My family of four has traveled to many destinations and countries for vacations, and we have worked with different tour guide companies before. However, Alex, Jon, and the team at Waking Dreams Costa Rica truly raised the bar and set our expectations for future tour guides to the ceiling after our nine-day trip in Costa Rica. Alex handled the trip planning with outstanding precision from the very beginning, carefully organizing each day’s activities by the hour so we could feel relaxed and worry-free before the vacation, even though we started with zero knowledge of Costa Rica.
Jon was our tour guide, chauffeur, bodyguard, translator, connoisseur, babysitter, and photographer — truly an all-around guardian angel who made our trip stress-free in a completely foreign country. He was punctual, efficient, responsive, flexible, attentive to detail, and wonderful with kids. He also has extensive knowledge of local food, culture, activities, plants, and wildlife. On top of that, he is a professional photographer and drone pilot (shot photos and videos for weddings and hotels before), which helped tremendously in capturing unforgettable memories through photos and videos while we were free to simply enjoy the activities with kids. When you see him slowing down carefully on every sharp turn and rough road, walking uphill repeatedly with you under the hot sun to help retrieve something you forgot at the hotel, watching over your kids as they play in the waves when you get distracted, and tirelessly taking photos of your family even to the point of getting sunburned himself, you realize that you have a tour guide who truly goes above and beyond. He doesn’t just treat you like a customer — he makes you feel like a valued member of the family.
Throughout the entire trip, Jon has always been a reliable local expert by our side, ready to support us at every turn and protect our interests from any mistakes we made in planning or carrying out our travel itinerary (getting refund from booking mistakes, canceling activities due to exhaustion, etc). We learned so much about Costa Rica and enjoyed so many local foods and activities that we never would have tried otherwise, all with so little effort on our part. After traveling with Jon at Alex's Waking Dreams Costa Rica, we honestly cannot imagine visiting another country without wishing we had a team like them. Alex also took time to meet us in person at the end of the trip to greet us and ask for feedback so that they can continue to grow and improve. I have no doubt that Waking Dreams Costa Rica will rise to the very top of the tour guiding business in Costa Rica, because the quality of their service is truly unbeatable. I recommend them without hesitation to anyone planning a trip to Costa Rica.