If you’re a nature lover, you will absolutely love Costa Rica. The country holds 5% of the world’s biodiversity and it is an animal lover’s dream country to visit.
Whether you want to go whale watching, see sloths or study insects, Costa Rica has all that and more. You can create a vacation focused on wildlife watching alone! Some of the most common animals in Costa Rica to see are monkeys and insects but everyone usually has at least one animal on their bucket list.
So if you want to see some Costa Rica wildlife, read on to see where you can see some popular animals such as sloths, monkeys and more!
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Best Places to See Costa Rica Wildlife
Which animal would you like to see first? Click on it to skip to the section.
Whales
You can see a variety of different whale species in Costa Rica on the Pacific side such as pilot whale, blue whale, and sei whales.
However, the prized whale to see is the humpback whale since Costa Rica has the longest humpback whale viewing season in the world. Humpback whales from both the Antarctica and Alaska overlap for a period of time in Costa Rica during their migration.
It’s fairly common to see mom and baby during the beginning of the season as they are rearing and feeding their young. If you’re lucky to see one, they put on some pretty spectacular shows as they’re playing around in the water.
Click here to read more about the different whales in Costa Rica.
Best time to go whale watching:
- Antarctica humpback whales – July to Nov
California humpback whales – Dec to April
North Atlantic humpback whales – Dec to March
In the months of Oct to Nov, the early birds and late risers overlap.
Best places for whale watching:
- Drake Bay: South Puntarenas, northern region of the Osa Peninsula
- Drake Bay is one of the most isolated places in Costa Rica so you can either take a domestic flight or you can take a boat ride from Sierpe. There are a few tour companies that operate whale and dolphin watching tours.
- During the months of Aug – Nov, you will be sure to see humpback whales at Caño Island and the Corcovado area. The South is definitely the place best to see humpback whales.
- Marino Ballena National Park: In Uvita, 16 km south of Dominical and 180 km SW of San Jose
- There’s a reason why this is called the Whale National Park, this is one of the best places to see humpback whales! This park also has the largest coral reef on the Pacific side of C. America so the marine life here is astounding.
There are a few more places along the Central and North Pacific to go whale watching like Manuel Antonio. We saw humpback whales in the Gulf of Papagayo in the North but it is not quite as common as the South Pacific. In Nicoya, the two best beaches are Tambor and Pochote.
Dolphins
It is pretty common to see dolphins in Costa Rica, especially on the Pacific side. You can see all different species of dolphin from spotted to bottlenose and they are very playful. Sometimes you’ll see them swimming alongside the boat or next to you while kayaking!
Best time to see them: Year round. Many species such as bottle nose and spotted calls Costa Rica all year so you have a good chance to see them.
If you want to see the spinner or common dolphin, they pass by Costa Rica from Dec – March and are not seen as much the rest of the year.
Best place to go dolphin watching: Same places as the whales except you have equal opportunity along the whole Pacific coast. They are especially common to see in the Golfo Dolce by Puerto Jimeenz in the Osa Peninsula. On the Caribbean side, you have a chance to see bottlenose dolphins near Limon.
Many tours combine whale and dolphin watching since the two are commonly seen in the same waters. Some places are Osa Peninsula, Drake Bay, Flamingo, Manuel Antonio and Puerto Viejo.We have seen several times groups of bottlenose dolphins in the Gulf of Papagayo!
Sea Turtles
Sea turtles in Costa Rica has been declining at an alarming rate the past few years, especially the hawkbill who only have about 8,000 nesting females left in the wild.
In Costa Rica, the turtles are highly protected here and hunting them for food or any other reason is not allowed. The governments allows citizens to collect eggs for special circumstances. Costa Rica has designated certain sites for a turtle refuge and exist solely to help sea turtles.
Best time to see sea turtles: Some turtles are present all year long. You can see sea turtles on both the Caribbean and Pacific.
