Costa Rica Night Walk Guide: What to Expect, Cost, and Is It Worth It?
If you’ve ever wondered what lurks in the Costa Rica forest at night, now is your chance to see it for yourself! A night tour, one of the most popular things to do in Costa Rica, gives you a chance to see frogs, snakes, and other animals that you likely wouldn’t see during the daytime.
My one goal was to see a Red-Eyed Tree Frog, and we did. I was a happy camper!
If this sounds scary, I promise you, it’s not. My wife and I had a WONDERFUL time on our night tour, and the other couple in our group had a great time as well. So, as you’re planning your activities and tours in Costa Rica, a night tour is highly worth it and won’t disappoint!
Is a Costa Rica Night Walk Worth It?
This is so incredibly worth it! If you come to Costa Rica, doing a night walk is definitely one of the best things to do here. There’s no other time or place where you’ll get to explore a forest at night and not feel uncomfortable.
These tours are generally designed for people of all ages (just make sure kids don’t try to touch things), and you’re hopefully in for a treat with seeing so many cool frogs, snakes, and more! Thanks to our guide, we saw an array of reptiles and amphibians that I would have literally never seen.
A Costa Rica night walk was at the top of my list for activities on our honeymoon, and it blew away my expectations!
The one thing we didn’t see any of were birds. But that’s okay. If we had wanted to do a bird-specific tour, we should have booked it.
My Night Walk Experience in La Fortuna
My wife and I chose to do our Costa Rica night walk after a day of white water rafting. This gave us some downtime in the afternoon before heading out to Papa’s Place for our tour. (This is just a 10-minute drive outside of La Fortuna.)
When we arrived, we noticed people staring up and pointing at the rope far above. On it was a sloth! It actually worked out pretty well because our guide was running late, so we had 15 minutes to watch the sloth slowly move across the rope.
Into the forest
I had one goal for this tour: See a Red-Eyed Tree Frog. We hadn’t seen it on our Costa Rica itinerary yet, and I was hopeful tonight would be the night. Well, it took our guide all of seven minutes to point one out to us. It was almost laughable how close it was to us, yet it blended in nicely on the green leaf.
From there on, it was frog after frog after frog. I think we saw seven or eight different species. We also saw two snakes, including our second Pit Viper of the trip. Our group also had a cool experience seeing a Kinkajou, which is related to raccoons and coatis, and called “Honey Bears” because they tend to raid beehives.
For approximately 90 minutes, we explored the trails in the area, taking long, hard looks at every plant we could, to try to see if there were any friendly faces. That’s the fun part about this tour. Everyone needs to be an active participant. While your guide is familiar with the area, the frogs and snakes don’t have tracking devices.
This means we all were using flashlights to seek out wildlife.
Papa’s Place
This was a cool place and one that I heard about on Reddit. It’s near the National Park boundaries and was created to protect nature and allow wildlife to flourish. For Papa’s Place, we basically did a big loop starting from their main staging area, walking down the trail, and then back up.
While it’s not ADA accessible, if you can walk, you shouldn’t have any issues navigating the terrain.
Overall, it was a fantastic experience, and I’m super glad we did it. Our guide, Raul, was incredibly friendly and knowledgeable, and made the night tour a 10/10.
Easy Booking: Expedia.com | Hotels.com | VRBO | Booking.com
Need Gear: Find it on REI.com
Find Awesome Tours: Viator.com or GetYourGuide.com
Follow on Instagram: @Alecoutside
Iceland on your bucket list? Get my Iceland guide + 144 pinned locations on Google Map
What exactly is a night walk in Costa Rica
How long do they last?
The Costa Rica night walks are advertised as a two-hour trip, but we found ours to be around 90 minutes, maybe a smidge more. I was somewhat hoping for a long tour. Still, we had seen a lot, and I guess when it’s dark out, there’s not much more you’re going to see.
I think this also factors in Costa Rica time, which can be a little slow and meandering before the actual tour starts. (To be fair, we did have a sloth crawling along a money rope that occupied about 15 minutes before the tour started.)
How much do these cost per person?
Most night walks in Costa Rica cost between $40 and $65 per person. I think ours was $45 per person, which seemed reasonable for around two hours. If you want to browse prices on Viator, click here.
What will you see?
It’s important to remember that nothing is guaranteed when you visit Costa Rica. Animals can be unpredictable, so it’s best to approach these tours with an open mind and tamp down expectations. With all that said, there’s a good chance you’ll see various frogs, snakes, sloths, spiders, nocturnal mammals, and more.
What should you bring?
Here’s a general idea of what to bring for your Costa Rica night walk.
- Closed-toe shoes
- Pants
- Shirt/long-sleeve shirt
- Rain Jacket, just in case
- Camera/Phone
- Macro Lens for your phone camera (though your guide may have one)
- If you’re looking for a professional Macro Lens, here you go: Canon | Sony | Nikon
Where can you do a Costa Rica night walk?
They have these ALL OVER the country (though maybe not as much in the Guanacaste areas near the ocean, as those are drier/has less animal activity). I know they have them in Uvita, Monteverde, La Fortuna, Sarapiqui, Manuel Antonio, and more!
Should I pick a 6pm or an 8pm time slot for my night walk?
That’s a good question, and one I looked up and thought about, too. I honestly don’t think it matters in terms of what you’ll see. I’m sure there are some pros/cons, but I’m going to guess it’s not worth the headache.
In the end, pick the one that works best for your schedule and the group you’re with. The 6pm slot sort of interrupts dinner, but the 8pm one will have you back at your lodging around 10pm. That’s not late by any means, but it may be later than you want to be out.
In the end, we chose the 6pm slot, grabbed dinner on the way home, and it was perfect.
Is there a difference between a night walk and a night hike in Costa Rica
For the most part, no. These are used interchangeably to describe an evening tour to see animals in Costa Rica. You’ll have to look at the tour details for specifics.
Overall, I’ve found that most of these experiences are on a flat (or nearly flat) patch of land created to protect wildlife and provide a nice place to see reptiles and other animals.
More Photos from Our La Fortuna Night Walk
Enjoy these pictures from our evening outside!
Final Thoughts on the Costa Rica Night Walk
The Costa Rica night walk is definitely worth it on your trip to Costa Rica. You’ll learn a ton about animals, the forest, and conservation, and see some really cool sights and feel more connected to nature.
For returning readers, you know I’d never lead you astray! So, wherever you go in Costa Rica, add a night tour to your list.
Until next time, adventurers, stay safe.
Follow on social media: TikTok || Instagram || Facebook || Newsletter | YouTube