8 underrated destinations to visit in Costa Rica

Everyone arrives in Costa Rica looking for the same thing: pura vida, the easy-going, good-natured spirit you’ll hear invoked from the moment you land. And more of us are chasing it than ever. In the first half of 2026, Costa Rica recorded its strongest ever start to a year for international arrivals, and European visitor numbers rose by around 12.7% in the opening months. That’s good news for a country that channels tourism revenue straight into protecting its forests and wildlife. It also means that popular hotspots can get busy.

The Arenal volcano’s near-perfect cone and the misty trails of the Monteverde cloud forest reserve are, quite rightly, top of the list, and we’ll happily take you to both – with several days in the hot-spring town of La Fortuna along the way. But they’re a few stops in a country the size of a small Central American province, where roughly a quarter of the land sits under some form of protection, threaded with national parks, reserves and wetlands that most visitors never get to see.

This is a destination small enough to cross in a day, yet holding an estimated 6% of the world’s biodiversity. For nature lovers and travellers who want quieter, less crowded parts of the country, our escorted group tours and tailor-made holidays to Costa Rica open up a lot more to see than just the highlights.

So if you’d rather go against the grain, here are eight quieter corners we love. A couple, like Corcovado and Tortuguero, have names you may know, and we’ve kept them in for a reason. They draw a fraction of the numbers you’ll find at Manuel Antonio National Park or Arenal, and their access is limited by design, so they still feel a world away from the crowds. Several of our picks sit on the wild Osa Peninsula and the laid-back Caribbean coast, and we can build every one into a tailor-made trip.

Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula

Tucked into the southwest corner of the country on the Pacific coast, Corcovado is Costa Rica at its wildest, and about as far off the beaten path as the country gets. National Geographic once called the surrounding Osa Peninsula one of the most biologically intense places on Earth, and the park backs it up: 13 major ecosystems, more than 400 bird species, and over 500 kinds of trees packed into one reserve.

You’ll walk forest trails with a guide, scanning the canopy for all four of Costa Rica’s monkey species, scarlet macaws and, if you’re lucky, a Baird’s tapir at a waterhole. Jaguars live here too, though sightings are rare. Corcovado is no secret, but daily visitor limits and boat or small-plane access keep numbers low and the wilderness intact. Facilities are basic, but that’s the point. Come for a real adventure.

Sierpe and the Térraba-Sierpe wetlands

Most people treat the sleepy fishing village of Sierpe as somewhere to pass through on the way to Corcovado or Drake Bay. We suggest taking a beat and heading out on a boat trip through the mangroves before you move on. The route threads through the largest mangrove system in Costa Rica, a maze of forest canals where the freshwater river meets the tide.

From the launch, you’ll motor downriver for roughly an hour and a half, watching for scarlet macaws overhead, caimans on the banks and crabs working the tangled roots. It’s a gentle, water-level way to reach the Osa, and the wildlife watching starts long before you arrive.

Caño Island Biological Reserve

A short boat hop off the Osa Peninsula into the Pacific Ocean, Caño Island is where you swap rainforest for reef. The waters around this small, uninhabited island are protected, clear and rich in life, and this is one of the best spots for snorkelling and scuba diving on Costa Rica’s Pacific side.

Below the surface, you may spot reef fish, rays and white-tipped reef sharks gliding over the coral reefs, with a good chance of sea turtles in the water. Between July and November, migrating humpback whales pass through these waters, so a boat trip out can turn into a whale-watching one. Landing on the island is restricted to protect it, but the snorkelling is the main draw.

Piedras Blancas National Park

Just up the coast from Corcovado, across the calm waters of Golfo Dulce, Piedras Blancas is the Osa’s overlooked half. It began life as an extension of Corcovado and protects around 14,000 hectares of lowland rainforest, yet it sees only a trickle of visitors. La Gamba is the one point you can drive to. Otherwise, you arrive by boat.

That’s part of the appeal. This is one of the last strongholds of the jaguar, with some 350 bird species, scarlet macaws and monkeys in the canopy, and coral reefs offshore for snorkelling. The boat ride across the gulf is a wildlife adventure in itself, with resident dolphins year-round and a chance of humpback whales in season. Come here to have a corner of the Osa almost to yourself.

Tortuguero National Park, Caribbean coast

There are no roads into Tortuguero. You arrive by boat or light aircraft, gliding along narrow jungle canals that have earned the place its nickname, the Amazon of Costa Rica. You explore the same way, drifting past herons, caimans, river turtles and monkeys in the branches overhead.

The park is best known for nesting green sea turtles, and this is one of the most important nesting sites in the Caribbean. At Tortuguero, they come ashore to nest on the dark-sand beaches between roughly July and October, and on a guided night walk in season you may watch a female haul out and lay her eggs. Numbers are never guaranteed, and guides keep torches and crowds in check, but few wildlife moments on the Caribbean side stay with you longer.

San Gerardo de Dota

High in the Talamanca mountains, about two hours south of San José, the Savegre River valley of San Gerardo de Dota is a cool, misty world of cloud forest and rushing water. It’s a favourite for birdwatching, and for one bird in particular.

This is one of the few places in Costa Rica where you can look for the resplendent quetzal all year round, its emerald body and long tail feathers flashing through the moss-draped oaks. An early-morning walk with a local guide, breath fogging in the mountain air, is the way to find one. Around 200 other species share the valley, from hummingbirds to the three-wattled bellbird. The hiking trails through the forest are peaceful and well kept, and the trout fresh from the Savegre River is worth staying for.