- Olive Ridley, Hawksbill, Leatherback sea turtle and Pacific Green sea turtle – all year long
- Leatherback sea turtles – Feb to July
- Atlantic green sea turtles – June to Nov
Best places to see sea turtles:
- Parque Nacional Marino Las Baulas
- This national park was established in 1990 to protect turtles from poachers. You can see them on Playa Grande in Oct – May laying their eggs. You have to reserve in advance for a spot and it is for turtle viewing only.
- Tortuguero National Park
- This national park is in the northeast corner of Limon and this beach is one of the most important for the endangered green turtle nesting sites in the Western Hemisphere. Turtles come here from the months of July to October to hatch their eggs.
- This site is one of the most important for sea turtle egg hatching.
- Santa Rosa National Park
- This national park is in Guanacaste and is the oldest in the province. There are two beaches in this park that are the most important for sea turtle nesting, Naranjo and Nancite.
- You can see in one night, hundreds of turtles coming to shore to lay their eggs and it is one of two sites where the Pacific Ridley sea turtles pass through in Costa Rica.
- Ostional Wildlife Refuge
- This park is also located in Guanacaste and is a major nesting ground for the Olive Ridley turtle. You can pay for a tour to go with a guide (highly recommended) after 6 pm since turtles come at night.
- Gulf of Papagayo
- It is common during July – September to see turtles mating in the water. Mostly Olive Ridley sea turtles as they then nest in Playa Naranjo or Ostional.
- Cano Island
- It is common to see turtles, particularly juveniles at Cano Island and you can snorkel with them.
The best time to come see the turtles on shore is during arribadas (the last quarter moon of each month during green season). This occurs at Ostional and Playa Naranjo for the Olive Ridley Sea Turtles.
Read more information about Ostional.
These are the main national parks where you can view turtles but there are many more places.
- Osa Peninsula and Corcovado: Many of the beaches are nesting sites for 3 species of turtles.
- Camaronal Wildlife Refuge: Located south of Samara in Guanacaste. 3 species come here to nest between May – Nov.
- Gandoca Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge: Located on the south Caribbean coast. Leatherback turtles nest here from March – May.
- Cahuita National Park:On the Atlantic coast in Limon. 4 species of turtle nest are here between July – Oct, March – July and nest from Feb- May.
- Finca Baru Wildlife Refuge: Located on the South Pacific coast. Is a nesting site for Olive Ridley turtles from July – Nov.
Sloths
The most sought after animal to see are sloths in Costa Rica. These guys are a bit hard to see out in the wild however since they blend in so well with their surroundings. The sloths in Costa Rica are the two-fingered and three-fingered.
Sloths are unable to survive outside the tropical rain forests of C. and S. America but they do astonishingly well inside. Some species are endangered or critically endangered since they live most of their lives in the trees eating leaves among other things. Deforestation has become one of the main reasons for their decline in S. America.
Best time to see them: All year long. Rainy season better than dry season since all the trees and flora flourish during this time.
Best places to see them: There are sanctuaries you can visit and many national parks where they live on both sides of the country. Guanacaste is not the best place to see sloths due to the dry heat so if you are staying at the beaches in Guanacaste like Samara, Tamarindo or Coco, you will need to travel to see sloths either to Arenal, Bijagua or visit an animal sanctuary. **Please do your research on animal sanctuaries, any sanctuary that allows you to touch, hold or pick up sloths is not a good one as that is very harmful to the animal.**
Read more in-depth information about sloths in Costa Rica.
- Monteverde
- You must go on a night walk to see sloths as only 2-fingered sloths are found in Monteverde and they are largely nocturnal.
- Arenal
- Though not common in the national park, you can see sloths in the forests around Arenal and La Fortuna.
- Manuel Antonio National Park
- In Manuel Antonio National Park, you can easily see sloths. The forests are a more suitable habitat for sloths than the dry heat in Northern Guanacaste. You can see both two and three-fingered sloths and it’s one of the prime spots to see sloths in the wild.
- Corcovado National Park
- This national park is also located in Puntarenas and is considered one of the most biologically diverse places on earth. All sorts of Costa Rica wildlife are seen in this national park, including sloths.
- Dominical and Uvita
- It is common to see sloths even by the side of the road up in the trees or even crossing the road!
