Our Top 6 National Parks and 10 Favorite Animals in Costa Rica

Our 6 Most Beautiful National Parks in Costa Rica on a Map

We know that on your Costa Rica road trip you won’t be able to visit every national park. That’s why we’re showing you the 6 you absolutely have to see.

For easier orientation, we’ve marked all 6 national parks on a map.

Manuel Antonio National Park

Manuel Antonio is the smallest national park in the country, but it’s one of the most popular attractions in Costa Rica. Here you’ll find rainforest, what we consider the most beautiful beach in the country, and stunning coral reefs.

In Manuel Antonio, the trails are very well maintained and many paths are even accessible by stroller or wheelchair. So you can easily explore the park on your own.

We still strongly recommend booking a guide, though. There are an incredible number of animals to spot in this national park, and the value for money is really great.

Your ticket for Manuel Antonio National Park must be purchased separately — you can do that online through the SINAC website.

Our hotel recommendation in Manuel Antonio: Hotel Plaza Yara

Guided tour through Manuel Antonio National Park

Corcovado National Park

Corcovado is the largest national park in Costa Rica and one of the most biodiverse rainforests in the world.

It’s the only place where all 4 Central American monkey species live: howler monkeys, spider monkeys, capuchin monkeys, and squirrel monkeys.

A visit to Corcovado was a real adventure for us: arriving by a wild boat ride, hiking through dense jungle, and then discovering a baby tapir — truly unforgettable!

You can only visit Corcovado National Park as part of a guided tour — otherwise you won’t get in.

Park entrance is usually included in the price, but it’s best to confirm beforehand.

Best base for an overnight stay by bus: Drake Bay

Our hotel recommendation in Drake Bay: Hotel Finca Maresia

Day tour in Corcovado National Park from Drake Bay
Best base for an overnight stay by car: Puerto Jiménez

Our hotel recommendation in Puerto Jiménez: Danta Corcovado Lodge

Full-day tour through Corcovado National Park from Puerto Jiménez

Tortuguero National Park

At Tortuguero National Park, we had one of the most beautiful experiences of our entire trip: we got to watch giant sea turtles. A truly amazing experience! We also write about it in our Costa Rica travel diary.

From roughly July to October, females come ashore here to lay their eggs. The babies hatch by November.

But even outside those months, a boat tour in the morning through Tortuguero is absolutely worth it for the incredible scenery and the many animals you’ll spot. Highly recommended.

At Tortuguero, we recommend a mix of guided tours and exploring on your own. If you want to watch turtles, you must book a tour — no guide, no turtles.

The boat tour also requires a guide. Exploring on land, however, you can do very well on your own. Tortuguero doesn’t have quite as many wildlife sightings as, say, Manuel Antonio.

You can buy tickets online through the SINAC website. For the evening turtle tour, however, we did not need a separate ticket for the national park.

That may vary depending on the tour operator, though. It’s best to ask your guide.

Our hotel recommendation in Tortuguero: Budda Home

Our tip: We recommend booking at least two tours: the turtle tour and an early-morning canoe tour through the canals — both were absolute highlights for us.

Guided evening turtle tour

2.5-hour canoe tour in Tortuguero National Park

Arenal Volcano National Park

The standout of Arenal Volcano National Park is the Arenal Volcano itself. It is the youngest volcano in Costa Rica and one of the most active in the world.
On a hike, you can get really close to the volcano and even walk on the hardened lava. But everything around it is super exciting too.

There’s a large rainforest with hanging bridges, the expansive Lake Arenal, and hot springs where you can unwind after a long day of hiking.

Our hotel recommendation: Hotel Roca Negra Del Arenal

For your visit to Arenal Volcano National Park, we recommend booking a full day tour with a guide — including the volcano, the famous hanging bridges, and the hot springs.

That gives you the all-in-one package: you see everything you need to see and don’t have to worry about buying tickets or getting there (buses don’t run to the park).

If you’d rather explore the national park on your own, you can simply buy your ticket at the ticket booth right at the entrance.

Arenal Volcano National Park: Volcano + Hanging Bridges + Hot Springs

Poás Volcano National Park

You can reach Poás Volcano National Park by car in just about an hour from the capital city of San José. The volcanic crater is one of the largest active craters in the world — and the cool part is you can get really close to it.

The viewing platform is only 500 meters away, and you don’t need a guide. You just need a bit of luck with the weather — clouds tend to hang low here quite often.

