Manuel Antonio National Park Day Trip from San Jose

Overview

Available languages

English

Spanish

12 hours

Mobile ticket

Manuel Antonio National Park is considered one of the most beautiful parks in Costa Rica. This tour you will have the opportunity to see pristine beaches with coral reefs, bordered by exhuberant vegetation and the natural wonders of the tropical rainforest.

Additional Info

Wheelchair accessible

Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller

Service animals allowed

Public transportation options are available nearby

Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap

Specialized infant seats are available

Transportation options are wheelchair accessible

All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible

Suitable for all physical fitness levels

Vegetarian option is available, please advise at time of booking if required

We require to get complete name and passport number from every person going in this tour. This is necessary for registering every person to the park ticket's system, otherwise it wouldn't be possible to enter the park. Please add your names plus nationality and passport number. We highly appreciate you to send us this information as soon as possible to avoid eventual troubles like missing the chance to visit the park, as there are limited tickets available everyday

Be aware that you cannot bring inside the park (water in single-use bottles or food)

You must bring your own towel if you are willing to swim inside the national park

The normal duration of this tour is 13 hours, but sometimes it could take longer becuase of the traffic on the way back.

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

What‘s Included

Hotel pickup and drop-off

Professional guide

National Park fees

All taxes, fees and handling charges

Lunch

Breakfast

Guaranteed to skip the long lines

Transport by air-conditioned minivan

Gratuities

Meeting and Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

What To Expect

Manuel Antonio National Park

This excursion begins when we pick you up the your Hotel early in the morning and head to the pacific coast. We will make a stop on the way for a delicious typical breakfast that includes gallo pinto, eggs to taste, meat, sausage, ripe banana, cheese, custard, omelette, fruit, coffee and juice . On the way to Manuel Antonio National Park, you will travel along the coastline enjoying scenic views, including African palm plantations. You will also travel past small villages along the Pacific Coast, until you reach the port of Quepos and the ultimately the National Park. Once in the park, you can simply relax and enjoy the beach, sunbathe, or hike through the park’s trails, which will allow you to observe Manuel Antonio’s abundant flora and fauna. Several species of monkeys, iguanas, birds and possibly even the three-toed sloth can be seen.

12 hours • Admission Included

Options

Manuel Antonio National Park Day Trip from San Jose

Pickup included

Reviews

4.48

96 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

Lovely experience at Manuel Antonio National Park.
Julio I,
Nov 15, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00
Manuel Antonio National Park was a lovely experience. It’s an all day experience that included breakfast and lunch. It was a sunny clear day that allowed us to enjoy the long drive from San Jose. Traffic was a problem. Much time was consumed on the road, because of traffic. Our guide explained that traffic is a national problem and the current administration is trying to get a bill passed to widen the roads and highways. Once at the park, we enjoyed walking on the trail and seeing the wildlife, plants, trees, and beaches. Our guide, Ricardo, was very experienced finding wildlife. It’s not easy to spot the animals because they’re so well camouflaged. The beach was the highlight of the trip. The water and sand were prestine. We stayed at the beach until it was time to leave. The beach looked like it was from a scene of Jurassic Park, with thick trees and vegetation, and waves crashing against volcanic looking bolders. Our driver, Cristian, was an excellent driver. He did everything possible to workaround the heavy traffic. I booked the trip through Viator. Viator’s website was easy to navigate. I called Customer Support with questions. The agent was very helpful. If you’re in Costa Rica, it’s worth adding the Manuel Antonio National Park to your agenda and to book it through Viator.
Below average tour
Julio R,
Nov 11, 2025
- Review from Viator
2.00
The journey one-way can be three hours or more. The communication around pick up times can be confusing. The guides are very average - lack humor and storytelling you see from other tours. This advert doesn’t include enough information about how to prepare for the trip. It is essentially a van ride to the beach. There is a rainforest walk where the guide points out animals and lets you see through his magnifier. The best part was just meeting other people, good conversation and a long swim on the beach.
Beautiful!
noah e,
Aug 27, 2025
- Review from Viator
5.00
Wow wow wow! Yes this is worth it! Wish I could stay in Manuel Antonio longer! This place is great, guide is great! He spoke Spanish and English and was helpful! The beaches were lovely! Wanted more time there honestly! But what an amazing trip! And my god the food was amazing! I have dietary needs so I said for food that I could have something else for the lunch and yes they adhered to it. Would say though that it’s best to discuss this prior in case your dietary needs are very specific! The view from the hotel where we had lunch was AMAZING! This one is organised!
Amazing
bethzaidav2025,
Jul 16, 2025
- Review from Tripadvisor
5.00
The views were amazing.We took so many pictures. Our tour guide Jose helped us looked for wild life. A very unique experience and place. I really recommend to visit.
The activity was good...
Ami H,
Jul 14, 2025
- Review from Viator
4.00
The activity was good HOWEVER, I can not tell you how frightening it is to be told after you’ve already paid then to be told 12 hours before the event they need a passport or ID right then or event will be cancelled. I was not near my phone at the time of the threat but this should have been requested at the booking. It would’ve been devastating to miss the event & not have enough time to plan another one, especially as a solo traveler. People travel thousands of miles & pay thousands of dollars. I was literally in line at customs when I was told another event was cancelled. Also, solo travelers shouldn’t be punished for being alone having to pay for two tickets. There’s got to be a better way.
Awesome day trip!
Huolong L,
Jun 26, 2025
- Review from Viator
4.00
Amazing trip. Ricardo, the guide, was excellent and spoke English well, knowing many specific words relating to the flora and fauna. Only drawback is the time going back and forth. As long as you're aware going in, it's worth it.
Great National Park
Cedric M,
Jun 17, 2025
- Review from Viator
5.00
Manuel Antonio National Park is a wonderful place to visit. The wildlife is all around you and our guide Ricardo was outstanding and very knowledgeable. We had more than enough time to see as much as we wanted and the restaurant just outside of the park offered us an extremely tasty lunch with more than enough to eat. This is a must do for Costa Rica!
Manual Antonio is a Paradise.
Eric A,
May 25, 2025
- Review from Viator
5.00
Breathtaking views. The wildlife. An unforgettable experience I won’t forget. I did not want to leave. Will be back.
A great trip
Srini D,
May 17, 2025
- Review from Viator
5.00
This is a great tour. The drive to the beach from San jose is also very nice. If you really want to see the cappuchin monkeys, yiu havevto take the trail from the beach It is a slight hike in the first half of the climb, but it is worth it. The views are beautiful. If you are lucky, you will these small monkeys playing around. Our guide cum driver was jose dias. He was extremely nice and polite and patiently answered all our questions. The tour was locally organized by Destiny tours. Very professional and on time
Disappointing tour guide
Lorin V,
Apr 18, 2025
- Review from Viator
3.00
The tour in the national park was good but a little disappointing because the sloths were hard to see (high up in trees). Saw lots of monkeys and iguanas as well as red crab and 1 macaw. The big dis’s appointment was our tour guide. We booked a English tour but our tour guide (Roy) spoke Spanish 90 percent of the time and only translated to English the bare minimum (even after I asked/reminded him early on the trip to speak in English as well). I felt like he catered to the family from Mexico in our group and carried on a personal conversation during our drive for over 1 hour on the way to the park as well as on the way back to San Jose. Very frustrating for our family because we know very little Spanish and we felt alienated, considering we were in the van for 6 hours in the morning and 4 hours on the return.