Visiting Manuel Antonio National Park

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
9
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
0
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
7
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
0
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
3
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
4
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
50 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
373rd/457
Bottom 20%
continent
North America
country
Costa Rica
Length of time
1 day or less
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$40 (typically $20 - $50)
Time of year visited
April
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Bird spotting Jungle
All Tags
Beaches Wildlife - Coaties Wildlife - Monkeys Wildlife - Parrots
Wow Factor
Two scores: first is the wow factor which ranges from ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️, and a separate category for the truly "gash". The second is the more analytical travel experience score, which considers 6 varied criteria to give an overall score out of 100.
⭐

Summary

The location is beautiful and there is an abundance of wildlife, but be prepared for hoards of other tourists, prices far far in excess of other areas nearby, and the kind of tacky industries that naturally spring up around such venues.

If you have kids / are elderly / don’t mind theme-park style crowds, then Manuel Antonio is a must – as I say, it is a beautiful location with idyllic white sand beaches easily accessible by the trails and with a practically guaranteed chance of seeing Capuchin monkeys, Pelicans and a whole host of tropical birds .  But if not, then there are other spots in Costa Rica you should put firmly in front of Manuel Antonio.  My recommendation in particular would be Camping in Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica’s premier wildlife experience.

 

If you are set on visiting the park, my 2 top  tips would be:

  1. Not to stay near the park itself.  The hotels and restaurants there are extremely expensive for what you get and, again, you feel like you’re in a theme park.  Instead, consider staying about an hour further down the coast around the Uvita area that avoids these problems and still gives you the jungle / beach / wildlife vibe.  In particular, I would recommend the El Castillo Hotel, which, in a 6 month trip travelling around Latin America, was the favourite place we stayed.
  2. Make sure you also visit the Rainmaker canopy walk – it’s around a 30min drive to the north of Manuel Antonio.  It’s far quieter (we arrived at 8am and had the place largely to ourselves); gives you a different view of the animals (ie from high up in the canopy); and has a series of spots to swim in the river.

Highlights

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#1 The park's wonderful abundance of tropical birds that allow you to see a different set just about everytime you look up

IMG_5053-rotated-aspect-ratio-675-900

#2 The nearby Rainmaker canopy walk, which is far quieter and gives a super view from high up in the jungle canopy

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#3 The gorgeous Manuel Antonio beach, hidden in a small cove and bursting with animals

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#4 The Capuchin Monkeys up to mischief all around you. Just watch out for you bags

Experiences nearby

Wow Factor Score Two scores: first is the wow factor which ranges from ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️, and a separate category for the truly "gash". The second is the more analytical travel experience score, which considers 6 varied criteria to give an overall score out of 100. LowHigh
  • Elite, unmissable
  • World-class, downsides
  • Meets the Wow Factor
  • Worth it
  • Meh
  • Gash

Other wildlife encounter experiences

Safari in the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater

Sailing the Komodo Islands in November

Camping in Corcovado National Park

Campervanning through Yellowstone National Park

Island hopping the Galapagos Islands

Hanging out with the Masai in the Masai Mara

3 days in Torres del Paine National Park

Scuba diving at Wolf and Darwin Islands in the Galapagos

Swimming with Humpback Whales and relaxing in paradise in Vava’u

Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences - from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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