Manuel Antonio
Sloths above the trails, bag-thieving capuchins and blond coves beneath the jungle: the country's smallest park is its most irresistible concentrate.
Suggested stay — 2 nights
Manuel Antonio is an assumed tourist miracle: in one morning of flat trails you near-certainly watch both sloth species, three monkey species (howlers, capuchins, and the rare squirrel monkeys), agoutis, crab-eating raccoons and iguanas — before finishing on Manuel Antonio beach, a perfect cove where the forest itself provides the shade.
Its popularity imposes its discipline: timed tickets bought online in advance (the park is capped and closes one day a week — check the current day), arrival at opening, a scoped guide for the first hour, and absolute vigilance with the capuchins and raccoons — professional pickpockets of beach bags.
Don't miss
- The main trail and the Punta Catedral loop
- Manuel Antonio beach inside the park (calm swimming, supervised by monkeys)
- The sloths of the car park and access road — often the best placed
- Sunset from the Quepos hills, cocktail in hand
Our tips on the ground
- Buy park tickets online several days ahead in high season: they are capped and go fast.
- No food enters the park (bags are searched): eat a solid breakfast and hydrate.
- Ignore the fake car parks and touts on the access road: the official car park is by the entrance; the others live off confusion.
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Our flagship guide — €44
Guide available“Costa Rica on Your Own”, the complete edition, is out
10 chapters: day-by-day itineraries, driving and transport, a costed budget and checklists — the same method as our Namibia guide.
The guide is currently written in French — an English edition is in the works.
Before you go
Readers' questions about Manuel Antonio
Is Manuel Antonio too touristy?
It is very busy AND it keeps its promises: few places on earth offer such visible wildlife density for so little effort — ideal with a family or at the trip's start to bank sightings. Purists will prefer Corcovado; the two don't play in the same commitment league.
Do you need a guide inside the park?
Not compulsory, but worth it the first time: the certified guides (hired at the official entrance, never in the street) scope out curled-up sloths and invisible vipers, and the phone photos through the scope are stunning. Afterwards, your eyes are trained for the rest of the trip.