Manuel Antonio National Park

Manuel Antonio National Park tickets and tours: which one to book

Manuel Antonio is the most visited national park in Costa Rica, a small patch of rainforest and beach on the Pacific coast three hours from San José, and the way to see it is on foot with a guide. Entry is by timed ticket bought online in advance from the park authority, with a daily cap on visitors, and the tickets sell out in high season; guided tours sold online either include the ticket or ask you to buy it separately, so read the description carefully. The guides matter more here than in most parks, because the animals are small and camouflaged and the guides carry spotting scopes: a two- to three-hour morning walk with a naturalist typically finds sloths, monkeys and toucans that you would walk straight past.

Night walks in the forest outside the park boundary are sold separately and show a different cast of frogs and insects. The other tours from the town of Manuel Antonio and the port of Quepos, catamaran cruises, kayaking in the mangroves of the Damas estuary, surf lessons and the Savegre river, are nearby activities rather than park visits. Full-day trips from San José exist but are long; most visitors stay in the resort strip between Quepos and the park entrance.

Visiting Manuel Antonio National Park: what you will see

The park was created in 1972 after local people campaigned to stop the beaches being fenced off by foreign landowners, and it protects about twenty square kilometres of coastal rainforest plus a much larger marine area. The main trail runs from the entrance through the forest to the beaches, with side paths to viewpoints, and the walk is flat and easy, part of it on a boardwalk. The forest holds three of Costa Rica's four monkey species, including the endangered Central American squirrel monkey, both two- and three-toed sloths, coatis, agoutis, iguanas and, in the trees near the beaches, raccoons and capuchins that have learned to raid bags.

Toucans, motmots and scarlet macaws are seen along the trails. The beaches are the reward at the end: Playa Manuel Antonio, a curve of pale sand in a sheltered bay with calm water and tide pools, and Playa Espadilla Sur on the other side of the tombolo, the sand spit that links the mainland to the wooded headland of Punta Catedral, which has a loop trail with views over the islets. Swimming is allowed at the beaches inside the park, and there are lifeguards, but rip currents occur. Food is not allowed inside because of the animals, and bags are checked at the gate.

Manuel Antonio National Park: best time to go, seasons and hours

The park is open from 7 am to 4 pm and closed on Tuesdays; last entry is around 3 pm. The dry season from December to April is the busiest and sunniest, with the beaches at their best; the green season from May to November brings afternoon rain, fewer people and lusher forest, and October is the wettest month. Go in the first hour after opening for the coolest walking and the most active animals, and book the ticket several days ahead in high season, more around Christmas and Easter. Allow three to four hours for the guided walk and a swim, or a full morning. Quepos has the marina and the ferry to Damas Island, and the Rainmaker reserve inland offers hanging bridges through primary forest.