Guanacaste Rainforest Sloth Tour: Best Day Excursion to Experience the Tropical Rainforest from the Beach

If you are staying on the Guanacaste coast and want to experience the rainforest, then this day trip is for you!

From beach towns like Tamarindo, Playas del Coco, Flamingo, Potrero and the Papagayo Peninsula, this is the best day excursion to see tropical rainforest and sloths.

Ready to book? Book the private Guanacaste rainforest sloth tour in the link!

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Travel Time From Guanacaste Beaches

This Guanacaste rainforest sloth tour takes place in Bijagua, a small town up inland between the Guanacaste and Alajuela province, near Tenorio Volcano National Park (Rio Celeste).

• Liberia to Bijagua is a 1 hour drive one way.
• Playas del Coco/Ocotal/Hermosa/Panama to Bijagua is a 1.5 hour drive one way.
• Papagayo Peninsula resorts such as Four Seasons, Planet Hollywood, RIU, Secrets and Occidental Papagayo is around 1.5 hours to Bijagua.
• Tamarindo to Bijagua is a 2.5 hour drive one way.
• Flamingo/Conchal/Brasilito/Potrero, Bijagua is a 2 hour and 20 minute drive one way.

Itinerary

The Guanacaste rainforest sloth tour is a full day excursion.

This is an approximate itinerary. Times may change depending on pick up location, traffic and driving conditions.

630 AM: Pick up
8-830 AM: Llanos de Cortes waterfall
930 AM: Heliconias Hanging Bridges Walk
12 PM: Lunch
1 PM: Sloth Walk
3 PM: Leave Bijagua

What the Guanacaste Rainforest Sloth Tour Includes

Round trip transportation, certified bilingual English and Spanish naturalist guide, entrance fees, refreshments and lunch.

Difficulty Of Trails

Easy to medium.

Both trails are a natural path so you will be walking on dirt, rocks, tree branches and rocks.

Both trails are short.

The first one is 2.2 kilometers (1.4 miles). The second trail is barely one kilometer or less than half a mile.

The hanging bridges guided walk takes around 2 hours. The sloth walk is around 1-2 hours. You can go a bit faster or slower depending on how many animals there are.

What to Bring

Bijagua is a very humid area due to the tropical rainforest.

The hottest day time temperatures are in the low 80s° F (27° C) in the hottest months of February and March.

It follows the rainy season for the months of May through November, but it can also rain during any month of the year. It can still rain a good amount in December, January and April.

In the rainy season, temperatures are around low to mid 70s° F (21°-24° C) but can feel chillier as it’s usually windy and foggy.

It is best to bring a rain jacket shell or poncho (any time you visit) and rain gear.

For clothing, light weight active or hiking clothes that dries fast is best.

We recommend closed shoes like hiking/walking/trail shoes. No sandals.

Other items: Insect repellent, sunscreen, hat, sunglasses and reusable insulated water bottle.

Guanacaste Rainforest Sloth Tour Video

Here’s our video of our Guanacaste rainforest sloth day excursion from Tamarindo.

Llanos de Cortes Waterfall – First Stop

After getting picked up from our place in Tamarindo, we drove about 1.5 hours to Llanos de Cortes waterfall, the first stop.

This waterfall is just a five minute walk from the parking lot and so cool! If conditions are suitable, you can take a quick swim or dip your toes.

We stayed about 30 minutes at the waterfall before heading off to our next destination, the hanging bridges reserve.

Swimming is only allowed in suitable conditions. During rainy season, they may prohibit swimming and only allow viewing due to the weather. During storms, they may close the waterfall completely.

The Heliconias Hanging Bridges Walk

We arrived at the Albergue Heliconias Lodge, located just 5 minutes outside of Bijagua. The lodge has a huge property, which includes a private reserve with a hanging bridges trail.

This reserve was one of the very first in Costa Rica, established back in the 1980’s, even before the Tenorio Volcano National Park!

Back in the 80’s and those years, the government gave large pieces of land to the Bijaguño families so that they could make a living off of dairy and cattle farming.

However, this family decided not to cut down the forest and to protect it instead.

Because of this, they are truly one of the pioneers of sustainable and eco-tourism in Costa Rica.

Back then, everyone else cut down the forests to make room for cattle farms but they had a completely different vision for their piece of land, deciding to protect the primary tropical rainforest instead.

They hoped for visitors to come one day to see the primary rainforest, so they began building a modest lodge next to the reserve to create a natural and sustainable experience for guests.

Heliconias Hanging Bridges Rainforest Reserve

As for the reserve, it has a 2.2 kilometer trail (1.37 mile) and 3 hanging bridges through the primary rainforest for visitors to get spectacular views of the forest canopy and see wildlife.

There is a maximum elevation of around 840 meters (2755 feet).

We didn’t walk long at all for our guides to spot the first animal: a yellow eyelash pit viper.

I know a lot of people are scared of snakes but this snake is a beauty. Scary, yes, but beautiful!

