COSTA RICA 1-WEEK ENDURO TOUR
March 3-9, 2024
Enduro Adventuring Like You've Never Imagined!
Join me and your fellow WANDURO riders for a 1-week enduro trip through Costa Rica this March!
Last year was our inaugural trip. And it was outstanding! So this year I've worked my local partner, Heiner, to dial it in even more.
Jungles, Beaches, Mountains, Rivers, and picturesque villages, all linked together with some of the best single and double-track you can imagine. I am so looking forward to this and to having you join me on this ride.
Think of it as a Christmas gift to yourself! 😉
Here are some highlights:
- Some of the best enduro touring in Central America.
- Cruising through verdant cloud forests and high-altitude meadows.
- Challenging the gnarly singletrack stashes known only to the locals.
- Twisting through beautiful blacktop.
- Powering through flowy jungle doubletrack.
- Exploring picturesque villages.
- Crossing jungle rivers.
- Relaxing in comfortable local lodges, and haciendas.
- Taking in the legendary Costa Rican hospitality.
- Savouring delicious, hearty Costa Rican Cuisine.
Maximum Adventure. Minimum Hassle.
We've taken care of all the details so you can just enjoy the fun! Â After our outstanding inaugural ride last winter, I sat down with Heiner to dial it in even more for this winter.
If enduro riding on gnarly jungle and mountain trails is your jam, I think you'll love what we came up with! Costa Rica has it in spades!
Challenging single and double rack, river crossings, and ridgetop riding connected with buttery blacktop twisties! Add in a healthy dose of cloud forests, beaches, waterfalls, open ridgetops, amazing views, and deep jungle and you've got a recipe for riding bliss! Rest up in comfy hotels and enjoy hearty Costa Rican cuisine.
All you need to do is show up with your riding gear and your love of adventure and let us take care of route selection, hotels, bikes, luggage, safety, and all the other little details that make a trip great.
Click through this photo gallery
For a taste of what you'll see.
And check out this video for a taste of the riding:
Here’s what’s included:
- Five full days of outstanding enduro adventuring in the stunning landscapes of Costa Rica.
- 6 Nights of accommodation in comfortable local hotels, lodges, and haciendas. With breakfast.
- Recent Model Enduro Motorcycles (KTM, Beta and Husqvarna. See list below).
- Gasoline.
- Continental Breakfasts.
- Costa Rican typical lunches (normally include beef, chicken, fish, or pork).
- Support vehicle and driver to transfer your luggage.
- Two bilingual local motorcycle guides/mechanics.
- Arrival and departure airport transfers.
- And me! I'll be co-leading the trip and doing what it takes to ensure you have an outstanding experience!
These Are Your bikes
Late-model Husqvarnas and KTMs including:
Two Strokes:
- Husqvarna 250 TE
- Husqvarna 300 TE
- KTM 300 EXC
Four Strokes:
- KTM 450 XCW-R
- KTM 350 EXC-F
- KTM 350 Six Days
Yes! High performance bikes that are a riot to ride on these trails.
Itinerary Details
March 3-9 2024
March 3 - Arrivals
Airport welcome and 25-minute transfer from the Juan Santamaria International Airport to the Hotel in Santa Ana on the west side of San Jose.
7 pm this evening we'll have our welcome dinner and get to know each other. I'll do a ride briefing of what you can expect and how to make the most of your trip.
March 4 - Mountains of San Jose
Dirt Bike ride in the Central Valley mountains surrounding San Jose. This is the day that we get comfortable with the Costa Rican terrain and give the guides an idea of our skill levels so they can select the best trails for us. These are some of the most popular trails amongst local San Jose offroad riders and are some of the best trails in the cloud and rain forests of Costa Rica. There will be plenty of opportunities to enjoy and capture the amazing views.
6 - 7 hours. Â 90 - 120 Kilometers
March 5 - San Jose to the Pacific
We climb over the Pacific Range at chilly elevations of up to 3300m and play in the single and double track of the high mountains before we do the loooong descent down to the Pacific. We'll need to go easy on the brakes because these long downhills can cook them pretty quickly. The Central Pacific region is distinguished by the abrupt meeting of half a dozen small mountain ranges with the Pacific Ocean to their south.
We spend the night at a lovely countryside hotel in La Palma.
6 to 7 hours. 120 - 130 Kilometers
March 6 - La Palma to Playa Hermosa
Today we experience one of the top off-road biking areas in Costa Rica; full of natural obstacles, curvy roads, springs, and fun mountain technical trails that have you loving the gnar! There are several mountain ridges that flow down towards the coast and we'll be riding in, out, and over them as well as enjoying some nice ridge-top trails that snake through these beautiful tropical mountains.
We end the day in Hermosa Beach, a surfer’s paradise right next to the town of Jaco. Jaco is a happening place and the long stretch of beach is one of Costa Rica's top surfing destinations. It's got plenty of great restaurants and nightlife to enjoy.
6 to 7 hours. 120 - 130 Kilometers
March 7 - Hermosa Loop (or R&R/Adventure day!)
