There are more than a dozen genuinely different things to do in Manuel Antonio, and only two of them happen inside the national park. This page lists the 18 we actually run or arrange, each with what it really costs, how long it takes and who it suits, so you can build a two-, three- or five-day plan instead of booking the same rainforest walk twice.
Two dates decide everything here. Manuel Antonio National Park is closed every Tuesday — December 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29 in 2026, and January 5, 12, 19 and 26 in 2027 — and SINAC releases park tickets exactly two months before the visit date, never earlier and never at the gate. Park entrance is $18.08 per adult and $5.65 per child aged 2 to 12, and the park runs 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. with last entry at 2:00 p.m. Everything else on this list runs seven days a week.
See what is still open for December 2026 and January 2027 → · or message us on WhatsApp.
One day: guided park tour at 7:00 a.m., beaches in the afternoon. Two days: add the night wildlife tour or the mangrove boat. Three days: add water — catamaran or rafting — and an evening in Quepos. Five days: add one full-day expedition to Corcovado, Carara or the quetzal cloud forest, and keep one day with nothing booked, because the best mornings here are the ones you did not plan. If any of those days is a Tuesday, put the boat or the waterfall on it.
$30 Classic Group, $65 Premium (ticket and transport included), $69 Classic Private, $100 V.I.P. Private · Duration: 3 to 4 hours · Best for: First-time visitors, families, anyone who wants the wildlife found for them
This is the one thing almost every visitor ends up doing, and the guide is the difference between walking a forest and seeing it. A naturalist guide carries a spotting scope, which is how a sloth 25 metres up in a cecropia stops being a grey lump and becomes a face you can photograph. We publish four options so the price matches the group, not the other way around. The park charges its own entrance on top of the $30 Classic Group: $18.08 per adult and $5.65 per child aged 2 to 12, paid to SINAC. The $65 Premium already includes that ticket plus hotel transport, which is why most guests who add up the numbers choose it.
Manuel Antonio National Park guided tour
From $50 per person in a group, from $75 private; children 3 to 12 pay $10 less on every option · Duration: 2.5 hours · Best for: Anyone staying two nights or more, and photographers
The park closes at 3:00 p.m., so everything nocturnal in Manuel Antonio happens on private reserve trails next door. That is a completely different cast of animals from the daytime tour: kinkajous, red-eyed tree frogs, glass frogs, snakes, tarantulas, sleeping birds. It runs with red-filtered light because white light burns nocturnal eyes. If you only have one night in town this competes with dinner; if you have two, it is the easiest second tour to justify because nothing on it repeats what you saw in the morning.
Manuel Antonio wildlife night tour
From $55 group, $70 shared night boat, from $145 private, $165 private night; children 3 to 12 pay $10 less · Duration: 2 to 2.5 hours on the water · Best for: Travellers who want crocodiles, and anyone who cannot walk park trails
The mangrove is where the animals the park does not have live: American crocodiles, silky anteaters, mangrove hummingbirds, boa constrictors draped over branches, and the highest concentration of white-faced capuchins we see anywhere near Quepos. It is a boat, so it is the most accessible tour we sell: no hills, no stairs, no 2 km of trail. Tides decide the departure time, not the clock, which is the one thing to plan around.
Damas Island mangrove boat tour
Typically quoted in the $69 to $100 per person range, confirmed with your date · Duration: Half day · Best for: Couples, groups celebrating something, anyone who wants to swim and snorkel
From the water you see the coastline the park protects from the outside in, including the cliffs of Punta Catedral that you can only photograph properly from a boat. Expect snorkelling stops, lunch or snacks depending on the departure, and a real chance of dolphins along the way. Humpback whales pass this coast in two seasons, roughly July to October and again December to March, so a December sail has a genuine chance of whales; nobody can promise them.
Manuel Antonio catamaran cruise
$80 per person, split as a $25 reservation deposit with us and $55 paid directly to the operator · Duration: About 3 hours including transfer · Best for: Teens, adrenaline seekers, groups that want one loud activity
This is the classic Costa Rican canopy: steel cables strung between platforms above a forested valley behind Quepos. It is an adventure activity, not a wildlife activity, and we say so plainly, because guests who book a canopy expecting monkeys come back disappointed. Book the canopy for the ride and the parque tour for the animals.
