Butterfly Conservatory Experience: An Insight into Costa Rican Nature and Wildlife
4.9
57 Ratings
El Castillo-Arenal
Immerse yourself in the beauty of Costa Rican nature and wildlife at our Butterfly Conservatory. Explore butterfly habitats, witness the butterfly life-cycle, encounter exotic frogs and turtles, and discover tropical insects and botanical gardens.
Duration: 3 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Butterfly Conservatory - Arenal - The Butterfly Conservatory is an initiative focused on the regeneration of nature, emphasizing the conservation, expansion, and research of the rainforest ecosystem, particularly highlighting butterflies and other native species of the Arenal region in Costa Rica.

The initiative serves as an educational hub for gaining insights into the butterfly life cycle and the fascinating process of metamorphosis. It boasts the most extensive butterfly exhibit in Costa Rica. Moreover, our engaging Metamorphosis Tour provides a hands-on learning experience about the natural world, showcasing a variety of displays on the reproduction of butterflies, frogs, insects, and plants within a rainforest setting. Our interactive educational showcase captivates nature lovers of all ages, demonstrating the restoration of butterflies and the natural environment in the tropical zones near Volcan Arenal.

What's Included
  • Natural Rainforest River Walk and other trails.
  • All-day guide-assisted tours with stationed staff.
  • Live butterfly life cycle demonstration and Insect Museum.
  • Panoramic views of Arenal Volcano and Lake.
  • Extensive exhibition of butterflies, exotic frogs, turtles, and more.
Additional Information

On our famous Guide-Assisted Tour you will experience being surrounded by butterflies while going through our four large Butterfly Exhibition Habitats, including a Live Demonstration of the Butterfly Life-Cycle and the Amazing Metamorphosis, but you see so much more on this tour.

The Conservatory is a Forest Creation Project demonstrating natural rainforest regeneration in the Arenal area of Costa Rica, and now many Tropical Species of Animals and Birds are finding habitat in our sanctuary. In the Habitat for Exotic Frogs and Turtles, you will see some of the Poison Dart frogs and other species of amphibians from the Arenal rainforest.

You choose the trails through the forest, with your Map of the Project and Encounter your Awareness of Nature walking through the Botanical Gardens and Medicinal Herb gardens.

In the Reception Center is a large collection of unusual Tropical Insects in our Insect Museum, and a souvenir shop with Jewelry and framed art made with butterfly wings.

Location
Butterfly Conservatory
On the corner at the School El Castillo, turn left on the Cement road, and go 800 meters up the hill to the Conservatory.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.9
(57 Ratings)
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Kim_n
Apr 13, 2024
Superb - The conservatory was amazing. There was a volunteer that took us around and spoke about the various butterflies and frogs. We would have loved to spend more time there but worth spending two or three hours there easily.
Review provided by Viator
Q2668opkathrynh
Mar 7, 2024
Butterfly’s and Frogs OhMy!!! - Great volunteers, exceptional work being done by many! Interesting, magical and educational. We loved our tour and walk through the property. Reclaimed ranch land turned into a butterfly and frog sanctuary. Must see!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sararq4003go
Feb 22, 2024
Butterfly beauties - We did this as a last minute, our-plans-changed-for-the-day-so-what-will-we-do-now? Kind of thing and I’ll tell you what, we loved it! The tour is about 1 hour round trip and takes you through some beautiful rainforest areas (thankfully for our preferences, we didn’t see any snakes/creepy insects), as well as 3 huge butterfly buildings that are FILLED with beautiful butterflies! We marveled at all the different kinds for quite some time, before moving on to the Frog house where there were two very knowledgeable staff members on hand to tell us about each one. It was overall a really nice experience - long drive up a windy, quiet hill - but I would definitely recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Z7157ramarkd
Nov 20, 2023
Best Butterfly tour. - A bit of a drive, and well worth it. Up close and face to face with such amazing beauty and grace. Our guide was knowledgeable and spoke excellent english.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Aroundthecorner64
Aug 5, 2023
Butterflies and frogs!!! - Tour in French with a charming and very interesting Belgian student We learned a lot about butterflies and frogs! After the walk you can go to a bar restaurant "les terrasses d'arenal", 3 minutes by car, charming with a magnificent view of the lagoon, the volcano, the forest, with a welcome cool wind!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Sqbionature
May 30, 2023
Beautiful Butterfly Hike and gardens! - A bit of a drive to get to, but well worth the visit! We got to the first garden and a volunteer guide introduced us to the gardens and made herself available to answer questions about the butterflies and hummingbirds in each of the 3 gardens. She also showed us the frogs and other creatures in the aquariums. Nice hiking trails through the conservatory and a small gift shop and visitor center. Please support them when visiting this area; they will put your money to good use for the future benefit of biodiversity!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Aredmondneal
May 20, 2023
Well worth the trip out of town - Our visit to the Butterfly Conservancy was well worth the trip. The location is away from La Fortuna where other butterfly encounters are offered. This gave the opportunity to explore the area more and support the non-profit. We saw several types of butterflies, the Blue Morpho and others, as well as various frogs. A terrific volunteer pointed out things of interest and gave info on behavior, etc. I highly recommend this spot!
Review provided by Viator
Jackf2156
Mar 2, 2023
Fun and educational tour of majestic and diverse butterflies - An excellent and exciting tour of the regeneration project! I learned more about butterflies than I knew there was even to learn! Multi-lingual volunteers guide guests around four butterfly garden habitats, a frog exhibit, an indigenous medicinal plant garden, through plant reproduction tents, along the turtle pond and afterwards there are two beautiful walks to enjoy, one of which stretches through primary rainforest. A tremendous and wonderful experience, I would recommend to anyone in the Arenal area - it's an experience not to be missed! Not only will your visit be fun and educational, but will help promote and support regenerative practices returning biodiversity to once-destroyed natural habitats. The butterflies are stunning, beautiful and majestic, each species with their own unique colours and characteristics. I could watch them fly about in wonder for hours! The frogs were fascinating and the staff and volunteers friendly - don't miss the Butterfly Conservatory!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Hairyfifer1970
Sep 12, 2023
Expensive but excellent - This is an excellent place and SHOULD be well worth a visit. So why give it three stars???? The owner is a very fine fellow from the USA and gives a great introduction to this excellent facility before you take your semi-self guided tour. What kills it is Costa Rica pricing. I’m sorry to say this is twice the price it is worth and and probably three times the price it should be. £50 for the two of us for just over an hour is too much. It was no wonder it was not busy. We love what you do there but for mere mortals like us it is just far to expensive.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lesfrerosbaroudeurs
Aug 23, 2023
a little disappointed - expensive prices for the service (and not displayed), few cash... but the ones presented were pretty I think other conservatories could be more qualitative
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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1 Adult
May 2024
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