TRAVEL INFORMATION

1) ARRIVAL & DEPARTURE INFORMATION

Arrival Airport: You should fly into Juan Santamaria International Airport/San Jose International Airport (airport code: SJO) in San Jose, Costa Rica. The trip from San Jose to Samara is about 6 hours by van but only 40 minutes by air and we highly recommend booking a flight. The closest airport is Samara/Carillo Airport. Alternative airports are Nosara Airport (about 40 minutes from Samara) or Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia (about 2 hours from Samara).

Airlines connecting from San Jose to the Gulf of Nicoya are:
Sansa Airlines (Samara, Nosara, Liberia)
(506) 2221 - 9414
www.flysansa.com

Nature Air (Liberia and Nosara only)
Phone: (506) 2220 - 3054
www.natureair.com

Departure Airport:
To connect with your international flight from Juan Santamaria International Airport/San Jose International, you can fly directly from Nosara Airport located just 10 minutes from the hotel. An alternative is Samara/Carillo Airport (about 40 minutes from Nosara) or Daniel Oduber International Airport in Liberia which offers additional flights and is about 2 hours from the hotel.

Pickup & Drop-off Information: We provide complimentary airport pick-ups and drop-offs. We will be waiting for you with a sign saying “Access Trips” as you exit the terminal at your arrival airport (Samara/Carrillo, Nosara, or Liberia). If you would like to be picked up from or dropped off to somewhere other than the airport, please contact us.

Airlines and Checking Equipment: If you intend to bring your own equipment, please check with your airline regarding policies for checking and transporting sports gear and equipment before you book your flight. This includes inquiring as to weight, charges and liability.

Flights: We do not book flights or insurance for our clients. For recommendations, click here

2) TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS

Travel Insurance: Travel insurance, including emergency evacuation coverage, is compulsory for all our trips. Please do not attend any of our trips without purchasing appropriate insurance coverage. We recommend that you purchase travel insurance that includes cancellation protection so that you will be covered in the event that you are unable to attend our trip (due to injury, illness or other unforeseen circumstances) or in the unlikely event that our trip must be canceled. We do not provide travel insurance for our clients. Please contact your local travel agent to purchase travel insurance.

Passports & Visas: All countries require a valid passport (with a minimum of 6 months validity). Citizens of some countries will also require a visa. Please see below for more details:

Citizens holding valid passports from the following countries are permitted to stay in Costa Rica for 90 days without a visa:
Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France and Germany dependencies, Greece, Holland and dependencies, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad & Tobago, United Kingdom, United States of America, Czech Republic and Uruguay.
Citizens holding valid passports from the following countries are exempt from all visa requirements for stays of 30 days in Costa Rica, though once inside the country, they can apply for extension from the Immigration office, for an authorized period of stay of 90 days:
Antigua & Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Chile, Dominica, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Iceland, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Mexico, New Zealand, Philippines, Russia, Saint Kitts/Nevis, San Marino, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, Suriname, Taiwan, Turkey, The Vatican, Venezuela, Estonia and Monaco.
Citizens of all countries not listed above are required a visa from a Costa Rican embassy or consulate before traveling.

Age: We do not have any age restrictions on our trips. The majority of our clients are between the ages of 25 and 45, but we also have many clients who are older and younger than this.

3) HEALTH AND SAFETY

Emergency Contact: If you need to contact Access Travel in an emergency, you can reach us during office hours at the following numbers:

Dialing within North America: 1 (650) 492-4778
Dialing outside of North America: +1 (650) 492-4778

If you feel that you need to contact us outside of office hours, one of our staff members will be available on the following mobile lines:

Mobile-phone: +1 650 521 2662 or +1 650 387 4249

If you do not receive an immediate answer when calling the above numbers, please leave us a detailed message and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Health requirements: Please carefully review the health information section of the following webpage for up-to-date health information, including information on the quality of medical care, the availability of medications and the necessity for vaccinations in the destination country:
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1093.html. You are responsible for ensuring that you receive any necessary vaccinations before embarking on your trip with us.

Fitness requirements: The majority of our trips are open to people who are beginners in our target sports. Nevertheless, you should have a reasonable level of fitness before attending any of our trips and you should enjoy physical activity and the outdoors. During the majority of our trips you will be able to take a rest if you find that you are over-exerting yourself, but in order to maximize your enjoyment of our tours you should ensure that you are in reasonable shape.

Safety & Security: To maximize your safety during our tours you should exercise common sense and caution at all times. We recommend that you always stick to set travel arrangements, and avoid unknown areas. We also recommend that you wear minimal jewelry and that you keep valuable items safely stored. Always keep a copy of your passport, airline tickets, travelers checks and credit card numbers separate from where you keep the originals. For information on safety and security in Costa Rica, please review the safety and security section of the following webpage: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1093.html

4) WHAT TO TAKE

Equipment: It is always better to use your own equipment, so if you have your own board we highly recommend that you bring it. If you cannot bring your own board, however, or if you are a beginner, we have boards available for you to hire. Please email us for more information.

