Prepare For The Adventure of a Lifetime
Frequently Asked Questions

TOP 5 QUESTIONS
Flexible Booking Policies: Zero Risk, Zero Hassle:
We’ve amended our booking & cancellation policies for travel through October, 2023.
Payment due dates are as follows:
- Green Season Reservations – 20 days prior to check-in
- High Season Reservations – 45 days prior to check-in
- Holiday Season Reservations – 75 days prior to check-in
Yes. Our Cayuga Travel team is available to help with any questions you may have about which hotels to combine, how to travel between them, how long to stay at each, and making reservations. Chat with us about your travel plans – we’ll help you put together a fully personalized itinerary to experience the very best of Central America’s Pacific coast.
We Want You to Feel Confident About Your Future Travels. That’s why we’ve implemented new health and safety protocols and flexible booking policies for you.
Since the beginning of the Coronavirus, we made the conscious decision to keep our core teams working. During this time, we re-trained, re-tooled, and re-wrote how we do hospitality.
That’s why when you return to any one of the Cayuga Collection Hotels, you’ll find proven Health & Safety Protocols, safety seals, and International Accreditation actively in place for you.
We understand the new normal when it comes to sanitation, physical distancing and staying safe.
What does this mean for you? This means you can feel absolutely confident that our teams are ready to host you again in the safest way possible. To learn about the protocols we’ve put in place to keep you healthy and safe, visit our Covid-19 Policies and Procedures page: HERE
Travel logistics
There are two distinct seasons in Central America. Knowing which one is right for you depends on a few things.
DRY SEASON: DECEMBER – APRIL
Looking for a detailed, month-by-month guide to Green Season? Check it out our Green Season Guide right here.
Weather Overview: Glorious, sunny days ranging from 75 to 95 degrees (F) depending on which area in Costa Rica you’re visiting.
Dry Season Perks: Gorgeous, rain-free days
Go Dry if…you want to trade your winter parka for a pair of shorts or if you like the buzz of being around other travelers.
GREEN SEASON: MAY – NOVEMBER
Weather Overview: Mornings tend to be hot and sunny while it usually rains only for a few hours a day, mostly in the afternoon and at night. Green Season rain is “warm” and often comes and goes quickly. In most cases will not affect your activities or tours.
Green Season Perks: Lower international airfares, discounted room rates, extra-lush rainforests and fewer travelers.
Go Green if… you’re looking for great value, if you want to experience the rainforest in all its glory, or if you like the idea of visiting when there are fewer travelers around.
*When planning your trip, be skeptical about the accuracy of weather apps – with so many micro climates in Costa Rica, forecasting is almost impossible.
If you are from Australia, the United Kingdom, European Union, Canada or the United States, you won’t require a special visa, but we do recommend reading the full details and passport document requirements here for Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama.
The dress-code at the Cayuga Collection properties is (strictly!) informal – leave the dinner jacket at home! We advise bringing lightweight, comfortable clothing for the tropical climate, along with hiking boots or sturdy tennis shoes for nature based activities.
No immunizations, shots, inoculations or vaccinations are required to enter Costa Rica (unless you are coming from South America).
Travelers arriving in Costa Rica or Nicaragua following a visit to countries under Sanitary Alert due to the Yellow Fever Virus must present an International Vaccination Certificate for Yellow Fever upon entry. These countries include Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guyana, Panama, Venezuela, Paraguay, Peru, and all African countries except the Democratic republic of Congo, Tanzania, Sao Tome and Principe, and Somalia.
In general, it would be wise to check with your personal physician for individual recommendations and be up to date with routine vaccinations.
We advise taking out comprehensive travel and medical insurance to cover yourself and any dependents/travel companions for the duration of your stay in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and/or Panama. As a minimum, this insurance should include:
– Emergency evacuation expenses
– Medical expenses
– Repatriation expenses
– Cancellation or curtailment of trip
– Damage/theft/loss of personal luggage, money and goods
In case of medical emergencies, hospitals expect payment by cash or card, regardless of whether you have travel health insurance of not. If your health insurance does not cover you for medical expenses while you are abroad, you should consider supplemental insurance. It may also be worth finding out in advance if your insurance plan will make payments directly to providers or if they reimburse you later for any overseas health expenditures.
*Ask us about the current requirements about insurance that covers Covid-19.
GENERAL QUESTIONS
Getting to all of our properties is easy. Our hotels and lodges can arrange all domestic transport for you including flights and ground transfers. Travelling between Cayuga Collection hotels? The team at Cayuga Travel will help you plan it all. Find more information on our dedicated Getting Here page or Chat with us.
Yes. In almost all parts of Costa Rica the drinking water is safe. The same goes for when you stay at any of our Cayuga Collection hotels and lodges. Our properties have their own water filtration systems – that means you’ll get 100% safe, potable water from the tap and you won’t find any single-use plastic water bottles nor plastic straws in sight.
If you don’t speak Spanish, don’t worry. At the Cayuga Collection hotels and lodges we speak excellent English. Apart from in the most rural areas, you should have little problem with language barriers — and we will be happy to teach you a bit of Spanish at our hotels as well!
All of the hotels and lodges that are operated by the Cayuga Collection are independently owned by individuals who share our sustainable philosophy and have a vision of preserving their natural surroundings and supporting their local communities.
The Cayuga Collection is named after Cayuga Lake in Ithaca, New York. Cayuga’s founders, Andrea Bonilla and Hans Pfister, both studied at Cornell University which sits on the lake’s shore, earning their degrees in Hotel Administration in the 1990s.
Costa Rica is the ultimate tropical getaway. Home to rainforests, cloud forests, active volcanoes, and both Caribbean and Pacific beaches, the opportunities for exploring – or relaxing – are endless. Despite its small size, Costa Rica holds approximately 5% of the world’s biodiversity, making it a dream destination for wildlife lovers too. Sloths, monkeys, scarlet macaws, toucans, quetzals and more are easily spotted in the wild.
Getting around is also hassle-free. Domestic, carbon neutral airlines like Sansa connect all the regions of Costa Rica. The longest internal flight route is under 1 hour. Roads and highways are well-maintained too, and driving between destinations is unlikely to ever take more than 4 hours.
Importantly, Costa Rica is also considered a safe travel destination. We don’t even have a national army!
At the intersection between two oceans and two continents, Panama is a narrow country, but one packed with culture, tropical beaches, Latin spirit, history, nature and wildlife. And making it all the more appealing is the fact that it’s still widely unexplored. With far more to see than just the famous Canal, Panama is an excellent destination for off the beaten path adventure and undisturbed relaxation.
Nicaragua is Central America’s hidden gem, easily reached directly or from Costa Rica. It’s only recently coming into its own as a tourist destination and still feels gloriously undiscovered. If you’re looking for an off the beaten path kind of escape, Nicaragua is a land of sprawling beaches, sleepy surf towns and picturesque colonial cities – Granada, on the banks of Lake Nicaragua, being the oldest on mainland America and one of the prettiest in all of Latin America. When adventure calls, you’ll be able to get your adrenaline fix by boarding down a volcano.
Carbon offsets are voluntary donations that can be made to compensate, or offset, greenhouse gas emissions from transport, electricity use, and other sources. In an effort to promote sustainable development and tourism, the Costa Rican Ministry of Environmental Affairs has created a program in which tourists can compensate the carbon emissions from their international flights by investing in programs that preserve and reforest natural areas within Costa Rica. You can find more information on the program’s website (http://www.fonafifo.go.cr/) or ask us!