Tamarindo

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Palo Verde Boat Safari

Badge of ExcellenceTamarindo, Costa Rica

From $130.00

Price varies by group size

Select Date and Travelers

up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)

6 hours (approx.)
Pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Discover the incredible birds and biodiversity of Palo Verde National Park on this boat tour with lunch. Spot native wildlife such as crocodiles, iguanas, monkeys, and a colorful parade of bird species during a 1-hour and 20 minutes cruise down the Tempisque River led by a naturalist guide. Afterward, discuss your sightings with fellow travelers over a traditional Costa Rican lunch at a local restaurant.

Morning river safari tour
Cruise along the Tempisque River bordering Palo Verde National Park
Visit one of Costa Rica's best bird-watching locales
Spot monkeys, crocodiles, iguanas, and many exotic birds
Learn about the park's unique wetlands environment from a naturalist guide
Savor a traditional Costa Rican lunch at a restaurant

What's Included

Lunch included
Bilingual Tour Guide
Hotel pick-up and drop off
National Park fees
JW Marriott, Tamarindo, Langosta, Grande, Conchal, Flamingo
Playas del Coco, Hermosa, & RIU Hotels, Playa Panama (Secrets Papagayo, Mangroove)

Gratuities
Andaz, Four Seasons, Planet Hollywood ($50 transport fee per booking, not per person)
Las Catalinas ($50 transport fee per booking, not per person)

Meeting and Pickup

You can head directly to your preferred meeting point, or request pickup.

Meeting points

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Pickup points

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Start time

07:00 AM

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Pickup details

We pick up from the hotels, condos and private residences in the following areas: Hacienda Pinilla/JW Marriott: 6:30 AM Langosta/Tamarindo: 7:00 AM Grande, Conchal, Brasilito, Flamingo, Potrero: 7:00 AM Las Catalinas - 7:00 am RIU Guanacaste & RIU Palace MAIN GATE, Not the lobby: 7:00 AM Playas del Coco: 7:20 AM Playa Hermosa & Playa Panama (Villas Sol, Condovac, Secrets Papagayo, Occidental Papagayo, Mangroove): 7:30 AM Liberia Peri Supermarket: 7:00 AM Andaz, Four Seasons, Planet Hollywood - 7:00 am Pick up times above are an estimate. We will send you an official pick up time the day before the tour.

What To Expect

Relax and enjoy the rich scenery of Guanacaste's backcountry during the roughly 1-hour journey to reach Palo Verde National Park. This protected nature reserve is known for its unique dual landscape featuring wetlands surrounding the Tempisque River as well as a tropical dry forest environment. Costa Rica’s dry season attracts hundreds of species of migratory birds to the park, making it one of the country's premier birdwatching destinations.

When you arrive, board a river boat for a leisurely 2-hour cruise along the Tempisque. Admire the park’s undisturbed beauty while a naturalist guide provides insight into its unique ecosystem. Keep a sharp eye out for some of the many creatures that make their home along the river banks, including crocodiles, howler and capuchin monkeys, deer, raccoons, and iguanas. Your guide will help identify local and migratory birds such as macaws, guacacos, kingfishers, tiger herons, woodstorks, and jabiru birds.

After the safari, climb back onto solid ground and head to a local restaurant for a typical Costa Rican lunch. Relax on the return ride to your coastal hotel, where the 6-hour tour concludes in the afternoon.

Palo Verde National Park

6 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Playa Conchal (Pass By)

Tamarindo (Pass By)

Playa Grande (Pass By)

Playa Flamingo (Pass By)

Pinilla (Pass By)

Playas del Coco (Pass By)

Playa Hermosa (Pass By)

Playa Panama (Pass By)

Culebra (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Vegetarian option is available, please advise at time of booking if required
Not wheelchair accessible
Child rate applies only when sharing with 2 paying adults
Stroller accessible
Children must be accompanied by an adult

A minimum of 2 adults per booking is required
Infants must sit on laps
Infant seats available
Most travelers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 15 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Juan_D

Ariel and Manuel were great guides. Saw a multitude of wildlife. Great lunch too. Beautiful scenery.

Reviews

4.5

119 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 119 reviews

kurt m

Kurt_M, Mar 2024

it’s a great trip to see wildlife in an otherwise arid area realize you are in a boat trip for 1 1/2 hours 1 1/2 hour drive to general transfer point the 45 min to boat 30 minutes to pottery exhibition , then 1 1/2 hours back It is an 8 hour trip not 5 worth it to see crocs and birds lunch was excellent our guide Victor was excellent with a great knowledge base

Not all that exciting.

David_M, Mar 2024

We didn't especially enjoy this tour. The guides were knowledgeable, but the river tour itself isn't very exciting. Also, the smell of the exhaust from the boats was a little bothersome, and I got food poisoning from something served at lunch. Meh.

Lot's of wildlife

Juan_D, Feb 2024

Ariel and Manuel were great guides. Saw a multitude of wildlife. Great lunch too. Beautiful scenery.

Boat safari

Jeffrey_M, Feb 2024

Great experience, with lots of abundant wildlife to view from safety of the boat. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the animals and explained them in detail to us.

Amazing Day

Jane_L, Jan 2024

Our family group of six people had a fantastic experience. Ariel our guide and driver was extremely knowledgeable and fun. He took the time to show us many amazing birds and animals and even took close up shots on my phone camera with the help of his binoculars. My 93 year old mother was able to join the tour and she loved it too. We really enjoyed the home cooked authentic Costa Rican meal and pottery demonstration as well. The van was extremely comfortable and right on time. Thank you for such a memorable experience. This was not something we could do on our own!

