Horseback Riding in Golfito, Costa Rica

Jan 23, 2017 - This morning, Azamara Quest is still docked in Golfito, Costa Rica. While most guests book tours through the Land Discoveries desk on board, we have gone rogue and booked our own excursion directly with a local tour company: Golfito Tours.

Disembarking in Golfito

After a quick lunch in The Patio, we disembarked Quest around 1:45pm, in time to meet up with our guide at 2pm as instructed. Our guide for the day, Hariel, was waiting for us just outside the gates to the port, as was the owner of Golfito Tours, Adriana, and another GMT guide.

Our guide, Hariel, waiting for us at the pier

We all piled into a minivan, with Adriana driving, and headed off to the nearby rain forest. The drive to the horseback tour location took about 30 minutes. When we arrived, we were given helmets and soon mounted up for the ride.

Rickee gets familiar with her horse

Another local guide, probably the gentlemen who owns the horses, was the lead guide on the tour. He did not speak English, so having Hariel along to translate really helped. Along the way, he would point out flora and fauna as we passed them.

After about 30 minutes of riding, we soon learned why this is referred to as a "rain forest". It began raining, then it began pouring rain. This is something we had not prepared for. Rickee and I were soaked by the end of the ride! So, it is a good idea to pack a portable, disposable poncho just to be safe. Lesson learned. Adriana also pointed out later that most people do the tour in the morning when rain is less likely. The ride ended with a short hike to a beautiful waterfall. Our initial plan was to swim under the waterfall, but we were already so soaked from the rain, we decided to forego the experience. As my primary camera was not waterproof, we had to use the GoPro to take photos at the waterfall, and the quality is not that good.

If you are visiting Golfito, Costa Rica we can highly recommend that you book an excursion through Graffito Tours. They offer a wide variety of excursion options and we always prefer to support local businesses rather than booking excursions through the cruise lines. You can get more information at https://costarica-trip.com/golfito/golfito-tours/