Costa Rica Off the Beaten Track: Wildlife, Cloud Forest and Volcanoes

Begin your Costa Rica journey with a private minibus transfer from Juan Santamaría International Airport to Hotel Presidente in central San José, where the agency team meets you on arrival. Settle into comfortable accommodation in the heart of the capital, with the city’s museums, markets and historic centre within walking distance. This relaxed arrival day eases you into Costa Rica before the adventures ahead.

After breakfast, pick up your rental car directly at the San José hotel and begin the self-drive transfer to Sarapiquí, a green lowland region on the northern Caribbean slope. Settle in at Sarapiquí Lodge, set in tropical nature with forest and river outings from the property. Enjoy a floating safari on the calm Río Sarapiquí, then visit the Frog Heaven Sanctuary at Horquetas de Sarapiquí to observe frogs up close.

After breakfast, drive from Sarapiquí to the Tortuguero boat access at La Pavona, arriving before 10h. Board the collective boat at 10h30 and travel through the Tortuguero canals to Manatus Lodge, arriving around 12h30. Enjoy lunch at a local market, then visit Tortuguero Village. Dinner is followed by an overnight stay at Manatus Lodge, where the flooded rainforest waterways of Tortuguero National Park are directly accessible by boat.

Day 4 centres on boat excursions in Tortuguero National Park. After breakfast, a guided morning boat excursion of about two hours explores the Tortuguero canals with a local English- and Spanish-speaking guide, timed for the early hours when wildlife is most active. Lunch follows in a local market. In the afternoon, a guided boat exploration heads into the heart of Tortuguero National Park, timed for softer late-day light that favours photography along the canals and flooded forest. Dinner is included, and the day ends at Manatus Lodge, set on the Tortuguero canals with the park’s flooded rainforest waterways directly accessible by boat.

After breakfast, leave Manatus Lodge by collective boat along the canal route to La Pavona or Caño Blanco, then continue by self-drive road to Boca Tapada, a remote region on the San Carlos river near the Nicaraguan border. At Maquenque Ecolodge in the Northern Tropical Lowlands, walk the forest trails among palms, exotic flowers and birdsong, then take a canoe outing on the lodge lake, looking for toucans, jacamars and kingfishers.

Day 6 around Boca Tapada in Costa Rica’s northern lowlands begins with breakfast, then a Boca Tapada Horseback Ride through countryside and wooded trails. A Boca Tapada Guided Birding Outing explores a region with over 400 recorded species, including the rare great green macaw. Later, choose the Río San Carlos Boat or Kayak Outing toward the San Juan river at the Nicaraguan border. End with a Boca Tapada Night Forest Walk looking for frogs, insects and bats, based at Maquenque EcoLodge.

After breakfast, the day is a self-drive transfer from Boca Tapada to La Fortuna de San Carlos, the gateway to Arenal volcano and its national park. Along the way, stop at Muelle on the Río San Carlos, where green iguanas rest in the trees along the riverbanks. The route continues to Arenal Observatory Lodge, the Arenal base for private-reserve trails, garden and flowering-hedge birding, with forest searches and possibilities for Black-crested Coquette and Green Thorntail near the hedges.

Begin with breakfast before heading to Arenal Observatory Lodge, where forest trails follow the Río Danta past a waterfall with a swim at its foot. Continue to Mistico Park for a 3.2 km circuit of forest trails and hanging bridges, watching for wildlife in the rainforest canopy. Enjoy a picnic lunch outdoors along the way, then soak in the naturally warm Arenal hot springs pools at the foot of the volcano. The lodge serves as the Arenal base for private-reserve trails and birding near flowering hedges.

After an included breakfast, experience the Sky Tram and Trek Classic Tour, riding a gondola up to 750 m, then tackling seven zip lines and a 3.6 km canopy trail with five hanging bridges. Later, self-drive from La Fortuna de San Carlos to Bijagua, a route through the cordillera between the Tenorio and Miravalles volcanoes. Settle in at Tenorio Lodge, surrounded by tropical gardens near Bijagua, with an outdoor jacuzzi at El Ranchito and birdlife in the garden.

After breakfast, a short self-drive transfer from Bijagua leads to the Río Celeste sector of Tenorio Volcano National Park in the Guanacaste volcanic cordillera. Paid entry gives access to the Río Celeste trail, where a fairly easy hike through primary forest reaches the sky-blue river and waterfall, the Blue Lagoon, a lacustrine fumarole and the Teñideros colour-change point. The day ends at Tenorio Lodge, set among tropical gardens near Bijagua, with an outdoor jacuzzi at El Ranchito and birdlife in the garden.

After an included breakfast, take the self-drive transfer from Bijagua to Santa Elena and Monteverde, climbing into the high-altitude cloud forest of the Cordillera de Tilarán. Walk the wooded trails of Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve, listening for howler monkeys and looking for tracks of puma, coati and paca. Continue to Curi-Cancha Biological Reserve, where 7 km of trails cross primary and secondary forest and more than 200 bird species have been recorded. Stay at Trapp Family Lodge, close to the region’s reserves and trails.

