Costa Rica Wildlife Tours

Wildlife Vacations to Costa Rica

Discover the wonderful wildlife of Costa Rica on a wildlife adventure that will change the way you see the world. Here, lizards walk on water and frogs have strawberry-red eyes, spiders spin webs of golden silk, and rainbow-coloured flocks of birds soar through the sky. Our Costa Rica wildlife tours take you on unforgettable journeys of discovery, from its sublime Caribbean and Pacific coastlines to its dense jungles where you’ll get to meet some of the country’s most magnificent animals.

Costa Rica has one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world and its tropical climate makes it a breeding ground for exotic flora and fauna. Our Costa Rica wildlife tours have itineraries that are packed with adventures. While one day you’ll be sailing along the rich waterways of Torguguero, the next you’ll be hiking through the rainforest listening to the distinctive sounds of howler monkeys and squawking toucans.

On our Costa Rica wildlife trips, you’ll explore all this and more, as the country is home to some 5% of the world’s animal and plant species. You’ll also visit the mist-shrouded canopies of the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve, where monkeys can be seen swinging through the leafy canopies. Hike through Arenal Volcano National Park and visit the famous mud pools, look for dolphins off Carrillo beach, and perhaps watch green turtle hatchlings scramble towards the sea during nesting season. There is so much to discover in Costa Rica, you’ll be talking about your trip for years to come.

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Our Best Costa Rica Wildlife Tours

15 Days from USD 5,248

USD 4,725

Guided Group (Incl. Taxes)

Experience the Costa Rican rainforest, mountains and coast

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15 Days from USD 4,650

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Experience the Costa Rican rainforest, mountains and coast

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15 Days from USD 6,148

USD 5,535

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Unrivalled wildlife viewing and Costa Rica's coastal wonders

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8 Days from USD 3,300

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Jungles, mountains and coast: Costa Rica is a natural paradise

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15 Days from USD 5,400

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Natural highlights from the Caribbean to the Pacific Coast.

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Top 5 Animals to See on our Costa Rica Wildlife Tours

Scarlet Macaws: Often seen during our Costa Rica wildlife tours, the scarlet macaw is easily recognised by its brightly coloured plumage. It is the largest of the parrot family and is mostly spotted along the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. Its high-pitched squawk is also instantly recognisable, meaning these beautiful birds are usually heard before they’re seen. In Costa Rica the macaw is known as lapas and their huge beaks are used to crack open the tough shells of nuts and seeds. They tend to congregate in large flocks when they are roosting and feeding.

Turtles: Arguably the most synonymous with Costa Rica, the turtle often draws visitors here from all over the world to witness their mating and nesting habits. Tortuguero is the most well-known place for the endangered green turtle, which comes to lay eggs on the beach between the months of July and October. The Hawksbill, Giant Leatherback and Loggerhead turtles also nest here, and you can watch their eggs hatch and the babies make their short journey to the ocean between November to January. On our Costa Rica Adventure tour, you’ll enjoy a night time trip to Camaronal Beach to see the turtles nesting and laying their eggs in the sand.

Sloths: With their adorable smiling faces and sleepy heads, the cuteness of the sloth is hard to resist. On our Costa Rica wildlife tours, you’ll have the opportunity to get up close to these furry creatures with tours in Esquinas Rainforest Nature Reserve, Tortuguero and Monteverde, where they are most often seen napping in the trees. The sloth sleeps up to 20 hours a day high up in the forest canopies and did you know they also have algae covering their fur to camouflage them from predators?

Howler Monkeys: Another noisy creature that lives in the forests of Costa Rica is the Howler monkey. Named after its piercing call, it is heard swinging through the trees of Manuel Antonio National Park, Monteverde, Arenal and along the Caribbean Coast. They tend to live in small groups and the alpha male is usually the one heard howling the loudest. They can weigh up to 22 pounds with a body of up to 3 feet long. So, if you’re keen to spot a Howler monkey on one of our Costa Rica wildlife tours, just listen out for their unique cry.

Dolphins: Boasting a stunning coastline along the Pacific and Caribbean oceans, Costa Rica is a wonderful place to visit to see dolphins in the wild. On our Discover Costa Rica Wildlife trip, we take you on a private boat trip off the beach of Carrillo to look for Bottlenose and Spinner dolphins, which are often spotted playing in the ocean. Dolphins are extremely inquisitive and friendly creatures and sometimes they’ll even swim under the boat. In Costa Rica, dolphins are found throughout the year on the Pacific Coast so there’s a much greater chance of you spotting them.

FAQs about our Costa Rica Wildlife Tours

Where is the most wildlife in Costa Rica?

