Testimonials
Periodically our clients will send us a note about their trip. We post them here.
Best Academy loves Costa Rica!!
Claudia!!!
We had such a great time in Costa Rica. We loved Leda and Eric! We would like to use Leda and Eric next year for our trip to Costa Rica and Panama. Please make us a tentative tour for review. We would like to have it ready for July for Open House.
There were so many fantastic things that the students were able to experience. Poas Volcano was especially moving for one of the parents. We were able to see a mother Coati take her 4 cubs one by one on the trail from the volcano. It was a great family moment. The canopy ride at Monteverde was fantastic! It was so awesome to be so far up. We were at the same altitude at a swallow tail kite flying next to us. Also, the Fince Valverde was just a fantastic place to stay. Because we had no television, the students really became one with nature. They made bows and arrows, walked the trails and were able to see a 3 toed sloth. Seeing Arenal Volcano was amazing. It was like being on the set of a movie at the hotel. In San Jose, the Costa Rica Tennis Club was sooo awesome! Gabriel was super nice and the rooms were so comfortable. One of the students kept singing “I love my room. I love my room.” The students played tennis and breakfast was fantastic each morning. I don’t remember the man or lady’s name, but they let the students practice their Spanish.
The school visits were eye opening for the students. We enjoyed seeing the differences between Costa Rican and our school. It was just a great experience and the students are ready to make suggestions to our principal for the Industrial Arts class we saw at the high school.
I would like to praise your tour group for making everything so special for our kids. I would not change a thing and have already recommended you to 2 other schools.
Thanks! Gracias! Thanks!
May 2011
Dear Miryam,
Just a quick message to let you know we had a FABULOUS vacation in Costa Rica. It surpassed all our expectations—the itinerary was full of excellent excursions, the guides were very k knowledgeable, the hotels very comfortable, the drivers courteous and transfers all on time. Thank you for all your fine work on our behalf.
The free day at Puntareanas we hated to waste by just sitting around the hotel, so we arranged two of our own excursions (with the help of the hotel staff).
Thanks again.
Zina and Dimitri
May 2011
Arthur, WOW!! What a wonderful trip/experience for our family. They boys didn’t want to come home. The nine days couldn’t have gone more smoothly! Thank you so much for your help an direction on where to go and what to do/see.
Alex and Don Carlos were tremendous and made the experience even more pleasurable. You all do a fantastic job and I will be directing people to you if that is good for you?
Thank you both!!
Dan Redler
April 2011
Hello Claudia. ... We had soooo much fun in La Fortuna. In one day we packed in three adventures. The first being the Hanging Bridges, second we did the zip lines that was fantastic with a fun crew and then relaxing in the hot springs. We should of added an extra day there. The top of the volcano cleared right before leaving, so we were able to see the top. Our last stop at Flamingo Beach Resort was the perfect way to end the vacation.
There was a wedding at the resort, a beautiful occasion on the beach. The morning of our last day while walking the beach we saw two whales playing in the ocean. An added bonus. The whole vacation is one we will treasure forever. Thank you for all your help in making it possible.
Linda and Michael
November 2010
I wanted to drop you a line and thank you again for all of your help planning our amazing honeymoon. Arenas del Mar was more than we expected. Our suite was amazing and the service was impeccable, as was the food. We highly recommend this resort and would love to go back some day. I believe Ken would go back next year if we could. Dream Vacations was great, our guides and transportation worked out wonderfully. The in-country flights were quite the adventure. Also, going during the low season was great we had tours and restaurants all to ourselves in La Fortuna. Costa Rica totally beats Mexico hands down.
Thank you again
Brittany Fleming
October 2010
Hi Claudia,
I just wanted to let you know that I heard from Marguerite's son
and he conveyed to me that his mother and companion, Harry,
had a fabulous time on their trip to Costa Rica. I don't have any more
details than that, but I wanted you to know. Again, we thank you for
your supurb service, and we will continue to be in touch for any Costa Rican
vacations--especially ours someday!
Kind Regards,
Barb and Jean Paul
NetCruise Travel
First off I will tell you it was one of the best tours I have been on.......I loved that there were only 10 of us and we apparently drew the best tour conductor in Costa Rica.
Now Tortuguero was the favorite of everyone on the tour. Alex and our boat driver (Jason) pointed out birds, caiman, gators, trees and flowers.
The trip on the canal (the National Park) was more than expected, again mainly because of Alex and Jason being able to point out things that we probably never had seen without them. It was the highlight of the trip and I can't say enough about it, or them. It was so enjoyable that there were just us on the boat, what an adventure.
The pineapple tour was great. The coffee plantation was a great experience also. We did stop and see the Banana plantation packaging plant.
Over all it was a great trip and I thank you for your work.
Your Personal Travel Agent
Sherry Schneider
May 2010
Hi, Claudia,
We just returned last night from our trip. We had a WONDERFUL time and have concluded that the trip was among the best, if not THE best, trip we have ever taken. The wildlife, the scenery and the Costa Rican people were beyond our expectations. Each part of the trip was unique and enjoyable-----Manuel Antonio, Monteverde, Arenal and Tortuguerro. It would be difficult to pick a favorite, but much to my surprise, I think the best part of the trip was Tortuguerro due to the amount of wildlife that we encountered (four species of monkeys, caymans, toucans, parrots, crocodiles, baby hatchling turtles and several kinds of water birds).