But on a sunny day, the crater is truly impressive and the turquoise blue crater lake looks like a heart. So beautiful!

You can get your ticket for the national park online through the SINAC website.

Best base by car: Alajuela (near the airport)

Our hotel recommendation in Alajuela: Alice y Juancito – the most affordable of the most beautiful boutique hotels in Costa Rica.

Best base by tour: San José

Our hotel recommendation in San José: Hotel Casa 96

Guided tour to Poás Volcano + coffee farm from San José

Cahuita National Park

Cahuita National Park is one of the oldest and smallest in Costa Rica. But for us, it’s one of the most interesting parks we visited.
We love the combination of rainforest and the stunning white sandy beach along the Caribbean coast.
The best part: you can swim at the beaches here and take a guided snorkeling tour to a beautiful coral reef.

You can get your entry ticket directly at the entrance to the national park.

There are, however, two entrances. The main entrance is in the town of Cahuita. Since this entrance is run by a community organization, entry is officially free, but you’ll be asked for a donation.

The second entrance is located on the highway between Cahuita and Puerto Viejo, and it’s called Entrada Puerto Vargas. This part of the park belongs to SINAC. There you’ll need to pay around $6.

The best option is to take a day trip from Puerto Viejo to Cahuita.

Our hotel recommendation in Puerto Viejo: Cabinas Montesol

Our tip: Cahuita National Park is home to the largest intact coral reef in the country. You can take an awesome snorkeling trip out there — just combine it directly with a hike through the rainforest.

Combo tour with hiking and snorkeling in Cahuita

How to Book Your Online Ticket for the National Parks

You need a ticket for all national parks. On our trip, we found that the online ticketing process is a bit complicated and sometimes requires some patience.

To make it easier for you, we’ll explain exactly how to get your tickets for Manuel Antonio, Tortuguero, and Poás Volcano. You can buy the tickets through the SINAC website.

First, you need to create an account. Nothing works without one. You can set the language directly to English, which made things a bit easier for us.

After you’ve entered your details, you’ll receive two emails. The first email contains the terms and conditions, and the second email contains your password.

Use your username and your temporary password to log in on the sign-in page. You’ll then be prompted to choose your own password.

Next, click on Buy in the top left menu. This is exactly where you sometimes need to be patient. Normally, the items Online Reservation and Purchase History should open right next to it.

For us, the website sometimes got stuck at this point and the submenu didn’t appear. Just close the page and try again right away or a little later. Don’t give up.

Under Online Reservation, you can then select the national park you want to book a ticket for. You’ll then need to choose the date of your visit and a time window for when you want to enter.

Book your ticket as early as possible. Popular time slots — especially early morning — fill up fast, particularly during the best time to visit Costa Rica.

Further down, you choose how many tickets you want for which visitor category. In most cases, that will be Non-Resident Adult.

If you’re traveling with children between the ages of 2 and 12, select Non-Resident Child.

In the next step, you’ll need to enter your full name, your nationality, and your passport number. There’s no way around this either.

We couldn’t figure out exactly why the passport number is required — we think it’s for security purposes.

You can only pay for your ticket by credit card. Afterward, you’ll receive your ticket by email.

Exception: Tortuguero

For Tortuguero, there are two separate tickets, because the park is divided into two sections:

1. Tortuguero National Park ($15)
2. Sector Cerro Tortuguero ($2)

In our case: we had to buy the ticket for Tortuguero National Park when we took the boat tour through the canals.

With that ticket, we were also able to on the same day walk through the national park along the beach on our own — this time without a guide.

We bought the ticket for Sector Cerro Tortuguero when we hiked up to the summit of Cerro Tortuguero, which stands 119 meters high, the following day.

Our 10 Favorite Animals You Should See in Costa Rica's National Parks

Of course, you won’t see all 500,000 animal species in Costa Rica’s national parks. That’s why we’ve put together our 10 favorites that you should absolutely keep an eye out for.

Sloth

Our absolute favorite animal in Costa Rica is the sloth. You can find them in just about every national park — they’re usually sitting up in the trees. And the cutest thing: if you look closely enough, sloths always seem to be smiling!

Monkeys

Sooner or later, you’ll definitely see monkeys. They don’t just roam around in the national parks — they’re everywhere. But you’ll get especially close to them in Manuel Antonio.

Lots of capuchin monkeys roam freely in that park — and they’re not shy at all.

