
Birdwatching in Costa Rica
From
£3,495
£3,995
Summary
At the last count, Costa Rica was home to 923 different species of bird, the greatest density of bird species of any continental American country, thanks to the wide range of habitats, from mountains to mangrove swamps. The very names are enough to mark this little country out as a mecca for birdwatchers: from the Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant and the White-bellied Mountain-gem to the Streak-breasted treehunter and the Latticed-Tailed Trogon!
Our tour has been designed to cover a range of habitats and therefore offer the chance to see as many different birds as possible, from the highlands (home to the iconic Resplendent Quetzal) to the lowland Caribbean region and the Pacific coast. We begin by touring two National Parks in the mountains where we will see a huge range of birds, including many endemic to the region, with every chance of spotting the dazzling Resplendent Quetzal. Moving on to the Rancho Naturalista, Costa Rica’s premier birdwatching hotel we will see many different species of hummingbirds, some without even moving from the comfort of your own balcony. Moving on to Sarapiqui we will discover many of the birds that favour the Caribbean lowlands, and we conclude in the dry forest and coastal habitats of the Pacific coast.
A local bird-watching expert will accompany us and take us to the best possible spots for observing a great variety of species.
Tour highlights:





- Watching hummingbirds feed on your own hotel balcony
- Exploring some of Costa Rica’s top National Parks
- A variety of different habitats
- Early morning boat trip on the Tárcoles River
- Birds, birds and more birds!
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Full Price
£3,995
Today's Price
£3,495
(including offers)
Saving
£500
Benefit from this limited time offer:
- Save £150 with our Early Booking Offer.
- Save an extra £350 if you pay your full balance today, just £3,495
The price above includes any applicable early booking discount and a pay in full discount, and applies only if you pay the full balance at time of booking.
Deposit: £400 Single supplement: £660
Includes flights
Enhance your experience
Whether you want to add extra nights on either side of your tour, you want to upgrade your flight or hotel room, or you are hoping to enjoy a door-to-door airport transfer, we can help.
To add special extras to your tour, call our Specialist Sales Executives to discuss your needs on 01334 657155.
Your itinerary
Day 1 -
Enjoy access to the airport Executive lounge before we fly from London to San José and upon arrival transfer to our hotel.

Hotel | Bougainvillea Hotel |
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Meals included | Dinner |
Bougainvillea Hotel
Set within lush tropical gardens just a 20-minute drive from San José Airport, Hotel Bougainvillea offers a large outdoor pool, tennis courts and a gym. Rooms have balconies overlooking the gardens or city.
The hotel’s beautiful gardens are home to a huge range of native Costa Rican trees and flowers. You can also spot wild hummingbirds and frogs.
Each room at Hotel Bougainvillea offers free Wi-Fi, flat-screen cable TV, a ceiling fan and a coffee maker. Rooms are decorated with unique furniture made from local hardwoods.
The Vitrales Restaurant & Bar serves international fusion cuisine in stylish surroundings. There are fantastic garden views from the lounge bar.
Day 2 -
This morning we check out of our hotel and depart for a visit the Tapantí National Park and the rather ominously named Cerro de la Muerte – the Mountain of Death. In fact this park teems with life and is a paradise for birdwatchers in particular, with hundreds of different species, around half of which are unique to this area.
Species that we can hope to see include Cabanis’s Ground-Sparrow, Lesser Elaenia; Golden-hooded, Crimson-collared, Silver-throated and White-lined Tanagers; Tropical Parula, Dark Pewee, Golden-bellied Flycatcher, Collared Trogon, nightingale-thrushes, Common Chlorospingus, Red-headed and Prong-billed Barbets; Tufted Flycatcher, Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant, Ruddy Pigeon, Spangle-cheeked Tanager, Spotted Woodcreeper and Red-faced Spinetai. Two of the more difficult hummingbird species in Costa Rica, Black-bellied Hummingbird and White-bellied Mountain-gem are more regular in Tapantí than other sites.
We then continue to our hotel.

