Manuel Antonio is a small village located on the Pacific coast of western Costa Rica. Because of the beautiful beaches and its most famous national park in whole Costa Rica, this town is very popular and loved by tourists. Here you will see sloths, capuchins, snakes, frogs, toucans and many other wild animals that Costa Rica is famous for.

Manuel Antonio itself is a tiny, six kilometer long road that leads from Quepos to the entrance of Manuel Antonio National Park. That’s why many tourists choose slightly larger and more developed Quepos as a place to stay. We didn’t deviate from the rule and we have to admit that Quepos was a great choice when it came to stay. But that’s all in a moment, first a few points on what there is to do in Manuel Antonio.

Rainmaker

It is a private conservation park with beautiful suspension bridges, small pools with waterfalls, and wonderful wild life. This is where we saw our first beautiful, but also poisonous frog. The park is absolutely wonderful and will definitely appeal to people who love a little adrenaline, a good hike and wild life.

The history of this place is very interesting. Originally Rainmaker mountain belonged to a rice farmer, who at one point fell into debt and had to put this beautiful place up for sale, but didn’t want to give it away to just anyone! Fortunetly his long term friend decided to buy it, but a few days before the purchase was finalized, he drowned in one of the Rainmaker`s waterfalls while rescuing a drowning child.

Thereon his wide and children fullfiled his dream even after his death, and bought the park from the farmer. Since then, the place has belonged to the Gurtierrez family.

Besides its interesting history, the Rainmaker also has very interesting suspension bridges, starting innocently enough with a short bridge that hangs a few meters above the ground, and ending with a bridge that hangs many meters above the ground. Definitely this part is for people without a fear of heights, and who like a gentle kick of adrenaline.

After crossing all the bridges, you can cool down in several pools with incredibly cold water and tiny, cute waterfalls. After this special hike you deserve it!

As we mentioned above the Rainmaker is also an amazing wild life: lizards, frogs, giant ants are some of the creatures you can meet while hiking here. Apparently the night walk is even more interesting, because you can also meet snakes then. However, we are not big fans of them, so we gave up the night walking tour.

It is hard to pick a favorite place in Costa Rica, but if we had to, Rainmaker would be high on the list. So if you are in Manuel Antonio make sure to put it on your list.

You will need a car to get to Rainmaker, otherwise you will not get there. However, if you don’t have a car you can take a taxi, it costs about $35 and takes about 30 minutes by car. The Rainmaker is not free of charge like most attractions in Costa Rica and the entrance costs $21 (14’220 pesos).

Manuel Antonio National Park

This is the smallest and the most popular park in Costa Rica. Tourists love this place so it is highly recommended to be here as early as possible. This park despite it’s small size has a very rich wild life like sloths, squirrel, monkeys, capuchins, birds, frogs, crabs, baths, iguanas, and even snakes are the animals we saw during our tour.

There are two ways to visit the park: by yourself or with a guide. We highly recommend a guided tour. You are almost sure to see your dream sloth. The more so because the guides are equipped with special equipment to clearly see the animals high up in the treetops. Without them we would not have been able to see anything except the monkeys, which were making their presence known and were hard to miss.

The park has several routes to choose from, there is a map at the entrance, so if you want to explore the park on your own, be sure to take a picture so you know where to go.

Remember also that no plastic bottles or food are allowed in the park, so it is advisable to bring a metal bottle. At the halfway point of the tour, there is time for drinks and snacks at the café which is located in the park. However you have to be very careful that the jumping monkeys don’t jump on the table and snatch something from your plate.

We were witnesses ourselves, when one monkey snatched the fruit from the plate of a tourist, and then ran away under the canopy and found a small lizard, which it ate for dessert.

We recommend here to eat a delicious banana cake, one slice will definitely satisfy two people. After the cake break, go to one of the beaches in the park. They are beautiful, wide and have soft sand. The water is refreshing and you definitely won’t want to leave. The closest beach can get a little crowded, but the further into the woods you go the more deserted and beautiful it gets.

