What a beautiful park! We had a great guide (Freddie) who we met as we drove up to the park. Freddie was friendly and knowledgable, and does a mean Maccaw call! He really made our hike special - we learned so much about the local flora and fauna, saw some really beautiful birds, and had a great time. It was... More

I loved the accessibility to flora/fauna and the safety of the grounds. The birding guides were very friendly, but not overbearing and that increased the good experience. I did not take a guide, but was not impeded in any way nor was I pressured to do so. No souvenir touts about, so I was satisfied about that! Going solo, no... More

I sat in a clearing while monkeys played all around me. Not because they're used to tourists; they just gained confidence that longer I sat still. It was incredible. Also saw macaws and many other animals. More

First - DO hire a guide: Armando Sanchez -nativenaturecr@gmail.com was wonderful. We met him at the park entrance and spent the morning with him. His knowledge of all the flora and fauna was amazing - he took us to see the orange collared manakins, jacamars, white bats...more birds than I can mention..monkeys, iguanas, coati, on and on. This park is... More

Carara offers two main hiking/birding trails--the loop trails the head south from the ranger station and the River trial that begins about a kilometer up the road. You definitely want to do the River trail first, and then, if you have time (on a separate day) the loop trails. Wear a good hat to protect yourself from the sun and... More

Carrara is much more exciting than Mauel Antonio as you are likely to be alone rather than on crowded paths. The wildlife and birding. Is very good, make sure you go with a guide. More

Easy to get around and lots to see. Best to go with a guide although they get snapped up early when the park opens (8 am) but are available later. We did unguided and guided tours...and Mo (Mauricio), our guide, found us all the birds and more we wanted to see (2 more trogon species (violaceous,black-headed), a mannekin, a turquoise-browed... More

When visiting Carrara it might help to hire a guide as they know which trees the monkeys and sloths find their homes in, they also have binoculars which are great for spotting birds and butterflies alike. This particular time we walked along the Rio Tarcoles trail and spotted many iguanas, a tree full of macaws and several other species of... More

We chose not to hire a guide here b/c the per person price gets crazy. We hiked for two hours and on our own were able to find about 5 scarlet macaws, a couple of agoutis, and about a dozen coati crossed our path. Then went to the little restaurant on the other side of rio tarcoles, after seeing the... More