Bijagua Ranas
Bijagua Ranas
4.5
About
Duration: 1-2 hours
Meets animal welfare guidelines
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listingTours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
What is Travelers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travelers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travelers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Top ways to experience Bijagua Ranas
The area
Reach out directly
Best nearby
Restaurants
21 within 3 miles
Attractions
17 within 6 miles
Contribute
Reviews may contain information about traveler safety at this business.
Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
Popular mentions
4.5
115 reviews
Excellent
84
Very good
15
Average
7
Poor
2
Terrible
7
Eric
Terrebonne, Canada5 contributions
Nov 2022 • Couples
Great small private park.
We saw many animals and frogs, including a baby slot, adult slots..
Really nice guide and bery affordable price for the 1 hour tour.
A must.
We saw many animals and frogs, including a baby slot, adult slots..
Really nice guide and bery affordable price for the 1 hour tour.
A must.
Written November 8, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Emily M
Indianapolis, IN255 contributions
Feb 2022 • Couples
This spot was recommended to us and I’m so glad we made it here. Definitely grab lunch here—a very traditional/cultural lunch and experience! We enjoyed our walk through the rainforest here. Our guide was excellent and we saw a large variety of animals! Would live to visit here again.
Written February 13, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hailey
1 contribution
Serious safety incident
Apr 2019 • Solo
TRAVELERS BEWARE the owner of this place, Carlos, attacked me after my tour, tackled me, put his lips on me, told me he was going to stab me, and then took his pants off and prepared to rape me. I ran away from him, hitchhiked to the police station, and spent the night there filing police reports.
DO NOT put yourself in a vulnerable position around this man.
DO NOT put yourself in a vulnerable position around this man.
Written March 25, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Jonathan C
3 contributions
Feb 2019 • Friends
Finding the place is quite difficult, a lot of the signs are worn down and even broken, can only tell it's there by the brightly colored main building poking through the trees. When I went the main building was under renovation, and they had a baby cow all alone just lounging in front of the building, and several of their dogs running around the paths. It took us about 30 minutes from getting there to get a tour going, though they at least gave us free coffee, hot chocolate, and snacks while we waited. There was two dogs running around reception, a normal dog and a very small puppy that the family actually picked up and handed to us so we could take pictures, but the puppy was shaking and yelping as it was held, so we only took one picture (shown in pictures). A young boy was our tour guide, he seemed knowledgeable about the wildlife but he was rather agressively pulling and bending plants to show them to us, I know this is a family business but he was far too young to be leading the tour. I don't think he was able to understand the effects of his family's actions on the wildlife their land is blessed with. They allowed several dogs to follow us during the tour, three of which ended up harassing a sloth that had thankfully already made it's way across the path (I'm not entirely convinced the sloth was actually crossing but I didn't see anything too suspicious there, the dogs shown in pictures). The boy leading our tour was pretty good about keeping the dogs away but they really shouldn't have been there in the first place. We did end up seeing a few frogs and interesting plants, but it felt like we were walking through their garden more than anything. They then took us out from the paths and onto a weird side road, and the dogs ended up getting into a territory fight with some other dogs, again showing that they really shouldn't be there. At first the boy showed us another sloth that was up in a tree nearby, which seemed normal but then he led us further down the road to a weird butterfly garden that's apparently also owned by the family. At first we were excited, but it again just felt like we were walking through their garden, we only saw a few butterflies actually flying around. They even had two dead blue morphos posed as though they were eating for us to see (shown in pictures) Blue morphos never land with their wings out because of their camoflage, and the man at the door to the butterfly garden even said something about them being dead in spanish. Then the boy tried to sell us on a family owned restaurant next door to try and get us to visit it after the tour. At this point we were so sketched out by the tour that we claimed they had other dinner plans and that they actually had to leave the tour right then to make them. We shouldve asked for a refund from what we'd seen, but we didn't want to get confromtational with our young tour guide and just wanted to get away from that unnatural experience as soon as possible. We didn't want to see this family disturbing the beautiful wildlife of Costa Rica any more than they already did just so we could take "cool" pictures. Please don't support these business practices, it's a beautiful location but they shouldn't be harming and harassing wildlife to impress tourists like this. There are so many other places you can see these animals protected in their natural habitat, even if you have to "risk" not getting the perfect picture.
