CATIE Mountain Bike

This easy-going bike ride takes you on a tour of a plantation growing a huge variety of tropical fruits, vegetables, coffee and nuts using sustainable practices. You’ll also tour the surrounding forest and visit a 45 acre botanical garden on the premises full of native flowers. The plantation is part of an educational center dedicated to environmental and agricultural sustainability.

You will be picked up from your hotel and taken to the CATIE research center. When you arrive, your professional, bilingual guide will unload the truck full of high-quality suspension bikes and safety equipment to prepare you for the upcoming adventure through well maintained and easy bike trails. This is a unique way to get some exercise and explore extensive farmlands and gardens.

CATIE is a Tropical Agricultural Research and Education Center that provides learning and research opportunities for graduate students in agriculture, food security and sustainability of natural resources. The large property encompasses educational buildings, food plantations and rustic brush with lots of history and plenty to see. CATIE also has a farm dedicated to producing food on a commercial scale. Every day, coffee, sugar cane, meat, and milk is produced and shipped out to the surrounding communities as well as exported.

Your guide will lead you through the plantations where you will see coffee fields, macadamia, pineapple, avocado, bananas, plantains, mangoes, plus other exotic fruits and vegetables growing. You’ll learn about the sustainability practices in place that serve to protect the environment while producing commercial agriculture.

The diversity of food and flowers planted on the property enhances the natural biodiversity in the surrounding forests bringing a rich variety of birds and wildlife to the center. Your guide will help you find any visible wildlife such as sloths, iguanas, and monkeys plus many different bird species that live in the area.

You will also ride to the massive botanical garden that takes up 45 acres of the entire property. This section alone contains over 280 flower species that bloom at different times of the year. If you are a flower or garden enthusiast you will love this section of the tour.

This tour includes entrance fee, a bilingual educational guide, biking equipment, and transportation from Turrialba and San Jose. One way transport to CATIE can take between 30 minutes to 2.5 hours depending on the location of your hotel and traffic conditions. Combined time of bicycle tour and round trip transportation typically takes from 4 to 6 hours.

Please wear comfortable biking clothes, enclosed shoes, and sunglasses. It’s a good idea to bring along a bottle of water, insect repellent, sunblock and rain gear too.

This is a comfortable bike ride where you can see good things happening for the future of our planet!