Begin your day with breakfast before exploring the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve on a walk through cloud-forest trails that descend from the canopy to the misty understory across more than 10,000 hectares of protected forest. Later, stay at Trapp Family Lodge, positioned on the edge of the Monteverde cloud-forest territory, with the area’s reserves and trails within easy reach by car.

Begin with an included breakfast before a morning walk through the Santa Elena Cloud Forest, following humid wooded trails above the Pacific slope. Then transfer from Monteverde down to the Pacific coast at Dominical, a long self-drive leg via the Río Tárcoles. Stop at the Río Tárcoles Crocodile Bridge to see crocodiles basking below the road bridges. Continue with visits to Carara National Park, known for riverine forest, American crocodiles and scarlet macaws, and Manuel Antonio National Park, where trails lead through dense tropical forest to white-sand beaches. The day ends at Villas Rio Mar.

Start with breakfast before a day of Pacific coast excursions. Go humpback whale watching off Uvita, where Bryde’s and pilot whales, bottlenose and spotted dolphins may also appear, with snorkelling sometimes offered. Continue with a full-day Isla del Caño snorkelling excursion featuring navigation, two guided snorkelling sessions, an island visit and a picnic lunch. Alternatively, take the Corcovado National Park day trip from San Pedrillo, with a 7h30 departure, navigation and guided hikes on two primary forest trails separated by a picnic. Return to Villas Rio Mar.

After breakfast, self-drive from Uvita on the Pacific coast up to San Gerardo de Dota, crossing the Talamanca cordillera by the Cerro de la Muerte pass. Visit Nauyaca Waterfalls, reaching Cataratas de Nauyaca by 4×4 through forest, with time to swim in natural pools and enjoy a picnic lunch. Continue with a birding walk on the Cerro de la Muerte antenna road, looking for species such as Timberline Wren, Peg-billed Finch, Sooty-capped Chlorospingus, Volcano Junco and Large-footed Finch, with no sightings guaranteed. Overnight at Trogon Lodge in the San Gerardo de Dota cloud forest.

Begin day 16 with a guided Dawn Resplendent Quetzal Tour in the San Gerardo de Dota cloud forest, walking with a local expert in search of the Resplendent Quetzal. A small snack is provided, and the walk lasts as long as conditions allow. Breakfast is included in the package afterward. Stay at Trogon Lodge, a small mountain lodge set in the cloud forest, with quetzal habitat on the doorstep of its gardens.

After breakfast, drive from San Gerardo de Dota to Santa Cruz de Turrialba, passing by Irazú Volcano National Park on the central volcanic cordillera. Visit Irazú Volcano National Park and walk between its three craters at 3,432 m, with views over the cordillera and, in clear weather, both ocean coasts. Continue to Guayabo Lodge, a comfortable lodge in the Turrialba valley near Santa Cruz de Turrialba, set in calm gardens below the volcanoes.

After included breakfast, a self-drive transfer from Turrialba to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca passes sugarcane, pineapple and banana plantations. Stop at Guayabo National Monument, Costa Rica’s oldest and most important archaeological site, to walk among stone causeways, aqueducts and mounds of a pre-Hispanic settlement. Continue to the Sloth Sanctuary for an introduction to sloth natural history and rescue care, plus a two-hour guided canoe outing. The day ends at Shawanda Lodge in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, near the Caribbean beach, village centre and tropical gardens.

Begin with breakfast before exploring Cahuita National Park on a walk through forest and along the beach, where coatis, agoutis and tropical birds may be seen. Enjoy a picnic lunch outdoors, then take a guided small-boat snorkelling trip of about two hours around Costa Rica’s largest coral reef inside the park. The day ends at Shawanda Lodge in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, close to the Caribbean beach and village centre, set in tropical gardens.

Begin with breakfast before visiting the Kekoldy Green Iguana Farm inside the Kekoldy Indigenous Reserve, where green iguanas are bred and the work explained. Continue to a Bribri Farm in the Bribri Indigenous Reserve for a traditional chocolate-making demonstration, learning how chocolate is used as food, remedy and in purification rituals. Then explore a Bribri medicinal garden, fibre crafts and natural dyes, and swim at the foot of a waterfall. Finish with an educational visit to the Jaguar Rescue Center, where wild animals are rehabilitated, before staying at Shawanda Lodge in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca.

After breakfast, transfer from Puerto Viejo de Talamanca to San José on a self-drive road leg crossing the central mountains. Return the rental car at the San José hotel, then take a San José Historic Centre Walk past museums, the Cathedral, the Merced church, the National Theatre and the Central and Artisan markets. Stay at Hotel Presidente, in the heart of San José, with the museums, markets and historic centre within walking distance.

Your final day begins with breakfast, included in the package, before checking out. A shuttle transfer then takes you from Hotel Presidente in San José to Juan Santamaría International Airport Costa Rica, timed to allow for check-in. This straightforward departure day wraps up your Costa Rica journey with a convenient ride to the airport for your onward flight.