Tours & cruises in Central America, Asia and Europe

COSTA RICA AND NICARAGUA

Sailing Adventure

Kensington Tours and Windstar Cruises team up to offer a reasonably priced 10 days aboard a motor-yacht that cruises Costa Rica and Nicaragua with stops at islands, nature preserves and an active volcano. Guided shore excursions include a tour of San Jose, Costa Rica, and hiking the Perezoso Trail in Manuel Antonio National Park; activities could include snorkeling, windsurfing, waterskiing and tubing. Animals typically spotted are turtles, monkeys, scarlet macaws, blue morpho butterflies, sloths, marmosets, ocelots, anteaters and dolphins.

Itinerary: Puerto Caldera, the Guanacaste Coast, San Juan del Sur, Playas del Coco, Quepos, Bahia Drake, Tortuga Island and back to Puerto Caldera and San Jose

Dates: Departures Saturday and March 20 and Dec. 19 and 20.

Price: From $1,710 (double occupancy), including onboard accommodations and lodging in San Jose, most meals, vehicle transportation, guided excursions, city tours and airport transfers. The price does not include international airfare, visas, airport taxes, some shore excursions, tips, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages.

Info: Kensington Tours, Wilmington, Del.; (888) 903-2001, https://www.kensingtontours.com

THAILAND

Island hopping

During the weeklong “Thailand Sailing Adventure,” a catamaran island-hops along tropical southern Thailand with stops at beaches, a Gypsy Sea Village and snorkeling and diving locations. Time is allotted for canoeing, bicycling and swimming with turtles, manta rays and many kinds of colorful fish.

Itinerary: Phuket, Thailand, to Ko Ping Kan, Ko Yao Noi, Ao Muang Bay, Ko Phi Phi, Maya Bay, Bay Nai Harn, Ko Yao Yai and back to Phuket

Dates: Departures March 20 and 27, April 3 and 10

Price: $1,199 (double occupancy), including sleeping accommodations on the catamaran, most meals, the services of a skipper and a cook and all sailing transport. The price does not include international airfare.

Info: Gap Adventures, Toronto; (800) 708-7761, https://www.gapadventures.com

BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA

Sailing the Gulf Islands

This six-day sail to Pacific Northwest wilderness happens aboard the 92-foot schooner Maple Leaf. As it makes its way through the Salish Sea’s Gulf Islands, an expert naturalist helps passengers spot orcas, otters, dolphins, seals and, depending on season, migrating birds and spawning salmon. There will also be stops at First Nations cultural sites.

Itinerary: Itineraries vary depending on guests’ interests but could include Salt Spring Island, Saturna Island, Georgia Strait and Sidney

Dates: Departures March 30, April 6 and 13, Oct. 18 and 25

Price: From $2,070 (at current exchange rates), including all accommodations, meals, beverages, shore excursions and use of gear, including kayaks. One percent of sales goes to coastal conservation charities.

Info: Maple Leaf Adventures, Victoria, Canada; (888) 599-5323, https://www.mapleleafadventures.com

EUROPE

Travel Competition

Ever watched “The Amazing Race” and had the distinct urge to participate? Competitours lets you do so, with a similarly structured European travel competition that presents 17 teams of two with a nine-day scavenger hunt and the chance to win as much as $5,500. The challenges take participants to big cities, rural villages, cultural sites and immigrant marketplaces. When teams accomplish a task, they record it on video and submit it to judges each evening for evaluation. Then everyone heads out together to partake in the local night life.

Itinerary: It’s a mystery but includes four European countries.

Dates: May 7-16, May 28-June 6, June 11-20, June 18-27, July 2-11, July 9-18, July 23-Aug. 1 and Aug. 6- 15

Price: $2,675 per person (double occupancy), including airfare from an East Coast gateway airport to a surprise European city and return airfare from a different European city, seven nights’ lodging, intercity transport, including Eurail tickets and intra-Europe airline tickets where applicable, all challenges, a welcome reception, an awards reception and any prizes won. The price excludes airfare to the East Coast gateway airport, most meals, transport within cities (allow $7 to $12 per day for public transit), admissions fees (averaging $40 to $55 a day) and a credit-card processing fee of 2.5% ($60). Payment is due after the trip is complete.

Info: Competitours, Cleveland; (216) 346-8788, https://www.competitours.com

MADAGASCAR

Photo touring

To see a spectacular array of wildlife, much of which is found nowhere else, book Terra Incognita’s “Photo Expedition to Madagascar,” and bring the camera. Opportunities to get close to rare species — including lemurs, chameleons, geckos, tropical birds and more than 170 kinds of frogs — abound. Chances to experience the culture are also frequent; included are a walking tour of Antananarivo, a stop to see the funerary art of the Malagasy burial grounds and a dance performance around a bonfire. As travelers head from rain forest to desert, past baobab trees, waterfalls and canyons, they’ll experience upscale lodging, sport-utility transit and presentations by local conservation groups.

Itinerary: Paris to Antananarivo, Madagascar, to Andasibe-Mantadia National Park, Fort Dauphin, Berenty Reserve, Tulear, Isalo National Park and back to Antananarivo, plus an optional extension to Anjajavy

Dates: June 12-26

Price: $5,399 (double occupancy; $1,000 single supplement), including lodging, most meals, all transportation within Madagascar (including flights and taxes), excursions, the services of English-speaking guides, entrance fees, tips and a $250 donation to a local conservation agency. The rate does not include flights to and from Madagascar. The four-day post-trip extension to Anjajavy costs $2,399 (double occupancy; single supplement $750), including a private charter flight there and all activities and lodging.

Info: Terra Incognita Ecotours, Tampa, Fla., (877) 463-9756, https://www.ecotours.com

--Avital Binshtock

itinerary@latimes.com