Beach & Island Vacations & Tours

Zicasso’s travel specialist was a delight to deal with. From the first contact to the last, she was responsive, listened to what we wanted, and smoothed our path completely. I started arranging something like this last year and gave up because it was complicated – transits, arrivals, tours, guides, the whole thing was overwhelming. But not this time. And we really appreciate all her efforts to tailor the trip to our interests and style.

The accommodation was almost over the top, but much enjoyed. We toured two Mayan ruin sites, Tikal and Caracol, and the contrast was just what we were curious about. They are very different, but both gave us an overview of Mayan history. Our guides and drivers were fantastic. We did bird watching, a cooking class, and had great food at our lodge. We then transferred to Ambergris Caye and she included everything from a golf cart to fishing and diving. Wherever we went, people were friendly, and helpful.

Before we went, we were a little concerned about mosquitoes in the tropics and we came prepared, but I think we saw two the entire trip. In short, we loved Belize.

As a further recommendation, my husband was thoroughly impressed with the fishing charter company. The guide was a true expert, showing him how to catch an unfamiliar species and taking him to just the right spots. The dive company was similarly professional and a pleasure to work with.

The only thing I might have changed was where we were on Ambergris Caye. Sargassum is a real problem in the Caribbean and has been for a few years. Our lodge on Ambergris Caye, though lovely accommodation, was on the windward side of the island and so had a blanket of rotting weed on the shore. There is little the resort can do about this, but staying on the leeward shore would minimize this problem.

Our travel company planned what can only be described as the adventure of a lifetime for us.

This trip was especially meaningful because we were celebrating our 10-year wedding anniversary, and from beginning to end, everything felt incredibly well thought out. We started in the Seychelles, where we had a few days to unwind before heading to Tanzania for an unforgettable safari through Tarangire, the Ngorongoro Crater, and the Northern Serengeti.

The safari was beyond anything we could have imagined. We saw elephants, lions, zebras, cheetahs, and both white and black rhinos, along with so much other incredible wildlife. Every location felt different, every camp was special in its own way, and the entire experience flowed seamlessly from one place to the next.

We finished our trip in Zanzibar, first exploring Stone Town and then spending our final days on the beautiful white-sand beaches. One of our favorite surprises came at the very end, when the team arranged an anniversary dinner for us through our hotel. After such an incredible journey, it was such a thoughtful and meaningful way to celebrate our anniversary and finish the trip.

A special thank you to Zicasso's travel specialist, who worked closely with us to make sure the trip was exactly what we wanted. She even checked in with us while we were on safari to make sure everything was going well, which says a lot about the level of care they put into their trips. We also want to thank the team for coordinating all of the logistics beforehand and making sure every reservation, transfer, and detail was taken care of before we left.

Planning a trip like this across multiple countries, safari camps, flights, transfers, and hotels could easily have felt overwhelming. Instead, we were able to simply enjoy the experience because our travel company had taken care of everything.

Ten years from now, we will still be talking about this trip. We cannot recommend our travel company highly enough, and we would absolutely work with them again for another African adventure.

We had a wonderful time on our trip. Zicasso’s travel specialist was responsive to what we wanted to do and adjusted our trip to fit our budget. He included our interests and took the research out of it for us. We asked him to plan on a tight time crunch of less than a month and he made it with ease.

Costa Rica had so much to do and he kept us active, which we wanted. I appreciated how the travel company had a travel app for all of our itineraries and tickets, as well as an emergency contact to make adjustments during the trip. We used this several times to book things we discovered during the trip and it was a breeze.

Our favorite adventures from our trip were ziplining, the river tour, and the waterfall in La Fortuna. We also enjoyed animal tours, which says a lot, as I'm not an animal fan, but the adventure was wonderful and felt very safe. I would consider the Monte Verde night tour next time.

We enjoyed our resort in Manuel Antonio and the beach at Manuel Antonio. The view was incredible.

Our whole tour flowed seamlessly and Costa Rica was beautiful and full of adventures. We'd happily return and use the travel company.

The coffee and chocolate tour in Don Juan was wonderful. Additionally, all of our hotels were great. I'd highly recommend this experience.

I absolutely loved our visit to Belize and Zicasso's travel specialists made sure we had everything we needed for a wonderful time. I traveled with my three daughters (ages 10, 13, and 15). The activities the travel specialist suggested were spot-on.

We started in the Cayo District at a beautiful hotel adjacent to the river. We visited Mayan ruins, did a night tour, and visited the ATM Cave. Then we did a cave float and visited the Belize Zoo on the way to Placencia. We again stayed at an incredible resort, going on a tour of the Monkey River and an amazing snorkeling adventure. She even made sure we had a golf-cart rental to get around the peninsula easily.

Our days were filled, but not too busy, the perfect amount of scheduled and unscheduled time. The attention to detail was excellent. The travel specialists made sure I was happy with the itinerary when the deposits were due and before we left the US, but then they also checked in on us during the trip multiple times to make sure everything was going well and we had everything we needed. I highly recommend Belize and this travel company!

Zicasso’s travel specialist was great to work with. She anticipated our needs and was quick to respond with information and to answer questions. She set up a great trip for us and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Australia. We had a couple of issues with the tours that were set up for us and they were quickly resolved, with great results.

On our visit to Kangaroo Island, the small-group tour subcontractor mishandled our connection on the island; their recovery was to send a personal guide to spend the day with us and also provide us with dinner! It ended up being one of our best tours. Many of our small groups were just my wife and myself, sometimes with one or two others.

We also had a very rainy and windy day the day we were supposed to go out to the Great Barrier Reef. It was a weekend and the travel specialist was on vacation. That said, the on-call person was amazing in rearranging one of our other small-group tours for that day and we were still able to go to the reef two days later.

All in all, I would highly recommend the travel specialist and her company. They were great up front and great during the trip.

Our guide was the best. The schedule and tour stops worked out perfectly. The hotels were terrific. We really have no complaints.