Bill Beard is an icon, a true pioneer of scuba diving and adventure travel in Costa Rica. When he landed on these verdant shores nearly four decades ago, there were no scuba tanks in the entire country. In 1970, he began diving a truly unexplored Costa Rica from dugout canoes. Bill, the first working instructor in the nation, opened its first professional dive shop, in San Jose. In 1974, Bill branched out and opened a beach location in Playa del Coco, in the northwestern province of Guanacaste, and situated on the rich Pacific Ocean. Here, he began operating daily dive trips and leading adventure tours throughout the region. In 1988, Bill and Nadine Beard began combining scuba diving with adventure tour packages.

Despite its size, Costa Rica has a multitude of places to see and things to do. The biggest challenge in Costa Rica is deciding which adventure combo is best for your vacation - and that's where Bill Beard comes in. With four decades of experience in Costa Rica, nobody knows the country better. Their goal is to help you share in the wonders of nature and enjoy every minute of your vacation. Their commitment to quality and personalized service is unsurpassed.

All Bill Beard's Choice Tour packages are privately escorted in modern, air-conditioned vehicles with English-speaking, Costa Rican naturalist guides, who travel at your pace. We also offer non-private tours for vacations that are affordable for all budgets. Invariably, clients always report that the thing that stands out most about their vacation is the guides. These experts take the hassle out of travel, and provide education, as well as insight into the host culture, and in many cases, a lifetime friendship.

Bill Beard's staff members have many years experience in the industry. Their network includes the best hotels, resorts and restaurants available. They boast Costa Rica’s most knowledgeable, experienced operators, instructors and guides with proven track records of providing guests with the safest and best vacations possible.

And if you're on a budget, Bill Beard's also offers non-private escorted tours where guests join other customers and travel at a predetermined pace. They can adapt any package for a self-drive vacation for guests looking for more freedom and exploration.

Bill Beard's constantly verifies the quality of participating hotels, resorts, restaurants and rest stops to ensure they maintain consistently high standards.

Rich Coast Diving is a PADI five-star IDC Center, located in the heart of Playa del Coco. The operation was founded by Martin and Brenda Van Gestel, who were on their way to Asia to start a diving operation, but found Costa Rica too beautiful to leave. The dive center offers instruction from free introductory courses through instructor. Martin and Brenda are dive veterans who cut their teeth in Curacao prior to deciding to travel to Asia to continue their diving careers. They never made it past Costa Rica, seduced by its charms.

The diving in Costa Rica is some of the most pristine and adventurous in the world. Join them in exploring virgin, unspoiled locations. All equipment is new, top-quality Scubapro and Mares. Rich Coast explores sites that are just a stone's throw from shore - such as Monkey's head and Punta Argentina, but also takes divers to more remote, exhilirating sites such as the Bat Islands and Catalina Islands.

Unlike the Caribbean, where the underwater setting is large coral reefs and small fish, Costa Rica has smaller coral structures, plus interesting volcanic formations with much larger fish. And it is simply spectacular. Divers regularly see southern stingrays, spotted eagle rays, several varieties of eels, white-tip reef sharks, octopus, turtles, seahorses, lobsters, nudibranchs, and tons of puffer and porcupinefish. At the more advanced sites, larger animals are common, such as mantas, whale sharks and bull sharks. The nutrient-rich water is responsible for attracting this prolific marine life, but means that visibility is highly variable, and can range anywhere from a few yards to a hundred feet, depending on plankton.

Rich Coast Diving's fleet can whisk divers to any number of dive sites in northwestern Costa Rica. The crown jewel is the 35-foot trimaran Tahonga, but they also run a 30-foot Boston Whaler and have more than 16 different vessels available for charter. And the ratio of divers to staff is about 5 to 1, and charters are usually limited to no more than 15.

Rich Coast Diving frequents about 20 or so dive sites located within 10 to 30 minutes away. There are also 6 named dive sites at the Catalina Islands, 50 minutes away, and 5 named sites at the Bat Islands 90 minutes away.

Officially established more than 35 years ago, before Costa Rica was truly cool, the founders of Villas Sol set out on an ambitious quest to develop one of the first and foremost tourism projects in all of Costa Rica. Fast forward to today – Villas Sol has been renovated to suit the demands of an upscale market. Renovations include the upgrade of all of its timeshare villas and hotel rooms, and construction of 14 luxury ocean-view villas. Future plans include the development of a seven-story ocean-view residential tower, construction of 65 additional hotel rooms and expansion of its amenities to include a new conference center, casino, infinity pool, two new a la carte restaurants and a deluxe spa and fitness center.

Constantly renovating and adding more units and amenities, Villas Sol Hotel & Beach Resort continues to expand and hold its ground as a pioneer in the northwestern province of Guanacaste and a leader in hospitality.

Whether you crave adventure, nature, relaxation or just enjoying a tropical setting, Villas Sol offers something for everyone, in an all-inclusive resort.