Written February 2, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
AnonymousTrav
1 contribution
Feb 2019 • Friends
Do not be fooled by this business’ wealth of wildlife! This tour turned out to be a very uncomfortable experience in one of the conservation capitols of the world. My friends and I ventured here hoping to see wildlife in their natural habitats, but were let down and even horrified by what we saw. This place advertises an abundance of sloths, which seemed very interesting until we found our first one on the trail being harassed by three dogs owned by the business. It soon became very evident that this place is simply a backyard teeming with wildlife trapped in an unstable ecosystem. We eventually journeyed to the butterfly garden, which was an enclosed space filled with immobile butterflies. One of the main attractions, the Blue Morpho, was spotted by the guide and after a second glance, it appeared to be dead. The guide even confirmed this in Spanish with another worker of the trail, but he did not realize we knew what was being said despite Spanish not being our primary language. After realizing this place is a controlled system on a very small plot of land, my friends and I decided it was time to go. Two of my friends, both of which are animal lovers at heart, left horrified with what they saw, to the point of tears. This was by no means the fault of the guide, who was just a very young boy helping his family business. The guide was a very knowledgeable young man who seemed upset that we had to cut the hike short, but we hope that some day he will realize what he is truly a part of. For all who are looking at this place as a potential tourist destination, please beware. If you are an animal lover who looks to see nature in its purest form, this by no means is the place for you. If you have very little respect for animals and nature, this may be the place for you, but Costa Rica, a place that prides itself on conservation and preserving wildlife, most certainly is not.
~Pura Vida~
~Pura Vida~
Written February 2, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
mike o
Playa Potrero, Costa Rica75 contributions
Sep 2019 • Couples
We have been to a few places in recent years that advertise sloth viewing and were disappointed. No disappointment here as we saw numerous sloths on our 2 hour visit. This is not a zoo as they are all in the wild in this preserve. The trail through the jungle and gardens was beautiful and a fairly easy walk. We also saw several frogs and other wildlife. Our guide was very knowledgeable and great at spotting animals.
Written September 21, 2019
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rebecca
San Francisco, CA50 contributions
Feb 2018 • Family
This is a lovely casual, family run wildlife area where we saw a baby sloth and so many other adult sloths sitting in the tree. Our guide Joceline was Amazing! We couldn't have nicer things to say about the whole experience. We highly recommend this tour!
Written February 9, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
eblocker4460
Wasilla, AK99 contributions
Jan 2018 • Couples
We really enjoyed the spectacular rainforest tour at Bijagua Ranas. The owners are working very hard to make many improvements. The whole family work together as excellent guides, showing many species of frogs, bats, sloths, monkeys, toucan and other exotic birds. We highly recommend this tour and there is a family restaurant nearby for a tasty lunch.
Written January 24, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
angel8022
Hixson, TN8 contributions
Oct 2021 • Friends
Daniel, the tour guy was awesome. He has got the eyes to spot the sloth, frogs, frog eggs, plants. I even thought all the above didn’t move so he just remembered where they are.
Written October 14, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
nbywg
Winnipeg, Canada51 contributions
Mar 2020
That place was our first stop during travel towards Riu Celeste. Right at the entrance we saw two sloths – one was three towed and another two towed. Just after couple minutes being on trail our guide showed us a poisons frog. Also we observed lots of different trees and flowers. Our guide helped us to spot a toucan and also she took some pictures of it. Trails are in good condition and some of them are made of concrete. Lots of sloths at this location.
Written March 15, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hello! Can you just show up and request a tour? Or do you need to book in advance. We will have our own car, so we do not need transportation.
Written March 19, 2024
What is the exact location of this property? We are going to be driving from Guanacaste and wanted to stop there on the way to the Heliconias hanging bridges
Written September 21, 2023
Are reservations required? How does one make a reservation?
Written February 25, 2022
We hired a gentleman named Manor and he runs a tour company called “Tours your way”. He worked as are shuttle service and made all our activity arrangements. Very reasonable price and truly a wealth of knowledge of Costa Rica. We truly loved our time with him. He communicates best thru WhatsApp. My wife told him she wanted to see a sloth and this was the place he took us. We definitely a sloth and so much more. Definitely a highlight of our trip. Hope this helps. If you have any problem finding him, shoot me another message.
Written February 25, 2022
Hi, we’re thinking about coming through, we have three questions.
What’s the best time to see the animals (am/pm?)
What is the cost please?
Is there a hotel/lodge/cabinas near by that you could recommend?
Thank you so much!
Christine
Written March 13, 2020
As with most animals in Costa Rica early is best. With that said since they move around more at night they sleep a lot during the day. I don’t remember the cost but it was not expensive and you get a personal guide with the ticket. I am not familiar with hotels in this area.
Written March 13, 2020
Showing results 1-5 of 5
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing