Manuel Antonio Nature Reserve & Wildlife Refuge — Attraction in Quepos

READ THIS IF YOU WANT A 5 STAR VISIT!!!

Most of the bad reviews I read were from people that did not do their homework before visiting this fantastic park and their spectacular beaches.

Here's what you need to know: You have to buy your tickets online, in advance. The process is not hard. Go to their site, make a profile, select the day and time you want to visit, and pay. It took me less than 10 minutes. They send you an email confirmation. Tickets are $18 per adult (and well worth it if you plan to spend the day like we did). -I'd recommend an early slot (7:00am or 8:00am). This will give you your pick of the best spots on the beach before the crowds arrive. -The park restricts bringing in plastic bottles and food. We brought metal containers and bought water at the little cafe before heading to the beach. -They also say you can't bring in sunscreen and insect spray but we saw many people using them. The bag check was very quick and they only looked at the top of the bag. So I'm sure they would miss whatever happens to fall to the bottom of the bag. 😎 -They also did not make us open our metal containers so you can probably bring it on full. -YOU DON'T NEED A GUIDE!!! (Unless you really want one). We saw sloth, monkeys, red crabs, and hermit crabs by ourselves. If you drive DO NOT STOP for anyone trying to make you park and pay. If they pressure you, tell them you are going to a hotel up ahead. The park has a lot to the right of the road about 100m from the entrance. IT IS FREE!! -On your walk to the entrance you will face a gauntlet of "guides" trying to sell you a guided tour. Politely (or rudely) decline and go to the entrance. -They will do a quick (5 second) bag check then send you to the line that checks your tickets. Show the ranger your confirmation email then you're in! We walked the main trail to the sloth trail that leads to the cafe. -Grab some drinks, if you need them, then head to the right towards the beach. -Walk down to the spot where you can go to either beach (about halfway down the Manual Antonio Beach). -We checked out both sides before finding a perfect spot at Manual Antonio Beach just to the right of the crossover mentioned. Make sure you get a spot under the trees because shade will be your friend if you're staying the day. Also, don't put your stuff too close to the surf. There were a few waves that came up pretty far and soaked some people's stuff -Hope this helps. ...

I am really tempted to put a fourth star on this place since the nature is beautiful, but we had a lot of issues getting there. First of all, they stop you on the road several times to get you to park to their place and get you a guide to an exorbitant price! Do not trust them at all. We finally went to the end of the road and parked at the restaurant. I recommend doing the same. It costs like 6 or 7$ for the whole day, and they do not make you pay if you eat there before 4pm. To enter, you need to previously book you ticket but it can only be made ONLINE. Our connection was very bad there and we only made it thanks to the help of a very nice employee of the place. Otherwise we would have been out only because they do not sell physical tickets. We did not get a guide since it was really expensive. If you like to explore on your own I think that it’s the best solution: we still saw a lot of animals and got to choose our path and pace. There are also some board along the path to teach you interesting information. A nice thing to know is that you cannot bring food of any kind, even in a container. For the water, you can bring a reusable water bottle and fill it there on the different available fountains...

M Antonio is beautiful. I only gave 3 stars for this location because you are not allowed to enter the park at this location. Parking here and at the official location to the north is very limited. Best to arrive by bus or during the week (not the weekend) with Covid 😬 since almost nobody is here 👍

The southern end of Espadilla Beach is here and I prefer this area to the central area. There are more rocks to see fish in the water. You will probably prefer the central area because the beach is more tranquil, wider, and has better trees for shade.

Oddly enough South Espadilla Beach is in M Antonio and a large "rock mountain" separates the two beaches. Also many fences since CR wants you to enter and pay at the official entrance. The problem with the official entrance is that it is nowhere near the beach and requires a lot of walking. Currently the attractive raised walkways are all closed. Some are damaged but this doesn't explain why all of them are closed ... Covid? I don't understand.

Anyway, to reach the beaches you must walk on a maintenance road and while the forest is nice and I heard Howler Monkeys, I prefer walking back and forth...