$129.95 per person, VAT included, taken as a $22.60 deposit and a $107.35 balance · Duration: About 6 hours door to door · Best for: Families with kids over 8 and first-time rafters
The Savegre is the gentler of the three rivers we run: Class II and III, clean water coming off the Talamanca mountains, and long calm stretches where the guide points out kingfishers and herons. It is the rafting trip for people who want to be splashed, not frightened. Transport from hotels in Manuel Antonio or Quepos is part of the published price.
Savegre River whitewater rafting
Check December and January availability → · or message us on WhatsApp.
Quoted per date and group size, because both sections depend on river level · Duration: Half day · Best for: Rafters who already know what Class III feels like
The Naranjo is the faster, tighter river, and the El Chorro section is the most technical water we run out of Manuel Antonio. Both are level-dependent: in the wettest weeks of the green season they can be closed on safety grounds, and in the driest weeks of February and March the level can drop below what makes them fun. Ask us what the river is actually doing on your date rather than booking blind.
Naranjo River whitewater rafting
Quoted per date and number of machines · Duration: 4 hours · Best for: Confident drivers, couples, anyone who wants to see the farmland side of the region
The ATV route leaves the coast and climbs into the African palm and cattle country behind Quepos, with river crossings and viewpoints over the Pacific that no tour bus reaches. It is dusty in the dry months and muddy in the wet ones, and that is the whole point. Closed shoes and clothes you do not care about.
ATV adventure near Manuel Antonio
Quoted per date and transport option · Duration: Most of a day, with 2 to 3 hours on site · Best for: Strong walkers, swimmers, photographers
Nauyaca is the two-tier waterfall an hour south of Manuel Antonio, with a deep pool at the bottom that you can actually swim in. Access is by 4×4 transfer, horseback or a long walk in, and the choice changes the day completely: the walk is around 4 km each way with real elevation. If a waterfall day is the highlight of your trip, this is the one worth the drive. For something closer, the waterfalls expedition stays inside the region.
Nauyaca Waterfalls from Manuel Antonio
Quoted per date and number of riders · Duration: 2 to 3 hours · Best for: Beginners included, families with older children
Horses are how the families who farmed this coast moved around it, and a ride is the slowest, quietest way to cover ground here, which also makes it one of the better ways to see birds. Routes combine forest trail and open beach depending on the tide. Riders are matched to horses by experience, so a first-timer is not handed a young animal.
horseback riding in Manuel Antonio
Quoted per date and group size · Duration: 5 hours · Best for: Fit adults with no fear of heights or water
Canyoning means rappelling down the face of waterfalls inside a gorge, with wet rock, harnesses and short jumps into pools. It is the hardest physical activity on this page and the one with the strictest guide-to-guest ratio. If you are deciding between canyoning and the canopy, canyoning is the one you will still be talking about a year later.
Quoted per date and per machine · Duration: 1 to 2 hours on the water · Best for: Couples and confident swimmers
A short, fast way to see the coast and the offshore islands, with a guide leading the route so you stay out of the surf zone and away from the protected waters of the park. It pairs well with a morning park tour because it fits into the afternoon the park has already closed.
Check December and January availability → · or message us on WhatsApp.
Quoted per date · Duration: 2 to 3 hours · Best for: Travellers who want the visit to reach local families, and birders
Los Campesinos is a community-run reserve in the mountains inland, with primary forest, hanging bridges and a waterfall, and the money stays with the cooperative that protects it. It is quiet in a way the national park never is in high season: on a good morning you are the only group on the trail.
Quoted per date, private format only · Duration: Set around the light, usually a long morning · Best for: Photographers with a real camera and patience
This is not a tour with photos attached. It is built backwards from the light: earlier start, fewer stops, and the guide staying with one animal until it does something worth shooting rather than moving the group along. If you have travelled with a 400 mm lens, this is the product to ask about.
wildlife photography experience
Park entrance only: $18.08 adults, $5.65 children 2 to 12 · Duration: 1.5 to 3 hours depending on the loop · Best for: Independent walkers on a tight budget, and repeat visitors
You do not need a guide to be allowed in, and plenty of people walk the main trail and the Punta Catedral loop alone. What you give up is the scope and the trained eyes: our honest read is that an unguided visitor sees monkeys and iguanas and misses most sloths, and that the guide question is really a question about what you came for. The Punta Catedral loop is short, around 1.2 to 1.4 km depending on where the loop is measured from, with the best viewpoints in the park.
