow this. So Carlos stopped the van on the side of the road and then showed us the banana plants. He was quite knowledgeable about them. I probably didn't miss much, but I wish I could have seen the actual banana processing.

 

After stopping at the market for coffee, we got back 10 minutes until the ship was supposed to depart. No worry though because there was still a long line still waiting to board.

 

The A-2 itinerary is quite aggressive so don't be surprised if you don't fit it all in.

 

As for shopping, my wife who didn't go with me on the tour handled that at the dock. There were good deals. Wish I could have checked it out.

 

And yes, it is cash only. I tried to pay with American Express Traveler's Checks. Carlos said that its a long explanation why they take cash only ($49/person), which was collected at the end of the tour (except for the zip lining).

 

No doubt in my mind that my tour was better and a lot cheaper than the cruise ship's.

[Randy & Kathy]

I agree with what both of the above have posted, both on price and on the experience. It will most certainly be a day that is filled with activities and as they have said, you may have to skip lunch. Maybe bring some kind of snack to put in your tote bag or something. It was a great experience, wonderful people to deal with all day long and IMHO the best value you could get considering the time allowed to spend there.

When my DW and I got back to the ship with 20 minutes to spare before the ship was due to leave, we hurried into the flea market there at the dock and and in 10 minutes had the souvenirs that we wanted. We were stepping on board the ship at the time scheduled to leave but there was still a long line there waiting to get on, the ship was 45 minutes late pulling away from the dock that day. It sounds like that is the norm, not the exception, but don't count on it either.

Be sure to take cash with you, some smaller bills to make change and 20's for the tour and you should be all set. There are many places to take photos of from the window of your mini bus while you tour the countryside. You will be much better prepared for this experience than we were, so relax and enjoy your visit there.

 

Randy

[palolake]

Thank you all for the information! We'll be doing the tour with Charlie in a few weeks. I have a couple questions.

 

I'm concerned about ziplining after reading a few threads about safety, downed trees, etc. I had surgery on my shoulder a few months ago. I'm pretty well healed but am still concerned. In your opinions, would I be ok?

 

I'd also read somewhere that you might have to trash your shoes after walking in mud all day. I really don't want to have to bring an extra pair of shoes just for this day. Thoughts on that?

[2CrusinOldies]

We know how popular this tour is so we booked it months ago. Now after reading about it from all of you, we are more anxious to go!

 

I have a question. Someone wrote that there is a weight limit to do the Zip Lining. Do they actually weigh you if you look "overweight"?:confused:

 

Have you noticed how many of us on here are from Florida! :D :D

[Randy & Kathy]

Thank you all for the information! We'll be doing the tour with Charlie in a few weeks. I have a couple questions.

 

I'm concerned about ziplining after reading a few threads about safety, downed trees, etc. I had surgery on my shoulder a few months ago. I'm pretty well healed but am still concerned. In your opinions, would I be ok?

 

I'd also read somewhere that you might have to trash your shoes after walking in mud all day. I really don't want to have to bring an extra pair of shoes just for this day. Thoughts on that?

 

I would do some light exercising on my arms and shoulders, if it goes well maybe increase the effort some right up until you leave on the cruise. I didn't notice anything with my arms or shoulders, but the next morning the stomach was a bit sore, like it would be after doing several situps. Just remember to lean back in the harness and just let your weight sort of hang from your hands, it will help you not to tense up and cause muscle fatique to the arms.

We did not encounter any mud that day so there was no mess upon our shoes, of course each place is apt to be different from another. We did bring two pairs of jogging shoes though in case we had to scrub up one pair, we could wear the other one the next day (that is exactly what we had to do when we left Belize).

Randy

[Randy & Kathy]

We know how popular this tour is so we booked it months ago. Now after reading about it from all of you, we are more anxious to go!

 

I have a question. Someone wrote that there is a weight limit to do the Zip Lining. Do they actually weigh you if you look "overweight"?:confused:

 

Have you noticed how many of us on here are from Florida! :D :D

 

I had never heard about this restriction prior to going on the cruise. I certainly did not see any scales around nor anybody getting weighed, did not even hear the subject brought up while on that tour. I don't know, maybe there was just nobody on our tour that would have qualified for a "weigh in".:p

Could it be that there are so many of us from Florida here because it is much easier and less expensive for us to get to the cruise ships? If I had to go through all of that expense and the ever-increasing hastle at the airports then maybe I would not be as frequent a cruise ship passenger. But then again, maybe I would............:rolleyes:

Randy

[LadyDivot]

Thanks all for the great reviews, but now I'm confused. I've been reading about Oscar Brown and now Charlie Soto, both during tours out of Costa Rica. DH and I will be making our first cruise through the Canal in March and would like to do a tour with one of them. We are porting in Puntarenas not Puerto Limon. From a map of Costa Rica, they look they are on opposite sides of the country and so would be completely different tours. Can you experienced cruisers help a newbie to Costa Rica out? Is Puntarenas that far away from Puerto Limon? Should we contact Charlie or Oscar? :confused:

 

Thanks so much for your assistance!

 

Pam

[Weliketogo]

Hi,

I don't know about Oscar Brown but I know that Charlie Soto does tours out of Puntarenas and Puerto Limon on opposite sides of the country. Ziplines are available on both areas and the tours vary according to the available sites. You can get an idea of what the sites are from the picture gallery on Charlie Soto's website since they are arranged by Puntarenas and Puerto Limon. http://okeydokeytours.com/ . Good luck and have fun.

[Luvtotrav]

I am going on the Brilliance in Feb with a group from our chuch. I am not quite sure which tour to book for us. I originally thought the Crocdile Man tour but now I am thinking the zip line would be more fun. I have done this before and it was a great time. Please help me decide.

 

Thanks

[Randy & Kathy]

Thanks all for the great reviews, but now I'm confused. I've been reading about Oscar Brown and now Charlie Soto, both during tours out of Costa Rica. DH and I will be making our first cruise through the Canal in March and would like to do a tour with one of them. We are porting in Puntarenas not Puerto Limon. From a map of Costa Rica, they look they are on opposite sides of the country and so would be completely different tours. Can you experienced cruisers help a newbie to Costa Rica out? Is Puntarenas that far away from Puerto Limon? Should we contact Charlie or Oscar? :confused:

 

Thanks so much for your assistance!

 

Pam

 

Pam,

I do not know about Oscar Brown but I do know how much we enjoyed the tour with Charlie Soto. Yes, he does do both coasts. Just go to his web site, okeydokeytoursdotcom and when you get there click on tours. The right side is the Pacific side of his tour options. There is also an email address there if you wish to ask them any questions directly. Maybe there will be others that can advise if the experience is the same on both coasts, I would expect that it would be or the word would soon get around. Good luck in your search.

When my DW and I went on our first cruise, 4 days, we were both quite apprehensive about the whole thing. We had not been at sea two days and we already knew that we were going to do this again, as you can see by my signature we certainly have. Fair warning, this cruising often becomes addicting, so, WHO CARES.:eek: :D

Randy