- Puerto Viejo
- The Caribbean side is excellent to see sloths as you can see both and they are very common. You can also see sloths crossing the road here.
- Osa Peninsula
Monkeys
Four different species of monkeys are in Costa Rica: White-face Capuchin monkeys, Howler monkeys, Squirrel monkeys and Spider monkeys. The spider monkey is endangered and two species of squirrel monkey are listed as vulnerable. The howler monkey population has been declining the past few years due to deforestation and electrocution by power lines.
Best time to see them: All year round
Best places to see them:
Corcovado National Park is the only park where you can find all four species of monkeys here and all four are commonly seen in the Osa Peninsula.
Squirrel monkeys are only found in the southern part of Costa Rica such as Corcovado and Manuel Antonio National Park. Howlers and white face monkeys can be seen all throughout Costa Rica. In Manuel Antonio National Park, white face monkeys are famous for stealing food and aren’t shy with humans (please don’t feed them).
You can read more about monkeys in Costa Rica.
Toucans
Birdwatchers, get out your binoculars! 6 different species of toucans are found in the rain forests of Costa Rica. The Black-mandibled toucan is the largest of the six and all can be seen in the tropical and subtropical forests.
Where you can toucans, you can also see macaws as the two birds commonly found in the same areas.
Best time to see them: All year long
Best places to see them: These colorful creatures are a very important part of the rain forest ecosystem and being so flashy and having distinct calls, it is fairly easy to spot them while hiking in the national parks.
Carara National Park is a great place to see the toucans and scarlet macaws since it has more primary rain forest.
All the toucans live in different parts of the country. Keel-billed toucans are more common in the high elevation and the Caribbean, Black Mandibuled Toucans are found in the South and Osa as well as the Caribbean and Arenal and the Emerald Toucanet is only in the high elevation areas. Make sure to do your research if you are looking for a specific toucan.
Read more about birds in Costa Rica. If you’re interested in seeing the Resplendant Quetzal, the best place is Monteverde.
Fish
Many beaches on both Pacific and Caribbean are very good for snorkeling. You’ll see all types of tropical fish such as butterfly fish, angel fish, pufferfish, and much more.
If you’re looking to do some sport fishing or see some bill fish, you can hire a sport fishing company so you can experience the excitement of catching a rooster fish, sail fish or even a marlin. Or you can just grab a pole and fish like a local!
There is so much wildlife in Costa Rica that it’ll be impossible for me to list them all. These are the main animals people want to see the most but some other common animals in Costa Rica are peccaries, coatis, anteaters, snakes, insects, frogs, sting rays, sharks, crocodiles, deer, raccoons, bats and jungle cats.
Check out our video of some Costa Rica wildlife we’ve seen. We hope you get to see some of them too!
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If you want to read up or be able to identify Costa Rica wildlife, I suggest getting a pocket/field guide or a book. There are some excellent ones out there with all the information you ever wanted to know about these animals.
Also do NOT forget to bring your zoom lens! We currently use a Canon 100-400 mm lens which works great for wildlife shots. Sigma and Tamron both have a 150-600 mm lens which is excellent as well.
Here are some of the books and field guides we use. We also highly recommend hiring a guide as they have trained eyes and know how to find wildlife. Especially if you are a photographer, you will need a guide to find the animal you want to photograph.
More posts on Costa Rica wildlife here!
Critters of Costa Rica
Costa Rica nature photography
Birds of Costa Rica
Osa Peninsula nature and wildlife
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I’m going to Costa in 3 weeks. Quepos is where we are staying. What is the closest area where we can see sea turtles, or volunteer for a day. My son is obsessed with turtles so this would be an amazing experience!
Thanks
The high season for turtle nesting is over so it’ll be hard to see them in the wild and the best places are actually Tortuguero and Ostional. You may be able to contact a rescue center like Kids Saving the Rainforest which is in Manuel Antonio and see if they have any recommendations.
