This trip was amazing well worth the money. Our pick up team George and Mono were great. They were followed by more great guides. Orlando was personable and an expert... read more in rafting. He made our trip smooth and fun even with our kids 13 &14. They were knowledgeable about animals, plants and the river. We were beyond happy with the experience they all provided and it's a locally owned business. This is a great trip to take for the whole family. Best river rafting in Costa Rica.

  We had an amazing trip down the river with this tour company. It was a quiet day so we ended up with a private tour just the three of us,... read more myself, my husband and our 20 year old daughter. Nicholas was our river guide, he was amazing and although it was very much still an adventure, we all felt very safe! Erik and Jonathan were our kayakers for extra safety and to take pictures and they too were excellent. All three were funny and entertaining, yet always mindful of our safety! Our driver was “Super Mario” and he also was a gem, providing lots of information about the environment, he had a refreshing drink and snacks ready for us after the rafting and got us safely to and from our location! Great lunch at the tour office afterwards capped off a perfect day! Thank you all for making our rafting adventure something we will never forget! Highly recommended!

  Beautiful simple tour - Took a tour of Manuel Antonio National park with tour guide Alberto. The park is beautiful. A short hike out to a the most perfect beach. We saw 2 toed... read more and 3 toed sloths (several), Jesus Christ basilisks, howler monkeys, capuchin monkeys, crabs, iguanas, and a few other animals. Lots of info about animals and plants. Guide clearly had a passion and knowledge and shared it in an entertaining way. The guide had a monocular that he set up. Without him we would have walked a nice trail but seen almost no wildlife.

No snacks allowed in the park, only water. There is a place to purchase snacks but we did not.

There is a break for about half an hour to spend at the beach with bath houses to changed. Water was warm and calm. You can stay longer but have to arrange your own transportation home.

At the end of the tour there is a refreshing drink and fresh fruit by the bus which was nothing fancy but a nice pick me up.

Alberto was an excellent guide and Charlie our bus driver deserves honorable mention for keeping us up to date on World Cup scores.

  It was a great experience to learn about the mangrove and its ecosystem. Our guide Leandro was very professional, kind and knew all sorts of informations.

We got... read more very close to white face monkeys.
We didn’t see any crocodiles unfortunately.

They brought us to a very nice local restaurant and we ate one of the best diner we’ve had all week.

They always made sure we were okay and having fun.

  My boyfriend and I had the best adventure after two days prior of rain and our guides Jilo and Orlando. Not to Forget Super Mario our amazing driver safely... read more venturing up the narrow roads to a higher altitude for the more advanced rapids! He also showed us the many plants that make up modern household products like citronella and BenGay. These guides love what they do and it’s apparent through the pictures that we taken that day! Facial expressions say it all! The guides were extremely personal and shared their experiences and history with the river and adventures! The rapids were a 3/4 that day and we didn’t fall out! We also had a delicious authentic Costa Rican meal following our trip. We are happy to have found this group and will be bringing many of our guests from the states!

  Our tour guide Alberto had huge knowledge of the wildlife and fauna in the park and also wider conservation in Costa Rica. We saw 3 different types of monkeys including... read more the delightful squirrel monkey, two and three toed Sloths, lizards, bats lots of birds including a Toucan. If it had not been for the eagle eyed Alberto and his scope we would have missed most of what we saw.
Nick

  Having never ridden a horse before, Hugo was very instructive on how to mount and handle the horses once on top. The ride was smooth and quite fun for a... read more first timer like me. Hugo was always in control of not only his horse but our horses as well with voice commands. The waterfall moment at the end was quite charming and fun. We took a quick dip and Hugo took a few pictures and videos for us. Hugo thought us a lot about the region and the rich culture it has inherited. I recommend this experience to anyone who wants to relax and just enjoy the moment.

  So many sightings of wildlife in this park with our amazing guide Alan. He was very knowledgeable about wildlife and Costa Rica and his telescope caught so many sightings of... read more various birds and animals (and he got us some great pics). He definitely made it more fun and entertaining than going on our own!! What an incredible place. Great service. Best nature reserve tour in CR!

  My husband and I recently took this tour as an add-on to an 11-day group tour of Costa Rica.

I need to start by saying that as part... read more of our group tour of CR we were accompanied by an incredible guide who had told us so much about Costa Rica and gone out of his way to make sure we saw so much of the amazing flora and fauna this unforgettable country has to offer, so truly nothing (and no guide) could compare.

As part of our Manuel Antonia National Park tour, we were picked up in a small van at our hotel (along with 6 of our fellow travellers) and taken to the Toucanes Tours "home base" for breakfast. The breakfast was underwhelming - a plate of average-tasting gallo pinto, scrambled eggs, a tiny piece of toast (that was more like a dried-out slice of baguette), and a couple of pieces of plantain. Adequate portion size but not terribly tasty or filling for those with larger appetites. Coffee, tea, and juice/water were also included.

After the quick breakfast stop, we continued on into the town of Quepos where we saw a couple of sloths and some adorable capucin monkeys. Our Tocanes Tours' driver (Giovanni) and Tocanes Tours' guide (Jeremy) were very patient as we took photos and watched the animals.

