If you want to hike the new Coast to Coast Camino in Costa Rica, I recommend you go with the tour company I used on my own hike in April of 2022:  UrriTrek.  

UrriTrek has been involved in the fleshing out of the infrastructure needed to support this new long distance trail and they know it better than anyone.  I think when I went, my outstanding guide, Juancho, had already hiked it seventeen times.  When he had time, he was always looking for new places for hikers to stay or eat, or even to amuse or entertain hikers.  We went to a magnificent hydrangea farm, a butterfly farm (they sell the crysallis), and more.

The Costa Rica Camino is so new, and it winds through rural regions infrequented by tourists, you really NEED to have a local guide who knows what he or she is doing.   A guide is mandatory in the indigenous region, and with the trail not fully marked, you really should go with someone who knows the route.

Somedays, you don’t go through any villages, or if you do, there aren’t any restaurants, so getting lunch or snacks becomes an issue.  One day, our lunch was provided by a local housewife that Juancho would call ahead with our order.  The Association had built a lean to on the side of her home so she could serve hikers.  And it was at a picnic table underneath that we enjoyed my most favorite meal of the trip – all while her kids were playing in the yard next to us.  It doesn’t get more authentic than that!

As we passed through another village, other woman prepared a tasty tortilla wrapped in banana leaf for us to take into the forest for a later lunch.

So if you want to be one of the first to hike this new Costa Rica Camino, be sure to use UrriTrek.  If you use the Promo Discount Code ATA100, you’ll save $100, and you’ll be helping to support ATA at no additional cost to you – thanks!