Open Areas Birding
Enjoy a walk-through hidden corner, find unique moments with a wonderful nature.The central Pacific coast of Costa Rica is one of the most biologically diverse areas in the world. Its location, known as a transition forest, is very unique, geographically, the central Pacific lies between the tropical dry forest of the northwest and the tropical rainforest of the southwest. Costa Rica has the advantage from the characteristics of dry and tropical forests with consistent weather patterns, birds and wildlife use the central Pacific forest as a corridor to access food and breeding sites.
This privileged area has excellent points for birding we have identified three areas according to our experience, depending of your targets you can choose your destiny:
Tarcoles Birding
Tárcoles is an incredible starting point for everyone who loves birds or wants to learn about them. Tárcoles is located on the fine line between the dry forest and the rain forest, it borders the Rio Grande de Tarcoles and the Carara National Park, home to many species of iconic birds such as the scarlet macaw and dry forest species such as the ground cuckoo.
The Tarcoles area offers dirt roads and river banks locating some of the most common bird habitats. semi-open. Ever-changing forests due to human intervention or rainforest restoration due to conservation have helped the growth in the number of species such as the Baird’s Trogon Fiery-billed Aracari, Laughing Falcon, Scarlet Macaw, Great Egret, Rufous-tailed, plus many hummingbirds.
Jaco Birding
Known as the surf capital of Costa Rica, Jaco is little known to the bird world. With an astonishing number of more than 400 species of birds, Jacó is the best destination for bird watching in all of Costa Rica, nestled between mountains, rivers and the Pacific Ocean as a natural barrier, Jaco becomes an important destination to see birds.
Macaws find nesting areas in this coastal city, but also its great diversity of micro ecosystems causes the numbers to increase, dozens of families coexist less than 10 minutes by car from the main strip. The diverse habitats of the rainforest are home to a large number of birds, but also the patches of nearby forests, estuaries, grasslands, and agricultural lands. Perfect for bird watchers of all levels, naturalists, and environmentalists.
Bijagual Birding
Ideal for the most passionate bird watchers, this adventure is based on the principles of driving, sighting and walking. Bijagual is located between two life zones, the tropical humid forest and the very humid premontane forest, between places of rural roads, pastures, mature and secondary forests.
Its climatic and landscape condition makes it a very particular destination for bird watching as it can easily exceed 350 species of birds among migratory birds and residents of the lower and upper regions of the central Pacific. The walk along with the patience for bird watching introduces to the visitors is one of the best experiences of his life.
Duration
- 3 hours
It includes
- Snack and water
- Professional Bilingual Guide
- Professional Binoculars
What to bring
- Comfortable clothes.
- Tennis or closed sandals.
- Sunscreen.
- Sunglasses.
- Cameras are optional.
- Mosquito repellent
Additional Information
- Local transportation service is provided
- Children under 7 years old for free, from 8 years old they pay full rate.
- We provide professional Nikon equipment for extra cost
- Price: $70 pp.
Randall is an extremely gifted birder and photographer. He found many birds/animals and even aligned the boat for the best light to use for taking your photos. Highly recommend

April 16, 2022
If you are a serious birder, Randall Ortega is for you. He can pick up a bird species as quiet as a paper clip dropping. He is totally... read more knowledgeable about the birds, the wildlife, and the Tarcoles River. You will most likely pick up several new "lifers" with Randall. Even if you are not into the birds as much, the boats are clean, efficient, and quiet, which if great when you are cruising through the wilderness which abounds here. Highly recommended for birders, nature watchers, and sight seers. Don't miss it!

February 8, 2021
This is so far one of the best photography tours I've take... Randall was our guide and he took the time to explain, help and assist about how to... read more take the photography and most important handle the pace of our tour... he guide the driver about when we need 5 o 6 mins just to get the picture... Those are details as photographer that we really appreciate.
The tour takes around 3 hours ... but working on this way you are almost guarantee that would be able to take an stunning photography. Worried about gear? no worries... Mangrove Birding have gear that can rent and include as part of the tour.. Never used a 500mm prime before and they give that opportunity to capture the picture I was looking for.
Randall knows a lot about nature and photography and other collaborators like Jose or Leo are really Customer focused... so you don't need to worry about anything... all details are completely covered.
This is a tour that I would suggest to anyone visiting costa rica for birdwatching... and there is one more thing.. you can schedule at sunrise or sunset... so you can got incredible sights and pictures both times of the day ...

December 10, 2021