Birding zone 3 of 5 · The biggest and the wettest · Arrive San José (SJO)
The biggest zone and the wettest, from the Arenal volcano and the wetlands at Caño Negro across Sarapiquí to the Tortuguero canals and the south Caribbean coast. It is one zone on our map because the birds are shared across it: Great Green Macaw, Great Potoo, Sunbittern and Keel-billed Toucan country from one end to the other.
It is also the zone with the most ways to bird. Tortuguero is birded from a boat, which suits a lot of our clients who have had enough of trails. Arenal has hanging bridges into the canopy and a lodge on its own reserve next to the national park. Caño Negro is a wetland of more than 350 species seen from the water. And in autumn the Keköldi ridge near Cahuita is one of the most important raptor migration routes in the world, with the hawks passing overhead by the thousand.
Fifteen of our lodges are here, more than in any zone but the Pacific south, and the two trips we build most for a first Caribbean visit both start with a boat.
The map
Each number is one of the places worth the mornings below; the small dots are the 15 lodges we use here.
One more place here has its own page: the Tirimbina Biological Reserve, in Sarapiquí.
Every place we send birders, in all five zones, is on one map: Costa Rica birding hotspots.
Keel-billed ToucanRamphastos sulfuratusCaribbean Lowlands and Arenal first, then Monteverde and the Tárcoles river. All year.
Great PotooNyctibius grandisOn a dead snag at dusk in Sarapiquí and Tortuguero. All year, with a guide.
SunbitternEurypyga heliasThe river edges of Sarapiquí and Tortuguero, in the Caribbean lowlands. All year.
Boat-billed HeronCochlearius cochleariusBy boat in the Tárcoles mangroves, and on the Tortuguero canals after dark. All year.
Lovely CotingaCotinga amabilisA rare turquoise cotinga of Caribbean slope forest, always a bird that needs some luck.
Bare-necked UmbrellabirdCephalopterus glabricollisThe wet Caribbean slope at Arenal and Braulio Carrillo. Higher up the slope from March to June.
Yellow-eared ToucanetSelenidera spectabilisSmall, quiet black toucan of Caribbean-slope forest, and the hardest toucan to see.
Great CurassowCrax rubraA turkey-sized forest bird with a yellow bill knob and a deep dawn boom.The Great Green Macaw, the bigger and rarer of the two macaws, and the Keel-billed Toucan with the rainbow bill are the two birds of this zone. With them the Great Potoo on a dead snag at dusk, the Sunbittern on a river edge, and the Boat-billed Heron, the chocuaco, on the canals after dark.
At Arenal the lodge's trails give Lovely Cotinga, Bare-necked Umbrellabird, Yellow-eared Toucanet, Great Curassow and Bare-throated Tiger-Heron. At Caño Negro, from the boat, Roseate Spoonbill, Northern Jacana, Anhinga and Neotropic Cormorant. In Sarapiquí the Great Jacamar and the hanging nests of the Montezuma Oropendola in the tall trees. On the Keköldi ridge in autumn the hawks and falcons of the migration, with White-whiskered Puffbird and trogons in the forest around the watch point.
Each place below has its own page: the birds to look for, getting there, when to go and the lodges we use nearby.
Birding Arenal Volcano National Park from the lodge next to it: the umbrellabird, cotingas and toucanets, the hanging bridges and our trips.
See the placeA wetland of international importance near the Nicaraguan border, birded from a boat on the Río Frío: spoonbills, jacanas, anhingas and our lodge.
See the placeSelva Verde on the Sarapiquí River, a lodge of ours: 204 hectares of primary forest, 15 km of paths, the river at the garden's edge, and the birds.
See the placeA working research station of the Organization for Tropical Studies in Sarapiquí, with a bird list over 450 long and 57 km of trails. Where we stay.
See the placeOver 108,000 acres of primary forest between the Central Valley and the Caribbean lowlands, a park list over 500 species, and Tapirus Lodge at its edge.
See the placeTortuguero 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 placeThe south Caribbean coast: the Gandoca-Manzanillo refuge walk near Panama, and the Keköldi hawk watch on one of the world's great raptor routes.
See the placeThe Mistico hanging bridges near Arenal put you level with the canopy birds, with a local guide and the volcano in view. Over 350 species recorded.
See the placeTirimbina in Sarapiquí: over 600 hectares of rainforest, a bridge across the river to an island, a canopy bridge 35 metres up, and 9 km of trails.
