Manuel Antonio National Park Day Trip from San Jose

San Jose, Costa Rica

Spend a day exploring one of Costa Rica's most beautiful attractions on a guided full day tour from San Jose. Visit Manuel Antonio National Park, a stunning combination of beach, tropical forest and beautiful wildlife, and enjoy the scenic landscape. You can hike, join a nature walk on the park’s trails, or just relax on the beach!

Manuel Antonio National Park is considered one of the most beautiful areas in Costa Rica. It features a beach of crystal-clear waters with coral reefs and is bordered by exuberant tropical vegetation and rainforests. Its beaches are considered among the best in the country, with great snorkeling and the surfing spots.

Enjoy a drive along the Pacific coastline and enjoy scenic views on the way to Manuel Antonio National Park. Travel past photogenic villages along the coast until you reach the port of Quepos and the park.

Since the park is closed to vehicles, you can hike to the preserve. Relax and enjoy the beach, sunbathe or join a nature walk along the trails and observe the park's abundant flora and fauna. Spot monkeys, iguanas, birds and possibly even the famous three-toed sloth! Hike up toward Cathedral Point to enjoy spectacular views of the park and Pacific.
Enjoy a perfect sunset on a scenic drive back to your San Jose hotel.

USD $123.00

Review by:   Alan DC,    May 2018
I enjoyed this tour a lot given that Manuel Antonio National Park is one of the best places to visit in Costa Rica. The tour is highly recommended especially if you are pressed for time. Normally, it takes at least two days to visit Manuel Antonio. Since I am from the Philippines with more stunning beaches, I just went trekking at the National Park. I took all three major trails and leisurely walked for around four hours. It's a different experience because you get to see monkeys, sloths, raccoons and other animals along the trail. The guide was also informative and entertaining!

Review by:   Christin L,    April 2018
Great trip to a truly beautiful beach. We had a fantastic tour guide - Jose, who took great care of the whole group even though we all were interested in different things. Wonderful breakfast and lunch and the National Park has so much to offer.

Review by:   Patricia B,    March 2018
We were disappointed with this trip from the beginning. When we were picked up, the driver spoke absolutely no english therefore communication was difficult. If we had not had a member of our party who spoke spanish, we would have had no way to understand him. Once we got to the park, we were surprised with an additional fee of 30 per person for a guided tour which we did not expect nor was this mentioned in the description. Basically this was 140 for a ride to the park and the 16 it cost to get into the park for a self walking tour. Everyone in my party was very disappointed.

Review by:   Skeeta S,    March 2018
Very long day of driving, but the stops along the way were well selected.

Review by:   Cheryl G,    March 2018
Although this tour starts out very early in the morning it is well worth it! The drive is long but hey, I wanted to see Costa Rica and our tour guide, Carlos was very informative. About an hour in, we stopped for breakfast, which was very tasty and well prepared. After that we drove another 30/40 minutes or so and stopped a local gift shop. It was reasonably priced items and well worth stopping for. We proceeded to the park and they stopped by a beautiful scenic view to take pictures. When we got to the park, they gave us a very good small sub sandwich and water. Then he gave us the options of going directly to the beach or take the rain tour and then go to the beach. I opted for the tour as I live by the beach back home. It was very informative and he was definitely on the lookout for any animals. We actually didn't see any monkeys until we got to the beach, their home. LOL Carlos also told us about the 3 point look out which you could go up to see and it is definitely a hike up, so be prepared. Now here is where we encountered those lil spider monkeys. Try not to be afraid of them although they seem aggressive. The points were a beautiful spot to take pictures of the ocean. Once we made it back down, we decided to lay out at the beach. Well this is where those monkeys get aggressive. I didn't have any food in my bag however, I had pulled my towel partially out of my bag. My friend was watching my bag, so she had her back against the trees, well one came up and started to grab my stuff. She ran away and another person on the beach shewed him away. So we moved further down the beach thinking if we were away from the closes part of the forest, they would leave us alone. Well they did but then we had an encounter with 3 raccoons. They are easily shewed away if you are aggressive with them. After our beach time was over, we went back to the restaurant where we were served a delicious lunch which we had great options prior, to choose from. The service was impeccable and with the cost of the tour, it was surely every pennies worth. I highly recommend this tour and just be prepared, it is a long day. We were lucky that it was during the week and the traffic wasn't as bad. They did say it has sometimes taken twice the amount of time to get back due to the high volume of traffic and the day of the week.