Back in the van, we continued on to the entrance gate to Manuel Antonio National Park.

At the entrance of the park our backs were checked for food and drink. (This is to protect the monkeys and wildlife within the park.)

As we walked the pathway in the park, heading towards the ultimate destination of the beach, Jeremy stopped to show us many things including lizards, insects, birds, plants, and even a Howler monkey perched high in the treetop.

It was fun to stop at the cafeteria area to watch the adorable moneys frolic. This also offered the opportunity to go to the souvenir shop, use the bathroom, or change into your swimsuit (for those who hadn't worn theirs under their clothes).

The true highlight of the park (for me) was the beach. Because we were there during the quieter tourism season, there was lots of places to spread our towels and it wasn't crowded at all. The ocean water was so warm, although there is a bit of an undertow, so weaker swimmers be warned not to venture too deep.

Unfortunately, because our guide had tried so hard to show us so many things and spent so much time setting up his scope (sometimes too many things and taking too much time, to be honest) we only had 40 minutes to enjoy the beach/water before it was time to walk back (along a different path through the mangrove forest) to our waiting van.

Our "included lunch" was a real disappointment, as it was back at the same Tocanes Tours hub where we'd had breakfast and was a buffet that was depleted in quantity and the food wasn't warm. We were told there were four choices of meat but there was only chicken left when we got there (which was quite tasty).

After a quick lunch it was back in the van for the drive back to the hotel.

We were picked up at 6am and back at 4:30pm. That was a long day for two meals that were sub-par and 40 minutes at the beach, in my opinion. Neither my husband nor I, nor the 6 others we travelled with, felt that we got what we paid for. The van was clean and comfortable, the driver and the guide were friendly, polite, and professional, the food was meh (!!!), and the beach visit was too short.

The park is a beautiful place but you may wish to take it in on your own or hire one of the many guides waiting around the gate area when you get there. I feel certain that part of us feeling underwhelmed was as a result of the incredible experience our 11-day-tour guide had already provided us.

  We had a terrific tour of Manuel Antonio National Park with Danny and George. Danny is so good at finding wildlife throughout the park, from small frogs to basilisk... read more lizards to iguanas to lots of small birds and monkeys. Friends are not going to believe the pictures we are bringing back. It was obvious that Danny loves his job and couldn't wait to share it with us. His English was great so we had no problem communicating. I highly recommend them if you are in the area. We were originally thinking about just hiking through the park ourselves. This was so much better in so many ways! Well worth the cost.

  Had a beautiful afternoon kayaking snorkeling and relaxing at the beach with our guide Gustavo. Thanks!

  Our transfer was smooth, easy and hassle free. Pedro was fabulous! Our bus was clean and comfortable. Air conditioning and free wifi were included. Highly recommend!!

  Tour guide, Orlando, was very experienced, knowledgeable, helpful, thoughtful, and fun to be with. Great time on the river. Had a lot of fun.

  Had an amazing time with Tucanes Tours nature hike in Manuel Antonio National park. This was probably my favorite experience out of all the things we did in Costa Rica!... read more Our guide Geiner was extremely knowledgeable and friendly and we were able to spot so much wild life! Would recommend this tour to everyone, and especially Geiner!

  We road this river with the guide group, River Runners. It was so much fun and our guide group was excellent! The photos and videos they took were... read more a welcome addition to our vacation. We highly recommend going with this group.

  Danny was an excellent guide, very knowledgeable and easy to understand. The guides worked together to find the animals and had a great monoscope to use. We had plenty... read more of time to walk with another family who had smaller kids (6-7 years old) and everyone stayed engaged including my teenagers. There is a snack/drink/ice cream place in the park. You stop before getting to the gorgeous beach. They had tons of fruit and drinks at the end of the tour. …

  We had an amazing morning being shown round Manuel Antonio national park by our guide Danny which included transfers, fruit/drinks and some time aside to explore the incredible beach within... read more the park.

Danny was a great guide - he was so enthusiastic and had a real flair for educating us about the flora and fauna of Costa Rica in an interesting and engaging way. We saw so much wildlife during the walk including two-toed and three-toed sloths (some with baby sloths!), a porcupine, bullfrog, tent making bats and more (we felt really lucky to see so much - you never know what you'll come across). Danny had a really useful scope to view the wildlife through and helped us take some brilliant photos.

An unforgettable morning tour!

  We enjoyed our kayak tour, but there also wasn't a lot to see. We did see monkeys and bats (not close enough to get a great look), some colorful crabs,... read more and a (very few) birds. Even though it was raining, we still had a pleasant time. Our guide knew the area and natural history well, but wasn't so great on the fauna. One problem we had was that the paddles are on the "primitive" side and lack some of finesse. In particular, they don't have water guards that prevent water from sliding down the paddle to your hands with each stroke, and they don't have any kind of pad where you hold the paddle; it's just smooth metal. The combination of wet hands on metal means you have to grip hard to keep the paddle from rotating, which got uncomfortable quickly. One of the paddles (out of the 10 in our group) had some kind of tape wrapped around the handle to help with the grip; this was a vast improvement. They should do this on all the paddles to make the experience more enjoyable. If you're a birder, you'd probably be better served by the boat tour of Damas Island. That tour goes farther out and got a lot of waders that we didn't see on the kayak tour.

