The next stop on the Costa Rican adventure is Manuel Antonio National Park, situated right on the coast around 2.5hrs south of the capital, San Jose. We visited Manuel Antonio on our way to the final part of our stay in Costa Rica (on the Osa Peninsula, having already visiting Arenal, La Fortuna and Tortuguero) and so only spent one night in our lodge – where as always there was lots of wildlife to discover.
About Manuel Antonio National Park
- Visiting Manuel Antonio is controlled and you have to pay to enter and follow set paths. The entrance cost at the time of writing (2022) is $18, and the park is open from 7am to 4pm every day except for Tuesdays, when it is closed.
- You can access the National Park by car, taxi or bus. The Park lies around 20 minutes from the nearest town, Quepos, and is easily accessible from there.
- The park offers many options – you can explore independently or by hiring a guide. I recommend hiring a licensed guide via the park itself or a reputable tour operator, as they will spot a lot of wildlife for you which you may miss.
- Allow yourself a full day at the Park as there is a lot to see. We managed to explore the nature, beaches and butterflies of the park on our visit in a full day which combined guided and independent exploring – including joining a 2.5hr naturalist guide lead walk.
Things to see and do in Manuel Antonio National Park
Within the park you can choose to walk any of the well marked walking paths independently, or with a guide. There are 4 trails to follow, El Manglar Trail (Mangrove Trail), Catarata Estacional Trail (Waterfall Trail), Miradores Trail (Viewpoints Trail) and the Peresozo Trail (Sloth Trail). We followed along a couple of the trails and saw lots of wildlife, all quite tame.
This included basilisk lizards, white faced monkeys, squirrel monkeys, white nosed coati, baby green iguanas, male and female large black iguanas, an agouti and various spiders.
Following the Peresozo Trail (Sloth Trail) also ends up on the most famous beach of the park, Manuel Antonio Beach. Our walk included a stop at this beautiful white sandy bay where it was safe to swim in the Pacific waters – but not safe to leave your possessions unattended because of the lizards, racoons and agoutis. You also need to watch out for the monkeys, as they can often come close the humans looking to steal your food. Please also resist feeding the monkeys as human food and bacteria on our hands can make the monkeys really sick.
After finishing our walk, we then also headed to the Butterfly Garden for an hour or so. Again you can do guided walks, but we didn’t feel the need to this time. If butterflies aren’t your thing, then you could also do an evening frog and reptile tour.
After all of that walking and exploring we were exhausted, so followed it up with a spa treatment at the hotel to relax after a long day. A relaxing massage was definitely the perfect end to a day at Manuel Antonio.
Thanks for reading about our trip to Manuel Antonio. I hope this post was helpful if you’re planning a visit to Costa Rica. Stay safe and happy travelling everyone!
Saasdia Travel Gid
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