Overview & Highlights
A Costa Rica wildlife and relaxation holiday with a difference: get off the beaten track and explore less-visited, but equally beguiling spots with excellent small eco-lodges.
For decades, Costa Rica has been a leading light in conservation, and over a quarter of its territory is protected in well-managed national parks and private nature reserves. Many parks are very popular with comprehensive tourist facilities, providing a very different experience from the remote wilderness adventure that many wildlife enthusiasts are hoping for.
On this holiday, we have selected some of our favourite national parks which, although situated in stunning locations, don’t receive hordes of visitors. Among them are Los Quetzales National Park, Marino Ballena National Park, and Piedras Blancas National Park.
Accommodation is in delightfully rustic eco-lodges, usually small and family-run, which offer the opportunity to understand how real life is lived in these bucolic areas. You’ll have the opportunity to participate in optional or included activities, from wildlife-spotting to coffee tours.
There’s no better way to see Costa Rica’s varied landscape unfold than by travelling overland. To complement these journeys, we’ve included a variety of rewarding stop-offs, including an archaeological site and a vineyard.
- San Gerardo de Dota: Quetzal Spotting
- Uvita: Whale watching
- Golfito (Playa Nicuesa): self guided hiking and kayaking
- Wine tasting at Copey Estate Winery.
- Guayabo National Monument
- Térraba-Sierpe Wetlands boat trip
THE UK’S NO. 1 SPECIALIST IN TRAVEL TO LATIN AMERICA
Sally Dodge
Travel Expert
Outline itinerary
Day 1
Arrive in San José and transfer to your hotel.
Day 2
Transfer to Turrialba via Guayabo National Monument.
Day 3
Optional activities in Turrialba.
Day 4
Transfer to San Gerado de Dota via Copey Estate Winery.
Day 5
Quetzal spotting in the Cordillera Talamanca.
Day 6
Optional activities in San Gerardo de Dota
Day 7
Transfer to Uvita on the Pacific Coast
Day 8
Whale watching excursion
Day 9
Free time on the beach or explore the area.
Day 10
Transfer to Golfito via the Terraba-Sierpe wetlands
Days 11 - 12
Activities at the lodge
Day 13
Fly to San José.
Day 14
Transfer to the airport for your international flight.
Things to do
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Accommodation
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Inspired by this trip
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