Way & WelcomePrivate Days
Your Day in Manuel Antonio
A private day in Manuel Antonio, 157 km south of San José, built around the park where rainforest, mangrove and three beaches sit within a short walk of each other. It runs as one long round trip, or it ends at your lodging in the area.
From$350Recommended Day from $350
- Duration
- 13 to 15.5 hours
- Group
- Up to 5 guests
Why This Day Works
Manuel Antonio is small for how much it holds. Rainforest, about eighteen hectares of mangrove visible from the beach paths, and three beaches all sit inside a park you can cross on foot, with the Punta Catedral lookouts at around 160 meters. That is the reason this day works: you see a lot without a hard climb, and the walking is on maintained trails.
All four styles use the same park and the same structure, so what you are choosing is the focus. Park and Wildlife is the recommended one and stays on the trails, the lookouts and one of the park’s beaches. Wildlife and Water adds the mangrove by boat or sea kayaking. Beach and Sunset is the easiest, built around unhurried beach time and the coast in the afternoon. Adventure is the most active, built around a single activity on top of the park.
The park sets rules we do not control, and they shape the day more than anything we decide. It is closed on Tuesdays and it closes at 15:00 every other day. Admission is sold online and in advance only, the number of tickets each day is limited, and no food or drink goes through the gate. We book the tickets and charge them separately, we go in early, and the host walks in with you instead of waiting outside.
There are two shapes for the trip. The round trip from the GAM is one long day that starts before dawn, because Quepos is 157 km south and the park opens at 7:00. The other ends at your confirmed lodging in the area, which suits anyone already heading down to sleep there. Either way, we will not tell you what you are going to see. The sloths and the monkeys are the reason people come, and they keep their own schedule.
Recommended Day
Park and Wildlife
RecommendedOur recommended day. The park itself: the lookout trails up Punta Catedral, the sloth trail, the mangrove you can see from the beach paths, and time on one of the park's own beaches. Moderate, at a relaxed to balanced pace.
Activity level: ModeratePace: Relaxed to balanced13 to 15.5 hours
Your Way & Welcome private-day price
$350 USD
Party size: 1
Make It Yours
- Choose the day's focus: the park and its wildlife, wildlife and water, beach and sunset, or one active adventure
- We book your park tickets, subject to availability for that day
- Which trails and lookouts to prioritize inside the park: Punta Catedral, the sloth trail, the beach paths
- Meal stops chosen around your group
- The same day can be built as an arrival that ends at your lodging in the area instead of driving back. That version gets agreed when we talk
What stays fixed
- The park is closed on Tuesdays. If your date lands on a Tuesday we move it, or we build the day without the park
- The park is open from 7:00 to 15:00, so the park part of the day ends in mid afternoon
- The round trip starts before dawn. Quepos is 157 km south of San José and the park opens at 7:00, which makes it a day of around fourteen hours for you
- Park admission is sold online and in advance only. We book it and charge it separately: 18.08 USD per non-resident adult and 5.65 USD per child aged 2 to 12
- No food or drink of any kind goes into the park. There is a concession inside, and what you buy there you eat there
- Umbrellas, balls, tents and hammocks do not go in either. It is a park rule, and anything like that gets turned away at the gate, so it is better left in the vehicle
- Nobody feeds the animals. No fruit, no snacks, nothing: it is a park rule and we keep it
- The park's guide concession stops at 14:00, an hour before the park itself closes. If you want a guide, the walk has to be done by then
- If the day is built as an arrival, your lodging in the area has to be confirmed and is paid separately, and the luggage has to fit in the vehicle
- Water and adventure activities are run by operators from the area and paid separately from the W&W price
Photos from this day
There is more to Manuel Antonio than the park
The four styles above already carry the park, the water and the adventure side of the day. These are the pieces that sit outside them, for the hours the park leaves free when it closes at 15:00. Every one of them is run by people who work in the area rather than by us: our part is building the day around the one you pick and coordinating it. And if what you have in mind is neither up there nor here, tell us what it is.
Land
- Vanilla plantation
- Night walk in a private reserve
Calm
- A bar inside an airplane fuselage
- Local food
What's Included
Way & Welcome normally includes:
- Private vehicle
- Bilingual host and driver
- Fuel
- Ordinary tolls and parking
- Route planning and coordination
- Standard-zone pickup and return, or approved hotel drop
- Standard hospitality items
Paid Separately
These are paid separately from the Way & Welcome day price:
Park admission, which we book for you and charge separately: 18.08 USD per non-resident adult and 5.65 USD per child aged 2 to 12. Meals, the local guide concession if you want one, and any water or adventure operator you add to the day.
