Costa Rica / Crocodile Bay

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Hi everyone. I'm going to Crocodile Bay in Costa Rica for 12 days next month. I know it's a place Steve runs workshops from. Anyone with experience of the resort or Costa Rica in general got any 'must do' tips for my trip? Many thanks.
 
I live there part time (Jaco). Nothing special, it's like Florida in rainy season. Probably a little safer. English and dollar spoken by everyone.
 
Was there in July with Steve. On the grounds of the resort there are 3 types of monkees, sloths, crocodiles, birds - Macaws, cattle heron, boat billed heron, toucans, hawks, parrots, hummingbirds, owls, etc.; snakes, Jesus lizards (walks on water). There is a monkey sanctuary across the bay (have to take a boat), can't take pictures to put on social media (OK for personal use) (politics and CR laws) but worthwhile to meet the woman who runs it, and experience their monkeys, sloths (ever fed a sloth before?), and others up close. You'll need to check with Steve as to where we went where he got some his recent great macaw shots. Went on a night shoot with one the guides from the resort, just walked around the resort grounds and got red-eyed tree frog, 2 types of owls, snakes, lizards, sloths in just 1-2 hours. Hope you have a great time.
 
I was there in June in 2018. Great trip. Many interesting animals and birds just on the grounds of the resort. We also did a number of trips around the peninsula. Did an interesting river trip — can try to find the name of the river if you’d like. Not sure how the different time of year (June versus November) may affect what you see.

I was with a group led by Matt Kloskowski. Would also love to go again with Steve.

Working with a guide might be fun. Matt used a local guide named Dennis Valverde, who works (I assume he still does) with the resort and its guests (and I assume others). I think he may also work with Steve and Steve’s groups.

If I was there on my own, I would definitely see if Dennis was available. Dennis was terrific — amazingly good at spotting things that we would have never known were there and aware of where certain birds and other creatures were likely to be found. He is also a photographer, which makes him an even better guide. He had several colleagues who also worked with us and also were very good guides.
 
I was there in June in 2018. Great trip. Many interesting animals and birds just on the grounds of the resort. We also did a number of trips around the peninsula. Did an interesting river trip — can try to find the name of the river if you’d like. Not sure how the different time of year (June versus November) may affect what you see.

I was with a group led by Matt Kloskowski. Would also love to go again with Steve.

Working with a guide might be fun. Matt used a local guide named Dennis Valverde, who works (I assume he still does) with the resort and its guests (and I assume others). I think he may also work with Steve and Steve’s groups.

If I was there on my own, I would definitely see if Dennis was available. Dennis was terrific — amazingly good at spotting things that we would have never known were there and aware of where certain birds and other creatures were likely to be found. He is also a photographer, which makes him an even better guide. He had several colleagues who also worked with us and also were very good guides.

Many thanks for your reply Bill. Is it the Sierpe River? The travel agent I booked with put me in direct contact with Dennis, and he has been very helpful in suggesting a few options, and your positive comments about him are great to hear!
 
Was there in July with Steve. On the grounds of the resort there are 3 types of monkees, sloths, crocodiles, birds - Macaws, cattle heron, boat billed heron, toucans, hawks, parrots, hummingbirds, owls, etc.; snakes, Jesus lizards (walks on water). There is a monkey sanctuary across the bay (have to take a boat), can't take pictures to put on social media (OK for personal use) (politics and CR laws) but worthwhile to meet the woman who runs it, and experience their monkeys, sloths (ever fed a sloth before?), and others up close. You'll need to check with Steve as to where we went where he got some his recent great macaw shots. Went on a night shoot with one the guides from the resort, just walked around the resort grounds and got red-eyed tree frog, 2 types of owls, snakes, lizards, sloths in just 1-2 hours. Hope you have a great time.

This is great, many thanks. As you say, the grounds of the resort sound amazing, even before taking any of the tours.
 
Many thanks for your reply Bill. Is it the Sierpe River? The travel agent I booked with put me in direct contact with Dennis, and he has been very helpful in suggesting a few options, and your positive comments about him are great to hear!
I looked back at some GPS tracks I ran on the Gaia app during the trip. I like to be able to go back and figure out where I was and where I took certain photos.

We drove from the lodge to the town of Sierpe and took pontoon boats that were docked in the town on the river. From the track I have, it looks like we went a short way on Rio Sierpe and then turned on to a smaller river, Estero Azul. The river trip was great and I would happily do it again.
 
The biodiversity of the Osa peninsula is amazing. I enjoyed seeing crocodiles, many kinds of frogs, the 4 species of monkeys and sloths. I particularly enjoyed the amazing number of beautiful birds. Although this was not specifically a bird trip, in 5 1/2 days of shooting, I photographed at least 45 different species of birds and saw several others that I did not manage to photograph.

If you like birds, you may want to get the Merlin bird app from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology if you don't have it. It's free and has bird packs (also free) that cover much of the world. There is a specific bird pack for Costa Rica (and bird packs for other Central American countries if you are making other stops). Very useful to identify birds and also get an idea of what you might see, as it will show likely birds by location and date.
 
The biodiversity of the Osa peninsula is amazing. I enjoyed seeing crocodiles, many kinds of frogs, the 4 species of monkeys and sloths. I particularly enjoyed the amazing number of beautiful birds. Although this was not specifically a bird trip, in 5 1/2 days of shooting, I photographed at least 45 different species of birds and saw several others that I did not manage to photograph.

If you like birds, you may want to get the Merlin bird app from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology if you don't have it. It's free and has bird packs (also free) that cover much of the world. There is a specific bird pack for Costa Rica (and bird packs for other Central American countries if you are making other stops). Very useful to identify birds and also get an idea of what you might see, as it will show likely birds by location and date.

This is great Bill, thanks again. I'm the photographer in the household and my wife is really interested in birdlife so this app will be great for both of us. She has just downloaded it.
 
I was there on a workshop with Mark Smith. Many different workshop leaders use that resort. If you're on your own I strongly suggest hiring a guide. They know where to find the wildlife and point it out to you. Also get up dawn and walk the grounds of the resort before breakfast to find lots of hummingbirds and other subjects to shoot. Lots of great wildlife on the Osa Peninsula.
 
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