Birds, crocodiles and monkeys oh my!

Tim_R, Jan 2024

Very nice excursion, good introduction to wildlife along the river. I wish it would have been a little longer. I had hoped to see wild scarlet macaws. Ivan was very knowledgeable about his country and the ecosystems. The traditional lunch was excellent and cool to experience. We saw many birds and crocodiles and 2 species of monkeys.

Amazing

Yogini_P, Nov 2023

Communications were great throughout the booking process. The driver was very friendly and helpful. The best tour was very relaxing. Spotted some birds, crocodiles and Monkies. Had an amazing local vegetarian Costarican lunch after the boat tour. Overall a pleasant trip that we would definitely recommend.

Much more than a boat safari!

Joe_L, Nov 2023

We had our "boat safari" a few days ago. This tour was much more than a boat safari. Our driver (Michael) and tour guide (Steven) are very passionate about wildlife. The safari started as we stopped at a lowland (swamp) to spot a few amazing birds. Then Michael spotted a troop of howler monkeys a few feet away from the road. We stopped to watch them and take lots of pictures and video. Along the way, whenever Michael or Steven would see something interesting, we would stop, get out the binoculars/scope, take some pictures or video and hear facts and figures about what we were looking at. Then...we took the boat safari. A lot more of the same. Lots of animals: alligators, capuchin monkeys, MORE birds - what a variety! I documented 15 new birds on my Merlin Bird App during this tour! Great lunch (more new birds!) and nice pottery tour. Highly recommend!

Good tour with seniors and children

Shannon_K, Aug 2023

Great tour. Tour guide did his best to point out all the animals. We had seniors and tween and this tour was perfect that didn’t involve too much walking. Would recommend those with seniors in the group.

Great Experience

Donna_L, Jun 2023

Excellent tour, staff/guides were amazing, pottery stop was a special treat I would highly recommend.

Uggh

Sarah_G, Apr 2023

It started out great, our tour guide was friendly and knowledgeable and it was fun to see the local area. Before we got to the boat we stopped to use the restroom (we didn’t need to or ask to). At this stop there were local people selling us homemade crafts, which we felt obligated to purchase. The boat ride was nice and we left to go have lunch. It was advertised as a local restaurant, but it was the owner of the boats ‘ranch’ where they had ladies cooking outside. Once e we were done eating a guy showed us how to press sugar cane, then expected a tip. We left there expecting to go back to our resort but they drove us to a place that sells pottery wanting us to purchase something. The whole trip then felt like a sales gimmick and was annoying. To top it all off, the lunch gave me terrible food poisoning and I am now in bed on my vacation writing this review in between stomach cramps.

Nice tour, saw a lot of...

Gayle_T, Apr 2023

Nice tour, saw a lot of capuchin monkeys and crocs. Guide was very informative. Lunch was very good as well

Bad setup by Viator

Adrienne_S, Mar 2023

Poor setup Didn’t tell us a regular car was picking us up and asking us to meet two other cars. Then put my English speaking daughter and I on a French speaking tour. By the time the guide sorr of translated to English after French whatever we saw was gone - when he remembered to translate to English. Then put us on the wrong bus to take us home and when we got on the right bus they didn’t send the three cars again only two so we were last to be dropped off. A very long day. Not impressed with Viator or natures way on that day. Palo verde itself is interesting to see the crocodiles and the monkeys

Fabulous

rondcostello, Mar 2023

Fabulous experience. Juan Carlos (Carlos) was a knowledgeable, friendly guide and between him and Manuelo, the excellent and eagle-eyed boat captain, we saw the beautiful wildlife the trip promised, including capuchin monkeys, crocodiles and a plethora of birds. A great experience that enriched our Costa Rican vacation.

So many birds, monkeys and crocodiles!

Eko_L, Mar 2023

What a great adventure. This excursion is a must for bird watchers! From the great egret, blue heron, black-crowned and yellow-crowned heron, tiger heron, orioles, and northern jacana, beautiful birds abound in their natural pristine environment. Beyond that, there were also white-faced monkeys and crocodiles everywhere on the banks. The kids loved it, it is so worth the 1.5hrs drive one way. And to top it off, the lunch at the local authentic restaurant was yummy!

Great day

amyboutin, Feb 2023

What a great day. Our tour guide Rodrigo/Rodriguez (I should have paid more attention). Was absolutely amazing, so knowledgeable. We had a great day. Stopped before the boat ride to see monkeys, would stop to show us different fruits and nuts. Seen so many monkeys, birds and crocodiles. Family enjoyed this tour.

Fun and educational morning

Gayle_F, Feb 2023

Interesting boat ride included information on different species of birds and monkeys...crocodiles and iguanas.

Worth the trip.

April_J, Feb 2023

Our guide, Kevin, was wonderful. Made us see his country through his eyes. The crocs were pretty awesome too.

Memorable day

John_T, Feb 2023

Our guide, Jorge, was amazing and so was the boat operator who could spot all kinds of wildlife along the river and even knew how to call them. We were a group of 12 and everyone was thrilled with the trip. Our lunch afterwards was delicious. Truly a great experience!!

Awesome

Iryna_T, Feb 2023

Great tour! Lots of wildlife. Saw birds, monkeys and lots of crocodiles. You will have fun and enjoy the tour.