Today, you've got a few options:
If you want to just kick back with a margarita (or 10) at the beach or putter around in nearby Jaco, this is your day!
Or you can get back in the saddle and take advantage of riding the nearby ridges and mountains with stunning views out over the Pacific. Our guides will pick a loop that’s perfect for our group’s skills and interests.
Or, you can choose from a selection of adventures included in the price of the tour (min 2 ppl required for any adventure)
- Zip Line
- Crocodile Mangrove tour
- Horseback Riding
- Surfing
- Whitewater Rafting
March 8 - Playa Hermosa Back to San Jose
It's our last riding day, and it's a good one! We'll put our mountain jungle riding skills to the test as we head back over the high mountains to San Jose. This day has some of everything. Gnarly single track, high mountain ridges, steamy jungle creek crossings, remote villages, twisty pavement, and amazing views.
We'll end up back where we started the trip at our hotel in Santa Ana. We say goodbye to our bikes and enjoy a final celebratory dinner having forged new friendships and enjoyed a ride we'll never forget!
6 to 7 hours. Distance 120 - 130 Kilometers
March 9 - Departure
Transfer from your Hotel to the International Airport.
The Lodges and Hotels
As much as we rough it during the day, we chill in comfortable lodges, hotels, and haciendas at night. Here's some of what you can expect:
Cuisine
There's nothing like a hearty meal of Costa Rican comfort food after a hard day of riding. Much like Italian, Costa Rican cuisine is known for fresh, hearty, and simple ingredients prepared with skill to create delicious flavours and combinations. These are some of the dishes you may experience:
Is This Ride for Me?
This is the type of person that is a good fit for this tour:
- You are in decent physical shape. We'll be riding 5-7 hours per day in temperatures ranging from 7 to 30 degrees celcius with many of the trail segments being challenging single and double track. If you are on the lower end of the required skill level for this trip, you'll need to be in better shape because you'll be working harder.
- You get along well with others, you're easygoing and flexible, and neither occasionally waiting for people nor having people wait for you bothers you. If you've dialed in your riding buddies to a select few who match your riding style and you don't really like group rides, then this may not be the trip for you.
- Your skill level is upper intermediate or higher. If you've ridden in the WANDR event before, this means you are able to ride level 4 QuestPoints. In other words, offroad with some challenges. Difficult, but you can usually make it through using your feet or by getting off and pushing. These tougher sections are usually no more than 20-100 metres at a time. Check out the video above to get an idea of the riding mix. If you're unsure, please give me a shout at (403) 875-8500
Flight Recommendations
Return flights should cost around C$1000 or less and you can often find flights for around C$800. You can sometimes save a few hundred dollars by clicking on the "flexible dates" option and coming a day or two early or leaving a day or two late and using the extra time to chill, explore, acclimatize, or whatever you want to do.
We want you to be there in time for the welcome dinner on Sunday evening in San Jose, so you'll need to book your flight to arrive no later than 4 pm on Sunday. Most lower-cost same-day flights from Canada and the northern US tend to arrive late at night in Costa Rica. There are some more expensive flights that arrive earlier. For this reason, we recommend you book a flight for Saturday arrival or an overnight flight for early Sunday arrival. We'll gladly make arrangements for your extra hotel night(s) if you arrive early or stay longer.
Sign Up!
We need a minimum of 6 riders to make a go of it. And the most we'll be is 10.
I've already got local guides who’ve set aside this week and made all the reservations.
So go ahead and register below and make your $500 deposit to guarantee your spot and I'll reach out to you for the balance payment once you're signed up. We need a minimum of 6 riders to make it work. If we don't get that many, I'll refund your deposit. (please see the "Fine Print" below)
Pricing
Remember, this includes
- Some of the best enduro riding you'll ever experience.
- Awesome KTM, and Husky bikes plus gasoline.
- 6 Nights of comfortable accommodation.
- Continental breakfasts.
- Hearty Costa Rican lunches.
- Support vehicle and driver to transfer your luggage.
- Cool local guides/mechanics who love riding as much as you do.
- Arrival and departure transfers
- Plus I’ll be there to co-lead the trip and make sure you have a great time.
Price: C$4499Â Â (approx. US$3400)
Does not include:
- Your flight to Costa Rica
- Suppers, drinks, tips.
- Medical/Travel/Repatriation Insurance.
- Riding gear. I've always found it best to bring my own, but there are gear rentals available.
Logistics
Insurance
I recommend travel medical insurance that includes repatriation. Make sure your medical insurance covers motorcycling. Some policies do not cover "risky" activities. I use TUGO as my travel insurance supplier as they also cover regions where there are "travel advisories."
Vaccinations
The CDC has a list of recommended vaccines. They tend to err on the side of caution, so check out the list and make your own decisions. A basic one that's good whenever you're travelling out of the country is the Hep A and Hep B vaccines, usually taken in a combined dose ("Twinrix").
Riding Gear & Clothing
Riding gear is available to rent, but I recommend bringing your own, even if it means paying for an extra piece of luggage. Since you're an experienced rider, you probably have your gear dialed in and it's no fun forsaking this for gear that may not fit you properly or provide you with the comfort and security you're used to. To save luggage space, you can even wear some of this gear on the plane!
