Costa Rica and Panama: Cloud Forest, the Caribbean and Bocas del Toro

1. Day 1: Arrive in San José

   Juan Santamaría International Airport to your hotel in San José

   • Drive about 45 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in San José
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO), in Alajuela about 20 km west of central San José, at any time of day. A driver meets you in the arrivals hall for the 30 to 45 minute drive into the city, where the hotel is in walking distance of the old centre. If you land early, the National Theatre, opened in 1897 and paid for with a tax on coffee exports, and the Gold Museum beneath the Plaza de la Cultura are a short stroll away. At about 6 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a briefing on the two weeks ahead: how the days run, why one morning starts before 7, what the border crossing into Panama involves, and what to pack for the cloud forest, which is cool, and the Caribbean, which is not. Then we sit down together to a welcome dinner of Costa Rican cooking: a casado plate of rice, black beans, fried plantain and salad, or olla de carne, a slow beef and vegetable stew.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner

   Free time: Free until the evening briefing

   Activity: Land by about 4 pm to join the briefing; later arrivals are met and briefed the next morning.

2. Day 2: Sarchí and up to Monteverde

   San José to Sarchí, then the Pan-American Highway and the mountain road to Monteverde

   • Drive about 3.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Monteverde
   Day 2 details

   We leave San José at about 8:30 am and head west through the coffee farms of the Central Valley. After about an hour we stop in Sarchí, the town of Costa Rica's painted oxcarts, where in a family workshop you watch the wheels being painted in bright geometric patterns of red, orange and black; the oxcart tradition is on UNESCO's list of intangible heritage. From there the Pan-American Highway runs north-west past San Ramón, and we sit down to lunch on the way. The last stretch climbs a winding road through cattle pasture to Santa Elena, the village at the heart of Monteverde, at about 1,300 m on the Continental Divide. We arrive by mid-afternoon after about 3.5 hours of driving in all, and you have time to settle in: the air is cool and damp, and a fleece feels right. At about 5:30 pm a local naturalist leads a two-hour night walk by torchlight in a private reserve, looking for tree frogs, tarantulas, roosting birds and often a sloth on the move. Dinner is free.

   Included

   • Oxcart workshop in Sarchí
   • Sit-down lunch on the way
   • Guided night walk in a private cloud forest reserve with a local naturalist

   Free time: Late afternoon and dinner free in Santa Elena

   Activity: The night walk is about 2 km on forest paths, some uneven; bring a torch if you have one and closed shoes.

   

3. Day 3: The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve at opening

   Santa Elena to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve and back

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast
   • Stay in Monteverde
   Day 3 details

   This is the one start before 7 am on the trip, and the forest is the reason: the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve opens at 7, birds are busiest in the first hours, and the trails are quiet before the day groups arrive. We leave at about 6:45 for the short drive up. For about three hours a naturalist guide walks us through moss-covered oaks and strangler figs heavy with orchids, bromeliads and ferns, and sets up a telescope whenever something moves: the resplendent quetzal, seen most often from about March to June, emerald toucanets, hummingbirds and, by sound long before sight, the three-wattled bellbird. The trail crosses a hanging bridge at the height of the canopy. Quaker families from the United States settled here in 1951 to farm dairy cattle, and the reserve began in 1972 to protect the forest that feeds their streams. If heavy rain sets in, the guide shortens the route or moves us to a smaller reserve nearby. Lunch and the afternoon are free: a coffee and chocolate tour, a zipline or a nap.

   Included

   • Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve entry
   • Guided morning walk with a naturalist and a telescope

   Optional experiences

   • A zipline, a hanging bridges park, or a coffee and chocolate farm tour, booked at the operator's own price

   Easier option: Walk the first hour on the flatter trails near the entrance and wait at the reserve café.

   More active option: Stay on after the group walk and climb the trail to the Continental Divide lookout on your own; the reserve is well signposted.

   Free time: Lunch, afternoon and evening free

   Activity: About 3 km on forest trails with roots, mud and some steps; bring a rain jacket and a warm layer.

