Kaia · Our story
World-class tourism, held together by WhatsApp
Costa Rica has some of the best guides, operators, and experiences on the planet. Finding and booking them is still stuck in 2010.
The problem
70%+ of trips are still stitched together by hand
Most Costa Rican tourism is still coordinated offline — over WhatsApp, Instagram DMs, and word of mouth. There is no dominant local aggregator that covers the whole country.
So travelers piece a trip together across a dozen different operators, each with their own inbox, their own payment method, their own calendar. And the guides who know the hidden waterfall, the best local dive spot, the trail nobody else runs — the ones without a marketing budget — stay invisible online, no matter how good the experience is.
The mission
One place to discover, plan, and book all of it
Kaia is building a single place where any traveler — Costa Rican or international — can discover experiences, build a complete multi-day itinerary, and book it, from the largest ICT-certified operator to the independent guide of the most hidden waterfall. Kaia aggregates and connects the country's tourism supply; it does not run its own tours.
Made in Costa Rica
Built by Papagayo Studio
Kaia is a product of Papagayo Studio, founded by José Pablo Ortiz, at kaia.cr. It is a single-market project by design: Costa Rica, done properly, rather than spread thin across many countries.
What we build on
The standards we hold ourselves to
Real over stock
Real photography and video of real places and real operators, not stock jungle footage.
Verified operators
Every operator on Kaia is a real, verifiable business or guide — not an anonymous listing.
Fair commission
A flat 10% commission on bookings. No hidden fees stacked on top for operators or travelers.
Bilingual by default
Spanish and English from day one, because the international traveler is half the market.
See it for yourself
Browse experiences across Costa Rica, or list yours if you're an operator or guide.