Private Tours & Multi-Day Programs from Marina Papagayo
Private · Personalized · Unforgettable
Yes — we collect yacht guests, owners and charter parties at Marina Papagayo and bring them back to the marina, for a single private day or a full week of shore programs. Pickups run on your schedule, usually 7:30 a.m. (6:00 for the far days). The dry-forest ATV trails are about 35 minutes away, Miravalles about 1 hour 50 minutes, and Palo Verde and the Rainforest Combo fit easily.
Anchored at Marina Papagayo for a few days — or a full week? You’re moored at the doorstep of one of the richest corners of Costa Rica, and you have the one thing most visitors never get: time. Guanadreams CR designs private shore programs for yacht guests, owners and charter parties — a single unforgettable day, or a week ashore built entirely around what your party actually wants to see.
We are not a booking agency. We are a team of Costa Rican naturalist guides, wildlife photographers and birders, born and raised on this coast, with more than thirty years in tourism. We collect you at the marina, and we bring you back to the marina.
And you’re not only close to the water — the marina sits minutes from the peninsula’s finest resorts (the Four Seasons, the Ritz-Carlton, Andaz and Planet Hollywood), and only about 35 to 40 minutes from Liberia’s airport if you’re flying in to join a boat or a villa. Pickups run on your schedule, usually 7:30 a.m. (6:00 for the far days). Beyond the ocean outings, the shore days that fit best are the ATV and buggy trails, Palo Verde, Miravalles and the Rainforest combo.
You're Not Here for an Afternoon. Let's Build the Week.
Most visitors to Guanacaste get one shot at the country: a single day tour squeezed between flights. You’re in a different position entirely. With five or seven days at anchor, you can move through three completely different worlds — the tropical dry forest, the volcanic highlands, and the rainforest — at a pace that never feels rushed.
So we don’t sell you a tour off a shelf. We ask what your party is drawn to — wildlife, photography, birds, volcanoes, rainforest, the food, the culture — and we build the days around that. Some guests want a serious dawn start with scopes and long lenses. Others want a gentle morning, a good lunch, and to be back aboard by mid-afternoon. Both are the right answer; they’re just different weeks.
Everything is fully flexible: nothing is locked, days can be swapped or reshaped the night before, and the pace is set by your party, not by a schedule.
What does a week ashore look like?
An example only — yours will look different, and that’s the point.
Day 1 — Dry Forest by ATV (about 35 minutes)
A good first day ashore: close to the marina, easy on the schedule, and a complete change of element after time on the water. A private guided ATV run through the Guanacaste dry-forest backcountry — river crossings, ridgeline viewpoints, monkeys and iguanas along the trail. Zipline canopy is available the same distance out, for parties who want it. See the ATV & adventure tours →
Day 2 — Palo Verde & the Tempisque River (about 1 hour)
The wildlife day. A boat safari through one of Central America’s great concentrations of waterbirds, with crocodiles on the banks and howler monkeys overhead — and a guide who names every species, by sight and by call. The best single day in the region for photographers. See the Palo Verde experience →
Day 3 — Culture, Coffee & a Working Hacienda
A slower day, and one guests remember: a historic working hacienda on the Tempisque plains — traditional Guanacaste cooking, sugar cane and coffee, local craft, and the culture of the sabanero cattle country that shaped this province. Pairs naturally with Palo Verde as a two-day block. See the hacienda add-on experiences → · See the rum experience →
Day 4 — Río Celeste & Tenorio Rainforest (about 1.5 hours)
A full change of world: the turquoise river of Tenorio Volcano National Park and the rainforest around it, where the wildlife gets seriously good. Prefer the river moving? A slightly shorter drive on the same road reaches the rafting put-in, where the Tenorio runs Class III–IV for three hours instead of standing still and turquoise. Same corridor, same guide, a very different day on the water. See the Tenorio rainforest experience → · See the white water rafting experience →
Day 5 — Monteverde Cloud Forest (about 3.5 hours)
Up into the mist — hanging bridges through the canopy, hummingbirds at arm’s length, and quetzals when the season is with us. A long day, and the one guests talk about afterwards. See the Monteverde experience →
Day 6 — Arenal Volcano & Hot Springs (about 3.5 hours)
The iconic cone, lava trails, waterfalls, and natural hot springs to close the day. Miravalles offers the same pairing of volcano and thermal water about an hour and fifty minutes from the marina — mud baths, a live crater, and a bridge above two waterfalls — for parties who would rather be back aboard by mid-afternoon. See the Arenal & La Fortuna experience → · See the Miravalles volcano experience →
Day 7 — Birding & Photography, or a Slow Last Day
A dedicated dawn outing for the birders and photographers aboard, or an unhurried final morning along the coast before you sail. See our birding & photography experience →
Not sure which month suits you best? Our guides put together a month-by-month guide to Guanacaste's dry and green seasons — what the weather does, and what wildlife you can expect to see. See the best time to visit Guanacaste →
A Team of Naturalists — Not a Single Guide
This is where we differ from anyone else you’ll be offered. Guanadreams CR is not one guide with a vehicle: we are a team of five field naturalists, each with a public, verifiable record of what they’ve actually seen in this country. Several have personally logged hundreds of Costa Rica’s bird species on eBird — some more than 600.
For a yacht party, that matters in a practical way. We can send the photographer with the guests who came for images and the birder with the guests who came for species, on the same morning. We can run two vehicles for a larger party without downgrading anyone to a lesser guide. And across a week, you’re not stuck with one person’s repertoire — you get the range of a team. Meet our guides →
For Captains, Crew & Charter Managers
If you’re organising ashore on behalf of guests, here’s what you need to know. We coordinate directly with the yacht: pickup at the marina at the hour you set, private air-conditioned vehicles, and returns timed to your schedule, not ours. Group sizes and vehicle configurations are arranged around your manifest. Dietary requirements, mobility considerations, and children in the party are all handled in advance — tell us once and it’s built in.
We’re a licensed Costa Rican operator with our own guides, so there’s no third-party subcontracting between you and the people who show up at the dock. One point of contact, and the same team all week.
Where can we take you from Marina Papagayo?
Marina Papagayo sits at the northern end of our operating corridor, which runs the length of Guanacaste’s Pacific coast — and inland to the volcanoes, rainforest and cloud forest.
Bringing guests in by air? We meet them at Liberia Airport and drive them straight to the marina, in a vehicle sized to the party and their luggage. See Liberia Airport transfer prices and vehicles →
Flying in? Our guide to Liberia Airport (LIR) covers drive times to every beach on this coast, what to expect when you land, and how to get to your door. Read the Liberia Airport guide →
Book direct with the operator
- We run these tours ourselves. No middleman, no reseller.
- Private from two people — no minimum group to fill, no strangers in your van.
- The price you see is the price you pay: taxes and door-to-door pickup included.
Plan Your Week Ashore
Tell us your dates at Marina Papagayo, how many are in your party, and what they’re drawn to — and we’ll come back with a proposed programme, fully adjustable.
More than 300 five-star reviews on Tripadvisor. Our guides’ eBird lists are public — you can read them before you write.
Prefer a form? Write to us here →
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By the Guanadreams team, led by Miller Contreras — naturalist guide, born and raised in Guanacaste.