Review by:   Momo,    February 2018
Excellent. Very enjoyable trip. The bus was comfortable and air-conditioned. We were given the choice of walking through the forest before spending a few hours on the beach or walking straight through to the beach for those wanting to spend more time on the beach. We started with breakfast then a snack before the walk in the forest and lunch after the beach and before heading back to the hotels.

Review by:   Arrena S,    February 2018
The park was amazing! Be prepared for challenging walking elevations, even to and from the beach. There are many path options to walk, or enjoy several beaches. The main beach is definitely the best! There are many animals to watch and they are very friendly. Keep an eye out for raccoons and iguanas. We considered staying in Jaco, but instead settled on taking several day trips from San Jose. This was worth it! It was a full day, but there were meals included. They are very accommodating and picked us up from our hotel in Escazu.

Review by:   Jillian S,    February 2018
The park was beautiful and we enjoyed seeing the animals/relaxing on the beach, but this trip was 75% bus ride. That may be due in part to the traffic that day, but 11+ hours in a van for 4 hours of excursion was tough. Parts of the trip felt disorganized and we spent a lot of time waiting around.

Review by:   William F,    February 2018
Manuel Antonio National Park is a must see in Costa Rica. It is simply beautiful. Whether you want to relax on a great beach or trek one of the many trails in the area and observe the wildlife it is a great place. You will likely see a wide variety of Costa Rica animals such as iguanas, monkeys, sloths, and frogs, plus an array of beautiful Pacific Coast landscapes and crystal clear water to swim in. This tour is highly recommended!!!

Review by:   Robin,    February 2018
I booked this trip mostly for the transportation from San Jose to Manuel Antonio. I'd recommend trying to find a shuttle service if this is the case for you.

Review by:   Jason S,    January 2018
The tour guide Carlos was amazing. I've done many day trips tours in different countries, and Carlos was probably the best guide I've ever had. He explained the itinerary/time frames very clearly and repeatedly. He was very knowledgeable of the flora and fauna and really took the time to explain things. We saw an abundance of animals-- crocodiles, three species of monkeys, deer, several sloths, scarlet macaws on the pacific coast highway, rainbow crabs, etc. The beach was beautiful. This tour was an incredible experience.

Review by:   omaralaa92,    January 2018
Very nice place to visit. If you do not mind a long ride in the bus, I would recommend it. The food was good as well.

Review by:   Hui Min C,    January 2018
This was our second tour with the same tour guide, Antonio, after our Arenal/hot spring tour. He made an attempt at speaking more in English, but still only about 30 in English, and spent much more time chatting in Spanish with the others in the mini van a Mexican family of six. The other family was always 10 to 15 minutes late coming back to the van at every single stop, and I feel there is some communication issue between Antonio and them and us he never reinforced the meeting time with them and never discussed the issue with us he would tell us, Yes, we're leaving now, then walk off to find the other family. We hit heavy traffic on the way back and a normally 2-hour drive turned into 5 hours. My trip companion and I had to share a row of seats with another person in the mini van it was a tight squeeze but luckily all of us are small. It might not be the easiest trip to manage for Antonio, between the consistent tardiness of the other family and the traffic, but I feel he could have handled it better by talking to us more.

Review by:   DANIEL V,    December 2017
Manuel Antonio is an amazing place. Miza was a great guide. The only thing I would change is the bus, which is very uncomfortable.

