Reserva Natural Cabo Blanco — Attraction in Cóbano

Summary: Amazing park, get there early for wildlife (recommend at 8 am - didn’t see any wildlife after 10:30 am), park is NOT OPEN Monday/Tuesday

Recommendations specifically to see wildlife/animals/birds: VERY, VERY important to get there early if you want to see wildlife. As a warning, the other friends staying with us arrived at the park ~1 pm the previous day and only saw anteaters and deer. Per other reviews and travel sites, I knew arriving early was important. I arrived at 7:20 am and saw several birds (white-throated magpie jay, turquoise-browed motmot, crested caracara) walking around the roads outside the park before it opened. I highly recommend this because the roads outside the park have great lighting for spotting/photos compared to the park’s heavy forest. Upon entering the park at 8 am, the ranger showed me the map and encouraged me to start on the 1 km loop to see wildlife (see attached map photo). I walked the 1 km loop twice and saw a few each of howler monkeys, long-tailed manakins, flycatchers, woodcreepers, doves, deer, agouti, colorful butterflies, and several other less remarkable birds. Around 9 am, I started on the 2 km loop. I saw three turquoise-browed motmots above on my left immediately after crossing the first short bridge after the ranger station. I also several manakins and more agouti. By 10:30 am, the forest was significantly less active, and I didn’t see any more animals. I think the prime time is 8-9:30 am. I departed at 11 am. This visit was on Friday, March 21, 2025.

Other notes: Trail is in good condition, park staff are friendly, not many other visitors with only two other cars at park open and a dozen...

Awesome slice of pristine nature. We came from Montezuma on the 8am small bus. It's perhaps a 10-15 minute walk into the reserve and the rangers station. We took the beach rte (Swedish trail), which took about two hours. The trail is intense. It seemed to us it was mostly up. Very rocky, uneven. Even though the trail is narrow, it seemed well maintained. That is, you are walking in a 60 year old dry rain forest (regrowth) it is dense so dont expect an easy climb. I read reviews even by guides negative on the trails conditions. When you consider the conditions, carving out and maintaining this trail is a feat. People who wore thongs or slipons struggle. Where something that is comfortable but protects. Very few insects to bother you. We saw white-faced and howler monkeys, many blue morphos butterflies, troops of Codamundies (sp!) Deer, armadillo, woodpeclers including a lineated one. Awesome. You just have to look carefully and follow sounds. The beach is awesome with two outside showers and potable drinking water. Great swim among the pelicans. Maybe twety of us made it. Pack thongs or something to protect your feet as it is extremely rocky.. The way back is uphill at first but then not so bad. If your going back to Montezuma make sure you are out on the main road to catch the last bus at 3:20!!! Take water and snacks. This is a chance to see raw nature. Not easy, not for the faint of heart. An...

TL.DR: This is a difficult very rugged hike, but if you're prepared it could be very fun.

This hike is not for the faint of heart. We are a family who likes to hike, though we are not pros by any means. We attempted the big hike down to the beach. We ended up turning around at the 2km marker. It was a strenuous hike all up the mountain side up until that point and it appeared to continue going up for some time after the 2km marker. The trail is very naturalized and so proper hiking shoes are a must. Many areas are loose dirt and mud (if it's rained recently) and you will be literally rock climbing at some points. If you want to make the full hike I recommend planning to spend the whole day there. The 4km round trip that we did took us about 2.5 hours. Take a backpack with tons of water and/or juice as it's hot and it's hard work. Overall the area is very nice, very natural. There is hardly any human intervention. We saw howler monkeys, birds of all kinds, lots of insects...