Hotel | Hotel Savegre, San Gerardo de Dota |
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Meals included | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Hotel Savegre, San Gerardo de Dota
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Day 3 -
This morning we travel to Los Quetzales National Park, which as the name suggests offers us the best chance of spotting the iconic Resplendent Quetzal. 242 different species have been recorded here, including the Collared Trogon, Middle American Leaftosser, Buffy Tufted-cheek, Scaly-throated Foliage-gleaner, Streak-breasted treehunter, White-throated spadebill and Slaty-capped Flycatcher

Hotel | Hotel Savegre, San Gerardo de Dota |
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Meals included | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Hotel Savegre, San Gerardo de Dota
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Day 4 -
We check out of the hotel and head for Turrialba, stopping en route for some birdwatching as the opportunities arise – one of the joys of birdwatching in Costa Rica is that you don’t need to stray far from the roadside to spot new species.
In the afternoon, we arrive at Rancho Naturalista, the premier birdwatching lodge in Costa Rica and our base for the next two nights. Multiple species of hummingbirds, as well as many other birds, can be seen without leaving your own spacious balcony, with a great view of the smoking Turrialba volcano in the distance.

Hotel | Rancho Naturalista, Turrialba |
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Meals included | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Rancho Naturalista, Turrialba
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Day 5 -
We spend the day birdwatching in the garden and forest surrounding the Rancho Naturalista. The lodge garden has fruit feeders which attract a variety of bird species including Lesson’s Motmots, Montezuma, and Chestnut-headed Oropendolas, Grey-headed Chachalacas, Baltimore Orioles, several kinds of euphonias and tanagers. Other species we can hope to see include the rare Tawny-chested Flycatcher, the enigmatic Lovely Cotinga, the secretive Thicket Antpitta and the uncommon White-crowned Manakin.
Back at the Lodge we have another opportunity to observe many kinds of hummingbirds, which are attracted to the pools and feeders. These include the Snowcap and Purple-crowned Fairy; the White-necked Jacobin, Violet Sabrewing and the Green-crowned Brilliant.

Hotel | Rancho Naturalista, Turrialba |
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Meals included | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Rancho Naturalista, Turrialba
.
Day 6 -
This morning we leave the hotel and depart for Sarapiqui, once again stopping from time to time to do some birdwatching from the roadside. We will stay for the next three nights at La Quinta Lodge, which like the Rancho Naturalista has its own diverse range of birdlife, some which can be seen from your own balcony

Hotel | La Quinta Lodge, Sarapiqui |
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Meals included | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
La Quinta Lodge, Sarapiqui
La Quinta is an eco-lodge which promotes sustainable tourism. It strives to have little, to no negative impact on its immediate environment. The hotel has ten acres composed of regenerating agriculture, a reforested area with native trees, an old-growth forest on the riverside and tropical gardens.
La Quinta has 28 rooms in bungalows, most of them are wheel chair accessible, surrounded by the tropical garden rich in heliconias, gingers, palms and flowering trees.Rooms have private bathrooms, hot water, clean fresh towels, air conditioning, ceiling fan, walking closet area, hairdryer, safety box, and a beautiful roofed porch facing the gardens with hammocks and rocking chairs, from where you can enjoy the view of dozens of flowers and birds.
Day 7 -
Today we visit La Selva Biological Research Station, which was founded in 1968, since when it has served as a key training and research site for numerous professional scientists. 470 species of birds have been recorded here and we can expect to see a great variety along with numerous other wildlife as we follow the network of trails through the dense old-growth forest that surrounds the station.

Hotel | La Quinta Lodge, Sarapiqui |
---|---|
Meals included | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
La Quinta Lodge, Sarapiqui
La Quinta is an eco-lodge which promotes sustainable tourism. It strives to have little, to no negative impact on its immediate environment. The hotel has ten acres composed of regenerating agriculture, a reforested area with native trees, an old-growth forest on the riverside and tropical gardens.
La Quinta has 28 rooms in bungalows, most of them are wheel chair accessible, surrounded by the tropical garden rich in heliconias, gingers, palms and flowering trees.Rooms have private bathrooms, hot water, clean fresh towels, air conditioning, ceiling fan, walking closet area, hairdryer, safety box, and a beautiful roofed porch facing the gardens with hammocks and rocking chairs, from where you can enjoy the view of dozens of flowers and birds.
Day 8 -
Today we explore the Braulio Carrillo National Park, a huge expanse of virgin rainforest and cloudforest that is also easily accessible. It is home to more than 500 species of birds including Resplendent Quetzals, Bare-Necked Umbrella Bird, Snowcap, Brown-Billed Scythe Bill, Black-Crowned Antpitta, Golden-Browed Chlorophonia, Flame-Throated Warblers, Long-Tailed Silky-Flycatchers, Yellow-Eared Toucanet and Latticed-Tailed Trogon. On the lower Caribbean slopes, tanagers and hummingbirds are particularly easy to spot.