Many people stay on one of the beaches after walking through the park, so it’s another bonus when you get up early to enjoy the beach longer.

The beaches you can find in the park are:

• Playa Espadrill South
• Playa Las Gemelasi
• Playa Escondido
• Manuel Antonio Beach

There is a fee to enter the park and it costs $18. Tickets for the park should be ordered online on the official website of Manuel Antonio National Park . The number of visitors is limited and it is advisable to do this in advance.

If you book a tour with a guide, both the entrance ticket and transportation to the park should be included in the price. We bought the tour with Costa Rica Jade Tours  and were extremely happy! Our guide Michelle had an amazing knowledge of the animals in the park, she also had an amazing gift for spotting sloths high in the trees and helped us taking pictures with her telescope and our phones where our lens couldn’t reach. The guided tour cost us $59.

Playa Espadilla Norte

It is the perfect place to relax. The beach is incredibly long and wide, with palm trees on one side and the ocean on the other, what more could you want?

Be careful though, as the waves on this beach can be incredibly strong. We experienced this ourselves, when we were lying on the beach and a big wave came so far out into the beach and strong, that it swept Sara’s shorts. Luckily we were able to save everything else, although the gap in Sara’s heart will remain forever… RIP blue shorts. 🥺

From time to time, street vendors with coconuts or other drinks stroll along the beach, so you can buy from them and quench your thirst. Access to the beach is free, as it is a public beach, but don’t worry about the crowds, the beach is practically empty, except for a few surfers who used the strong waves to exercise their skills.

Sunset in Quepos

Sunsets on the beach are definitely unforgettable, but if you don’t want to go to Manuel Antonio to watch the sunset, you can be sure of equally amazing sunset views in Quepos on the boardwalk.

To get to Quepos from San Jose you can rent a car, which is obviously the most convenient option, but also the most expensive since prices in high season can reach $100 per day.

A much cheaper option is to take public transportation which leaves from the Tracopa bus station in San Jose, costs $8 and takes about 3 hours. We came from Uvita and payed the same price, even it took us only one hour. Confusing but the reality.

If you are staying in Quepos, take the bus at the main station in Quepos to get to the Manuel Antonio National Park. It costs about 320 colones ($0.50) each and takes about 20-30 min, cause in Costa Rica every bus station is just a wink away.

There is also a taxi stand at the bus station, so you can take a taxi if you don’t want to take the bus.

Since we try to cook a lot during our trip, we only had the chance to visit two restaurants, and one of them brought Sara back into her childhood. Tres Banderas is a restaurant that serves Polish dumplings! So we couldn’t deny ourselves this pleasure and we tempted ourselves with this delicacy straight from the Polish land.

Also in the city centre of Quepos you can find a cute little restaurant called Coffee Stop with some good cafe and tasty food.

The best place to stay is the neighbour town Quepos. It is bigger with lots of stores, markets and restaurants. It is also more affordable since the closer it is to the park, the more expensive it becomes. With the low bus prices, it’s not worth the price difference. We stayed at Nomada’s Digital and loved it.

Best time to visit Manuel Antonio is from January to April. During these months you got the best weather, but Costa Rica is great to travel all year around. The other months are just a bit more rainy, mostly in the morning.

Entry to Costa Rica is allowed for tourists from all countries. A return flight ticket is needed when entering Costa Rica, the immigration officer will ask for it upon your arrival.

Visitors to Costa Rica must have a valid passport as well as proof of their intent to exit the country before their visa or entry stamp expires, usually within 90 days. Even with a 90-day tourist visa, the immigration official determines the duration of your stay as allowed by your passport.

The prices are per person, except for the accommodation and Taxi, which we rent for 2 people.

Accommodation: $41 / night

Restaurant: $12 – $23 / meal

Snack: $2 – $4 / meal

Pleasure: $2 – $4 / event

Taxi: $4 – $29 / ride

Activity: $21 – $56 / event