The 9 Costa Rica Hiking Tours That Earn Their Price

1.Customized Nature Walk in Manuel Antonio National Park

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 125 reviews · 1 to 3 hours (approx.) · from $25Our pick

Meet your certified English-speaking guide, Javier, at Manuel Antonio National Park for a one to three-hour wildlife walk. His telescope and trained eye help you find sloths, monkeys, birds, and reptiles. The $25 tour excludes park admission, transportation, food, and drinks.

“We had an incredible time with Javier as our guide during our visit to Manual Antonio National Park. We had already pre booked our entrance to the park as we know it sells out, but wanted to make the most of our visit with the help of an expert. (Most guided tours don't include the park entrance ticket). We couldn't have asked for a more professional and friendly guide. He took the time to explain what we were observing, allowing us to take pictures. We were able to view an incredible amount of wildlife that we wouldn't have seen on our own. Thank you so much.”

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2.Hiking Tour of La Leona Waterfall with Lunch

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 106 reviews · 8 hours (approx.) · from $79

You’ll hike upriver through Rincon de la Vieja’s shaded canyons, crossing pools and rocks before swimming to La Leona Waterfall. Guides such as Jason, Dylan, Steven, and Noel help with the technical sections. Pickup, transport, lunch, drinks, park fees, and lifejackets are included.

“Fantastic tour with our guide Steven, beautiful pools, caves and spectacular sites. The meal provided was delicious, we will definitely do the tour again in the wet season!”

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3.Manuel Antonio National Park Hiking Tour from Jacó

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 93 reviews · 7 hours (approx.) · from $135

Leave Jacó at 6:30 a.m. for Manuel Antonio National Park with guides such as Jeremy, Ronald, or Sylvia. Expect an easy but hot rainforest walk, expert wildlife spotting with a scope, a beach swim, breakfast, lunch, and round-trip hotel transport.

“Beautiful park and friendly guides. Lots of animals to see and very nice beaches. It was a hot day thougt, and we were struggling with the heat…”

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4.La Leona Waterfall Hike and River Tubing

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 90 reviews · 4 to 5 hours (approx.) · from $90

Near Curubandé, hike through forest and river channels to La Leona Waterfall, using ladders and a rope to reach its cave and swimming hole. Then tube a canyon river for about 90 minutes. Guides such as Rony, Brandy, Victor, and Diego focus on safety and pacing.

“Loved this experience. The canyon walk is easy but beautiful scenary and fun to swim in the waterfall at the end. We had a guide for just the two of us and he was great at pointing out wildlife en route and very friendly. Tubing was great too. Again, just the two of us, this time with a guide each- can see why they are needed to stop the tubes going under! Really fun, guides kept us very safe! Particularly loved the dog that ran along the bank for the whole thing!”

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5.Full Day Tour with Safari Float, Waterfall and Volcano Hike

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 89 reviews · 9 hours 30 minutes (approx.) · from $210

Start at 7:30 a.m. with a gentle Peñas Blancas River float, wildlife spotting, and tropical fruit. Then swim at La Fortuna Waterfall, eat a home-cooked Costa Rican lunch, and hike old Arenal lava trails. Guides such as Tony, Pepe, Oscar, and Francisco are praised for sharp eyes and warm teaching.

“It's not five stars just because they have pick-ups and drop offs of customers between activities. Activities and lunch were great. The best way to see wildlife is on boat tour and that was our experience after having done many different activities over a week in CR. Just the travel between activities and picking up customers felt like waste of time.”

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6.La Leona waterfall adventure hike half day

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 79 reviews · 3 hours (approx.) · from $50

Ride five minutes by 4WD from Curubandé, then hike about 1.3 miles each way through streams, rocks, caves, and rope sections to La Leona Waterfall. Guides such as Pablo, José, Ramses, and Carlos adjust the route to your fitness, provide a dry bag and life vest, and leave time for swimming and photos.

“We had such a great hike to Leona Falls. It was a challenging hike but so worth it at the end. Probably one of the best hikes I have been on. The waterfall was amazing. Our guide, Steven did a very good job to make sure that we were safe going through the caves and climbing up the trails.”

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7.Corcovado National Park Hike – From Uvita

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 65 reviews · 6 hours (approx.) · from $170

Leave Uvita by boat at 7 a.m. for a guided rainforest hike near Corcovado National Park. The six-hour outing includes park admission, lunch, safety gear, and a bilingual guide. Expect a wet boat landing, a rough 1.5-hour crossing, tropical heat, and chances to spot dolphins, whales, turtles, monkeys, toucans, and other wildlife.

“Not worth the price - at all. A beautiful national park but this specific tour only takes you on a very small trail (maybe 2km) by the beach and back. We were expecting more hiking in distance (supposedly 2 trails but we only did 1 then left), and deeper into the forest to explore the richness of park, but this was disappointing on all aspects. The guide was friendly but definitely not a wildlife expert so we only saw a few animals. We had a much better animal seeing experience in the Manual Antonio park with an actual wildlife expert who was able to show us many animals that we…”

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8.Jungle Hike with Canyoning and Rappelling in Drake Bay

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 48 reviews · 6 hours (approx.) · from $115

Meet Sukia Travel at 7 a.m. in Drake Bay for a 4x4 ride into Corcovado National Park. Hike primary rainforest, swim river pools, and rappel several waterfalls with guides such as Emilio, Bryan, Allen, or David. Expect a wet, demanding six-hour adventure for up to eight people.

“First, we went on a hike with some explanation about the jungle and about some plants. The passion of the guides for the nature is remarkable. We went down throught 7 waterfalls, about 4 of them by rappeling. Then, we had a lunch. Coming an going by a pickup car. The guides are very nice. The rappeling feels very safe. No shoes or wetsuit is included. I didn't have appropriate shoes and I got very cold in the waterfalls. The lunch is not sufficient. It felt like a snack so that I had to go and have a lunch after that. After you have done your rappeling, you have to…”

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9.Nativos Corcovado Night Hike in DrakeBay

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 45 reviews · 3 hours (approx.) · from $68

Join Nativos Corcovado Tours for a three-hour night walk near Rio Agujitas and its eco-farm, usually from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Your English- or Spanish-speaking guide carries you through muddy trails and shallow river water while pointing out frogs, snakes, spiders, insects, and other nocturnal wildlife.

“If you’re looking for a genuine, small-group night hike on dirt trails made by tapirs and other wildlife, this is your experience. This is a rugged outdoor hike, crossing rivers at night on a former family plantation turned into a wildlife research station. You will get wet, muddy, sweat-soaked but come away feeling as if you did something very few get to experience. Our guide, Emilio, owns the former plantation and shows a very real love for the land and the plants and animals on it. We saw several species of basilisks, frogs, snakes and insects and followed the tracks of a tapir and its calf for several hundred meters.…”

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