DanG
Well-known member
I am hoping to get input from those with Costa Rica experience. Am hoping to get there this winter for some wildlife photography and not sure which area to to stay in. Thanks in advance.
Costa Rica Trip
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@DanG
Osa (South Pacific) is top destination but the country is essentially a giant nature preserve. Except San Jose which is a dump.
My general advice is West Coast, one of three regions (North, Central and South Coast). North and Central are more accessible but South is better destination for most species.
I live in Central Pacific Coast if you need any help/advice.
Osa (South Pacific) is top destination but the country is essentially a giant nature preserve. Except San Jose which is a dump.
My general advice is West Coast, one of three regions (North, Central and South Coast). North and Central are more accessible but South is better destination for most species.
I live in Central Pacific Coast if you need any help/advice.
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I have been to Costa Rica many times, and absolutely love the country and it's abundance of flora and fauna. If it is your first trip you will likely find exciting wildlife encounters wherever you go, but there are certain areas that lend themselves to certain species. What kind of wildlife are you looking for? Is there a certain animal that you would consider a bucket list/must see critter? And is there a specific habitat/ecological niche that you wish to see and photograph?
That said, the Osa Peninsula is IMHO one of the most spectacular and beautiful places in the world. It is a little more challenging to get to, but if you are up for the adventure, you will be rewarded with the least developed and most naturally pristine area of Costa Rica, and one of the largest swaths of Pacific lowland rainforest left in the Americas.
Feel free to ask me any questions you have directly, I'm happy to help!
-Frank
That said, the Osa Peninsula is IMHO one of the most spectacular and beautiful places in the world. It is a little more challenging to get to, but if you are up for the adventure, you will be rewarded with the least developed and most naturally pristine area of Costa Rica, and one of the largest swaths of Pacific lowland rainforest left in the Americas.
Feel free to ask me any questions you have directly, I'm happy to help!
-Frank
Calson
Well-known member
Where to go depends on your travel skills as in most areas the people do not speak English. I have relied on a GPS dataset for Costa Rica with a Garmin to navigate through the towns. There are no street signs and so a highway will enter the town and then you need to make your way through it to where the highway continues.
We come in one day and stay an airport hotel and then the following day pick up a rental car and do the same on the return by taking the car back to the rental company and staying at an airport hotel and using their shuttle to get to the airport.
Wildlife varies by area and we have made 6 trips to Costa Rica and the only area we have not visited is the Osa area. Weather depends on time of year and location. It may be bone dry in northwest part of the country and pouring down buckets of rain in Dominical.
Highly recommend for a first trip going with a guide like Juan Carlos Vinda. He has a 6 passenger 4WD SUV and will take as few as two people/photographers. He is an excellent photographer and lives in Costa Rica. We did a week with him for a last minute trip as he made secured the lodging and took us to places that were privately owned by people he knows. One place had dozens of hummingbird stations and another had dozens of scarlett macaws. We stopped for lunch at a spot where across the road there were large igunas resting on the tops of the trees. He did a multi-flash setup one day and also a photo setup with a couple of vipers and some small frogs. Good idea to have two people wrangling the snake while you concentrate on taking the shots.
Many tour groups that have too many people and so there are fewer places they can go for lodging and cannot stop at small cafes along the way. Some groups are lead by photographers who are more intent on adding to their portfolio than letting their paying participants get the best possible shots.
www.neotropicphototours.com
In places like Savagre and Monteverde a local guide is worth hiring for half the day.
For weather this is a great website - mouse over a spot and it shows the amount of rain by month. Be aware that this country is also suffering a drought and so water levels on the streams may be very low.
costa-rica-guide.com
With our last trip we found that nearly every vendor was using a wireless credit card terminal and so we only needed some U.S. currency for tips. For cash take newish $1, $5, $20 bills and higher denominations can only be used at a bank.
We come in one day and stay an airport hotel and then the following day pick up a rental car and do the same on the return by taking the car back to the rental company and staying at an airport hotel and using their shuttle to get to the airport.
Wildlife varies by area and we have made 6 trips to Costa Rica and the only area we have not visited is the Osa area. Weather depends on time of year and location. It may be bone dry in northwest part of the country and pouring down buckets of rain in Dominical.