See the placeFifteen of our lodges are in this zone, from the lodge next to Arenal's national park to cabins with no electricity above the south Caribbean coast: four round Arenal, four on the Tortuguero canals, two in Sarapiquí, and one each at Caño Negro, Río Celeste, Boca Tapada, Braulio Carrillo and above Cahuita. Each card says why birders stay there.
Photo: Arenal Oasis Ecolodge & Wildlife Refuge
Arenal
Where Tranquility and Rustic Auras meet Sustainability
★★★
A small family lodge 3 km from La Fortuna with its own frog sanctuary, butterfly garden and trails, and guided birdwatching walks run by the family. Basic, in one reviewer's word, and the same review called it magical.
Photo: Arenal Observatory Lodge
Arenal
A Stunning Hotel on Amid 870 Acres of Lush Private Rain Forest
★★★
Built as the Smithsonian's volcano research station, on its own 350-hectare reserve next to Arenal Volcano National Park. The observation deck and the trails from the door are why six of our 45 recent birding itineraries sleep here, level with Trapp Family Lodge for the most.
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.
Photo: Celeste Mountain Lodge
Río Celeste
A Beautiful Resort on the Banks of the Picturesque Rio Celeste
★★★
Private trails through the lodge's own primary forest beside Tenorio Volcano National Park, with guided birding and a bird list to take along. Three-wattled Bellbird, Bare-necked Umbrellabird, Great Curassow and Yellow-eared Toucanet are the targets it names.
Photo: Chachagua Rainforest Hotel & Hacienda
Arenal
A sustainable resort above any other
★★★
Inside its own rainforest reserve near La Fortuna, with a guided birdwatching walk at 6 am and a night walk at 6 pm every day, and a warm spring pool kept for hotel guests. The adults-only tree house sits 20 metres up in the canopy.
Photo: Evergreen Lodge
Tortuguero
A Stunning Tropical Oasis Just Minutes From Tortuguero National Park
★★★
Two hectares of tall trees in the northeast corner of Tortuguero, minutes by boat from the national park entrance, with the lodge's own bilingual guides and meals included.
Photo: Finca Luna Nueva Lodge
Arenal
So much variety! This will be a Birders Delight
★★★★★
A 127-acre farm near La Fortuna with a canopy tower, forest trails and a tropical birding tour that reports more than 250 species on its private reserve.
Photo: La Selva Biological Station
Sarapiquí
Visit a Research Center Working to Protect Nature's Diversity and Bounty
★★★
A working research station of the Organization for Tropical Studies, about 1,600 acres of lowland forest with a bird list over 450 species long. You walk it with their naturalist guides, early bird walk included, and eat with the scientists.
Photo: Laguna Lodge
Tortuguero
★★★
On the strip of land between the Caribbean Sea and the Tortuguero lagoon, reached by boat, 106 rooms in 6 acres of gardens. Tortuguero is birded from the water, and the lodge sits on the water you bird from.
Photo: Maquenque Eco Lodge
Boca Tapada
Magical, Modern Private Jungle Bungalows and Tree Houses on the Border of Nicaragua
★★★
Bungalows and tree houses on a 60-acre reserve at Boca Tapada, 15 minutes from the Nicaraguan border, with lagoons on the property and a guided nature walk at sunrise every morning. Most of what the kitchen serves is grown on the land.
Photo: Mawamba Lodge
Tortuguero
A Beautifully Designed, Elegant Resort in Remote Tortuguero
★★★
Fifteen acres between the Tortuguero canals and the Caribbean, reached only by boat or by air, with canal boat tours and night walks from the property. One of our clients wrote that bringing binoculars "really added to this great experience!"
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.
Photo: Selva Bananito Lodge
Cahuita
Get Back To Nature at This Sustainable Eco-Retreat
★★★
A 2,000-acre private reserve above the south Caribbean coast, cabins with no electricity and floor-to-ceiling folding doors that open onto the forest. You wake with the birds because there is nothing else to wake you.
Photo: Selva Verde Lodge
Sarapiquí
A Great Jungle Eco-Retreat with a Wide Variety of Activities Just 2 Hours from San Jose
★★★
About 500 acres of Sarapiquí rainforest the lodge has looked after since 1986, 15 km of paths, and the river at the bottom of the garden. Two hours from San José, so it is often the first night of the trip.
Photo: Tapirus Lodge
Braulio Carrillo
Come see nature surround you!
★★★★
Right next to Braulio Carrillo National Park, one of the only lodges that close to it, and tapirs on the property are the house speciality. The lodge itself says it is not the most luxurious place in the world, and the forest is the point.
Keep going: add more birds, lodges or tours, then turn your Wishlist into a trip.