  We toured Manuel Antonio NP with Raul and it was an incredible experience, probably my favorite activity we did during our entire time in Costa Rica! He was very friendly,... read more knowledgeable and answered every single question we had with expertise. If we had elected to go to the park without a tour guide there is no WAY we would’ve seen all the wildlife we got to see there! Raul was able to pick out sloths, snakes, bats, etc that we would’ve simple walked by having no idea they were ever there. We also got some awesome photos that Raul was kind enough to take using his telescope. At the end we were able to take a dip in the gorgeous ocean and enjoy the beach!

  Allen was a fabulous guide! As an ecologist, he shared knowledge of the animals, plants and culture and history of this park and Costa Rica. He found so many animals,... read more insects and birds for us to see. It was a wonderful experience.

  Our guide Danny was amazing- knowledgeable and enthusiastic. His English was great and he showed us everything we could have hoped for. We would thoroughly recommend this experience.

  We did two tours with them, the Manuel Antonio walking tour (with Karla and driver Carlos) and the afternoon Catamaran adventures (facilitated by a company called Dolphin World). Both were... read more great, drivers were on time and friendly. Karla was amazing at spotting animals in the forest I would have never seen without her. The staff on the Catamaran were very friendly as well and made sure we had a good, safe time. I would book with them again if I come back.

  This tour is a most do if you are in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica. Go with Tucán Tours and ask for Danny. He was the best, he made the day... read more even better. We saw so many animals and reptiles. The beach was so beautiful. Danny knew all the answers the my little boy had for him. We loved every minute of this tour. Tips, wear close toed shoes I forgot mine and I got bit by ants. Pura Vida!

Español, este tour fue buenísimo. Si estás en Manuel Antonio Costa Rica busca por Tucán Tours y pregunta por Danny. El hará de tu excursión una mejor. Sabe muchísimo de todo lo que verás en el parque y te inspira el amor por Costa Rica. Conocía todas las respuestas de las preguntas de mi niño. Un tip, use zapatos cerrados olvide los míos y me picaron varias hormigas. A su discreción. Pura Vida!

  Tucanes was prompt at our hotel with the pickup and as we drove around to pick up others, the guides gave us an overview of the history of the area.... read more We said we wanted to see monkeys and they stopped where they knew a troop of squirrel monkeys were and we got great photos! Once on the river, the guides were very knowledgeable about the flora and fauna. This was important to my daughter and I, as we were there to experience the biodiversity and learn. This was a great trip!

  What a fun experience !!! This was honestly the favorite tour we did during our entire stay in Costa Rica. The staff was amazing!! They really cared about your safety.... read more They made sure everyone was comfortable and informed about what was happening and expected. They also truly loved what they do and made sure we loved it as well. We had Orlando as our guide and we loved him!!! Great group of people and a really fun activity.

  Meh..nice horses, trained to walk the gravel road and back. Horses had a pecking order so my horse led the pack and I rode by myself. Guide pulled up the... read more rear. Not much guiding or info. Horses didn’t trot or gallup. It just wasn’t very interesting. Scenery was fine and we caught glimpses of the river and rapids below.

  Our guide, Jeremy, was knowledgeable and funny, and his English was outstanding. He kept two families with teens totally engaged as he somehow spotted, from a great distance, the... read more tiniest birds, frogs, and lizards, and even a tadpole egg sac suspended from a leaf! We also got to see many sloths and monkeys, and the views through the guide’s telescope were amazing. Jeremy took photos of everything through the scope and shared them with us so we could spend our time watching everything, rather than worrying about capturing photos of quickly moving animals (sloths being the exception: they barely moved, but were adorable).
Things to know:
1. The tour takes a ~25-minute break about 90 minutes in, when you get to the beach. There is a cafeteria and shop there, the only place you can buy/eat food in the park. You can choose to leave the tour at this point and stay until closing time at the beautiful beach (a little nicer and less crowded than the public beach outside).
But the snack Tucanes provides (fruit) isn’t until the END of the tour, once you’re outside the park gates. If you decide to stay in the park at the beach, you don’t get the snack afterward.
By the 90-minute point, though, most of us were very hot and ready for the beach and some food. It would be nice for Tucanes to arrange to buy the fruit for the tour group from the beach cafeteria, as we noticed other tour groups doing, so the snack could be at the midway point.

2. Do not bring food with you: The park administrators don’t let you bring any food into the park, not even fresh fruit. They search bags at the entrance and discard any food they find.
(Even if you succeed in smuggling something in, it’s pointless — the monkeys will find it. We saw a white-faced monkey with a baby on its back as it methodically rummaged through bags at the beach. The owner of one bag won the tug-of-war with monkey mama, but not before she extracted a contraband bag of marshmallows, yanked it away and triumphantly carried it up a tree.)

Overall, great tour and introduction to Manuel Antonio!