Review by:   Chad S,    November 2017
I highly recommend this trip! Food was amazing, beach was amazing, tour guide/group were amazing. Everything about this trip was amazing. Just what I needed!!!!!

Review by:   Raphael,    September 2017
I love it. The beach was warm and amazing. The food was delicious. It was such a long day but worth it.

Review by:   Eliagne S,    September 2017
The best .

Review by:   Paul P,    July 2017
It's a long bus ride there and a long bus ride back. I appreciate that the tour operator broke this up with some stops for breakfast, crocodile sighting, souvenir shopping, etc., and the countryside is beautiful, but I was really glad I took my kindle to read on the way back. The beach is beautiful, and I did get to see three different types of monkeys, a sloth, and other wildlife. The town next to the park is very touristy, and both it and the park were crowded with tourists. The tour provided lunch before our long drive back to the city. If you're really a beach person, you should probably plan on a two-day trip, or include this stop on a multi-day tour of the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. As a day-trip from the central valley, it was underwhelming. It felt both rushed and far too long, if that's even possible.

Review by:   JonDoh,    July 2017
This tour was amazing!

Review by:   David B,    June 2017
Manuel Antonio Park is beautiful and has a wide selection of wild life, mostly monkeys, also some birds. However, the tour from hotels in San Jose takes nearly 3.5 hours each way, so we spent almost 7 hours traveling for about 4 hours about 3 hours in the park.

Review by:   deborahorlando2009,    June 2017
This tour was GREAT. Small group, guide spoke in English and Spanish or sometimes Spanish then English. Very friendly, very knowledgeable. We stopped at a rest stop that had gifts for a bathroom break, then at a nice place for a buffet breakfast. The guide made sure to keep track of everyone. Made sure we understood what our schedule would be and of course answered our questions thoroughly. Breakfast consisted of pinto beans and rice, eggs, juice, coffee. You can buy water, soda or snacks even gifts before you head down the trail to see the alligators. Then back on the bus, when you hit town, he again explains everything and makes sure you get your packed lunch which was a sandwich, fruit and water. Then you walk to the park. You can either follow the guide or venture out on your own and do whatever you please. You are told at least 3 times what time and where to meet for a late meal which you fill out a form along the way and choose from salad, chicken, fish, steak. This is a sit down, served FULL meal. You get wine or beer, coffee, soda and a full course meal. The food was delicious. _br/_ The park is amazing. The animals are incredible. Monkeys, crabs, raccoons, sloths, birds. Its a big place, not really crowded, unless animals are near by. The water was a little rough the day I was there, I didn't swim. I did wade in to cool down. It rained a little, but nothing that was awful until we were sitting down to eat. _br/_ Its a lot of walking unless you simply sit on the beach. The cathedral climb is not for those that cant handle lots of steps.It was a moderate hike up and hard on the knees on the way down. _br/_ Paths are clearly marked. _br/_ I would recommend this trip, not sure small children would enjoy it. And for older people, skip the cathedral climb and the rest of the paths are easy to walk. _br/_ It wasn't so much hot as it was humid, make sure you bring lots of water!!

Review by:   Nita S,    May 2017
This is a good trip for those who love hiking. In the park you get to see a lot of wildlife. At the end of the steep hike, you can swim or relax on the beach. For nature lovers, this is a good way to spend the day.

Review by:   Lulu,    January 2017
A very tiring tour with nothing exciting. The tour is supposed to be 12 hours long but it was actually 14 hours long, way too long. The pick up was 15 mins late. We spent about 4 hours in the transportation on each way. The shuttle bus was not comfortable at all. And the tour was very cheap, for a 14 hours tour they only offered 1 bottle of water. All in all the time spent in the transportation was a nightmare. Breakfast was just ok, so called buffet but they put the food to your plate behind a counter and so afraid of giving you one spoon more. The guide was ok, helpful and nice but not informative. He didn't really talk much. Other guides from other tours carried huge binoculars and showed their tour members the wild animals they found. Our tour guide had nothing and didn't show us anything. We only see animals when other people stopped and looked, we then followed. The only animals we saw were monkeys and racoons. It was quite boring and the weather was really hot, it killed our desire to look for animals with our naked eyes. The beach was ok, beautiful but nothing much to do over there if you don't swim. Beach was quite dirty and with lots of racoons coming to search/steal your food from your bags. Just be cautious its very very hot in the park, and the sand on the beach was burning. Bring a pair of water shoes would be convenient and a good protection. The only sparkling thing is the lunch, very nice and delicious. But the time we had it was about 5pm, almost like a dinner.

