The biggest zone and the wettest, from the Arenal volcano across Sarapiquí to the Tortuguero canals and the south Caribbean coast. Great Green Macaw, Great Potoo, Sunbittern and Keel-billed Toucan country.
These are the 15 we use; four of them sit on the Tortuguero canals, where you arrive by boat.
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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.
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