Avanti Destinations released details on its 2013 line of independent vacation packages for Central America with new packages in Costa Rica and Belize and a new package combining Panama and Columbia. The entire selection of independent programs for Central America is laid out in Avanti’s 2013 Latin America brochure, now on its way to travel agents.

            Avanti’s new Costa Rica package is an eight-day program called “Costa Rica Adventure: Arenal and Manuel Antonio.” Priced from $1,295 per person, double occupancy, it’s designed for active travelers. It includes four nights in Arenal and three nights in Manuel Antonio. A rental car is provided for transfers. At Arenal, the package includes a whitewater rafting tour, a horseback riding tour, a hiking tour and dinner at Tabacón Hot Spring. In Manuel Antonio, it includes a canopy safari tour and a national park tour.

A second new Costa Rica program is the “Caribbean Explorer: Tortuguero National Park, Puerto Viejo and Turrialba.” It’s an eight-day adventure package on the Caribbean coast with one night in San José, two nights in Tortuguero with all meals, two nights in Puerto Viejo and two nights in Turrialba. The program includes a boat tour of the Torguguero Channels and white water rafting on Rio Pacuare. The package is priced from $999 per person, double occupancy.

Avanti introduced a new eight-day package for Belize called “Belize Explorer: Belize River Valley, Cayo District and Ambergris Caye.” It includes two nights in Guatemala City, one night in Chichicastenango, one night in Atitlan, one night in Antigua, one night in Tikal and three nights in Ambergris Caye. All air and ground transfers are included, as are sightseeing tours and lunch in Tikal.

Other new Avanti Central American packages for 2013 are “Surf’s Up in Nosara Beaches”; “Luxury Guanacaste”; “Guatemala and Belize: Guatemala City, Chichicastenango, Lake Atitlan, Antigua, Tikal and Ambergris Cay”; and “Panama and Columbia: Panama City and Cartagena.”