About Us
We didn't build a travel website. We shared our phone book.
Every guide, every host, every local we recommend is someone we know personally. That's been true since the first trip we planned, and it's the only way we work.
Our Story
How this started.
It started with a problem we kept watching happen.
People would arrive in Costa Rica with plans they'd spent weeks building — cross-referencing reviews, comparing booking sites, trying to figure out which tour operators were legitimate and which were just good at SEO. They'd arrive exhausted from the planning, and still miss the places that made the real difference.
Meanwhile, we had something different: years in the country, relationships with the people who actually run the experiences, and the kind of insider knowledge that doesn't make it onto any platform.
A friend asked us to plan their trip. Then another. Then a family their neighbour heard about.
Elevate Costa Rica was built to do systematically what we'd been doing personally — give anyone who wanted to visit Costa Rica the same access to the people and places we'd spent years finding.
The $250 planning fee isn't what we sell. What we sell is the relationship on the other end of every call we make on your behalf.
Why Costa Rica
Why we're here and why it keeps us here.
Costa Rica is easy to love and hard to get right.
It's one of the most biodiverse places on earth. It has beaches on two oceans, cloud forests, volcanic terrain, Caribbean culture, and a Pacific coast that draws surfers, wildlife photographers, and retirees in equal measure. The food is underrated. The people are genuinely warm.
But it's also a country that rewards knowing the right people.
The best tour guide for a Tortuguero boat trip is not the one with the most reviews — it's the one who's been working that river for fifteen years and knows where the manatees are before anyone else does. The best place to stay in Arenal isn't the most-booked resort on a platform — it's a small eco-lodge run by a family we've known for years who will stay up talking to you about the country after dinner.
Those are not discoveries you make on the internet.
The Network
200+ partners. Every one of them personally known.
Over the years, we've built relationships with more than 200 guides, Airbnb hosts, boutique lodge owners, transport operators, restaurant owners, and local specialists across every region of Costa Rica — Guanacaste, Manuel Antonio, Arenal, the Caribbean Coast, the Central Valley, the Nicoya Peninsula, and the Osa Peninsula.
Our vetting criteria
- ✓Personally known or directly vouched for — no cold sourcing from review sites
- ✓Proven track record through years of our own referrals or direct experience
- ✓English-communicative so our clients can talk to the people they're meeting
- ✓Responsive — if a partner doesn't pick up the phone, they're not in the network
- ✓Willing to give our clients preferential treatment through consistent business over years
Who We Serve
The client we work best with.
We work best with people who want the trip done right more than they want to do all the planning themselves — people visiting for a meaningful purpose, who value access and knowledge over a generic itinerary.
- Want the trip done right more than they want to do all the planning themselves
- Are visiting Costa Rica for a meaningful purpose — a family trip, a honeymoon, a milestone, a first international adventure
- Value access and knowledge over a generic itinerary
- Trust that a person who knows the country is more valuable than a platform that aggregates it
We especially love working with:
- →First-time visitors who want to arrive prepared, not overwhelmed
- →Returning visitors who've done the tourist version and want to see the country differently
- →Families with kids who need logistics that actually work
- →Couples planning a milestone trip where getting it right matters
- →Canadians and Americans considering the country as a potential place to invest or relocate
Our Values
How we think about this work.
Honesty first.
If a destination isn't right for your timing, we'll say so. If something on your wish list is overpriced for what it offers, we'll tell you and suggest something better. We'd rather give you the honest answer once than have you leave disappointed.
We only recommend what we'd send our own family to.
Every property, guide, and activity in our network has been evaluated by that standard. If we wouldn't put our family on that boat, you won't hear about it from us.
The relationship doesn't end at delivery.
Our job isn't to hand you a document and disappear. We're available before, during, and after your trip. That's not a marketing promise — it's how we've operated from the beginning.
We earn the referral.
Our business has grown almost entirely through clients referring people they care about to us. We take that seriously. Every trip we plan is one we'd want to be recommended.
Coming Soon — Phase 2
If you're thinking about more than a trip.
A significant number of our clients arrive as tourists and leave with questions about living here. Costa Rica has been attracting Canadian and American investors, retirees, and entrepreneurs for decades — stable democracy, excellent healthcare, relatively low cost of living, and a legal framework that allows foreign property ownership. The investment concierge service is coming — designed for people who want the same insider access for their financial decisions that our tourism clients get for their trips.
Join the Waitlist →The best way to understand what we do is to talk to us.
No obligation. No pitch. Just a conversation with someone who knows this country deeply and wants to help you see it the right way.