I just saw them in the protective custody of Matapalo – it was interesting
Hi Andrea, you can read in the post the best places to see all the wildlife you mentioned ^^. As for volcanoes, Arenal Arenal Volcano National Park and Poas (Poas Volcano National Park) are two of the most popular and you can read about when is the best time to visit in this post:Best time to visit Costa Rica
As for hotels, you can all our hotel reviews here: Costa Rica hotel reviews or you can check out our best all-inclusive hotel posts here:
Hi.
Myself and hubby want to go to CR next year. When is the better month please? We want to see the volcanoes sloths turtles monkeys and toucans, which are the best places to see these please? Which hotels do you also recommend on the high end scale please?
Thank you.
Hi Franklin, that area has a lot of toucans and sloths so there’s a good chance you’ll see at least some toucans in the wild. But if you want to see them up close, you can travel a bit down south to the Jaguar Rescue, they are an excellent rescue center where you can learn about the animals and see rescued ones. However, you should never touch a sloth, wild or rescued and any place that lets you handle sloths or hold them, is not a good center.
Sloths have moths and algae growing in their fur (they have pretty much their own ecosystem in their fur) and touching them can upset that so please do not touch sloths. You can read more about seeing sloths in Costa Rica here: sloths in Costa Rica and toucans here: Costa Rica birds
Hi All,
Im going to CR for a work in Moin, Limon and Im love to see Sloths and Toucans. Is there any near place/wildlife near this area? It is possible to get a picture with handling a Sloths?
Thank you so much.
Cheers! Franklin
Hi Nancy, there are a ton of different accommodation options in Tamarindo and there are a few hotels on the beach. But there are also hotels that are literally right across the street and a lot cheaper, so unless you absolutely have to be actually ON the beach, those places are good options such as Cabinas Marielas or Hotel Mar Rey, it’s seriously less than a minute walk to the beach. You can read more information about Tamarindo and hotels we like here: Playa Tamarindo
I have vacationed 8 times in C.R., and LOVE the people, the monkeys and sloths. This April 2017 I plan to rent a house for 5 days in or near Manual Antonio and bring along my daughter, her husband and two boys ages 10 and 12. I would like to take them to a second location for an additional three nights to a beach hotel, possibly Tamarindo. My question is how can I do this without breaking the bank? I do not plan to rent a car and will use the nice little buses from Manual Antonio to Tamarindo. So, I would prefer to rent a hotel on the beach in Tamarindo. I wonder are there any new hotels that may be offering discounted rates. Or any ideas on nice places offering discounts?
Hi Anton,
Corcovado NP is great, we visited two of the stations you can read about here: San Pedrillo and Sirena Station Corcovado National Park There’s a lot more wildlife at Sirena and some awesome hiking if you want to do day hikes or overnight hikes.
As for Spanish, you really honestly don’t need to know Spanish to get around. Since tourism is huge in Costa Rica and most locals work in tourism, they know English fairly well. You’ll always find someone who knows English especially if you’re going to the touristic places which you are going to. It’s only when you get to the small towns in the rural communities where English is not widely spoken. But all of the people who work in tourism speak pretty good English. I’ve met people who retired and live and travel in CR for the past 15 years who can barely even say good morning! Which isn’t to say that’s a good thing – for them they should learn Spanish since they live in CR but for travelers, you can get by perfectly fine without Spanish. It’s always good to know a few phrases though and it’s nice to know some words.
We have a printable Spanish cheat sheet which may help during your travels and since Yeison wrote it, it is Costa Rican Spanish: Spanish for travelers
Hi! I’m planning a trip to Costa Rica at the end of the year. It looks like I will go to Puerto Viejo, Sarapiqui, La Fortuna, Arenal, Montverde, Manuel Antonio, and some other places with a traveling agency.
I’m also planning on going to Corcovado NP directly before or after this. I heard it’s one of the most biologically intense places on Earth. I just can’t miss that! I’d really love to go rain forest hiking, and I guess this is the absolute best place to do so in Costa Rica.
I wonder, is it hard to travel on your own in Costa Rica if you’re not good at speaking Spanish? I’m learning the language right now, but I’m not sure how good I’ll be at it at that point. I heard there are a lot of north americans visiting and retiring in Costa Rica so i figured, maybe many Costa Rican’s speak English. So I wonder, how is it?
