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Manuel Antonio National Park Full-Day Tour: Wildlife Observation from San Jose
4.9
789 Ratings
San José
Embark on a full-day wildlife adventure at Manuel Antonio National Park. Explore pristine beaches, spot monkeys, sloths, and exotic birds, and visit popular Costa Rican attractions along the way.
Embark on a full-day wildlife adventure at Manuel Antonio National Park. Explore pristine beaches, spot monkeys, sloths, and exotic birds, and visit popular Costa Rican attractions along the way.
Duration:
12 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Orotina - Discover Manuel Antonio National Park, one of the main touristic destinations of Costa Rica. You will be picked up from your San Jose Hotel in the morning in an air-conditioned vehicle, and then you will enjoy a scenic drive towards the Central Pacific Region of the country. On the way to Manuel Antonio, you will savor a delicious Costa…
- Orotina - Discover Manuel Antonio National Park, one of the main touristic destinations of Costa Rica. You will be picked up from your San Jose Hotel in the morning in an air-conditioned vehicle, and then you will enjoy a scenic drive towards the Central Pacific Region of the country. On the way to Manuel Antonio, you will savor a delicious Costa Rican breakfast; and you will also have the chance to stop at the largest fruit stand of the country, where you can learn about the huge variety of tropical fruits of Costa Rica.
What's Included
- Visits to Crocodile Bridge, scarlet macaw observation place, fruit stand & Jaco Beach look-out point
- Transport by air conditioned vehicle
- Breakfast & Lunch
- National Park entrance fee
- Professional bilingual guide
- Hotel pickup and drop-off (most San Jose area hotels)
- Visits to Crocodile Bridge, scarlet macaw observation place, fruit stand & Jaco Beach look-out point
- Transport by air conditioned vehicle
- Breakfast & Lunch
- National Park entrance fee
- Professional bilingual guide
- Hotel pickup and drop-off (most San Jose area hotels)
What's Not Included
- Gratuities
- Services not specified
- Gratuities
- Services not specified
Additional Information
Embark on a day-long journey from San Jose to the globally acclaimed Manuel Antonio National Park. Witness Costa Rica’s stunning white beaches in their fullest glory and explore the park’s rainforest trails, where you may come across resident wildlife such as monkeys, sloths, agoutis, iguanas, and various rare bird species. Take a detour at the…
Embark on a day-long journey from San Jose to the globally acclaimed Manuel Antonio National Park. Witness Costa Rica’s stunning white beaches in their fullest glory and explore the park’s rainforest trails, where you may come across resident wildlife such as monkeys, sloths, agoutis, iguanas, and various rare bird species. Take a detour at the crocodile bridge en route to Manuel Antonio, visit the town of Tarcoles to spot scarlet macaws in their natural environment, and take time out at the Jaco Beach observation point, one of Costa Rica’s most frequented beach locales.
- Minimum age to participate is 5 years
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- May be operated by a multi-lingual guide
- Vegetarian option is available, please advise at time of booking if required
- Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
- The total tour duration includes the travel time, breakfast and lunch
- Drop off at Manuel Antonio-Quepos centrally located hotels are available
- The National Park authorities do not allow plastic water bottles; please bring reusable bottles
Location
Hilton Garden Inn San Jose La Sabana
Boulevard de Rohrmoser
Centrally located San Jose hotels.