Everywhere you go, Costa Rica is brimming with wildlife, but we seek out the best spots where you’ll most likely come face-to-face with some of the country’s most impressive creatures. Tortuguero National Park is undoubtedly one of the best places to visit on our Costa Rica wildlife holidays. The Park is made up of swamps and meandering waterways where you’ll discover hundreds of species of birds, monkeys, butterflies, iguanas, caiman and the famous Costa Rica turtles, including the Hawksbill, Loggerhead, Green turtle and Giant Leatherback.

On our Costa Rica wildlife tours, you’ll explore various rainforests which are buzzing with fascinating creatures such as toucans, monkeys, sloths, possums and coatis. In particular, Monteverde is a great place to experience animal encounters on our Costa Rica trips. But if it’s marine animals you’re looking for, then head to Manuel Antonio National Park where the marine reserve plays host to dolphins, whales and turtles as well as land mammals such as white-faced capuchin monkeys, mantled howlers and three-toed sloths.

What is the most common way to see animals in Costa Rica?

On our Costa Rica wildlife tours, we take you right to the heart of the action with guided walking tours along trails through the rainforests and boat trips down rivers and canals. You can also sail out onto the ocean to spot dolphins and whales in their natural habitat. The slow pace of the tours means you have a greater chance of meeting the local wildlife and watching them interact in their own environments.

What is the wildlife in Costa Rica?

Well, where do we start? With over 500,000 different animal species occupying this beautiful country, there are far too many to list them all. But some of the most iconic you could see on our Costa Rica wildlife tours include:

Scarlet macaws
Frogs
Iguanas
Various species of turtles
Sloths
Monkeys
Coatis
Dolphins and whales
Caiman
Armadillos
Porcupines
Possums

Excellent introduction to a lovely country

Ruth Webster Discover Costa Rica

This was a jam-packed itinerary, with many walks and other activities, combined with a lot of driving. We moved on every two days, which was necessary to see everything, but it also meant there was no down time. Although this was a wildlife trip, at times the wildlife was rather shy. Some walks we saw very little. We probably saw more wildlife on the boat trips. Our expectations were probably not realistic, but we expected toucans and sloths to be hanging off every branch. It’s not like that (at least in the dry season). We didn’t see a sloth until halfway through the trip when there was one on a tree next to our hotel. Never saw a yellow-billed toucan, although we did see other toucans and toucanets (never knew there was such a thing!). Final count was around 150 different birds, as well as many other creatures (many of which we didn’t know existed). So the wildlife was amazing, but you need to know it doesn’t necessarily just pop out at you. On some walks, especially in Manuel Antonio, there were so many other groups looking at the same thing that it was quite difficult to get in to see things and was quite tiring at times. The walks throughout the trip were also very slow and we understand the pace was to suit looking for wildlife but walking so slowly was difficult and tiring in the heat.

Kurt Mills Discover Costa Rica

My perspective is that of a fit and active gent in his early 70’s. Also, this is my first trip with Exodus. As another reviewer has noted, “Discover Costa Rica” is almost exclusively a nature trip. The itinerary touches only slightly on the peoples, history and culture of Costa Rica. This is also an active trip! You’re on the move every second day: bags packed and ready for loading by 7:00 AM with 8:00 AM departure. There’s not much downtime throughout this two-week trip.

It struck me that on a nature trip like this, the wildlife needs to “get the memo” that we’re coming. The wildlife needs to show up! Seriously, the forces of climate/climate change, local weather, and seasonality can come together in a way that limits the opportunity for wildlife viewing. Such was my experience. Several of the nature walks yielded very little in terms of wildlife viewing. In no way do I fault our group leader. He was VERY knowledgeable. I can’t imagine anyone trying harder to find wildlife for our tour group to view. So . . . enjoy the walk in the tropics and any wildlife you see is a bonus might be a good mindset.

Most of the wildlife I saw was birds. It seems silly almost to state the obvious. Birds are actually quite small as compared with other wildlife, say, an elephant you might spot on a trip to Africa! A bird can come into view, alight on a branch, and then, within a few seconds, disappear into the lush vegetation. There’s limited opportunity to observe the creature and perhaps take a few photos. I wish I’d considered this more before embarkation!
Accommodation was perfectly serviceable, clean rooms and well maintained. This is not luxe accommodation but it’s not spartan either. It was perfectly in line with the amount I paid to take the tour. The food was varied and tasty. Lots of it!

In my opinion, Discover Costa Rica is a good trip that could be great if the itinerary was tweaked a bit. For openers, I would get rid of one two-night stop (suggest Monteverde as we saw almost nothing) and create two other three-night stops. This would allow for a little downtime. I would also add some trip experiences such as the farm visit on the final day. These added experiences might focus on the people, history, and culture of Costa Rica. This way, if the wildlife “doesn’t get the memo”, there are still some high-quality experiences that the traveler will cherish.

Douglas Parker Discover Costa Rica

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