Review by:   Maria R,    January 2017
This tour is completely worth the money. You will have a pretty long day, but its well worth it. The tour began by driving to breakfast and having a typical Costa Rican meal rice, eggs, cheese, tortilla, fresh juice, coffee, and fruit. The tour then made a brief stop at souvenir wood work shop where you can change into your bathing suit and pick up a few things. You depart and drive for about one hour and arrive at Manuel Antonio. There is usually a line to enter the park, but nothing longer than 30 minutes. While in line, you can pick up souvenirs and fresh coconut water. Once inside the park, you can choose to do a guided tour towards the beach or completely skip it and headed straight to the beach. I would skip it tour guide tells you about plants and tries to show you animals, but the animals monkeys or sloths, if visible, are very high up and not visible to the bare eye. The beach is great! Water is clear and sand is amazing. If you choose to do the Cathedral Point trail, you won't regret it it takes about 45 minutes to go and come, but be prepared for some steep hills and steps. They also feed you a sandwich for lunch prior to entering the park and provide you a departure dinner which is delicious. Ride back to San Jose is about 3.5 hours, with one stop at a Costa Rican candy shop.

Review by:   Christina B,    October 2016
This was a very nice tour, with a beautiful beach experience. We also saw lots of wildlife, and enjoyed good food. If you have access to a car, I would recommend doing the drive instead. But for someone without a car, it is a very good way to access the Pacific Coast from San Jose.

Review by:   Barry F,    August 2016
A great day trip and orientation to Costa Rica. Meals were great, the park was beautiful, fantastic scenery and warm water for my swim! Our guide George and driver Paulo were excellent. I particularly enjoyed learning more about Costa Rica through George's narrative. Its a lot of driving but well worth it.

Review by:   Marc H,    July 2016
The tour was excellent. Maria, our guide was very knowledgeable, friendly and helpful throughout the tour. The breakfast and lunch also were excellent. We saw many beautiful things in the national park including lots of monkeys!

Review by:   Brad C,    July 2016
Long drive, but awesome park.

Review by:   srul59,    July 2016
Very nice trip from morning to night, including breakfast and lunch at a nice reserve barely seen except for some animals monkeys and the guide was fine

Review by:   gerald,    June 2016
Long drive out, but worth it. We were give breakfast, box lunch, and very early dinner. Went on weekday and wasn and #39;t too crowded. Lots of monkeys up close. It and #39;s a bit of a hike to the beach, because no vehicles are allowed in park. Once there, with additional hiking you can find very secluded areas

Review by:   Elisabeth K,    May 2016
This tour gets to nice place when you want to go swimming and lying on the beach. But if you want to see nature and wildlife than better go another nationalpark. This one is more like a pettingzoo and very touristic! You really have to watch your beggage. Monkeys seem to be a little bit agressive...

Review by:   Michael K,    April 2016
A long and very hot day to the park but well worth it in order to see the animals in their natural environment.

Review by:   Meredith S,    April 2016
Great trip! Be prepared for oppressive heat when you arrive to Manuel Antonio, but it's worth it to see the lovely beach and wildlife. I went on three tours while I was in Costa Rica, and I have to say this tour guide was the best. Great work! _br/_ One small suggestion: after a brutally hot day at the beach, offering a hot, late lunch outside outside is a bit uncomfortable. Maybe move it indoors?

