Cahuita National Park Nature Walk & Waterfall Tour
Description
Duration: 5–6 hours | Type: Shared Tour | Language: English & Spanish Jungle Trails, Wildlife Encounters & Refreshing Waterfalls Embark on a scenic adventure that blends Costa Rica’s coastal rainforest, wildlife, and natural beauty. Start your journey at Cahuita National Park, one of the country’s most biodiverse coastal reserves. Enjoy a guided walk along flat, shaded trails, perfect for spotting monkeys, sloths, raccoons, iguanas, butterflies, and a variety of tropical birds—all while enjoying views of the turquoise Caribbean Sea. After your jungle experience, head inland to visit a hidden waterfall, where you can cool off with a refreshing swim or simply relax in nature’s tranquility.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Make a stop at a local fruit stand to explore some of Costa Rica’s most iconic tropical treats. Savor sweet pineapple, juicy papaya, mini bananas, crispy platanitos, refreshing watermelon, and freshly cut coconut. You’ll also have the opportunity to try smooth Costa Rican coffee, renowned worldwide for its quality and rich flavor.
We’ll drive along the Caribbean coast to reach Cahuita. Along the way, you’ll pass banana plantations and enjoy scenic views of the region’s rural life.
This scenic 2-kilometer trail takes you on a guided walk through lush secondary forest, offering the chance to experience Costa Rica’s rich biodiversity up close. Along the way, you’ll enjoy beautiful landscapes and a variety of tropical flora and fauna. The trail is especially known for its frog species, including the striking red dart frog (Oophaga pumilio), as well as common sightings of howler monkeys, white-faced capuchins, and both species of Costa Rican sloths (two- and three-toed). Bird lovers can spot toucans, oropendolas, tanagers, hummingbirds, great kiskadees, and more. Squirrels, butterflies, and other fascinating creatures also fill this vibrant ecosystem.
We’ll visit a local waterfall and natural pools where you can take a refreshing swim in a beautiful jungle setting. Bring your swimsuit, towel, and a change of clothes if you'd like to take a dip.
After a full day of exploring the southern Caribbean, we’ll make our way back to the port.
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
Your tour begins inside the pier, where our guides will be waiting for you with a sign displaying your name. Look for our red shirts for easy identification. We offer pickup right inside the pier, so there’s no need to walk outside the facilities. Timing: Tours are scheduled 30 minutes after your ship docks, with the earliest tour starting at 8:00 AM. As the best local tour operator, we guarantee your return to the cruise ship
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(31)
The guide and driver were experienced, knowledgeable, and pleasant. We not only saw what we hoped to, but the day was fun and the company was fine.
Thank you very much for your kind feedback. We’re delighted to hear that both your guide and driver made your experience enjoyable, informative, and smooth throughout the day. It’s especially rewarding to know that you were able to see everything you hoped for while also having a fun and pleasant time. We truly appreciate you choosing us and hope to have the opportunity to welcome you again in the future. Warm regards,
What an amazing tour! Guide Kim and driver Gigi were so genuinely passionate about each stop and made sure our entire experience was unforgettable. They both went above and beyond the tour description and made our previous tour in Panama look soooo bad in comparison. We saw many sloths, monkeys, and got incredible photos up close.
Thank you very much for sharing your experience with us. We are delighted to hear that you had such an amazing tour and that Kim and Gigi’s genuine passion made the day truly unforgettable. It is especially rewarding to know that they went above and beyond the tour description and that their dedication stood out so clearly. Seeing sloths and monkeys up close and capturing incredible photos are exactly the kinds of moments we hope our guests take home with them. Your feedback will be gladly shared with Kim and Gigi, as recognition like this means a great deal to our team. Thank you for choosing us, and we hope to have the pleasure of welcoming you again on a future visit to Costa Rica.
Evelyn was an amazing guide! We saw so many examples of local nature and learned a lot too. Highly recommend this tour...otherwise you will miss so much.
Thank you so much for your kind words! We’re delighted to hear that Evelyn made your experience so memorable. She is truly passionate about sharing Costa Rica’s natural beauty, and it’s wonderful to know you enjoyed both the wildlife sightings and the insights she provided. We really appreciate your recommendation—guided tours do make a big difference, and we’re glad you felt the value of it. We hope to welcome you back for more adventures in the future! Warm regards,
Evelyn was an amazing guide. We saw sloth, Toucans, howler monkey, yellow pit viper, hourglass tree frog, Morpho butterfly, cutter ants. She's, fun, delightful. We enjoyed every minute of our tour.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience! We’re thrilled to hear that Evelyn made your tour unforgettable. It’s wonderful that you were able to spot so many iconic species — from sloths and toucans to the yellow pit viper, hourglass tree frog, and the beautiful Morpho butterfly. Evelyn will be delighted to know her fun and enthusiastic guiding made such a positive impact on your day. We truly appreciate your kind words and are glad you enjoyed every minute of the tour. It was a pleasure to have you with us, and we hope to welcome you back for another adventure in Costa Rica soon!
