Bike Arenal operates mountain bike and multisport adventure tours in Costa Rica since 1993.

In 2009, Bike Arenal became part of Destino Tropical. This is a family project run by Karla Picado and Mario Cordero. Both of us have worked many years in the tourism industry; first in hotels, later as white water rafting and bike tour guides in Costa Rica and Europe. More recently as country coordinators for an international tour operator. In 2003 we took a six month long training at the National Institute of Biodiversity (INBIO) and obtained our Licenses as Costa Rica Naturalist Guides. We have organized and guided many tours since then: groups, couples, families, students and many many bikers.

Our goal is to create authentic travel experiences that value the traditional culture and ways of living of our country and that contribute to the sustainability of our natural and social environments. Costa Rica is a developing tropical country with an astounding wealth in biodiversity and culture.

We think that we can help you make the most out of your vacation time by including an important informal educational component in our trips. We emphasize in learning as much as possible about the natural environment and the culture of our country. All of our tours are lead by licensed local naturalist guides who besides loving mountain biking and the outdoors, have a strong commitment to this philosophy.

Our office is located in La Fortuna de San Carlos, a peaceful village of 8,000, located at the base of Arenal Volcano in northern Costa Rica. Our privileged location at the base of the mountains allows us to choose between easy biking on the gentle rolling hills and flat lands to the east or the challenging slopes of the Tilarán Mountain Range to the west. We hope you’ll join us for a bike ride one of these days.

Bike Arenal is the sole supplier of tours in Costa Rica to ExperiencePlus! Specialty Tours, Inc. ExperiencePlus! is known for its quality bicycle and multisport tours in more than 15 countries around the world  

Our philosophy

Costa Rica is a developing tropical country with an astounding wealth in biodiversity and culture.  We think that we can help you make the most out of your time by including an important informal educational component in our trips.  We emphasize in learning as much as possible about the natural environment and the culture of our country.  All of our tours are lead by licensed local naturalist guides who besides loving mountain biking and the outdoors, have a strong commitment to this philosophy.  For the same reason we try to keep the impact of our tours on the environment to a minimum by using only permanent gravel roads or trails and encouraging respect for the wildlife and the natural environment.

Our Staff

Mario Cordero holds a degree in Human Resources Management from the University of San José in Costa Rica.  A licensed Naturalist Guide and White Water Rafting Guide; Mario started guiding bicycle tours in 1993.  His experience includes leading trips in France, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Czech Republic, Greece, and Costa Rica.  He has been the head of Bike Arenal since its conception in 2002.


Karla Picado has led bike tours since 2001.  She is now in charge of logistics and operations of all our tours from our base office in Fortuna.  Karla has a degree in International Relations from the National University of Costa Rica.  She speaks intermediate French and Italian.She is now learning photography and is responsible of a lot of the pictures you find on this website.
Note: Mario and Karla are the proud parents of baby twins Catalina and Elena, born July 10th, 2009

Fernando Guevara. Recently graduated as a Tropical Biologist from the Universidad Latina in San José, Fernando combines his crisp knowledge of the flora and fauna of Costa Rica with a winning personality. His energy and enthusiasm are truly contagious. He is excellent with kids, talks a lot and teaches you a lot. Make sure your kids ask him about the fruit of the day when you are on tour. In the off season he works as an outrigger canoe guide in beautiful Sugar Beach on the Pacific coast.

Juan Carlos Matute is an accomplished cyclist and a terrific bike mechanic, who has participated in the Juegos Nacionales of Costa Rica. Also a licensed Costa Rica guide, Juan Carlos leads tours for Bike Arenal since 2006. He has a great passion for the Natural History of the country and enjoys sharing his vast knowledge with everyone on tour. Juan Carlos is currently in his second year as a Business Management student at the University of San Jose. He speaks Spanish, English and is learning German.

Find more travel information by visiting our websites

Transportation Arrangements in Costa Rica
www.transportationcr.com

Costa Rica Custom Vacation Planning
www.destinotropical.com