Highly recommend for a first trip going with a guide like Juan Carlos Vinda. He has a 6 passenger 4WD SUV and will take as few as two people/photographers. He is an excellent photographer and lives in Costa Rica. We did a week with him for a last minute trip as he made secured the lodging and took us to places that were privately owned by people he knows. One place had dozens of hummingbird stations and another had dozens of scarlett macaws. We stopped for lunch at a spot where across the road there were large igunas resting on the tops of the trees. He did a multi-flash setup one day and also a photo setup with a couple of vipers and some small frogs. Good idea to have two people wrangling the snake while you concentrate on taking the shots.
Many tour groups that have too many people and so there are fewer places they can go for lodging and cannot stop at small cafes along the way. Some groups are lead by photographers who are more intent on adding to their portfolio than letting their paying participants get the best possible shots.
Neotropic Photo Tours – Tropical photography from Costa Rica and Latin America
www.neotropicphototours.com
In places like Savagre and Monteverde a local guide is worth hiring for half the day.
For weather this is a great website - mouse over a spot and it shows the amount of rain by month. Be aware that this country is also suffering a drought and so water levels on the streams may be very low.
Costa Rica Rainy Season - Monthly Rainfall Map
Costa Rica's rainy season is traditionally from May into December but precisely how wet it is depends on when and where. The rainfall map shows inches of accumulation for each month of the year in a dozen regions.
costa-rica-guide.com
With our last trip we found that nearly every vendor was using a wireless credit card terminal and so we only needed some U.S. currency for tips. For cash take newish $1, $5, $20 bills and higher denominations can only be used at a bank.
I think the way to plan a trip to Costa Rica, especially a first one, is to try to visit two or three different habitat types. One might be a higher elevation cloud forest, one might be Caribbean-side hot/humid lowlands, and one might either "foothills" or Pacific coast lowlands. Each different habitat/elevation type has distinctive birds and animals. You might consider putting together an itinerary with Naturalist Journeys' "independent birding ventures," which accommodate photographers very well. No, I don't work for them but I have traveled using this service in both Costa Rica and Belize. They book the lodges and provide transportation using excellent driver/guides. It's affordable, too.
https://www.naturalistjourneys.com/independent/costa-rica
I agree with Calson! I also strongly encourage you to consider using Juan Carolos Vinda. He is a VERY talented Costa Rican photographer and has led tours there (and in Panama, Ecuador, etc) for years. I found the variety of subjects extremely varied and the photographic opportunities very productive.Where to go depends on your travel skills as in most areas the people do not speak English. I have relied on a GPS dataset for Costa Rica with a Garmin to navigate through the towns. There are no street signs and so a highway will enter the town and then you need to make your way through it to where the highway continues.
We come in one day and stay an airport hotel and then the following day pick up a rental car and do the same on the return by taking the car back to the rental company and staying at an airport hotel and using their shuttle to get to the airport.
Wildlife varies by area and we have made 6 trips to Costa Rica and the only area we have not visited is the Osa area. Weather depends on time of year and location. It may be bone dry in northwest part of the country and pouring down buckets of rain in Dominical.
Highly recommend for a first trip going with a guide like Juan Carlos Vinda. He has a 6 passenger 4WD SUV and will take as few as two people/photographers. He is an excellent photographer and lives in Costa Rica. We did a week with him for a last minute trip as he made secured the lodging and took us to places that were privately owned by people he knows. One place had dozens of hummingbird stations and another had dozens of scarlett macaws. We stopped for lunch at a spot where across the road there were large igunas resting on the tops of the trees. He did a multi-flash setup one day and also a photo setup with a couple of vipers and some small frogs. Good idea to have two people wrangling the snake while you concentrate on taking the shots.
Many tour groups that have too many people and so there are fewer places they can go for lodging and cannot stop at small cafes along the way. Some groups are lead by photographers who are more intent on adding to their portfolio than letting their paying participants get the best possible shots.
Neotropic Photo Tours – Tropical photography from Costa Rica and Latin America
In places like Savagre and Monteverde a local guide is worth hiring for half the day.
For weather this is a great website - mouse over a spot and it shows the amount of rain by month. Be aware that this country is also suffering a drought and so water levels on the streams may be very low.
Costa Rica Rainy Season - Monthly Rainfall Map
Costa Rica's rainy season is traditionally from May into December but precisely how wet it is depends on when and where. The rainfall map shows inches of accumulation for each month of the year in a dozen regions.
With our last trip we found that nearly every vendor was using a wireless credit card terminal and so we only needed some U.S. currency for tips. For cash take newish $1, $5, $20 bills and higher denominations can only be used at a bank.
