Manuel Antonio | Costa Rica - A Backpacker’s Guide
Things to do
🌿Manuel Antonio National Park
This beautiful national park is filled with wildlife and stunning beaches. I recommend going early so that after you’re done exploring the trails you can enjoy the rest of the day at Manuel Antonio beach.
🎟️Entrance fee: $18, you need to book your ticket in advance as they do sell out. You can buy them directly through their website. You will need to make an account but this is a quickly process.
🚌Getting there: The best was to get to the park is by public bus. This bus runs along the main road of Manuel Antonio and you can get on at the point which suits you best. It won’t stop anywhere on the road like a lot of Central American buses so best to ask the reception of your accommodation where the closest stop is so it doesn’t drive past you. It runs every 15 minutes and costs ₡380.
Get off at the last stop which is opposite beach trail. Cross the road and walk up beach trail which is a sandy trail leading to the entrance of the park.
🔭Should you hire a guide?
Guides are not mandatory in the park however, if you want to ensure you see wildlife it is highly recommended to hire a guide.
People will be stopping, looking up, and pointing at things along the trail so it is possible to spot things without a guide. However, this is luck of the day because the further away the wildlife is the harder it is to see without a scope or binoculars.
Guides in the national park are certified and highly knowledgeable. My guide spotted things I would never have seen in a million years or that couldn’t be seen properly without a scope. I initially entered the park without a guide and even with people pointing it was hard to see the wildlife including sloths as they were all quite far away. For this reason I decided to hire guide and joined a group tour that had just begun and paid at the end. We saw sloths, howler monkeys, squirrel monkeys, lizards, and toucans amongst other birds.
A guide will cost around $25 and for me was well worth the price. However, even without a guide the trails are quite enjoyable.
❓Things to know:
🛂When you buy your ticket you register with your passport and it informs you that you will need to show this along with your ticket at the entrance. A digital copy of your passport is sufficient and when I entered they didn’t end up asking for it all but best to have a copy on you.
🥪Food is not allowed in the park and they will search your bag at the entrance. Unfortunately, this means no packed lunch.
🥤Single use plastic is also not allowed in the park. So this means no plastic water bottles. If you bring a proper water bottle or cup there are taps throughout the park to refill your water.
⛔️The park is closed on Tuesdays so keep this in mind when planning your trip.
🏝️Espadilla and Playitas Beach
Espadilla and Playitas beach are the main free public beaches in Manuel Antonio. The Espadilla end offers sun lounges, umbrellas, restaurants, and bars. For a more chilled out vibe I would recommend the Playitas end of the beach as it is much quieter allowing you to set up your towel on the sand under the trees.
Keep an eye out for wildlife in the trees lining the beach, you never know when you’ll spot a sloth or monkey. There are lots of capuchin monkeys playing in the trees by the beach which are so fun to watch. However, be careful as they will try and steal your things!
Eat & Drink
The most budget friendly option for meals in Costa Rica is cooking so it is great to stay somewhere with a kitchen. However, if you do fancy a meal out or a coffee here are some options.
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