Most birders see Caño Negro as a long day trip from Arenal and get back after dark. Sleeping here changes the day: the lodge's own boat leaves at 6 in the morning, when the herons and storks are feeding and the light is low across the lagoon.
It is the only lodge we use for the northern wetlands. The refuge has been a wetland of international importance since 1991, and you bird it sitting down, binoculars up, while the boatman works the edges.
Two nights is what our Northern Zone trip gives it, which means two first-light boats.
The lodge sits beside the Caño Negro Lagoon and the Río Frío, and its birding is done from the water. Its Birding Expeditions tour is three hours by boat, at 6:00 in the morning or 2:30 in the afternoon, with a bilingual guide the lodge describes as a specialist in the region's wildlife. It also runs a wetlands boat tour, a night tour and the Bitzu forest walk on land. The lodge says more than 350 bird species have been recorded in the refuge.
Photo: Caño Negro Natural Lodge
Caño Negro
A Beautiful Eco-Lodge in the Untamed Wilderness of Caño Negro
★★★
Forty-two rooms beside the Caño Negro Lagoon and the Río Frío, with the lodge's own boat, birding and canoe tours into the Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge, a wetland of international importance since 1991. The one lodge on this page for the northern wetlands.
From the boat, the lodge's own top birds for Caño Negro: Roseate Spoonbill, Northern Jacana, Anhinga and Great Egret along the edges, Amazon Kingfisher on the low branches, and the Black-collared Hawk, a hawk that fishes. The big one is the Jabiru, the bird the lodge named its restaurant after.
Watch the reeds for the Snail Kite and the Southern Lapwing on the wet grass. After dark, the Boat-billed Heron and the Northern Potoo are the night tour's birds, and the Bare-throated Tiger-Heron stands in the shallows at any hour.
| English | Scientific | Spanish | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roseate Spoonbill | Platalea ajaja | Espátula Rosada | |
| Northern Jacana | Jacana spinosa | Jacana Centroamericana | |
| Anhinga | Anhinga anhinga | Aninga | |
| Great Egret | Ardea alba | Garceta Grande | |
| Amazon Kingfisher | Chloroceryle amazona | Martín Pescador Amazónico | |
| Black-collared Hawk | Busarellus nigricollis | Gavilán de Ciénega | |
| Jabiru | Jabiru mycteria | Jabirú | |
| Snail Kite | Rostrhamus sociabilis | Elanio Caracolero | |
| Southern Lapwing | Vanellus chilensis | Chorlitazo Sureño | |
| Boat-billed Heron | Cochlearius cochlearius | Pico Cuchara | |
| Northern Potoo | Nyctibius jamaicensis | Nictibio Norteño | |
| Bare-throated Tiger-Heron | Tigrisoma mexicanum | Garza-Tigre Cuellinuda | |
| Neotropic Cormorant | Nannopterum brasilianum | Cormorán Neotropical |
This is a flat, hot wetland, and the lodge is built for it: every room has quiet air conditioning and hot water, and the pool is there for the middle of the day. Rooms sit around a garden of tropical plants, and the open-air restaurant, with space for about 100, looks out over the same garden, so breakfast doubles as a birding session. The Monkey Bar next door is the evening gathering spot. Days here are set by the water: an early boat on the lagoons, a rest through the heat, a second outing late in the afternoon or after dark. It is a one or two night stop for most people, away from the main tourist circuit.
Meals. Open-air restaurant serving regional and international dishes from local produce, with the Monkey Bar beside it. Breakfast is included with both room types.
Perfect for: a birder and an angler travelling together who want two days on the water away from the usual circuit.
A wetland of international importance near the Nicaraguan border, birded from a boat on the Río Frío: spoonbills, jacanas, anhingas and our lodge.
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Tell us the birds you want, your dates and how you like to travel, and we will come back with a first itinerary: the lodges in the right order and how many nights each one really needs. That first version is just a place to start.
Or call us: 1 (800) 996-1139 from the US and Canada, +506 4052-2140 in Costa Rica.
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