This is a MUST-DO Bucket List adventure to add to your travel wishlist and Costa Rica itinerary!! 5am alarm was totally worth it!
Our condo in Bejuco Beach is about an hour away from the entrance to Manuel Antonio National Park and we were meeting our guide there at 6:55am, so we got up before the sun, grabbed our gear, and enjoyed the sunrise on the drive South through the coconut farms — wish I could have gotten pictures of the mist rising over the fields and jungle, the sun hitting the mountains, the rows upon rows of coconut trees, and the pockets of ramshackle homes that speak of absolute poverty and look like the jungle is taking them over… But alas, pictures from a moving car just don’t turn out well.
We followed the instructions from our tour guide (Get your guide) to drive past all of the people trying to wave us in to parking lots until we reached the Chalo Parking lot by the Joseth Supermarket only a block from the park entrance. Superman thought it was another random guy trying to get us to pay him for parking, but luckily I saw the Chalo sign and knew it was the right place. We were guided to a parking spot and paid our $10 for the day. And then we found a tiny frog hanging on to the back windshield of our car… I think he just had the craziest ride of his life!!
Manuel Antonio has STRICT rules on what you can and can’t bring into the park. Absolutely NO FOOD, NO PLASTIC WATER BOTTLES, NO DRONES, and NO SPEAKERS (the other rules don’t apply to our family, but if you’re traveling there you should know that there is no smoking, drugs or alcohol allowed anywhere in the park).
We wore comfortable tennis shoes for hiking, brought water bottles, sunscreen, swimsuits, towels, binoculars, and our camera equipment. They sometimes check passports at the gate so we were carrying copies. Today they didn’t check.
***YOU MUST HAVE A NATIONAL PARK ENTRANCE PASS BEFORE ARRIVING*** This National Park is quite popular and fills up to capacity– you have to pay the park entrance fee online at least several days in advance (we booked ours almost a month ago!). They allow approximately 2000 visitors per day, and you can purchase up to five tickets on one free account. Non-resident adults are $16 US for the day, and Non-resident children (2-12) are $5 US each.
We met our guide, Diego, and joined two other couples for the tour. Diego introduced us to his “coworker” — a spotting scope on a tripod — and said “Welcome to my office!” when we got into the park. He told us that we are the VIP’s and the boss and he wants us to see a lot of amazing things today, so maybe the tour will be more than 2 1/2 hours. (The tour we booked said 2 hours… Diego ended up staying with us for almost 3! And he treated us like VIP’s and was excited for every find– I love that in a tour guide.)
First off he showed us a demon spider – seriously has horns and a fake eyeball on it’s back. Gross.
I have no idea how Diego spotted two teeny little insect eating bats hanging on a tree trunk… Lots of experience I’m sure. They are only about 3 1/2 inches long and have distinct white stripes on their heads. They were so hidden hanging on the side of a tree, I could barely find them without the scope when I knew where they were! Diego called them “Insect Repellent” because they eat 1000-1500 mosquitos every night. Thank you bats! (Costa Rica also has fruit bats, vampire bats, and even fishing bats! Around 50 different species of bats!)
The primary forest is beautiful — old growth trees, so much undergrowth, vines everywhere.
Diego pointed out several interesting plants — one is a dragon tongue palm. There are 52 species of dragon tongue with different shaped flowers, and 52 species of hummingbird that feed from one type each. They are excellent pollinators. This is a plant that can save your life in the jungle — desperate for food? Pick a flower and suck out the nectar. Doesn’t taste great, but it’s calories and hydration.
The other amazing plant is the mimosa plant. This one curls up when you touch it! But not because it’s carnivorous– it’s just really reactive to touch. It will stay closed for 5-10 minutes, then open up again. Diego says it will catch bugs and hold them until a lizard comes along, then it will open and give the bug to a lizard. Why??? He says mimosa plants are so incredible because if the same person touches a leaf several times it will remember them and not close anymore because it knows it isn’t in danger. Awesome! We all had fun touching it and watching it close! (I’ll post videos later!)