Hotel | La Quinta Lodge, Sarapiqui |
---|---|
Meals included | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
La Quinta Lodge, Sarapiqui
La Quinta is an eco-lodge which promotes sustainable tourism. It strives to have little, to no negative impact on its immediate environment. The hotel has ten acres composed of regenerating agriculture, a reforested area with native trees, an old-growth forest on the riverside and tropical gardens.
La Quinta has 28 rooms in bungalows, most of them are wheel chair accessible, surrounded by the tropical garden rich in heliconias, gingers, palms and flowering trees.Rooms have private bathrooms, hot water, clean fresh towels, air conditioning, ceiling fan, walking closet area, hairdryer, safety box, and a beautiful roofed porch facing the gardens with hammocks and rocking chairs, from where you can enjoy the view of dozens of flowers and birds.
Day 9 -
This morning we check out of the hotel and head for the Pacific coast, where we can expect hotter weather than on the Caribbean side. Our base for the final three nights is the Hotel Punta Leona in the district of Tárcoles, sandwiched between exuberant tropical forest on one hand and gorgeous beaches of white sand and emerald-green sea on the other.
Some 330 species of birds have been recorded in the private reserve and this evening we will enjoy a night walk, when we will see, or more likely hear, nocturnal birds such as nightjars, owls and pauraque. Of course, there are a great many other creatures that come out at night such as frogs, snakes, scorpions and insects, so this walk is not for the faint hearted and entirely optional!

Hotel | Hotel Punta Leona, Tárcoles |
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Meals included | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Hotel Punta Leona, Tárcoles
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Day 10 -
Today we visit the Carara National Park, which contains the northernmost Pacific coastal rain forest remaining intact in Costa Rica and is the transition zone into the tropical dry forests of the northwest.
The so-called Crocodile Bridge over the Tárcoles River is a good place to spot the numerous Scarlet Macaws that nest and feed throughout the reserve – not the mention the crocodiles themselves, some of which can be 20 foot long.
Other species we can expect to see in this transitional habitat include Collared Aracari, Fiery-billed Aracari, American Egret, Great Tinamou, Turkey vulture, Long-billed Gnatwren, Chestnut-backed Antbird, Black-hooded Antshrike, Keel-billed Toucans, Anhinga, Jacanas, Pied-billed Grebes, Mexican Tiger-bitterns and Boat-billed Herons.

Hotel | Hotel Punta Leona, Tárcoles |
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Meals included | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Hotel Punta Leona, Tárcoles
.
Day 11 -
Early morning is always a great time to spot birds and other wildlife and today we will set our alarms and enjoy an early morning boat trip on the Tárcoles River. Among the birds seen here are American Pygmy-Kingfisher, Double-striped Thick-knee, Rufous-necked Wood-Rail, Bare-throated Tiger-Heron, Boat-billed Heron, Common Black Hawk and the endemic Mangrove Hummingbird. Other wildlife abounds, notably the crocodiles which can be viewed from close quarters but in perfect safety (as long as you don’t try and feed them!). Look out too for lizards, iguanas, and the ever-present monkeys in the trees.
The remainder of the day is free to enjoy the facilities of the hotel, soak up some sun on the beach or take a dip in the Pacific Ocean.

Hotel | Hotel Punta Leona, Tárcoles |
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Meals included | Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner |
Hotel Punta Leona, Tárcoles
.
Day 12 -
This morning we check out of the hotel and travel to San José’s Juan Santamaria airport for our return flight to London.

Meals included | Breakfast |
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Day 13 -
We arrive in London.

Tour dates & prices
Included in your cost:
- Accommodation
- Meals - as per the itinerary
- London pre-flight Executive lounge access
- Comfortable coach travel throughout
- All visits as outlined in the itinerary
- Services of a professional tour manager & local guides
Extras:
Free book 'Birds of Costa Rica'
Tour Departure | Tour ID | Departure date | Return Date | Guided by | Price | Deposit | Single supplement | Offer | Availability |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
7 February 2023 | BBCO230207 | 7 February 2023 (Tuesday) | 19 February 2023 (Sunday) | £3,995 (inc. flights) |
£400 | £660 |
£3,495 save £500 |
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