Tapir

Corcovado National Park was where we had truly incredible wildlife encounters. During our hike through the rainforest, our guide spotted a tapir mother with her baby. A one-of-a-kind moment.

Crocodile

We also saw crocodiles at a really, really close range — whoa! And not just in Corcovado, but already at the boat dock on the way to the park. And it was huge — wild!

Iguana

You should also keep an eye out for iguanas — and your chances of spotting one are actually pretty good. Sometimes they just chill out on a rock right on the beach. That’s exactly what happened with us. Really cool!

Sea Turtle

Sea turtles should absolutely be on your list. We watched them on a tour in Tortuguero National Park — a truly unique experience. During the night tour, however, we weren’t allowed to photograph the turtles.

Hummingbird

Costa Rica is, by the way, the perfect country for birdwatching. Honestly, we never would have thought that birds could be so fascinating.

Our favorite is definitely the hummingbird. Our guide spotted one in Manuel Antonio National Park and we just couldn’t stop taking photos.

Quetzal

But probably the most beautiful bird in Costa Rica is the quetzal. We didn’t see it in any national park, though — we spotted it completely by chance near our accommodation close to Manuel Antonio.

We were having breakfast when suddenly this beautiful, colorful bird came flying past us through the forest trail. These are the moments from our Costa Rica trip we’ll never forget.

Toucan

You should also look out for toucans — there are actually six different species in Costa Rica. They’re so beautifully colorful, and they fly around in just about every national park, making them pretty easy to spot.

Jaguar

Corcovado National Park in particular is said to still be home to a few jaguars. Be prepared for a long search, though, because you’ll need luck to spot one. We didn’t have any, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed for you!

Our Tips for Spotting Wildlife

Especially from our guides, we picked up quite a few pointers on how to spot animals most effectively. Here are the best ones:

• Many animals sit up in the trees: monkeys, sloths, birds. Always look up and stop when you see a color other than green.
• When something rustles, there’s something in the bushes — most of the time it’s a monkey jumping around up top, or a coati moving along the ground.
• When you spot a monkey, make sure to stop. Monkeys usually move in large groups. The male leader goes first, followed by the whole family.
• Try standing still for five minutes at the side of a trail and looking closely into the bushes — there are often small insects or large spiders hiding there.
• Make sure to bring binoculars.

But don’t be disappointed if you don’t spot as many animals on your own. Guides know the animals’ hiding spots well, and they’re always in contact with each other — when one spots something, all the others know right away.

Best Time to Visit National Parks in Costa Rica

Costa Rica’s national parks are especially beautiful during the rainy season, from May to November. During this time, everything is very green and you can spot many animals.

However, between June and October is also hurricane season in Costa Rica. This can lead to flooding, and trails in the national parks may be closed.

Of course, you can also visit during the dry season. From December to April, the weather is especially good, but since it’s also peak season, things can get busier.

Safety in Costa Rica's National Parks

When we entered our first national park in Costa Rica, we wondered what it would be like with animals roaming completely free.

Our guide quickly told us that nothing would happen as long as we didn’t touch the animals and followed the guide’s instructions.

And sure enough, in all the national parks we visited, we never found ourselves in a dangerous situation and always felt very safe. Even though there are certainly dangerous animals in Costa Rica.

The animals are simply used to people, and they won’t attack if you don’t bother them.

Costa Rica is generally considered a very safe country, and we felt comfortable throughout our trip.

In a dedicated article, we’ve written everything you need to know about safety in Costa Rica.

There we also cover which dangerous animals live in Costa Rica and share general safety tips for your trip as well as rules to follow in the national parks.

How Many National Parks Are There in Costa Rica?

Costa Rica has more than 25 national parks. These are protected by the National Conservation Areas System (SINAC) — a national protected areas system that manages the conservation of nature and wildlife in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. Here you’ll find tropical rainforests, stunning beaches, mystical cloud forests, and truly abundant wildlife — sloths, monkeys, birds, iguanas, and tapirs.

But around 25 national parks still isn’t enough. To protect the roughly 500,000 animal species, there are also about 58 wildlife refuges, 11 forest reserves, and 8 biological reserves — including the cloud forests of Monteverde and Santa Elena.

All told, 25 percent of Costa Rica’s land area is protected. Pretty incredible, right?

To give you a sense of just how much that is: Norway has the most national parks in Europe, with around 47 — but Norway is also seven times the size of Costa Rica. When you think about it that way, what Costa Rica has managed to protect is seriously remarkable.