The first three galleries HERE are from a trip with Juan in 2018. In fact I enjoyed the trip so much that I will be making that trip again January 2023. The last gallery is from a trip to the Osa Peninsula. I found the Osa Peninsula less productive.
Hi Karen, Those galleries are absolutely amazing !! Thanks for posting.
My wife and I went to Costa Rica in February 2020 just before the pandemic. We had a rented car and stayed in Bed and Breakfasts and lodges over 3 weeks. We navigated using Google Maps on our phones.
From a bird photography perspective, the highlight for me was staying at the Tico Rainforest Bed and Breakfast on the Sarapiqui River. The building has a second floor balcony surrounding the house at eye level with bird feeders and perch opportunities. Viktor, your host, speaks English well and is very knowledgable. You can be out of the rain and still comfortably shoot photos.
Here is a link to the website with good info and videos.
From a bird photography perspective, the highlight for me was staying at the Tico Rainforest Bed and Breakfast on the Sarapiqui River. The building has a second floor balcony surrounding the house at eye level with bird feeders and perch opportunities. Viktor, your host, speaks English well and is very knowledgable. You can be out of the rain and still comfortably shoot photos.
Here is a link to the website with good info and videos.
Were I able to go to Costa Rica, I'd look into a tour with our very own Steve Perry. Or is he on hiatus from tours?
While I’ve been to CR twice, I’m certainly no expert. For a first trip, I’d strongly urge you to consider joining a group tour, or hiring a local guide. Otherwise, you’ll spend most of your time trying to figure out where to go and how to get there. There are many photo tours of CR, but one relatively low cost one is Road Scholar’s Photography in Costa Rica (https://www.roadscholar.org/find-an...hy-in-Nature-Capturing-the-Best-of-Costa-Rica). They do a good job, and travel to a number of interesting locations. In regard to local guides, it’d be hard to find a better one than Erick Guzman ([email protected]), one of the finest naturalists I've ever met. As a native, he knows his country like the back of his hand, and has a keen eye for wildlife. Plus, he’s a delightful young man.
Best of luck!
IainD
Well-known member
I have been to Costa Rica once on a trip organised by Matt Shetzer trading as Shetzer's Photography, and he is also excellent. If Steve is not going to CR it may be possible to go with Matt. Matt is the ideal leader for me, and I have done several superb trips with him.
I
We're going to be announcing our 2023 Costa Rica workshops soon - probably before mid-December. I'm not running them, but a good friend (Dennis) is. He's easily the best photographer on the Osa and probably amount the top 5% in the country. He has a ton of experience and is, frankly, a better hands-on teacher than I am. We have a group with him now and they are having an absolute blast. Keep an eye out for an announcement in an upcoming newsletter.
Calson
Well-known member
I prefer to go to 4 or more locations in Costa Rica rather than stay at one lodge the entire time. It is easy to find "bird lodges" or places near wildlife concentration, which may be a creek or estuary. I make 100% of my reservations using a service like hotels. com. Very easy to make changes and one can cancel at little at 24 hours in advance while in the country.
The last three group tours I took there was one individual who brought their virus from the United States and infected my wife and I. We each missed a day photographing the wildlife as a result. I have hired boats for the rivers for as little as $80 for half of a day for the two of us. At a place like Monteverde it is required to hire an approved guide and so no advantage with a group. On my last trip I was in Montervde and was able to photograph a quetzal nest about 10 meters from the narrow trail. I shot while groups with dozens of visitors trundled past. If I was part of a group or had needed to use a tripod I would not have gotten the shots. The tour groups all hire local guides and as they need to make a profit for their business the cost is more than twice as much. For a standard tour in Costa Rica my wife and I would be paying close to $10,000 and I can go to the same places and hire local guides for less than half that amount.
The only thing to be aware of is the mandatory car rental insurance effectively doubles the cost of renting a car in Costa Rica. Putting that amount toward a guide like Juan Carlos reduces the total cost for a trip with him in his car.
The last three group tours I took there was one individual who brought their virus from the United States and infected my wife and I. We each missed a day photographing the wildlife as a result. I have hired boats for the rivers for as little as $80 for half of a day for the two of us. At a place like Monteverde it is required to hire an approved guide and so no advantage with a group. On my last trip I was in Montervde and was able to photograph a quetzal nest about 10 meters from the narrow trail. I shot while groups with dozens of visitors trundled past. If I was part of a group or had needed to use a tripod I would not have gotten the shots. The tour groups all hire local guides and as they need to make a profit for their business the cost is more than twice as much. For a standard tour in Costa Rica my wife and I would be paying close to $10,000 and I can go to the same places and hire local guides for less than half that amount.