Manuel Antonio park trails guide
Free outside the park; inside the park the entrance applies · Duration: As long as you want · Best for: Swimmers, families, anyone with an afternoon to fill
There are four that matter, and they are not interchangeable. Playa Manuel Antonio is the protected horseshoe inside the park and the calmest water of the four, which is why families end up there. Playa Espadilla Sur is the long wild beach inside the park with real current. Playa Gemelas is the small hidden pair reached by a side trail. Espadilla, the public beach outside the gate, is where the surf schools and the vendors are, and it has rip currents that catch people every season. Keep food out of sight on all of them: the capuchins and raccoons on these beaches open bags.
Free · Duration: An afternoon or an evening · Best for: Everyone, especially on a Tuesday when the park is closed
Quepos is the working town 7 km from the park gate, and it is where you eat well for a third of the hillside prices. Marina Pez Vela has the sportfishing fleet and the sunset bars; the farmers market runs Friday afternoon into Saturday morning and is the cheapest good meal in the area. This is the default answer for any hour when the park is shut.
Quoted per date; these are full-day expeditions, not half-day tours · Duration: A full day, early start · Best for: Serious wildlife travellers with a spare day
If you have already done Manuel Antonio and want the next level, three trips leave from here. Corcovado is the wildest park in Costa Rica and the realistic place for tapirs and scarlet macaws in numbers. Carara, on the road back towards San Jose, is the reliable macaw park and pairs with the Tarcoles crocodile bridge. The resplendent quetzal tour climbs to San Gerardo de Dota, a different climate entirely, for the bird most birders come to Costa Rica for. See the full day trips list before you pick.
Corcovado National Park expedition
| Activity | Price we publish | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Take a guided tour of Manuel Antonio National Park | $30 Classic Group, $65 Premium (ticket and transport included), $69 Classic Private, $100 V.I.P. Private | 3 to 4 hours |
| Go on the night wildlife tour outside the park | From $50 per person in a group, from $75 private; children 3 to 12 pay $10 less on every option | 2.5 hours |
| Ride the Damas Island mangrove boat tour | From $55 group, $70 shared night boat, from $145 private, $165 private night; children 3 to 12 pay $10 less | 2 to 2.5 hours on the water |
| Sail the coast on a catamaran cruise | Typically quoted in the $69 to $100 per person range, confirmed with your date | Half day |
| Zip line the Sukia canopy | $80 per person, split as a $25 reservation deposit with us and $55 paid directly to the operator | About 3 hours including transfer |
| Raft the Savegre River | $129.95 per person, VAT included, taken as a $22.60 deposit and a $107.35 balance | About 6 hours door to door |
| Raft the Naranjo River or El Chorro section | Quoted per date and group size, because both sections depend on river level | Half day |
| Do the ATV adventure in the hills | Quoted per date and number of machines | 4 hours |
| See Nauyaca Waterfalls | Quoted per date and transport option | Most of a day, with 2 to 3 hours on site |
| Ride horses on the beach and in the hills | Quoted per date and number of riders | 2 to 3 hours |
| Go canyoning down a river gorge | Quoted per date and group size | 5 hours |
| Take a jet ski along the coastline | Quoted per date and per machine | 1 to 2 hours on the water |
| Walk the Los Campesinos community nature trail | Quoted per date | 2 to 3 hours |
| Book the wildlife photography experience | Quoted per date, private format only | Set around the light, usually a long morning |
| Hike the park trails on your own | Park entrance only: $18.08 adults, $5.65 children 2 to 12 | 1.5 to 3 hours depending on the loop |
| Spend a day on the four beaches | Free outside the park; inside the park the entrance applies | As long as you want |
| Walk Quepos, the marina and the Saturday market | Free | An afternoon or an evening |
| Take a day trip to Corcovado, Carara or the quetzal cloud forest | Quoted per date; these are full-day expeditions, not half-day tours | A full day, early start |
Where the table says quoted per date we do not publish a fixed number, because the operator prices those by group size and season and we will not invent a figure. Ask on WhatsApp with your date and party size and you get the real number the same day.
