Pachira is on the main canal, looking across the water at Tortuguero village, five minutes from the national park. It has a platform over the canal, which is a good place to stand with binoculars and a coffee before the boat goes.
The boat goes at dawn. Coffee, tea or hot chocolate at the dock, then two hours on the canals with a guide, and you are back for breakfast.
The meals, the area tours and the boats are all included, the bird-watching boats among them, which is why it suits a birder who wants the days planned and not negotiated. Four of our recent birding itineraries have slept here.
The morning tour leaves the main dock at dawn, two hours by boat through the canals and flooded forest with an expert guide. At night there is a guided walk on the lodge's own private trail, and there is a walk up Cerro Tortuguero by day. The platform over the canal faces the village. The lodge quotes SINAC's figure of 442 bird species for the area and names toucans, parrots, ospreys and anhingas among them.
Photo: Pachira Lodge
Tortuguero
A Family-Friendly All-Inclusive in Tortuguero
★★★
Across the main canal from Tortuguero village and five minutes from the national park, with meals, the area tours and the boat transport all included, and the bird-watching boat tours among them. Four of our recent birding itineraries sleep here.
From the platform and the dawn boat, the Osprey over the main canal and the Anhinga drying its wings on a low branch, both named by the lodge. Along the canal edges, the Roseate Spoonbill, and the Boat-billed Heron, the chocuaco, before the light is up.
In the flooded forest the boat slips into, look for the Sunbittern at the water, the Great Potoo on a snag, and in the tall trees the Great Green Macaw and the Keel-billed Toucan.
| English | Scientific | Spanish | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Osprey | Pandion haliaetus | Águila Pescadora | |
| Anhinga | Anhinga anhinga | Aninga | |
| Roseate Spoonbill | Platalea ajaja | Espátula Rosada | |
| Boat-billed Heron | Cochlearius cochlearius | Pico Cuchara | |
| Sunbittern | Eurypyga helias | Garza del Sol | |
| Great Potoo | Nyctibius grandis | Nictibio Grande | |
| Great Green Macaw | Ara ambiguus | Guacamayo Verde Mayor | |
| Keel-billed Toucan | Ramphastos sulfuratus | Tucán Pico Iris |
There are no roads to Tortuguero, so the stay starts with the lodge bus from San José and a boat from Pavona, about 4 to 5 hours door to door. The standard rooms are in garden modules of four, each with two double beds, ceiling fans and screens. The bungalows sit in the forest with a king bed, and only the Bungalow Superior has air conditioning. The days follow the package: boat tours on the canals, guided walks in the park, then the pool and the bar in the afternoon heat. Meals are Costa Rican and international, and dietary needs are handled with notice. Wifi exists but is weak in the forest.
Meals. lodge restaurant beside the pool, Costa Rican and international. The lodge says its packages include meals, transport, tours and taxes; drinks and bottled water are not.
Perfect for: a family who want Tortuguero's canals with every boat and meal arranged.
Tortuguero National Park has no road and is birded from a boat on the canals: spoonbills, the Boat-billed Heron, macaws, and the lodges we use there.
See the placeNo fixed trip stays here yet; we build it into a custom trip.
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Or call us: 1 (800) 996-1139 from the US and Canada, +506 4052-2140 in Costa Rica.
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