National Parks Costa Rica

Manuel Antonio National Park

Manuel Antonio is one of the smallest national parks in Costa Rica. But it protects an impressive range of biodiversity. There are over 100 mammal species — including three of Costa Rica’s four monkey species — and over 180 bird species, including the fiery-billed aracari and mangrove hummingbird. All this wildlife is drawn to the park’s lush rainforest, which you can explore via a series of well-maintained hiking trails. In addition to beaches, the Park offers a very humid tropical forest where species of flora and fauna in danger of extinction coexist, a mangrove, marine environments, islands and a lagoon of 14 hectares. Walking trails surrounded by wildlife and resting on paradisiacal beaches are options that promise to captivate your senses. The magic of the beach and the greenery of the forest come together in one place, and the result is a natural paradise. King Tours also offers daily departures to Manuel Antonio National Park from Jaco Los Suenos and Dominical Uvita

Carara National Park

The Carara Carara National Park, which in indigenous Huetar language means "River of lizards", has the only transition forest in Central Pacific, resulting in diversity of flora and fauna, where converge typical species of dry and humid forests. This National Park is a worldwide known birding destination as it has very diverse birdlife, where stands out the Scarlet Macaw The Carara National Park protects the river basin of the Rio Grande de Tarcoles, near Orotina, Puntarenas, on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. Primary and secondary rainforest, lakes, rivers and waterfalls. Pre-columbian archaeological sites are scattered throughout the area.

Corcovado National Park

Corcovado National Park is famous for wildlife, there are 140 mammal species, 370 bird species and over 10,000 insect species on the Osa Peninsula. Even more impressive, many species that have disappeared from much of Central America have healthy populations in Corcovado. Baird’s tapir is the most famous example. Because tapirs require large tracts of undisturbed forest, they have disappeared from much of their former range. But tapirs are common in Corcovado National Park. Corcovado also contains Central America’s healthiest population of scarlet macaws, which thrive here thanks to the abundance of beach almond trees. White-lipped peccaries, extinct in much of Costa Rica, are also abundant in Corcovado. If you’re looking for the ultimate Corcovado adventure, our tour is hard to beat. Private trips to Corcovado National Park are available, but if you want to experience the best of Corcovado National Park – and see the most wildlife – it’s worth spending the night at Drake Bay and King Tours can take you there with departures from Dominical and Drake Bay. Contact us today to plan your trip to Corcovado National Park famously called it by National Geographic” the most biologically intense place on Earth.

Marino Ballena National Park

The Marino Ballena National Park constitutes the first Costa Rican protected wild area created exclusively for its marine resources. In addition, it represents the first marine park in Central America and is in the eighth position as the best place for whale watching in the world, according to National Geographic. The Marino Ballena National Park has an area of 5,160 marine hectares and 171 terrestrial hectares with a 15 km long coastal strip that runs from the mouth of the Morete River to Punta Piñuela. The park has 4 official entry sectors which are Sector Uvita, Sector Colonia, Sector Ballena and Sector Piñuelas. It presents a very humid tropical forest, with a dry season that goes from mid-December to mid-April, with sporadic rains and a rainy season from mid-April to mid-December. In terms of vegetation, the most important patches of forest are in Punta Ballena and Punta Piñuela, you can find Ojoche, Cedar Maria, Niño sapote and Lizard trees. The mangrove, in and around the black estuary, is made up of red mangrove, button, and palo de sal. With regard to fauna in addition to the humpback whale, you can find species such as the spotted dolphin, the bottlenose dolphin, the manta ray, the hammerhead shark, the parrotfish and the mackerel. Isla Ballena is also an important nesting site for the white ibis; other species of birds found in the park are the sea earwig and the cinnamon booby. The Marino Ballena National Park also has 17 species of corals.

Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve

The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve is a Costa Rican reserve located along the Cordillera de Tilarán within the Puntarenas and Alajuela provinces. Named after the nearby town of Monteverde and founded in 1972, the Reserve consists of over 10,500 hectares (26,000 acres) of cloud forest. It draws roughly 70,000 visitors a year. The Reserve consists of 6 ecological zones, 90% of which are virgin forest. A high biodiversity, consisting of over 2,500 plant species (including the most orchid species in a single place), 100 species of mammals, 400 bird species, 120 reptilian and amphibian species, and thousands of insects, has drawn both scientists and tourists alike. It comprises various privately protected areas including the International Children’s Rainforest, Costa Rica’s largest privately protected forest with over 30,000 hectares of protected land where also Selvatura Park’s forest is neighboring.

Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve

The Cabo Blanco Absolute Natural Reserve is a Nature Reserve of Costa Rica, part of the Tempisque Conservation Area in the province of Puntarenas, covering an area of 3,140 acres terrestrial and 4,420 acres marine on the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula near Mal Pais. The reserve is in an ideal location for trees to flourish as it is located between tropical dry and wet forests. The park is home to over 140 different species of trees, including the wild plum, trumpet tree, lance wood, and the sapoditta – famous for producing the material that is used to make chewing gum. The reserve is famous for the white cape; a group of rocks located at the southern tip of the reserve that serves as a dwelling ground for a plethora of bird species. The two beaches of Cabo Blanco, Playa Cabo Blanco and Playa Balsitas are excellent locations to witness hundreds of pelicans as they soar while scouring for fish. There is a beach at the southern tip that has rocks with large fossilized oysters and other ancient marine shellfish. While these are quite a sight, you are not permitted to remove them. Cabo Blanco holds a special place in the history of Costa Rica. It was the country's first area that was protected for nature conservation, and the first National Park created in Costa Rica in 1963. The reserve is named after the island Cabo Blanco, located 1.6 km from the reserve's southern tip. Since the times of the Conquistadores it has been known as the "White Cape" because encrusted guano covers the rocks. Cabo Blanco is an important seabird sanctuary and popular with ornithologists. It hosts large numbers of brown pelicans, frigate birds, laughing gulls, common terns, ospreys and Costa Rica's largest community of brown boobies