Walking through the rainforest is just magical. We had the chance of being with Sheyy, who explained every species we encountered. We literally tasted what the forest offered, as locals and indigenous people do. That was love at first sight. I am already missing it.
Thank you for sharing such a beautiful review! We’re so glad you enjoyed this magical rainforest experience with Sheyy. It’s wonderful to hear that learning about the species, tasting what the forest provides, and connecting with nature in such an authentic way made such a lasting impression on you. Moments like these truly capture the essence of Costa Rica. We’ll be happy to welcome you back whenever you’re ready for your next adventure!
Our guide was Rishelyn, she was incredible! We have done a few guided tours while in Costa Rica but Rishelyns tour was exceptional, she really has eagle eyes! we saw so much wildlife including the tiniest baby eyelash pit viper that she spotted as well as a family of little baby bats. She was also very knowledgeable about the flora and fauna and told us about medicinal plants, trees and plants significant to the indigenous bribri culture and about the favored habitats of the animals we saw. If you are wanting to see tons of wildlife and learn more about the jungle as well I would highly recommend Rishelyn!
Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback! We're thrilled to hear that you had such a memorable experience with Rishelyn. She truly has a gift for spotting wildlife and sharing her deep knowledge of the rainforest, and it’s great to know her passion and expertise made your tour so special. We’ll be sure to pass along your kind words to her. We appreciate your recommendation and hope to welcome you back for another adventure in Costa Rica soon!
My friend and I we took a private tour with the most amazing tour guides and driver.yiyi and fio we’re very kind and accommodating, they educated all the way over to the falls and all the way to the national park where we saw monkeys and little tiny baby yellow snakes. They are kind and knowledgeable and very safe in our van. We highly recommend that you ask for them when you come on this tour because you will have an amazing experience and see the most beautiful parts of Costa Rica. We are grateful for choosing them for our Costa Rica adventure.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful experience! We're thrilled to hear that Yiyi and Fio made your private tour so memorable with their kindness, knowledge, and attentiveness. It sounds like you had an incredible adventure spotting wildlife and exploring Costa Rica's natural beauty. Your recommendation means a lot to us, and we'll be sure to pass along your kind words to Yiyi and Fio. We hope to welcome you back for more amazing experiences in the future! 🌿🐒✨
Great Day..waterfalls are beautiful and loved that we got to swim right up to them. Our guide, Ian was so smart or courteous. We saw so many animals at the park and had a lovely seafood lunch over looking the ocean (lunch cost not included) recommend this tour.
Thank you for sharing your experience! It sounds like an incredible day—swimming up to the waterfalls, spotting wildlife, and enjoying a delicious seafood lunch with an ocean view. We’re thrilled to hear that Ian provided such a knowledgeable and courteous tour. Your recommendation means a lot, and we’d love to welcome you on another adventure in the future! 🌊🌿😊
Rosa and Jose were fantastic. They tailored the tour how we wanted and were incredibly friendly. A wonderful trip to the Poas volcano, the Paz waterfalls and Starbucks coffee farm. Highly recommend this day trip from San Jose.
Thank you for sharing your experience! We’re delighted to hear that Rosa and Jose made your trip so special by tailoring the tour to your preferences. Visiting the Poás Volcano, La Paz Waterfalls, and the Starbucks coffee farm sounds like a perfect day filled with nature and culture. We truly appreciate your recommendation and hope to host you again for another amazing adventure in Costa Rica! 🌋🌿☕✨
It relatively not a big park, only one trail and lots of people. All those noisy tourists wanting to get a close up with their phones scare away the wild life. Having said that, this natural piece of land is full of beautiful unexpected flora and fauna, critters all over and guides are knowledgeable. It’s not that far from cruise terminal in Puerto Limon and locals are very friendly and polite. Beware though of locals asking for a tip to use side of stalls to take pictures of sloths. Beach is beautiful, but water can be rough and often closed for swimming. Photo ops are amazing.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! It's great to hear that you appreciated the natural beauty, flora, fauna, and knowledgeable guides despite the park being relatively small and busy at times. Your insights about the proximity to the Puerto Limón cruise terminal and the friendliness of locals are helpful for other travelers. We'll take note of your comments about the sloth photo opportunities and the beach conditions—it’s always good to set the right expectations. Thank you again for your feedback, and we hope you enjoyed your visit overall! 🌿📸
