Wildlife & Nature in Costa Rica
Costa Rica holds around 5% of the world's biodiversity in a country smaller than Lake Michigan. These are the places where you'll actually see it.
🏊 Swimming
Isla del Caño Biological Reserve
The finest reef on the Pacific coast of Central America, twelve kilometres offshore
Drake Bay
🌊 Waterfalls
Catarata La Fortuna
A dramatic 70-metre waterfall, tropical rainforest, wildlife, and swimming
La Fortuna
🏊 Swimming
Parque Nacional Cahuita
One of Costa Rica’s most beautiful Caribbean national parks
Cahuita
🔭 Viewpoints
Cerro de la Muerte
One of the most dramatic and iconic highland regions
Cerro de la Muerte
🌊 Waterfalls
Cataratas Llanos de Cortez
The most accessible major waterfall in Costa Rica — and the most generous
Bagaces
🦜 Wildlife
Playa Grande
Leatherback turtles nest here in darkness — the beach is theirs first
Playa Grande
🏕️ Camping
Estación Sirena, Corcovado
The most biologically intense place on Earth — no services, no shade, no compromise
Osa Peninsula
🌊 Waterfalls
La Paz Waterfall Gardens
One of Costa Rica’s most famous eco-attractions, located in the cloud forest between Poás Volcano and Sarapiquí
Heredia Province
🦜 Wildlife
Canales de Tortuguero
Boat through rainforest canals watching caimans, sloths, and river otters
Tortuguero
🥾 Hiking
Sendero Las Pailas, Rincón de la Vieja
Active mud pots, fumaroles, and howler monkeys in a single morning hike
Rincón de la Vieja NP
🥾 Hiking
Savegre Valley Trail
Network of cloud-forest hiking trails around San Gerardo de Dota and the upper Río Savegre
San Gerardo de Dota
🥾 Hiking
Reserva Natural Absoluta Cabo Blanco
Costa Rica's first protected area ends in a wild beach almost nobody reaches
Cabo Blanco
🥾 Hiking
Sendero Valle del Silencio
A dawn hike into Costa Rica's most remote cloud forest — quetzal territory
Talamanca
💎 Hidden Gems
Bahía Drake
One of the wildest and most biodiverse destinations
Drake Bay
🥾 Hiking
Dominical
Jungle coast surf town — strong rip currents, one main street, gateway to the southern Pacific
Dominical
🦜 Wildlife
Savegre Valley
Cloud forest river valley at 2,200 metres — primary quetzal habitat, trout in the river
San Gerardo de Dota
🦜 Wildlife
Piedras Blancas National Park
Primary lowland rainforest connected to the Osa — jaguar, tapir, almost no visitors
Golfito
🦜 Wildlife
Uvita
The whale-tail sandbar at low tide — humpback nursery from August to October
Uvita
🥾 Hiking
Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve
Where the cloud never quite leaves and every surface is covered in something living
Monteverde
🦜 Wildlife
Golfo Dulce
One of Costa Rica's most spectacular natural regions and one of only a few tropical fjord-like gulfs in the world
Golfito
🦜 Wildlife
Puerto Jiménez
Main gateway to Corcovado on Golfo Dulce — scarlet macaws in the town trees, pura vida pace
Puerto Jiménez
👨👩👧 Family Friendly
Laguna Don Manuel
A tranquil mountain retreat where a pristine volcanic lagoon is surrounded by misty cloud forests, scenic trails, and fresh highland air.
Dota
🥾 Hiking
Reserva Forestal Río Macho
A world of misty cloud forests, hidden ravines, and extraordinary biodiversity.
Paraíso
💎 Hidden Gems
Finca Bellavista
An extraordinary off-grid treehouse community surrounded by hundreds of acres of pristine rainforest
Golfito