Review by:   Lisa A,    April 2016
Let me preface that I use Viator all the time and would use them again. In addition, if you are visiting Costa Rica, a trip to Manual Antonio National Park is a must see. The 1-star rating is based on the tour.

Review by:   Lisa A,    April 2016
Let me preface that I use Viator all the time and will continue to do so. In addition, a trip to Manuel Antonio National Park is an absolutely must see if you are visiting Costa Rica. The 1-star is simply for the tour.

Review by:   Bea D,    March 2016
Very little to see for the price

Review by:   Guillermotravl,    March 2016
It was a very interesting tour. We were able to swim in the beautiful beaches of Manuel Antonio National Park and enjoy the view of several beaches that converge on the same luagar. We saw monkeys, raccoons and even a sloth, it was a very pleasant experience. The journey was long but it worth it.

Review by:   James E,    February 2016
Guide and driver were great. Food was fine. However, it was a Saturday. Line to get into park was long in the hot sun. Park was packed with people. Drive back to hotel was endless. Too much time in the van and too little guided experience in the park itself. Don't go on a weekend.

Review by:   Catherine Eng C,    January 2016
Manuel Antonio beach is beautiful and calm enough for swimming, Leave snorkeling gear at home, since not much is seen even with calm waters. Be prepared for long van ride, 3-4 hours going and 4-5 hours returning to San Jose. We were picked up at 6 am, and did not arrive back at hotel until 9:30PM.

Review by:   Joyce C,    November 2015
This was an exceptional way to spend the day! We had a small group and all but one of the guests were located in town. However, the pick up for the final guest was out near the airport and this resulted in wasting almost 2 hours in the morning while struggling with rush hour traffic. My only suggestion for improvement of this tour would be a central location meeting place3 so that only the guests who are outliers will have to content with the traffic. However, the rest of the day was wonderful! We made a breakfast stop and had a lovely typical Tyco breakfast in a lovely outdoor setting. Then we crossed a bridge on foot to get a better look path the hundreds of crocodiles that inhabit the river at that location. Fascinating! On to the park, where we took a nature walk on a well laid out path through the rainforest and on to the beaches. From that point on, you were free for three hours to swim, hike, or whatever. The meeting place for lunch was a local hotel/resort and the setting and the food was delightful. Had a great time and highly recommend this tour.

Review by:   Emily F,    April 2015
Great tour. I hurt myself and the tour guide was wonderful helping me

Review by:   Louise R,    April 2015
The day was long, but the trip was great. It is well worth the time spent on the road.

Review by:   Dashaira B,    March 2015
Viator charged my account. And I was not taken on the tour. I have been unsuccessful with getting in touch with someone to retrieve my money. I am very disatisfied and would not recommend Viator to anyone to book tours.

Review by:   reemshaf,    March 2015
This tour was amazing!

Review by:   Katie D,    March 2015
Great hike with gorgeous views and time to enjoy the beach. Monkeys were everywhere, but we weren't able to see too many other animals. Overall great experience!

Review by:   M.A. W,    March 2015
Tour was great! Scenery beautiful. After I later learned about the telescopes to watch animals, wish our guide had done that for us. Overall, lots of fun and loved the day.

Review by:   vasudevan r,    March 2015
Food was great. No problem with transportation either. But, you may able to get a cheaper deal if you plan it yourself. I don't think a travel guide is required.

Review by:   Amanda S,    January 2015
Everything went as expected, including a pickup right on time and a breakfast and lunch that was nicer than I expected. Our guide and driver were both great and very accommodating. **Note that it is quite a challenging walk to the beach from where the bus parks. People with mobility issues might want to select a different tour.

Review by:   Rajashekar P,    December 2014
A lovely trip,enjoyed the hike to Cathedral point, enjoyed the beach and the walk in the forest. We were lucky to have Eugene as our guide.

Review by:   Rajashekar P,    December 2014
A lovely trip,enjoyed the hike to Cathedral point, enjoyed the beach and the walk in the forest. We were lucky to have Eugene as our guide.