   

4. Day 4: Across Lake Arenal to La Fortuna

   Monteverde to Río Chiquito, by boat across Lake Arenal, then La Fortuna

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in La Fortuna
   Day 4 details

   We leave Monteverde at about 8:30 am and take the short way to Arenal, across the lake instead of round it. A local van drops down the gravel road through farmland and forest to Río Chiquito on the south shore of Lake Arenal, about an hour and a half, while our own van takes the luggage round by road. The boat crossing takes about 25 minutes, and on a clear morning Arenal Volcano rises straight ahead of the bow, a near-perfect cone about 1,640 m high. From the dock by the dam it is a short drive to La Fortuna, our base for two nights, and our van is there with the bags. We sit down to lunch together in town at about 12:30, then the afternoon is free: walk the town, sit by the pool, or book a canyoning or rafting trip. Late in the afternoon we go to a hot springs park fed by water heated deep under the volcano, entry included, and stay into the evening as the pools are lit and the air cools. Dinner is free, at the springs or back in town.

   Included

   • Boat across Lake Arenal, with the luggage taken round by road
   • Sit-down lunch in La Fortuna
   • Hot springs entry in the late afternoon

   Optional experiences

   • Canyoning, whitewater rafting or stand-up paddleboarding on Lake Arenal, booked at the operator's own price

   Free time: Afternoon free, dinner free

   Activity: The road down to the lake is unpaved and bumpy for about an hour.

5. Day 5: Arenal's lava trails and La Fortuna waterfall

   La Fortuna to Arenal Volcano National Park, then La Fortuna waterfall

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in La Fortuna
   Day 5 details

   Arenal's cone is most often clear in the early morning, so we are at the gate of Arenal Volcano National Park when it opens at 8 am. A local guide walks us for about two hours over the old lava flows of the eruption that began in July 1968, when the volcano woke after centuries of quiet and buried the villages of Tabacón and Pueblo Nuevo; it stayed active until 2010 and now rests. Forest has grown back over the rock, and the guide points out the pioneer plants, birds and the coatis that work the trail edges. From the park we drive round to La Fortuna waterfall, entry included, where the Fortuna River drops about 70 m into a jungle pool. A stairway of about 500 steps leads down to the bottom, where you can swim in cold, clear water, then climb back up at your own pace. Lunch is a sit-down meal in town at about 1 pm. The afternoon and evening are free.

   Included

   • Arenal Volcano National Park entry and a guided walk on the lava trails
   • La Fortuna waterfall entry
   • Sit-down lunch in La Fortuna

   Optional experiences

   • A hanging bridges park, ziplining or a Caño Negro wetlands boat, booked at the operator's own price

   Easier option: Skip the stairs and see the waterfall from the lookout at the top, with a coffee at the visitor centre.

   More active option: Swim in the pool below the falls, then follow the river path downstream to the quieter swimming spots before climbing back up.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free

   Activity: About 3 km on gravel and lava-rock trails in the park, then about 500 steep steps down to the waterfall and back up.

6. Day 6: To the Caribbean, by way of a cacao farm

   La Fortuna to Sarapiquí, then via Guápiles and Limón to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca

   • Drive about 5.5 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca
   Day 6 details

   Today is the one day of the trip over our four-hour driving limit: about five and a half hours and 300 km. No shorter road links Arenal with the southern Caribbean coast, and a night halfway would cost a night on the coast, so we break the day into three parts instead. We leave La Fortuna at about 8 am and drive east for about two hours through pineapple farms and cattle country to Sarapiquí, on the river of the same name. Here we stretch our legs on a cacao farm: a guided walk among the trees, a pod cut open to taste the sweet white pulp, and the beans roasted and ground into chocolate in front of you. A sit-down lunch by the river follows. In the afternoon the road drops into the Caribbean lowlands past Guápiles and the banana plantations to the port of Limón, with a coffee stop on the way, then runs south along the coast through Cahuita to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca. We arrive at about 5:30 pm, in time to hear the howler monkeys. The evening is free.