We do not add these into one combined trip total, and there is no processing surcharge.
What to Expect
- Guest duration
- 13 to 15.5 hours
- Activity level
- Moderate
- Pace
- Relaxed to balanced
- Group
- Up to 5 guests
- Pickup and endpoint
- We pick you up and bring you back the same day in Alajuela and around it, Heredia, and San José as far as San Pedro. It starts before dawn, because Quepos is 157 km south and the park opens at 7:00. If you are staying past that zone, in Cartago or Tres Ríos for example, write to us and we will look at it.
- Privacy and format
- The vehicle and the host are yours alone, and the host walks into the park with you instead of waiting outside. The park and its beaches are public, and the number of tickets sold each day is limited. The guide concession and any water or adventure operator run on their own format, and we tell you which before you book.
- What the walking is really like
Best For
- Guests who want to see a lot of wildlife without a hard climb. The park's lookouts sit at around 160 meters
- Anyone who wants rainforest, mangrove and beach in the same place on the same day
- Groups already going to the area to sleep, who would rather the travel day be a real day
- Early risers who do not mind one long day in exchange for sleeping in their own bed that night
Good to Know
- The park is closed on Tuesdays. The rest of the week it is open from 7:00 to 15:00
- Admission is sold online and in advance only, and the number of tickets each day is limited. We book it, and we charge it separately from the day price
- You cannot take food or drink into the park. The concession inside serves from 7:30 to 15:30, and you eat it on the spot
- A park guide is not required. There is a local guide concession, and if you want one we coordinate it and it is paid separately
- Manchineel grows along these beaches and it is toxic. Do not touch it, do not eat the fruit, and do not sit in its shade. We point it out on the way in
- Night walks are not inside the park, which closes at 15:00. They happen in a private reserve in the area
- No one guarantees wildlife. Sloths, white faced monkeys and squirrel monkeys live there, and they show up on their own schedule
- There are drinking water fountains on the sloth trail and the beach paths, and lockers from 7:00 to 16:00
Seasonality
September and October are part of the rainy season and the park sees fewer visitors then, which changes how the day feels. The park's waterfall only runs in those wet months. We go in early whatever the month, and in high season the road from Quepos up to the park gets congested. We do not promise wildlife either: 352 bird species and 109 mammals are recorded inside the park, and seeing one of them is not something anyone schedules.
We plan around the conditions we actually get that day. We never guarantee weather, wildlife or views.
Questions Travelers Ask
What happens if our trip falls on a Tuesday?
The park is closed on Tuesdays, so we either move the date or build the day around the coast instead. We tell you which before anything is set, not on the morning itself.
Who buys the park tickets, and what do they cost?
We buy them. Admission is sold online and in advance only, so we book it for you and charge it separately from the day price: 18.08 USD per non-resident adult and 5.65 USD per child aged 2 to 12.
Is the park private?
No. It is the most visited protected area in the country and the number of tickets sold each day is limited, so admission is subject to availability. What is private is the vehicle and the host, and the host walks in with you.
Can we bring our own food and drinks?
Not into the park. Food and drink of any kind are not allowed through the gate. There is a concession inside that serves from 7:30 to 15:30, and outside the park we stop wherever your group prefers.
Are we guaranteed to see monkeys or sloths?
No. They live in the park and they are seen often, but nobody can promise an animal. What we can promise is an early entrance and a host who knows where to look.
Does the day come back to San José or end in the area?
Both versions exist. The round trip comes back the same day and starts before dawn. The other one ends at your confirmed lodging in the Manuel Antonio and Quepos area, and that version gets agreed when we talk.
Your day, your party size
Selected style:Park and Wildlife
Your Way & Welcome private-day price
$350 USD
Whole-party total in USD.
This option is not open for booking right now, so we are not showing a price for it. Tell us what you have in mind and we will take it from there.
The Way & Welcome vehicle and host/driver are private to your booking. Third-party experiences may operate privately, in a shared format, or in public spaces depending on the experience you choose. We confirm the applicable format before booking.
There is more to Manuel Antonio than the park
The four styles above already carry the park, the water and the adventure side of the day. These are the pieces that sit outside them, for the hours the park leaves free when it closes at 15:00. Every one of them is run by people who work in the area rather than by us: our part is building the day around the one you pick and coordinating it. And if what you have in mind is neither up there nor here, tell us what it is.
Land
- Vanilla plantation
- Night walk in a private reserve
Calm
- A bar inside an airplane fuselage
- Local food