For the most part, the trip went extremely well. There are just a few items that I want to mention to you so that you can perhaps help other people avoid the same issues in the future. We were scheduled for a full, free day on Monday 11/30 and that was the day we had set aside for Manuel Antonio National Park. However, the park is closed on Mondays. We had to switch our sunset boat cruise to Monday so that we could do the Park on Tuesday. Also, we arrived in Monteverde on Wednesday night since we did not leave the Hotel Parador until 2:30 PM----and that only gave us one full day in when we were expecting two. An early morning departure from Hotel Parador on Wednesday morning would have given us at least a half day Wednesday and a full day Thursday in Monteverde. On our last day (yesterday morning), we arrived at the airport four hours early and even had to wait an hour for Delta to open its counter. I wish we could have used a couple of those hours to visit around downtown San Jose, which we did not get to see.
Despite these glitches, we still had an incredibly good experience. We were overwhelmed with the kindness and politeness of the Tico people. The food was spectacular----in the hotels and in the many little local restaurants where we dined. All of the hotels were good. The Parador was outstanding, the El Establo was "okay" (we spent very little time there), Magic Mountain was kinda "corporate" feeling but still very nice, and Mawamba was rustic and basic----but was very enjoyable since we felt like we were in the middle of a watery jungle).
Thank you so much for putting together this package for us. We will never forget our adventures in this beautiful tropical paradise!
Best Regards,
Bob Claxton
Dear Claudia,
I am sorry I did not write you earlier about our GREAT Time spend in Full Adventure of Costa Rica Trip. soooooo much wish not to END.
Claudia, Oleg and I would like to thank you very much for arranging lovely itinerary for us. Everything went very well and the most important all of the trasportation and all of our services were very on time with no delays.
Also please pass our sincere Thank you to Carolina, she was daily checking on us if everything went ok.
We truly thank you very much for your kind cooperation with us.
I thought to share our horseback riding pictures with you!
Thank you again and best regards to Duluth and Costa Rica Dream Adventures!
Veronika & Oleg
Just wanted to let you know my granddaughter and her friends had a FABULOUS time in Costa Rica. Everything was perfect and the hotel was much nicer than they were expecting. Everyone there was very nice and helpful. They took several excursions and I saw the photos of all --- even the Zip Line! Looked so fun.
Thanks so much for your help and advice.
Marla Edwards- Texas
I just had to write and let you know what a fantastic time our family had in Costa Rica. I wish we could have extended our stay and just keep enjoying everything longer at all the places that we visited. We lucked out with great weather and everything ran smoothly.
Thank you for your assistance with our trip and for the follow-ups during our trip by your people in Costa Rica. Now that we had a taste of “Pura Vida”, we plan to make a return trip to enjoy and explore it more.Thanks again,
Victor Gerber, Kansas City, MO
We recently got back from our Honeymoon to Costa Rica and I want to express my gratitude for helping make our trip and honeymoon one that we will cherish for always. What an awesome view from the Parador hotel, their staff was very gracious and really pampered us.
When we visited the Tabacon area the Arenal volcano had one of its usual eruptions and we spent some quality time immersed in the spa and hot springs. We were ecstatic to have the opportunity to experience an active volcano, which I am sure few people ever do. We’ll be sure to visit Costa Rica again and I’ll definitely recommend you to our friends and family.
Ryan Goldin, Los Angeles, CA
Hi Art, thanks for convincing us to try out Costa Rica for our annual fishing trip. The Sail and Marlins in Tamarindo were fighters and running strong. We even caught Yellow-Fin Tuna and kept some snappers for our dinner. The guys in our group play hard and we were very satisfied with our land accommodations as well as with the results after our five days of fishing.
Mike Sutherland, Atlanta, GA
Our corporate incentive trip to Costa Rica was a total success. Our sales people were very motivated and surprised to be able to do so many things in one place. Costa Rica is true blessed with its natural beauty and diversity. The people at the hotel as well as your personnel were just wonderful and very helpful with all our organization. I am glad that we choose your company to help us with this trip and hope to work with you again in the future.
Harry Hudson, Almond Beach, FL
"Doug and I had a great time. It was a trip of a lifetime. We really felt like we saw a great deal of the country. The pre-trip itinerary was great, knowing what to take with us, how to dress, etc. was a great help and got us very excited about the trip. Even though the itinerary let us know kinda what to expect, the trip was much more than we imagined. For us, this was the trip of a lifetime. We have already recommended you to our friends and family. We would love to use your services again. Thank you and the whole staff that helped make this a great experience for us." Sincerely,
Doug and Bonnie G., Denver, CO
Hi Claudia,
Just wanted to let you know that Pamela and Sara just came home
from the Papagayo Hilton, where they spent 6 nights. They had the most
fabulous time for 6 nights, and LOVED the hotel, the transfer people
were terrific, and they couldn't stop raving about their vacation.
They said the hotel is beautiful, their accommodations were excellent,
and the food was excellent. They just couldn't stop telling me how
great everything was. Hope to send you lots more clients.
Best,
Maddy, New York