Puerto Viejo and the southern Caribbean

The Caribbean coast marches to its own beat, and Puerto Viejo is its heart. Reggae drifts from the beach bars, the local Costa Rican cuisine turns to rice and beans cooked in coconut milk, and the pace drops several gears from the Pacific side.

Rent a bike and pedal the flat coastal road to a string of beaches, or head into nearby Cahuita National Park, where a jungle trail runs beside the sea to a coral reef you can snorkel straight off the sand. Sloths and howler monkeys are common in the trees along the way. This is a corner of Costa Rica that feels most authentic, and all the better for it.

Rincón de la Vieja National Park

Up in northern Costa Rica, away from the busy Guanacaste beaches, Rincón de la Vieja wraps around an active volcano and is one of the most rewarding parks in the country for raw geothermal drama. Trails wind past bubbling mud pots, steam vents and fumaroles hissing out of the ground.

You’ll hike through dry forest to waterfalls and swim in the refreshingly cool blue Río Blanco, with a good chance of coatis, howler monkeys and a huge range of birds along the way. The nearby lodges tap the volcanic heat for their own hot springs, a fine place to soak off a day on the trails.

How to fit these into a Costa Rica itinerary

None of these places sits far from our classics. Most Costa Rica itineraries begin at Juan Santamaría International Airport near San José, and from there the country opens up fast. Corcovado, Sierpe, Caño Island and Piedras Blancas cluster around the Osa Peninsula and Golfo Dulce in the south Pacific, so you can pair two or three on a single leg.

Tortuguero and Puerto Viejo anchor the Caribbean coast. San Gerardo de Dota lies on the road south from San José, and Rincón de la Vieja pairs neatly with the northwest, an easy add-on if you’re already heading for the Nicoya Peninsula. String a few together and you’ve got a trip that skirts the crowds without missing the wildlife.

Costa Rica is widely recognised for its commitment to protecting nature, and these quieter corners are where that promise feels most real. For nature lovers who’d rather trade the crowds for a trail of their own, this is the country at its best for sheer variety and scale. And you won’t ever feel like you’re missing out by choosing the less crowded options.

Costa Rica FAQs

What is the most underrated national park in Costa Rica?

For something genuinely off the radar, Piedras Blancas on Golfo Dulce sees only a trickle of visitors despite protecting the same rainforest as its famous neighbour, Corcovado. Corcovado itself is better known but stays uncrowded thanks to daily visitor caps and boat-or-plane-only access. For cloud forest without the Monteverde crowds, San Gerardo de Dota is hard to beat, and up in the northwest, Rincón de la Vieja rewards you with mud pots and waterfalls and far fewer people than the Guanacaste beaches nearby.

How do I avoid the crowds in Costa Rica?

Head for the Osa Peninsula and the southern Caribbean coast rather than the busier stretches of the Pacific, and consider travelling in the green season (May to November), when parks are quieter, prices drop, and the landscape is at its lushest. Starting your days early helps, too. Wildlife is most active at dawn, and you’ll often have a trail to yourself before the day tours arrive.

When is the quietest time to visit Costa Rica?

If dodging the crowds is the priority, travel in the green season (May to November). The parks that get busier in the dry months thin out, prices soften, and the forest is at its greenest. September and October are the wettest on the Pacific side but the sunniest on the Caribbean, so pointing your trip east at that time of year gets you good weather and near-empty beaches at once.

When can I see turtles nesting in Costa Rica?

On the Caribbean coast at Tortuguero, green turtles nest between roughly July and October. Sightings are never guaranteed, and nesting walks are guided at night to protect the turtles, so you’ll go out with a ranger or naturalist rather than on your own.

Where is the best snorkelling and diving in Costa Rica?

Caño Island Biological Reserve, off the Osa Peninsula, has some of the clearest water and teeming reefs on the Pacific side, with a good chance of rays, reef sharks and sea turtles. On the Caribbean coast, the reef off Cahuita National Park is shallow and easy to snorkel straight from the beach.

Where can I see the resplendent quetzal in Costa Rica?

San Gerardo de Dota, in the Talamanca mountains south of San José, is one of the few places you can look for the quetzal all year round. Monteverde is the better-known spot, though sightings there are more seasonal, with the best odds between roughly February and July.

How long do I need to reach Costa Rica’s wilder corners?

Some of the best places to visit in Costa Rica take longer to reach because they are remote and access is limited, so give yourself extra space. Corcovado and Caño Island need a boat or a light-aircraft hop, and Tortuguero is water-access only, so each one is really a two-to-three night stay rather than a day trip. Build in a fortnight, and you can string two or three of these together without spending the whole holiday in transit.

How do I get to the remote parts of Costa Rica?

The wildest corners aren’t on the main road network, and that’s half the appeal. Corcovado and Caño Island are reached by boat, or a short light-aircraft hop from San José, and Tortuguero is accessible only by boat or plane along its jungle canals. The domestic flights are scenic in their own right, skimming low over rivers, volcanoes and coastline, and we build the connections into your itinerary so the logistics are handled.

We’ve been planning tailor-made holidays and escorted group tours here for over 45 years, and our Travel Experts have first-hand experience of every region and lodge we recommend. If you’d like to swap the busiest stops for somewhere quieter, we can build a Costa Rica itinerary around exactly that.