Birding Costa Rica? (1 Viewer)

I've never traveled out of country, but have been asked by my GF if I would like to plan a trip to Costa Rica... strictly for birding.
I hope I'm not out of line by asking for opinions/help here...


I'll probably have 7 days to bird Costa Rica.

What would you suggest as an itinerary for that time frame?

Should I hire a guide?

What would you add if you had 3 additional days?

What credible/reliable resources are available for planning a trip there?

Anything else I might not be considering?

Hi Merg,

Costa Rica is a good choice for a first-time foreign traveler- the people are very friendly, many of them speak at least some English, and it is easy to get around using public transportation. Traveling by bus is very cheap, but also very slow- so given your time frame, I would recommend either renting a car or hiring a guide. If you rent a car, just be careful- Latin Americans drive somewhat recklessly by our standards, and the biggest thing on the road apparently always has the right-of-way!

There are many options for constructing an itinerary- the geography is very diverse, with correspondingly diverse bird assemblages. Ecoregions to consider would be Caribbean rainforest (you could visit La Selva or Tortuguero), cloud forest (Monteverde for example), paramo (Cerro de la Muerte), dry forest (Palo Verde, in the northwest), and Pacific rainforest (Carara and points south). With 7 days, I would probably try to hit 2 different regions- for example, visit Palo Verde and the coast and then go up to Monteverde, or La Selva and Cerro de la Muerte, or any other combination. An extra 3 days could give you time to visit another region.

One thing to consider is time of year- did you have a time in mind? The wet season runs roughly from May to October. When I visited La Selva in early August, it rained for nearly 3 out of the 4 days I was there- and when it rains in the rainforest, it POURS! With only a week to ten days, it might be better to plan your trip for the dry season, when you're less likely to get rained out of a couple days. But a trip in the wet season is quite feasible as well.

Merg said:

I've never traveled out of country, but have been asked by my GF if I would like to plan a trip to Costa Rica... strictly for birding.
I hope I'm not out of line by asking for opinions/help here...


I'll probably have 7 days to bird Costa Rica.

What would you suggest as an itinerary for that time frame?

Should I hire a guide?

What would you add if you had 3 additional days?

What credible/reliable resources are available for planning a trip there?

Anything else I might not be considering?

Click to expand...

With 7 days to bird Costa Rica, and never having been to the neotropics, nor having travelled out of the country, you will maximize your time and birds by organizing a private tour with driver and guide and/or focus on 2 or 3 sites.

With the little amount of time you have and not having driven outside of the USA, it could be harrowing to rent a car and drive. It can be done but driving is not as easy in CR and more confusing due to lack of signs.

There are also shuttle services that might work out for you. Check out http://www.quetzalbycar.com/index.htm for good information about that.

Here is an idea for an itinerary:
Day 1: Arrival and transfer to the La Selva OTS station in Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui. Should take about 2 hours from the airport to get there. Easy, great birding and nice introduction to neotropical birding. Lodging and food are basic but by staying there you can bird the trails without a guide. You will see lots of stuff right around the buildings as well and they have good guides for hire. $80 per person per night.

Day 2: La Selva

Day 3: La Selva

Day 4: morning birding at la Selva followed up by transfer to Cerro de la Muerte. Best lodging is at places in the Savegre Valley, especially at Savegre Lodge ($100 per person per night). There is great birding there and at many sites on Cerro de la Muerte.
This is at a much higher elevation than La Selva, almost all the birds will be different and you should see Resplendent Quetzal.

Day 5: Birding at and near Savegre.

Day 6: Birding at and near Savegre or morning birding then return to San Jose for the night depending upon what time your flight is.

Day 7: Morning birding then to San Jose and airport if you have time.

If you have three extra days, you could either bird Monteverde or Carara. Botha reas are excellent for birding and will have some different species in addition to overlap with La Selva and Savegre. If Monteverde, note that it will take 5 hours to get there from San Jose (and vice versa) which will take away from birding time. On the upside, there are plenty of places to stay near Monteverde. For Carara, it takes 2 hours to get there from San Jose, but there are fewer places to stay. Villa Lapas is fairly close to the park and has good birding on its grounds ($100 plus per person per night).

There are also cheaper and more basic alternatives to lodging at these sites.

There is plenty of good information online for planning a trip. Check trip reports in Bird forum, and at the Travellingbirder website,

As far as guides go, since this is your first trip to CR, it would be a good idea to hire a guide. There are many excellent guides in country, you should be able to contract birding guides at each of the sites visited or one for the whole trip.

Other things to consider: study one of the Costa Rica field guides. Both Stiles and Skutch and Garrigues and Dean are good- Garrigues and Dean better for the field in my opinion.

My blog might also give you some ideas about birding in Costa Rica.

Have a look at the Geodyssey website, they do self drive with accom and or with driver guides. Have to say though it is a long flight for just 7 days.

Seconded - the geodyssey selfdrive system is cost effective, but you'd need to find your own birds.

Otherwise follow Patrick's advice and get a guide.