I couldn’t believe it was just right there in the trees and leaves, just quietly laying there.

After observing this beautiful snake for a bit, we continued on through the forest.

Our guide, Randall, stopped every so often to point out an interesting tree or plant, sharing facts with us about its role in the environment and why it’s interesting.

I know it is very cliche to say but it’s amazing just how green the rainforest is.

It was humbling and fascinating all at the same time to see nature in its most pristine and raw form.

The Hanging Bridges

We soon reached the first hanging bridge. It was 95 meters (312 feet) long and 30 meters (98 feet) high.

One of the things we really liked about these hanging bridges is that you’re not so high up that you’re above the trees.

Instead, you are at eye level so you truly feel like you’re surrounded by the rainforest.

And in typical rainforest fashion, it began raining during our walk.

But it actually made the experience more unforgettable and more jungley.

Book the Guanacaste rainforest sloth tour here!

More Photos of Our Guanacaste Rainforest Sloth Tour

Here are some more photos of the rest of the Heliconias hanging bridges walk during the Guanacaste rainforest sloth tour.

We went through two more hanging bridges and saw another snake and some birds.

They say a walk in nature soothes the soul and we cannot agree more. Walking through this untouched forest re-energized my mind, body and soul.

Going back into nature seeing SO much lush and green forest was the perfect medicine for us.

Lunch

After we finished our hanging bridges walk, we had lunch at a local restaurant in town and had a traditional lunch (rice, beans, meat, salad, fruit juice).

I had a cup of coffee and some natural fruit juice which was perfect to refuel ourselves for the next activity on the Guanacaste Rainforest Sloth tour – the sloth walk.

This part of the day is one many visitors are most excited for as sloths are the animal most visitors want to see the most.

Despite what it may seem on social media, it’s actually not that easy to see sloths in Costa Rica.

First, they do not live on the Guanacaste coast, so that’s why this tour is perfect for those staying in the beach towns like Tamarindo, Flamingo, Conchal, Playas del Coco and the Papagayo Peninsula.

The next best place to see sloths from the Guanacaste coast would be in La Fortuna, a 4 hour drive, to see them in the wild.

However, Diamante Eco Adventure Park near the Riu Guanacaste resort has some sloths in captivity, but it’s not the same as seeing them in the wild!

Sloth Walk

The private reserve is located on the property of a lodge, Finca Verde Lodge in Bijagua. The sloths are completely wild, free and natural.

The total walking distance was about 1 kilometer, or less than half a mile. It’s an easy dirt trail with no elevation climb.

Photos below taken with a 600 mm lens.

We were able to see 4 sloths in total, two were sleeping and two were moving around. The two sleeping sloths had babies. Totally in the wild and free.

No manipulation of any kind, no suspicious placing of the sloths to make them super close to the ground.

It is not natural for sloths to be found on the ground all the time, as they only climb down once a week to defecate.

Furthermore, it is unnatural for sloths to be hanging super low on trees (like human eye level) as their natural instinct is to get as high as they can for better leaves and shelter.

So if you see photos of people with sloths (like a selfie) at eye level, this is usually not natural nor normal behavior.

Most of the time, when you see a sloth in the wild, they are super high up in the trees like the picture above. Or curled in a ball sleeping.

If you are lucky, you may see one eating, climbing, or moving positions.

Ready to book this excursion? Click here: Guanacaste rainforest sloth tour to book!

Back to Tamarindo

After our sloth walk, we started our journey back to Tamarindo.

Overall, our one day rainforest sloth tour from Tamarindo was amazing. We visited in March, right in the middle of Costa Rica’s dry season.

Since we live at the beach, it’s incredibly hot, dry and very yellow (95 F or 35 C) and it felt so nice to see so much green.

We absolutely loved walking through the rainforest, being surrounded by all the green and seeing wildlife in their natural habitat.

The Guanacaste rainforest sloth tour is an excellent day excursion for those who are staying at the beach on the Guanacaste coast.

For example, if you are staying a week at the Westin Conchal, JW Marriott Guanacaste, Waldorf Astoria Punta Cacique, Secrets Papagayo, Riu Guanacaste or any of the resorts, this is a must do tour.

Book Your Guanacaste Rainforest and Sloth Tour

Click here to book this exact tour: Guanacaste rainforest sloth tour.

Sample Itineraries

Here is a sample 1 week itinerary in Guanacaste.

Day 1: Land at Guanacaste Airport, drive to home base

Day 2: Walk around town and beach. Enjoy happy hour. Go to the pool. Watch sunset at beach.

Day 3: Private snorkeling and beach hopping in the Gulf of Papagayo or private snorkel tour in Flamingo

Day 4: Morning ziplining at Diamante Eco Adventure Park

Day 5: Guancaste Rainforest sloth tour

Day 6: Chill or go on more adventures, such as the La Leona waterfall hike.

Day 7: Fly home