Palo Verde National Park is an extremely important area in Costa Rica as it encompasses over 45,000 acres (18210 hectares) of the Tempisque Conservation area and one of the most endangered ecosystems in Central America, tropical dry forest.
Furthermore, there are 15 different kinds of habitats from mangroves to swamps in Palo Verde, all home to thousands of animals throughout the year. During rainy season the Tempisque river overflows, creating the perfect habitat for the wildlife to spend their winter months.
If you want to see wildlife in Guanacaste, Palo Verde National Park is one of the best places. Check out our guide for tips on visiting. This post has been updated October 2018.
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Palo Verde National Park Boat Tour
The best way to experience the national park is by taking a guided boat tour down the river to go wildlife watching. The boat tour is about 2 hours long, going down the Tempisque River in a 20-25 seat motor boat.
The Palo Verde National Park boat tour is an excellent day trip from Playas del Coco, Tamarindo, Gulf of Papagayo, Conchal and Liberia. It’s also a great tour for families and senior citizens who may have trouble walking long distances but want to see wildlife and nature.
The first time we did this tour was with my parents and grandmother who really enjoyed it as she just got to sit back and relax!
Palo Verde National Park Animals
Here are some photos of the tour and animals.
We have done this tour a few times and enjoyed every single time. For anyone who wants to see wildlife in Guanacaste, this is one of the best options.
Palo Verde National Park Boat Tours
If you don’t have transportation and need recommendations for a tour company, feel free to contact us. Tours run around $90-120 per person which includes roundtrip transportation, lunch, bilingual guide and refreshments.
If you have a car and don’t want to book a full tour with transportation
The national park itself does not offer boat tours, you will have to book one with a tour company if you’d like a proper guided tour.
For those who go to the park by themselves, you will find some locals at the river entrance who will offer to take you on a boat ride. However, this isn’t a full tour – it’s just a boat ride (most of the boat drivers don’t speak fluent English) so you won’t have a guide pointing out animals or sharing information. The most will be the boat driver pointing out some monkeys or iguanas close by.
El Viejo Wetlands
If you have a car and want to take a boat tour down the river, we recommend going to El Viejo instead. El Viejo wetlands is an hacienda or local farm that offers boat tours down the Tempisque River outside the national park. They also offer lunch and a cultural tour which is very nice. Their facilities are very nice and offer a great local farm experience.
Palo Verde National Park Location
Here is the Palo Verde National Park map.
Entrance Fee/Park Hours
The Palo Verde National Park entrance fee is $12 per person.
Palo Verde National Park is open Tues through Sunday from 7AM to 4PM.
What To Bring and Other Things to Know
For the Palo Verde National Park boat tour, definitely your camera! DSLR would be perfect for this trip to capture those great shots and bring the telephoto zoom lens. A light jacket (during rainy season in case), binoculars if you have one to get a close up view, a wildlife field guide if you want, sunscreen and bug repellent.
The best time to go to Palo Verde National Park is during summer (December – April). This is because all the migratory birds are in Costa Rica so you will see way more birds. If you visit after May, you won’t see as many birds but you can see baby reptiles.
The Tempisque Valley and river is also home to the largest bird in Costa Rica, the jabiru. There are only around 75 left in the country and we were able to see a family at the El Viejo wetlands. So if you are an avid birdwatcher, Palo Verde is a place you must visit in Costa Rica!
Want to read about other national parks in Costa Rica? Here you go!
Manuel Antonio National Park: A popular national park in the Central Pacific with white sand beaches, hiking trails and lots of wildlife. About 3 hours from San Jose.
Barra Honda National Park: A national park in Nicoya that protects dry tropical forest and has a plethora of caves. You can go hiking or take a guided caving tour.
Arenal Volcano National Park: Popular national park in the Northern lowlands, near La Fortuna city. Has the Arenal Volcano and rainforest. Great hiking and views of the volcano and Lake Arenal.
Poas Volcano National Park: Home to Poas Volano, one of the largest volcano craters. Newly reopened in 2018. Short walk to the volcano crater, reservations required. About a 1.5 hour drive from San Jose.
Tortuguero National Park: One of the best national parks for wildlife, especially turtles and birds. No road access as they are rainforest covered sandbars and canals. Must go via plane or boat.
Dany-Martin Leclaire says
Hello, I will be in Sámara next week and thinkink of staying extras days for birding and take pictures of wild Life. Is there any guided tour for this. Not necessarly on boat but i prefer land so i could get closer to take pictures.
Regards
Sammi says
Hi Dany, I’d recommend talking to Samara Info Center and see if they can set you up with a guided walking tour of Palo Verde National Park. Most people go on the boat but they can see if they can arrange a tour on land.
Kent says
Hi again. I am a little confused. We are staying in Huacas area during part of our time in CR in feb. We have our own transportation, do you recommend that we drive to El Viejo wetlands and do that tour vs the park tour? I’m thinking maybe you are recommending the park tour as a package including transport to and from, but if we have our own vehicle to just drive to the wetland? Either way, I am definitely interested in checking one or both of these out during our week in Guancaste. We are starting with 5 days in La Fortuna, then Huacas/ Basilito then quepos for a week each. cant wait!
Sammi says
Hi Kent, yes so at the national park, the park itself doesn’t offer guided boat tours. They have some locals who own a boat and will drive you around the river but they aren’t guides so you won’t have anyone pointing out animals or sharing information about the animals. So if you have a car and do want an actual guided tour, then it is better to go to El Viejo and do a guided boat tour there. If you don’t really care and just want to ride down the river, you can go with the locals at the park (they usually leave by noon or so).
Rob Rice says
Hi!