Greetings from Sweden
We are staying in Cabuya for 10 days in early May with two small children and would like to know where we can see sloths, dolphins, toucans, and whales, Any thoughts as to other fun activities for families with small children (age 1 and 4) would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
You can download an app called “touit” which allows you to select areas of Costa Rica and see what wildlife is around.
Annie, how was your trip? I’m considering going to Cabuya with my 4 year old in May 2017!
Hi Shanda, you can read in the post where are the best places to see the wildlife listed. In Jaco, you can go to Carara National Park and the Rio Tarcoles Rio Tarcoles boat tour for wildlife. In Dominical, wildlife can be seen pretty easily since that area is more lush and has more vegetation. There is a wildlife sanctuary near Dominical, called Alturas you can visit to see wildlife
My husband and I will be traveling with our 3 teenage boys to Dominical for 3 days and then onto Jaco for 4 days the first week in March. We love wildlife and want to make sure we visit the best places while we are in Costa Rica to get the best experiences for our family. Any advice you could offer, I would appreciate.
We are heading to Samara Feb/Mar 2016. Is there much to see in terms of wildlife in this area? Can I see sloths in this area?
You’ll need to go outside of Samara to see wildlife. There is Camaronal National Wildlife Refuge 7 miles outside of Samara that is famous for turtles. As for sloths, there is a really slim chance you’ll see one, sloths aren’t as common on the Guanacaste coast and if you really want to see one, I’d suggest getting a guide since they have trained eyes specifically to find these creatures whereas our un-trained eyes cannot. The guides can take you to places where they have seen them before, but sloths are not as common in the Guanacaste area, they like the lush rain forests which Guanacaste doesn’t have.
Hi, I’m going there on saturday for 2 weeks. Our first destination is Montezuma but then I’m totally lost … So many things to do and see … I don’t know where to go … Could you give me some advices ??? We thought of doing the peninsula from Montezuma to go back to San Jose or to leave from Montezuma going to Corcovado and then take a plane from Puerto Jimenez to San Jose … Or something else …
Thanks for your response.
Muriel
Hi Muriel!
The montezuma/malpaís/Santa Teresa area is very nice area specially for surfers. You have lots of options you can go all the way up to Guanacaste and visit some beautiful beaches, then you can start moving south maybe first to the Arenal Volcano then to Monteverde. After that you can go to San jose go south to Corcovado. If your destinations are only Montezuma and then corcovado you can go to puntarenas and from there go all the way down (Costanera road) Puntarenas, Jaco, Quepos, Uvita and then decide if you want to go to Sierpe or Puerto Jimenez.
I would like to visit Costa Rica in 2015. I am mostly into wildlife photography, frogs, reptiles, birds. Can any recommend the best place to spend a few days where I could do this. Especially spotlighting at night.
Thanks
Ken
Hi Ken,
Monteverde is the right place for you, please let us know when you start planing.
I would love to see an ocelot. Where would you recommend I might have a chance of seeing one?
Hi Laura, ocelots come out at night so you’d have to go with a guide who is highly knowledgeable in these cats (they are also highly endangered in CR) if you want to see one in the wild or you can visit the Waterfall Gardens at La Paz, they have a rescue center with ocelots.
What are my best options to see wildlife (Toucans, sloths, monkeys, etc.) from Coco or Samara the last two weeks of March.
Hi, you can see howler monkeys in Coco up in the trees, no sloths or toucans though. There is a place called Congo Monkey Canopy Trail if you want to zipline and they have a small zoo with monkeys and some reptiles.
Hi! I absolutely love this website! Me and my family are going to Costa Rica this summer, and I love sloths! You said you can vollenteer to take care of them? Can you vollenteer for just one day? How much do you think it would be? Thank you!
HI Lita, we are very glad you like the blog 🙂
I think that there is not a one day volunteer programs here, I think the minimum is 3 weeks or so, but if you want to see them close and ask as many questions you want I like this place jaguarrescue.com I have worked with them before and I know that the money the collect goes for the animals, there are other sloth places but is more like a business than anything else.