   Included

   • Guided cacao farm walk and chocolate tasting in Sarapiquí
   • Sit-down lunch in Sarapiquí

   Free time: Evening free in Puerto Viejo

   Activity: The longest day in the van, split by a two-hour stop at the cacao farm and lunch and a coffee stop in the afternoon. The road past Limón carries heavy port traffic, so times can stretch.

7. Day 7: Cahuita National Park and a Caribbean dinner

   Puerto Viejo de Talamanca to Cahuita National Park and back

   • Drive about 45 min
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca
   Day 7 details

   After breakfast we drive about 20 minutes north to Cahuita, a village of wooden houses whose national park protects the coral reef offshore and the strip of forest behind the beach. We enter at the village gate at about 8 am, where entry is by donation, which we make for the group, and walk with a local naturalist along a flat trail between the jungle and the sand. Two- and three-toed sloths hang in the trees, white-faced capuchins and howler monkeys move overhead, and the guide's telescope finds snakes, frogs and roosting bats that most walkers pass without seeing. The walk is about 4 km and takes about three hours with stops, and you can swim from the beach on the way back. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Cahuita. The afternoon is free: rent a bike and ride the coast road south to Cocles and Punta Uva. In the evening we sit down together to a Caribbean dinner: rice and beans cooked in coconut milk, and rondón, a coconut stew of fish and root vegetables.

   Included

   • Cahuita National Park walk with a local naturalist, donation included
   • Sit-down lunch in Cahuita
   • Caribbean dinner in Puerto Viejo

   Optional experiences

   • Bike hire, a surf lesson, the Jaguar Rescue Center or a guided snorkel on the Cahuita reef, at your own cost

   Easier option: Walk the first kilometre to the first beach and wait there for the group.

   More active option: Carry on to Punta Cahuita at the far end of the trail with the naturalist while the rest of the group turns back.

   Free time: Afternoon free

   Activity: About 4 km on a flat sandy trail; it is hot and humid, so bring water, insect repellent and swimwear.

8. Day 8: Over the Sixaola River into Panama

   Puerto Viejo to Sixaola, on foot across the border to Guabito, then via Changuinola to Almirante and by water taxi to Bocas Town

   • Drive about 2 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Bocas del Toro
   Day 8 details

   Today we cross into Panama together. We leave Puerto Viejo at about 8 am for the 45-minute drive through Bribri to Sixaola, the border town on the river of the same name. Your guide takes you through Costa Rica's exit formalities and pays the land-border exit tax, then we walk across the bridge over the Sixaola River to Guabito with our bags. Clocks go forward one hour. At Panama's entry post, officers can ask to see your onward flight home, so keep a copy handy. A Panamanian van and driver wait on the far side, and the road runs through the banana plantations around Changuinola to Almirante, about an hour. There a water taxi carries us across the bay in about 25 minutes to Bocas Town on Isla Colón, our base for three nights. Lunch is a sit-down meal by the water. The crossing can take one to two hours, so we keep the afternoon light: a short walk round town with your guide, past wooden houses on stilts from the banana boom of the early 1900s. The rest of the day is free.

   Included

   • Border crossing at Sixaola with your guide, with the Costa Rica land-border exit tax paid
   • Panamanian van and driver from Guabito to Almirante
   • Water taxi from Almirante to Bocas Town
   • Sit-down lunch in Bocas Town
   • Short walk round Bocas Town with your guide

   Free time: Late afternoon and evening free in Bocas Town

   Activity: You carry your own bag across the bridge, a walk of a few minutes, and onto the water taxi. Keep your passport and a copy of your flight home in your daypack.

9. Day 9: Dolphin Bay, a reef and Cayos Zapatilla

   A boat day in the Bocas del Toro archipelago

   • By boat
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Bocas del Toro
   Day 9 details

   A whole day on the water, on a boat for our group only, with a local captain. We leave the dock at about 9 am and run south through mangrove channels to Dolphin Bay, a sheltered bay where bottlenose dolphins are seen on most visits. Next we stop at a reef near Cayo Coral to snorkel over hard and soft corals, sponges, parrotfish and starfish, with masks and fins provided; anyone who would rather stay dry watches from the boat. Lunch is a sit-down meal at a restaurant built on stilts over the water. In the afternoon we cross to Cayos Zapatilla, two small uninhabited islands of white sand and palms inside the Isla Bastimentos National Marine Park, created in 1988; the park fee is included. Walk the beach or the short forest trail across the island, swim, or rest in the shade. If the sea is rough, the captain changes the order or finds calmer water. We are back in Bocas Town by about 4 pm, and the evening is free.

