Manuel Antonio National Park — Attraction in Quepos

What a great day!

You need to buy your tickets a day or more prior to arrival. Know the rules to get in. They will take your plastic bottles, plastic bags, food, and sugar packets. Know the location of the official parking. Lots of people trying to get you to park on the beach a distance from the park entrance. Parking is $10. Tickets come with a timed entry with a 40 minute window. There is a long line to get in: a security check followed by ticket check. Tours and individuals are all in the same line. You can sign up for a tour on arrival. Expect a lot of tour hustlers trying to sign you up for a tour just after the ticket booth.

Even if you aren’t in a group, you’ll know where to stop to see the animals. The tour operators all stop at the same places to see the wildlife. They have scopes for better views, but I don’t feel like we missed much going on our own. There is a restaurant and gift shop at the trail junction. We had planned to eat there since we couldn’t bring food in. However, the lines were long with only 2 people working so we gave up.

Just up the hill is a set of toilets. When we were there, only 1 toilet stall was working in the women’s room. If those have long lines, 5 minutes down the path is another set of toilets. This one has 2 toilets and 2 changing rooms, although 1 of the changing rooms doesn’t have a door.

As you continue down the hill, there’s a beach on the left. Further down is a beach on the right. The water is calmer at the beach to the left and there’s more afternoon shade.

The trails are well marked and well maintained. Some of them do require a bit of climbing. There are alot of places to refill your water along the trails. You do not need a guide to see the monkeys and iguanas - they are all over the place – along the trail and at the beach. They know how to open backpacks. We saw a monkey come down from the trees and start to open someone’s backpack before it was chased away. You cannot leave your stuff on the beach near the trees or it will get stolen by the monkeys! The park closes at 4p. Park rangers clear the beaches at 3.

The day was lovely here. We had an 8am timed entry ticket. We got to see lots of wildlife in the morning. After about 4 hours of hiking, we settled on to the beach for several hours. It was a great way to cool off from the heat and humidity. This is a great park but expect...

The park was nice but getting into it was very stressful. We did not know that one needed to book the tickets on-line in advance. We walked to the park. The multiple scammers on the way to the park stopped us, where the sign said 1km to go. With urgency on their faces and voices, they directed us to the "booking table to buy the tickets". They wanted "$60 per person to enter the park with a guide from the beach side" instead of $16 dollars per person, that you pay on-line. The internet reception in the area was very poor so we struggled to book the tickets on-line, but succeeded at the end. The booking website required creation of an account and was looking for the passport numbers but you could enter any 6 numbers, that you liked. We visited many parks in Costa Rica. This was the only one, where they did not allow to bring water and any food into the park. You could buy the food, water and other drinks in a cafe inside the park at very high prices. We paid $6 for a locker at the park entrance to leave out water and snacks in. We really needed those on the way out of the park. The beach inside the park was very nice with quiet waters. It also had toilets and showers near by, which we did not see at other beaches in Costa Rica. Costa Rica prides themselves as a prosperous country. We found the prices on food, travel, accommodation, entrance tickets, mobile internet same or higher than in EU, so I don't think "it's a poor country". In many places they only accept cash which probably helps the citizens to...

I am from Northern Canada & I have travelled to many places & taken many tours in this world. Randy has been one of the best (if not the best) organizer and guide I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. If you want a true experience of Costa Rica with in-depth knowledge and experience of the rainforest, it’s inhabitants and life forms, then this is the guide and the company for you. All of those previously commenting with negativity, I would challenge them to walk or boat the tours themselves and then compare the information — there is zero comparison (I know this because I did it myself). It is the same in my remote and wild part of the world (Canada) — if you do not have a native, experienced, capable & caring guide then you see & experience almost nothing. I am extremely grateful for all that Randy did for me & my family to be able to enjoy his amazing country to the fullest. Randy truly went...