Lets us know if we can help you on anything
Thank you! jaguarrescue.com gave me some information and I will probably be going on tours with my family!
I want to take my daughter to CR. I would like to stay in Cahuita close to the Sloth sanctuary. What wildlife can I expect to see there?
Hi Crystal,
You can read up in the post the wildlife near Cahuita. On the Caribbean side you can see toucans, lots of other tropical birds, fish, butterflies and such.
Hi! Thanks so much for Your kind answer : ) All the best!
Hi!
I am from Norway and very interested in spotting whales and dolphins. I am going to Manuel Antonio from late mars to beginning of April.
Is it is some good places near Manuel Antonio where you can spot whales and dolphins? Do you know about some good tour operators?
Kindest regards from
Bjorn in Norway
Hi Bjorn! SO sorry for the late reply, been on the move and haven’t had time to reply until comments. I know there are tour operators out of Manuel Antonio that do whale and dolphin tours, I have never been on one so I can’t recommend one from personal experience but it looks like there are a few rated on TripAdvisor if you Google it. Planet Dolphin looks pretty good and has great reviews.
So informative! Love your site. We are currently visiting and staying in Dominical. Any advice or things not to miss or must-see/do close by?
Hmm I’m not too familiar with that area but I know the surfing is good there and the beaches are really nice. Should be beautiful there!
Hi! I was just wondering if you have any knowledge of Wild Planet Adventure tours? First of all…are they reputable and are their tours as good as they seem?
Hi Mary! I have never done a Wild Planet Adventure tour and don’t know anyone who has. Tripadvisor has a good forum where people reviewed and discussed them that might be helpful! http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g291982-i813-k1791500-Wld_Planet_Adventures_Feedback-Costa_Rica.html
Oh thank you so much! I’ll try that. Love your website.
You’re welcome! Looks like they got fairly good reviews!
Sloths, toucans, whales, turtles…
Man… Really wish to see all of that now! Don’t think I’ve never seen any of them in the wild. So I guess one day I’ll have to make it to Costa Rica!
It’s a really good post you put together guys! Well done!
Thanks Marie!! It’s OK I’m still making my way through the list too 🙂
Hi!
Thank you for this awesome post 🙂
I wonder if you could help me make a decision, I am torn between two volunteer programmes, one based inside Tortuguero National Park and one based 17km outside Corcovado National Park. Which do you think would be a better place to be based for 4 weeks?:)
Thank you!
Hello Lara! Well to be honest, both places are pretty amazing but if you are looking for a more rural experience, Corcovado is the one to go to. Corcovado (from what I have heard) is definitely an unique experience and it’s pretty different from the other national parks because it is so rural but I know both are great! Either one I am sure you will have a great time, but that is my personal opinion 🙂
Thank you for this wonderful site. We are coming to Costa Rica in April 2014! I absolutely can’t wait. Your information has been so helpful and I am more excited than ever!!!! I already know that our short (5 day) stay will be way too short. I am going to start planning my second trip there as well. This trip was a gift from my kids because I am a nature lover. It sounds like the perfect place for me!
Thank you for your kind words! I hope you have a great trip, Costa Rica is a nature lover’s paradise!
I absolutely LOVE wildlife! I think I need to go to Costa Rica really soon. It is a bit odd, but sloths are my absolute favourite animal, so I need to get there. Thanks for all the info!
You are very welcome! Hope you make it here soon 🙂 Sloths are very cute !
Yay, this post was so helpful 🙂 We’re going to Costa Rica next year so I’ll save these tips. 🙂
Glad to hear that! Have a great trip and if you have any questions or need advice don’t hesitate to ask us 🙂
Great info. We are headed to the flamingo beach area in mid June. Any advice on wildlife/nature areas that we can drive to from there? I am a photographer and would love to get some interesting photos.
Thanks Rachel! There’s lots of little roads off the path around the Flamingo area or one popular spot for wildlife/nature is Arenal, it’s about a 3 hour drive from Flamingo but it’s very beautiful and has a huge variety of wildlife.