The default tour time is 6:00 a.m., but the tour operator will confirm the exact pickup time & meeting point after booking. Automated booking platform emails may mention the default time, but the operator’s confirmation will be the official schedule.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.9
(789 Ratings)
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Kc1081
Mar 26, 2026
A nice tour - Finally I could see sloths. Alex is very friendly and professional.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Julievm7772zw
Mar 25, 2026
Beautiful beach and kind, informative guide! - George or Jorge (not sure of spelling~ should have asked!) was wonderful. Finished our tour with a really good rooftop lunch with an amazing view! He even did an extra stop to let us capture the sunset. Beach was beautiful!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
M996blsimones
Mar 21, 2026
Completely satisfied - We had a super great day with our tour guide Jorge. We were picked up on time and he shared his knowledge of Costa Rica's wildlife with us on the drive and in the national park. He helped us on the tour to see the partially well-hidden animals and took time for each participant to observe and photograph the animals through his telescope. The tour was well organized all around.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kylie_g
Mar 4, 2026
Alex is an awesome guide, great tour - Alex our guide was amazing, he was so funny and knowledgeable. We called him Eagle Eye Alex because he was able to spot even the smallest insects on the hike. The day was enjoyable, my mother and I were actually the only one on the tour because many cancelled due to the construction on the alligator bridge. Breakfast and lunch was very good, they had vegetarian options for us which was great! The day is long and you’re in the van for a while but it’s mainly due to the traffic and construction. Overall, Alex and the tour was great, I loved seeing all the animals in their natural habitat! Make sure you have sunscreen and lots of water it is very humid. If you want to swim at the beach bring your swim suit and a towel. There are foot washing stations on the trail back to where you’ll meet your guide but it’s a bit of walk till you get there. Make sure you go to the bathroom before you get back on the bus to San Jose, it is a long way back and you might have to take a different back route that goes through the mountains with no places or very limited places to stop to use the bathroom.
Review provided by Viator
Dream62610531699
Mar 2, 2026
Alex is amazing - Alex is such a great guide! He’s very informative and funny! We had a blast today ! Alex went above and beyond on our tour. He was amazing at spotting soooo many different animals at the National Park . I would highly recommend Alex as your tour guide.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Laurie
Feb 23, 2026
Great day! - Alex was a great guide. We saw lots of animals, and he was really good at spotting them even when up in trees and hard to see. Food was delicious, too.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Loveena_s
Feb 17, 2026
Must do - Beautiful Pacific and Caribbean beaches with lots of monkeys, Sloths, helmet crabs included. Remember to take a metal water container. Enough water sources on the way.
Review provided by Viator
544sarih
Feb 24, 2026
Disappointed - The guide/driver was in a big hurry all the time,very poor local information during the trip, just driving to destinations. Couple quick stops, treating us customers as a kindergarten children. The wildlife tour was a big disappointment because of the guide having rush again all the time. Breakfast was poor, but lunch was great. The trip time wasn't what was announced, it took 3 hours to collect all people from hotels and same thing when we returned (6 h for us, because we were the first to pick up and last to drop of) Great opportunity for a great trip, but because of the guide, not worth the money.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Eduardo_b
Feb 23, 2026
I found the ride expensive for what it offers - In general I found the tour quite expensive, but from what I realized are the agency in general.
The guide was well lost and did not interact with the tourists and when arriving at the park neither informed that we would have the beach and that it would be an opportunity to bathe, that is, we entered the park and when arriving at the beach no one was wearing bathing clothes and no one entered, because we did not know what time to enter.
Review provided by Viator
Molly_m
Feb 20, 2026
Jorge/Jose = 1 ⭐️ Tour Guide - 3⭐️ tour
1⭐️ tour guide Jorge (maybe Jose) couldn’t tell you because he didn’t really speak to English speakers
The experience to & at Manuel Antonio National Park was okay. Breakfast and lunch were decent. We did see one crocodile at the bridge. The stop at Jaco was nice. The guided hike at Manuel Antonio was ok. We were able to spot some wildlife including a sloth, monkeys, iguanas/lizards, and a snake.
Our tour guide was the worst. Avoid him at all costs! If you’re booking this tour and you are able to select a tour guide, choose anyone but him. No one could be worse!
If he spoke 50 word in English the entire tour, that’s a lot. The tour was 12 hours long and he spoke to the one passenger who was fluent in Spanish the entire time. There were 7 people on the tour and the tour guide spoke to 1 the entire trip. If I needed to ask a question he was not able to answer because his knowledge of the English language was restricted to the script he was provided during training. He could not articulate the meet up point correctly. Luckily for me I am an experienced solo traveler and am decent at finding my way around. However, that is not the point. I paid for this tour and expected information and guidance from the tour guide. The entire 4 hour journey back to San Jose, the driver, tour guide, and the visitor from Mexico blasted music and spoke like 3 frat boys the entire time. Wildlife that we passed roadside was pointed out solely to the one guest in Spanish.
Do not advertise that this tour is provided in English when the tour guide doesn’t speak the language nor does he care to. He didn’t even try. Hands down the worst tour guide I’ve ever had!
Review provided by Viator
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