We saw amazing reptiles — black iguanas, Costa Rican chameleons, basilisk lizards (aka Jesus Christ lizards because they can run across the water– Superman saw one do it!!), and a viper (approximately 2 meters long!).
Diego said he hoped we’d see a sloth, but it would be a great day if we see one playing the guitar. He delivered!! He pointed out a furball of a sloth sleeping way up high in a tree– just a gray patch of fuzziness between the branches of a tree. A few minutes later he spotted one and this one was looking right at us!
It just kept getting better though — the next one was awake and scratching it’s belly! We saw a sloth “playing the guitar”!!! Incredible!
Later on we saw another furball in a tree, and then the cherry on top was a sloth facing us and when we got a close look, there was a baby’s arm hanging over! A mama and baby! We feel so lucky to see 6 sloths today!
While we were on the hike we heard the craziest LOUD howler monkeys! We got to see them high in the trees too! They can be heard from 2km away, we were lucky to be super close by and track them down.
We watched an alpha white-faced capucchin monkey scouting ahead of the family group… More on monkeys later!
We also saw a coati eating berries in a tree, agoutis eating nuts and walking through the forest, red crabs, a bigger bat (fruit eating bat), a “natural protein bar” — aka a red winged giant grasshopper (up to 7 inches long and 12 grams of protein), and leafcutter ants! Amazing!
We walked past the human cages and down the hill to Manuel Antonio Beach — beautiful white sand and blue water. Diego left us there to enjoy the beach for as long as we wanted, walk around the peninsula, eat at the cafeteria, or whatever we wanted to do until the park closes at 4pm.
First things first, the kids were starving, so while Superman went to check out the snorkeling (sadly, kinda cloudy water today due to rain the last few days), I took the kids to the cage to eat (the cage keeps the monkeys from stealing food). We got pizza and sandwiches — not great food, about $5/plate — but it filled up the kids and made it so we could stay and enjoy more time in the park.
There is something magical about sunshine, sand and water… We had a great time on the beach. And then, Spud started screaming and hopping backward out of the water. I was standing right next to him and couldn’t see anything in the water, but he was definitely in pain. Somehow a jellyfish tentacle or tentacles had wrapped around both of his ankles and brushed the tops of both of his feet. They got all red and welted. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you look at it), because of prior experience with sting rays, we know that the best thing for jellyfish stings is to soak in sea water. So we sat Spud in the surf until the stinging subsided. Poor kid. The guides were all telling people that there are no dangers in the water here… But they also have a spray bottle of vinegar stowed by the beach. Hmmm…. That helped Spud’s feet too. No one else in the water ever had an encounter while we were there. Just lucky I guess…
Spud had entertainment to keep his mind off of his stinging feet– the cappuchin monkeys showed up!! They are so playful, absolutely not afraid, and so so so fun to watch! People were crazy close, handing them fallen fruits, and touching them (definitely not allowed in the National Park). We watched them jump around in the trees, wrestle each other, tease an iguana by holding it’s tail, and steal things from people’s bags.
We had such a great time seeing the monkeys off and on for the rest of the afternoon. So cool!! The kids got tired so we left them resting together on another beach and Superman and I hiked around the peninsula — we saw agoutis, the running basilisk, and I nearly stepped on a 4 foot long gray/brown snake that luckily slithered away. Superman also snorkeled again and saw some of the biggest fish he’s ever seen while snorkeling. I should have gone with him…
We encountered the family of monkeys again on our walk out of the park– there were so many all around us that they snuck up on us a few times! (Really glad these ones aren’t agressive and bite like the ones in Thailand, even though the guides here call them the Mafia.)
We stopped at El Wagon Restaurant just outside of Manuel Antonio town and enjoyed Wood Fired Pizza (yes, there’s coconut on the Hawaiian pizza) and Costa Rican food while monkeys climbed on the roof. This country is so fun! (Enjoy a few pics of typical buildings/streets)
If you go to Manuel Antonio National Park in Costa Rica I hope you have as amazing of an adventure as we had! Feel free to ask any questions about logistics or planning– we’d love to help your day go great!