6:30 to 9:30 a.m. is the best wildlife window of the day, by a wide margin. Howler monkeys call at first light, squirrel monkeys move through in troops looking for food, and birds are feeding before the heat. From 10:00 a.m. the forest goes quiet and the sloths, which sleep up to 18 hours a day, are just grey shapes. From 3:30 p.m. activity picks up again outside the park, which is when the beaches are best for capuchins and raccoons. After dark the whole cast changes: frogs, kinkajous, snakes and sleeping birds, which is what the night tour exists for. We never promise a specific animal — these are wild animals in a rainforest — but the hour you choose changes the odds more than anything else you control.
Lock a 7:00 a.m. slot for December or January → · or message us on WhatsApp.
Do the guided park tour in the morning and the beaches in the afternoon. The park opens at 7:00 a.m. with last entry at 2:00 p.m., animals are most active in the first two hours, and by midday the trails are hot and busy. A 7:00 a.m. tour puts you back at Playa Manuel Antonio by 11:00 with the whole afternoon free, and that single day covers the wildlife, the viewpoints and the swimming. If your one day is a Tuesday, the park is closed and the answer changes completely: take the mangrove boat tour or the catamaran instead.
If it is your first visit, the guided national park tour, and the Premium at $65 if you want the ticket and hotel transport already included. The park tour is the one that makes the rest of the trip make sense, because the guide explains what you are looking at for the whole week. After that the ranking we give guests is: night tour if you have a second evening, mangrove boat if you want crocodiles or cannot manage trails, catamaran if you want to swim and celebrate, and rafting or ATV if someone in the group needs adrenaline.
About 1.5 hours for the main trail and around 3 hours if you add the Punta Catedral loop and time on the beach. Guided tours run 3 to 4 hours because a guide stops constantly; walking it alone at your own pace is faster and you see less. Nobody needs a full day inside the park, which is why we build tours to end before the heat.
Playa Manuel Antonio inside the park is the safest for swimming and for children, because the headland shelters it from the swell. Playa Espadilla Sur inside the park and Espadilla outside the gate are both beautiful and both have rip currents, with the public Espadilla accounting for most of the rescues in the area every season. Swim where other people are swimming, and if the water is pulling you sideways, get out.
For most first-time visitors, yes, and the reason is the spotting scope rather than the commentary. Sloths, owls, vipers and silky anteaters sit still and high up, and an unguided visitor walks past them; a guide with a scope shows you the animal at 40x. If you are a patient wildlife traveller who has done rainforest before, you will do fine alone, and we say that openly on our page about whether you need a guide.
Everything on this page except the two items inside the park. Manuel Antonio National Park is closed every Tuesday: that is December 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29 in 2026, and January 5, 12, 19 and 26 in 2027. Those are the best days for the mangrove boat tour, the catamaran, rafting, Nauyaca, the beaches outside the gate and Quepos, because everybody else is doing them on the wrong day. Book your park tour for any day that is not a Tuesday and use the Tuesday for water.
Children yes, on almost everything, and the park entrance is $5.65 for ages 2 to 12 with several of our tours charging children $10 less than adults. For mobility needs the honest answer is that the park trails include stairs, roots and hills, and the tour that works best is the Damas mangrove boat, because it is a boat: no trail, no stairs. Tell us what the limit actually is when you write and we will say which tours fit rather than selling you all of them.
Tours run in the rain, because this is a rainforest and the animals do not stop. Rain in Manuel Antonio usually arrives as a heavy afternoon burst rather than an all-day drizzle, which is another argument for the 7:00 a.m. start. Our cancellation terms are published in full on our cancellation policy page, and if a boat tour is cancelled by the operator for sea conditions you are not charged for a tour that did not run.
If the park walk is the one thing you do here, the four prices, the 7:00 a.m. start and the honest species list are on our Manuel Antonio wildlife tour page.
Message us on WhatsApp at +506 8514 1361 with your dates and your group, or use the December and January booking page for the park tours. For anything inside the park, remember the two-month SINAC ticket window: if you are travelling in December 2026, the tickets for your date went on sale in October 2026, and a tour booked late can still be run but the entrance may already be sold out for that day. We are a local company in Quepos, not a reseller, so the person answering the message is the person who arranges the tour.
Book a December 2026 or January 2027 tour → · or message us on WhatsApp.
Planning to get in the water too? Read our honest guide to Manuel Antonio snorkeling tours — where the visibility actually holds up, month by month.