I may have made a mistake today (Sept 16, 2018), but I will share my story in the hopes that it may help others. Perhaps things are different during rainy season.
Using the GPS coordinates on the map on this message board I did get to the entrance of Palo Verde National Park. The cost for foreigners is now $12.00. The gentleman taking the fee did not speak English, but when I asked about a river boat cruise, he pulled out a map and drew a line to the river (I believe he said it was 18 km away). The dirt road was quite rough in spots, but being careful with my small rental car I was able to make it to the river. However, along the way I did not notice a “biological station” or did I see one on the map (I did see turtles, iguanas, cranes, deer, and what looked like wild boar). When I got to the dock as directed there is a sign that notes “Dear Visitor National Park Service Has No Boat Tours.” As I noted above, perhaps I misunderstood the messages, but it appeared to me if you showed up in the morning one would be able to take a river cruise. Not complaining, I found this site extremely useful and informative, just hoping to give back and maybe help others.
Sammi says
Hi Rob! Thanks for your feedback. You do need to get to the national park before 1 PM to catch a boat since that is when the last boat is and it is dependent upon availability if you don’t have reservations with a tour company. There are other places to go on a boat cruise on the same river (not in the national park) so probably the gentlemen pointed you to one of those places (El Viejo is another one). I’m glad at least you were able to see some animals, we appreciate your feedback!
Eva says
I’m confused about where to find the boat tours. This suggests you can go right into the park, another site says boat tours start in Puerto Humo outside the park. Could you explain? Thanks!
Sammi says
There are several places to do boat tours down Rio Tempisque. You can do it in the national park or there are other private boat docks like El Viejo. I’m not sure about Puerto Humo but I know when you are in the park, you can hire a boat.
Eva says
Perfect – thank you. We will follow your directions to get to the biological station and go from there.
Leah says
Sorry – one more question: Is there anywhere to stay near Palo Verde? We were hoping to do one day at Catarata Llanos de Cortes, spend the night somewhere nearby, and then do a boat tour in Palo Verde the next day.
Sammi says
Not really… Palo Verde is in a local town called Filadelfia and there’s not really anything there. Liberia would be a good option though, close to both.
Leah says
I’m really interested in seeing the Guatil indigenous village! Is this something that tours offer, or is it something I have to find myself? Any other info or tips about this? Thank you so much!
Sammi says
Hi Leah! Most of the tour companies combine the Palo Verde and Guatil visit together so you can ask them if they have any tours running for the day you want to go. It’s a popular tour so there’s a good chance to join one if you’re a solo traveler as most companies require a minimum of 2 -3 people for this tour.
yeison says
Hello Dyana, Another activity that you can do is to visit the Catarata Llaonos de Cortes Waterfall. It is very nice and great for children since it’s a beautiful waterfall with lots of places to have a picnic and enjoy. The only thing is that it is about a 1 hour drivef rom Playas del Coco but you can book a tour or rent a car which we recommend. You can stay at the waterfall for a whole day or half day. If you’d like to rent a car, we have an exclusive discount for our readers which includes free delivery and pick up at Playas del Coco. You can make a reservation or quote here: Costa Rica car rental discount.
Dyana says
I’m going in a couple of days with my family! I have one son (3years) and daughter (1 year) what would you recommend beside going to the beach? we will be near Playa Panama and Playa Cocos. Thank you very much for your recommendations!
Caroline says
Thanks for a great website.
Are there hiking Maps somewhere online for this park?
Sammi says
There isn’t but most people take the boat ride as the hiking trails are fairly short and not well maintained. You can ask for a map at the park entrance office
Mike says
Going down in June, the rainy season. Can you recommend a specific tour company? Ant other tips?
Sammi says
Yes! Randall from Shaman tours is excellent, I went with my parents and grandmother with him to Palo Verde and he’s super knowledgeable and an excellent naturalist guide. You can email him here to inquire about tours and book with him: shamantours@live.com
yeison says
You will find boats ready to go most of the times, you just have to show up but you need to go in the morning, they stop running boat tours in the afternoon.
Linda says
Where is the best place to find a tour?
Sammi says
You can show up at the national park and hire a boat there, but if you don’t have your own transportation you’ll need to book a shuttle or go with a tour company.
Joan says
Hi There – Last year we drove on our own to Palo Verde and got a boat tour. The cost of the boat tour was $15 us. I would like to do that again but can not find out what time the boats leave the dock. Would you know where I could find a departure time ?
Thanks
Daniel says
Everyone seems to be quoting in USD but I would imagine they take their local currencies too 🙂 Do most places have prices in both as I don’t plan on bringing USD with me, would that be a problem?
Also regarding the Palo Verde NP, how are the tours organized? Can I find a tour in the park upon arrival or do I need to book a guide with someone outside of the park who will take me on the tour of the park. Also is there any decent hiking trails in the park to see the wild life?
Thanks
Sammi says
Hi Daniel! Yep you can pay with colones or USD and you can ask them how much it will be in both currencies. You can book the Palo Verde tour with a tour company beforehand if you like and they will take care of the transportation and be your guide. We went with a tour company since we wanted transportation and a knowledgeable guide but I think you can go there yourself and book a boat. I’d suggest booking a tour since boat tours only run certain time of day and can fill up fast during high season. There are quite a few hiking trails in the park, but I’d check beforehand if you’re going in rainy season since it can get flooded with the river rising. It’s a great place to see tons of birds and wildlife!
Daniel says
Thank you for quick reply. Is there any tour companies that you would recommend?
Rachel M says
Nice article. BTW, do they charge different entrance fee rates between foreigners and locals in Costa Rica?
Sammi says
Yep! It’s $10 for foreigners and I think $1 or $2 for residents/citizens, they do this for all national parks too.