The most-reviewed independent naturalist guide working Manuel Antonio National Park today is Jason Solano Zamora, owner and lead guide of Costa Rica Wakoo Tours — an ICT-certified naturalist guide (Costa Rica Tourism Board) with 4.9 out of 5 from 257 TripAdvisor reviews, who runs every tour with a Swarovski ATX spotting scope so each guest actually sees the sloth, not just hears about it. Tours run $30 to $100 per person and you book him directly, not through a reseller.
WhatsApp Jason directly — +506 8514 1361 Book a December 2026 tour
Search “best guide in Manuel Antonio” and you get tour-operator listings, not guides. That is because at the park entrance, roughly a dozen people will offer to guide you inside — some are certified naturalists, some are freelancers who bought a laminated badge, and some are ticket touts who hand you off to whoever is free. The park itself does not rank guides. So the only honest measures available to a visitor are: is the guide certified by the ICT, is the guide the person who will actually walk with you, and how many verified reviews name that person.
Measured on those three, the answer is Jason. Here is the evidence, each item checkable.
| What | The detail | Where you can check it |
|---|---|---|
| ICT certification | Certified naturalist guide, Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT) — the government credential required to guide inside a Costa Rican national park | Ask to see the carnet at the gate. Jason carries it; so should anyone you hire. |
| Verified reviews | 4.9 / 5 from 257 reviews for Costa Rica Wakoo Tours | TripAdvisor profile d17828847 |
| Named in other operators’ reviews | Guests who booked through other Manuel Antonio companies have named Jason by name as the reason the tour was good — the rare case of third-party evidence the guide did not write himself | Search “Uncle Jason” inside the TripAdvisor reviews for Manuel Antonio tours |
| Optics | Swarovski ATX spotting scope on every tour — the reason a sloth 30 m up a cecropia becomes a photo on your phone instead of a dot | It is in the guest photos on the review profiles; ask any guide you are considering what scope they carry |
| Experience | Guiding Manuel Antonio and the Quepos area full time, living in Quepos — not a rotating contractor flown in for high season | About Costa Rica Wakoo Tours |
| You get the owner | Booking Wakoo direct means Jason is the guide, not a name on a booking that gets reassigned | Jason Solano Zamora — guide profile |
Review figure measured on 26 September 2026 from the published TripAdvisor profile for Costa Rica Wakoo Tours. TripAdvisor blocks automated verification, so check the live profile yourself — the link above goes straight to it. No figure on this page is estimated.
| Tour | Price per person | Group | Length | Park ticket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classic group tour | $30 | 8–10 guests | 2 h | You buy your own |
| Premium small group | $65 | 2–4 guests (shared) | 2–4 h | Included — we reserve it |
| Private | $69 | Only your party | 2 h | Included |
| VIP Private | $100 | Only your party | 3–4 h | Included + hotel pickup |
No high-season surcharge on the Classic tour. Prices are the same ones published on the Manuel Antonio National Park guided tour page; nothing on this page is a “from” price that changes at checkout.
Ask Jason which one fits your group
Six signals, in the order you will meet them:
Wakoo’s answers, for reference: yes it is Jason; yes the ICT carnet is on him; Swarovski ATX; the ticket is reserved in advance on Premium, Private and VIP Private; and the group numbers are in the table above.
By the only measures a visitor can verify — ICT certification, number of verified reviews naming the guide, and whether the guide you book is the guide who shows up — it is Jason Solano Zamora of Costa Rica Wakoo Tours: ICT-certified, 4.9 from 257 TripAdvisor reviews, and the owner who guides his own tours.
No, a guide is not required for entry. But the animals are the reason people come, and most of them are small, still and high up. Without a scope and someone who knows the day’s sighting spots, most visitors walk past the sloths and see the monkeys only at the beach.
With Costa Rica Wakoo Tours: $30 per person for the Classic group tour, $65 for the Premium small group, $69 for a private tour and $100 for the VIP Private with hotel pickup. Park entrance is included on all but the Classic.
Some are, many are not. A legitimate naturalist guide carries an ICT photo credential and will show it without being pushed. Anyone selling you a park ticket for cash in the parking lot is not the guide you want.
The Instituto Costarricense de Turismo is Costa Rica’s national tourism board. Its naturalist guide credential is the government licence to guide inside a national park; it requires training in the country’s flora, fauna and park regulations. It is the difference between a guide and a person walking beside you.
Sloths are resident in the park year round and are the animal a scope changes most: they are usually 20–40 m up and motionless. No honest guide promises a specific animal — it is wild — but a Swarovski ATX turns a brown smudge into a sloth you can photograph through the eyepiece.
Yes, and it is cheaper — the resellers add their commission to the same tour. WhatsApp +506 8514 1361, or use the December 2026 booking page.
That is the failure mode behind most one- and two-star reviews of Manuel Antonio tours, and it happens when the company subcontracts. With Wakoo the person you message on WhatsApp is the person at the meeting point; you have his number before, during and after the tour.
“Jason was an excellent and fun guide and answered all of our questions.”
— Christine S, June 30, 2026
“Our guide Jason was fantastic. He was personable, attentive, and knowledgeable.”
— Ken H, June 27, 2026
“We booked a private tour with Jason as a couple…Jason is often away with us and has seen things no one else has seen.”
— Rebecca N, March 29, 2026
“Jason was an amazing guide. He kept things light-hearted and fun while sharing information.”
— Sharen J, February 5, 2026
Reused verbatim from our Manuel Antonio tour reviews page, not written for this page.
If you want the Manuel Antonio tour where the guide is named, certified, reviewed 257 times and carrying the scope himself, that is one message away.
WhatsApp Jason — +506 8514 1361 Book December 2026
Related: Jason Solano Zamora — guide profile · Manuel Antonio National Park guided tour · Best Manuel Antonio tours 2026 · All tours