What to bring: Many of our trips require us to move our base several times, so we recommend that you pack as lightly as possible. There will not always be someone available to help you carry your bags so you should only bring as much as you can carry on your own.

We suggest that you bring the following items:

Clothing & Equipment
» surf board & leash (if you own one)
» a rash guard (you can buy this from any surf shop)
» casual summer clothes
» toiletries
» money belt
» sunscreen
» first-aid kit (should contain lip balm, aspirin, band aids, a cream for sore muscles (e.g. deep heat), Imodium or similar tablets for mild cases of diarrhea, rehydration powder, extra prescription drugs you may be taking)

Documents & Money
» passport (with photocopies)
» travel insurance (with photocopies)
» airline tickets (with photocopies)
» Credit and/or debit card and/or travelers cheques and/or cash
» Any entry visas or vaccination certificates required

Spending Money
» Meals – All breakfasts are included. You should budget US$15/day for dinners and US$10/day for lunches.
» Other expenses – aside from meals, there are no required additional expenses for this trip, but you might like to take spending money for such things as souvenir shopping, nightlife and internet cafes.
» Tipping – a 10% tip for meals is standard in Costa Rica

5) USEFUL LINKS

Country Information: For additional information about traveling in Costa Rica:

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1093.html
http://www.visitcostarica.com

Currency Exchange: For the latest currency exchange information: http://finance.yahoo.com/currency

6) ABOUT ACCESS TRIPS

Who we are: Access Trips is dedicated to offering a wide range of instructional adventure tours. If you`re looking for a vacation that provides a huge sense of personal achievement while still being fun, exciting and rewarding, our tours are right for you. We coined the term `instructional adventure tour` to describe our unique style of travel because as far as we know, we are the only company in the world to specialize in offering a variety of such trips! Instructional adventure tours offer the best of both worlds - expert instruction to help you develop and improve in your favorite pastime (or, if you`re a beginner, to help you learn a new pastime correctly from the start), and varied and exciting itineraries to give you a unique and memorable travel experience. Our tours are the perfect mix of a high quality instructional course and an exciting adventure vacation and you`ll find there`s nothing more satisfying than challenging yourself and reaching new heights in your favorite pastime, while also enjoying a unique and authentic travel experience. Our instructional tours encourage you to develop your potential in a relaxed and non-intimidating setting, regardless of your ability level, and reward you with carefully selected accommodation, delicious food, incredible scenery and unique cultural experiences.

We offer trips in all continents except Antarctica and we currently specialize in snowboarding, skiing, surfing, mountain biking and multisport tours. Our team is made up of instructors who are among the best in the world; we select them not only for their talent and experience (many are professional and competitive athletes) but also for their great personalities and their passion for coaching. Our tours attract men and women of all abilities and ages and, thanks to the fact that all clients have a common interest, our trips tend to be fantastic social experiences in addition to great instructional trips.

Our commitment to our clients: Like many travel companies, we are dedicated to offering the highest quality, safest and best value trips that we can. But our client mission is much more than this: on top of offering an excellent product, we are committed to making a positive change in the lives of our clients. We at Access Trips have all benefited in meaningful ways from the remarkable power of having a passion in life - of having a pastime that brings you pleasure, friendships, a sense of achievement and a total escape from the pressures of everyday life. Some of us have found self-confidence, others friendships, and others motivation and drive as a result of our involvement in sports. We want our clients to also experience the pleasure of finding and pursuing a passion. It is our goal that clients return from our trips having found a new passion or solidified an existing one, having made lasting friendships, having experienced a deep sense of achievement as a result of reaching new heights in their favorite sport, and having acquired a new perspective on life as a result of the unique experiences that our trips provide. We have had more than a few clients who have returned from our trips and decided to make major life changes such as changing careers to pursue more meaningful work, moving countries to be closer to the outdoors, and changing universities to be around more like-minded people. We do not expect our trips to have such a dramatic impact on all our clients, but we do hope that all our clients can be inspired in some small way from the experience of sharing their passion with us.

Our commitment to others: Although we are ultimately a for-profit business, Access Trips is about so much more than just turning profits. We operate Access Trips because we are passionate about travel, sports and the outdoors and because we love to share this passion with our clients, our employees and the local people we encounter during our travels. It is deeply important to us that our business contributes to the world in a favorable way and that we use our resources to affect as much positive change in the world as we can. We believe that we have three major responsibilities: to our clients, to our employees and to the world at large (which includes the environment and local communities) and we are doing everything we can to serve these three groups to the best of our ability. Please see the company section of our website (http://www.accesstrips.com/company/mission/) to read more about the actions we are taking to fulfill our mission and to effect positive change in the world.

7) FINAL NOTE

The information contained in this document is provided in good faith. Due to the nature of travel, details in this document may change. You should thus use the above information as an indication only and not as a contractual obligation on the part of Access Travel, Ltd.