Temperatures will range from 5C to 35C.
For what it's worth, this is how I gear up on a trip like this:
- T-shirt with a body protector or pressure suit over top.
- Fleece sweater to go either over or under the body protector to take the chill off.
- Lightweight rain jacket to go over everything to break the wind on the coolest days and for rainy days. The downside of this is that this type of jacket is more easily damaged in a fall. To mitigate this a bit, I wear my fleece over my body protector so there's a little give between the jacket and the hard plastic of the body protector.
- Offroad riding pants.
- Rain Pants.
- Offroad riding boots.
- Shin/Knee pads.
- Riding gloves.
- Helmet. Best to have a helmet with a lot of airflow. Most people prefer a MX helmet with goggles. Personally, I use safety glasses and a flip-up ADV style helmet that I can open up for extra air if it gets really slow and hot.
So that's my setup. But you do you based upon your experience and preferences combined with the weather conditions and the mainly offroad nature of the trip.
As far as the rest of your kit, pack light and easily washable clothes. A pair of casual shoes/runners is good enough for footwear. Don't worry about being too minimalist as there is room in the chase vehicle for luggage.
Electricity
The plugs and voltage are the same as in North America. The only hitch is that you'll often encounter two-prong sockets that won't accept a three-prong plug. So bring along a 3-prong to 2-prong adapter if you need to.
Arrival/Departure
Book your flight to Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) to arrive on Saturday February 11. We'll pick you up a the airport. Book your departure on Sunday February 19. We'll take you to the airport to catch your flight.
Additional Recommendations and Information
- Don’t forget your sunblock and insect repellent. (It tends to be a fair bit more expensive in Costa Rica)
- Costa Rica has an annual relative humidity percentage from 77% to 90% depending on the region and the time of the year, hydration during the tour is extremely important, we will stop on the way if needed but we recommend that you have a hydration bladder with you.
- You might want to pack some light snacks for between meals. I normally pack some granola or power bars.
- Don’t worry about your luggage, we will have a support vehicle, so you don’t have to be concerned about packing too minimalist. We will make sure to move everything from one location to the next.
The Fine Print
This trip is being organized by WANDURO. Payments are being accepted and reservations are being made by Mountain Quest Adventure Company Ltd. on behalf of WANDURO.
Skills You Will Need
Your program may include a large variety of activities, abilities, terrain, and durations. The factors you should consider are: your skill level, conditioning, and mental attitude. If you have doubts, please call, and we'll discuss it!
Deposits & Payments
The $500 reservation deposit guarantees your spot on this trip. Once you've registered I'll contact you to make arrangements for payment of the balance which is then due. If we don't get the minimum of 6 people to make the trip a go, you'll get your reservation deposit back. I will inform you as soon as we've reached our 6-person minimum so you can go ahead and book flights and prepare for the trip.
Cancellations
If you must cancel your reservation, notify us as soon as possible. Due to the fact that many of our costs are committed well in advance of departure, the following refund policy applies:
Reservation Deposits: Refundable only if we do not reach the 6-person minimum. Non-refundable after we reach the 6-person minimum.
Full trip cost: If you cancel after we have received your full payment and up until a week before departure, we will refund 50% of your full payment. After that, there is no refund.
Please read carefully! Mountain Quest Adventure Company Ltd. Acts as an agent for and makes arrangements with transportation companies, accommodation providers, and adventure outfitters as described in our trip descriptions and other independent parties to provide you with travel services and accommodation. Although great care is taken in choosing suppliers, we are unable to directly control them and therefore cannot be held responsible or liable for their acts or omissions. The travel services are subject to the conditions imposed by these suppliers and their liability may be limited by their tariffs, conditions of carriage, and international conventions and agreements. Many of these suppliers will require you to sign liability release waivers.
Discrepancies in Service
In the unlikely event that you experience a problem during your program, please forward a written account of your concerns to Mountain Quest within 30 days of the completion of the service(s) in question. Mountain Quest cannot assist in resolving claims involving supplier(s) that are received after 30 days. Mountain Quest will make best efforts to deal with the supplier(s) in question and endeavour to receive a fair settlement for you from the supplier(s).
Remoteness
Many of our activities occur in remote areas. This comes with inherent risks and logistic difficulties. Participants recognize that these risks are inherent in the enjoyment and adventure of remote areas and accept these as part of the experience. Mountain Quest is not responsible for emergency evacuation, travel, or communication costs. Please purchase your own insurance for this if you so wish.
Possible Program Alterations
Mountain Quest reserves the right to cancel, modify, or alter all or any part of the program when necessary or advisable. In the event of such a change, Mountain Quest shall endeavour to substitute comparable services or provide a full refund for the unused portion of the program. A full refund of monies for the unused portion of the program shall constitute a full settlement between Mountain Quest and yourself.
Welcome Aboard!
A good relationship is built on mutual respect and understanding. With these terms and conditions, we've declared our mutual responsibilities and duties. Please contact us if you wish for clarification on any of these points.
Tel. 403-270-0000Â Â email: info@mountainquest.ca