The only thing to be aware of is the mandatory car rental insurance effectively doubles the cost of renting a car in Costa Rica. Putting that amount toward a guide like Juan Carlos reduces the total cost for a trip with him in his car.
DanG
Well-known member
Thanks so much for this valuable information.
DanG
Well-known member
That's great advice, thank you.
DanG
Well-known member
Thanks for these specific suggestions. I am grateful.
DanG
Well-known member
Wow this is great and I really appreciate the rain map.Where to go depends on your travel skills as in most areas the people do not speak English. I have relied on a GPS dataset for Costa Rica with a Garmin to navigate through the towns. There are no street signs and so a highway will enter the town and then you need to make your way through it to where the highway continues.
We come in one day and stay an airport hotel and then the following day pick up a rental car and do the same on the return by taking the car back to the rental company and staying at an airport hotel and using their shuttle to get to the airport.
Wildlife varies by area and we have made 6 trips to Costa Rica and the only area we have not visited is the Osa area. Weather depends on time of year and location. It may be bone dry in northwest part of the country and pouring down buckets of rain in Dominical.
Highly recommend for a first trip going with a guide like Juan Carlos Vinda. He has a 6 passenger 4WD SUV and will take as few as two people/photographers. He is an excellent photographer and lives in Costa Rica. We did a week with him for a last minute trip as he made secured the lodging and took us to places that were privately owned by people he knows. One place had dozens of hummingbird stations and another had dozens of scarlett macaws. We stopped for lunch at a spot where across the road there were large igunas resting on the tops of the trees. He did a multi-flash setup one day and also a photo setup with a couple of vipers and some small frogs. Good idea to have two people wrangling the snake while you concentrate on taking the shots.
Many tour groups that have too many people and so there are fewer places they can go for lodging and cannot stop at small cafes along the way. Some groups are lead by photographers who are more intent on adding to their portfolio than letting their paying participants get the best possible shots.
Neotropic Photo Tours – Tropical photography from Costa Rica and Latin America
In places like Savagre and Monteverde a local guide is worth hiring for half the day.
For weather this is a great website - mouse over a spot and it shows the amount of rain by month. Be aware that this country is also suffering a drought and so water levels on the streams may be very low.
Costa Rica Rainy Season - Monthly Rainfall Map
Costa Rica's rainy season is traditionally from May into December but precisely how wet it is depends on when and where. The rainfall map shows inches of accumulation for each month of the year in a dozen regions.
With our last trip we found that nearly every vendor was using a wireless credit card terminal and so we only needed some U.S. currency for tips. For cash take newish $1, $5, $20 bills and higher denominations can only be used at a bank.
DanG
Well-known member
Thanks
DanG
Well-known member
Thanks
DanG
Well-known member
Thanks so much. Sorry to hear that you were infected.
DanG
Well-known member
Thanks Steve, humble as always!
DanG
Well-known member
Great input and absolute stunning gallery.
LL4D500
Active member
Two Sons and I spent two days with Dennis, while spending a few days with friends that own a home on Osa Penninsula - he’s great!
He really does. He's excited, knowledgeable, and has the perfect personality for running workshops. We're planning to announce our 2023 dates in the before the second week of Dec.
LL4D500
Active member
We were there in March and while my two Sons aren’t avid photographers, he sparked their creative interests, even though they just had IPhone 11’s! He was excellent at making suggestions when we were coming upon a photo opportunity, as well as when we were taking pictures. Getting desirable positioning of the subject, along with sharp AF, can be a real challenge as monkeys are moving through the trees. If he saw one of us was struggling, he would make a suggestion as to where to move to, to get that desired “keeper”! We got great pictures of all four breeds! Dennis provided assistance/suggestions in a very comfortable/personable manner.
Additional comment:
1) during our one week visit, we also spent two days fishing at Osa Penninsula and the four of us caught 40+ fish (10+ species) with must ranging from 10# to 65#. Guessing we caught in excess of 500# of fish - all catch n release except for two 5#-10# daily) for fish tacos/frying - one for us and one for guide. Guide Corey had a great boat and daily rate was very reasonable!
2) a fabulous resort (Botanical) has just been opened there as well. They are selling units, but I think they also have rentals.
Check it out!