   Included

   • Full-day boat in the archipelago for our group, with captain and guide
   • Dolphin Bay
   • Snorkelling at a reef near Cayo Coral, with masks and fins
   • Cayos Zapatilla, with the Isla Bastimentos National Marine Park fee
   • Sit-down lunch over the water

   Easier option: Stay on the boat or the beach instead of snorkelling; there is shade at Zapatilla.

   More active option: Snorkel off the beach at Zapatilla as well as at the reef, or walk the full trail round the island.

   Free time: Evening free

   Activity: Open boat rides of 20 to 45 minutes between stops can be bumpy; bring swimwear, a towel, reef-safe sun cream and a dry bag.

10. Day 10: Starfish Beach in the early morning

    Bocas Town across Isla Colón to Boca del Drago and Starfish Beach, then back

    • Drive about 1 h
    • Breakfast
    • Stay in Bocas del Toro
    Day 10 details

    A slower day. After breakfast we drive across Isla Colón, about 40 to 50 minutes through forest and small farms, to Boca del Drago on the island's north-west tip. From there a shore path of about 1.5 km leads to Starfish Beach, a calm, shallow cove where red cushion sea stars lie on the sandy bottom in water a metre or so deep. We aim to arrive by about 9 am, before the water taxis bring the midday crowd. Swim, float over the starfish with a mask, or sit under the palms; please look but do not lift them, because they suffer out of the water. Your guide points out the herons and kingfishers along the shore. We are back in Bocas Town before lunch, which is free, and the afternoon and evening are yours: a cacao farm on the mainland, Red Frog Beach on Isla Bastimentos, a surf lesson, or a bioluminescence boat on a dark night.

    Included

    • Transfer across Isla Colón to Boca del Drago
    • Guided morning at Starfish Beach

    Optional experiences

    • Red Frog Beach, a cacao farm tour, a surf lesson, scuba diving or a bioluminescence boat, booked at the operator's own price

    Easier option: Stay at Boca del Drago, where there is shade and a café, instead of walking to Starfish Beach.

    Free time: Lunch, afternoon and evening free

    Activity: The shore path is flat but sandy and partly rooty; wear sandals you can walk in.

    

11. Day 11: Over the divide to Boquete coffee country

    Bocas Town by water taxi to Almirante, then via Chiriquí Grande, the Fortuna road and Gualaca to Boquete

    • Drive about 4 h
    • Breakfast and lunch
    • Stay in Boquete
    Day 11 details

    We leave Bocas Town on an 8 am water taxi to Almirante, where our van is waiting, and drive about four hours and 200 km over the mountains to Boquete, our limit for the day, with a long break in the middle. The road follows the coast to Chiriquí Grande, then climbs through wet forest over the continental divide into the Fortuna Forest Reserve. We stop at the Fortuna reservoir, high in the cloud, for a coffee and a stretch, then drop to the Pacific lowlands at Gualaca and turn north up to Boquete, at about 1,200 m in a valley on the flank of Volcán Barú, the highest point in Panama. We sit down to a late lunch together. At about 4 pm we visit a coffee farm on the slopes above town: the plants under shade trees, the hand picking in the harvest from about November to March, the drying and roasting, and a tasting that includes Geisha, the variety that made Boquete coffee famous. The evening is free; it is cool up here, so bring a layer.

    Included

    • Water taxi from Bocas Town to Almirante
    • Drive over the continental divide with a stop at the Fortuna reservoir
    • Sit-down lunch in Boquete
    • Coffee farm tour with a tasting, including Geisha

    Free time: Evening free in Boquete

    Activity: About 4 hours on a winding mountain road; take motion sickness tablets if you need them.

12. Day 12: Fly to Panama City: the Canal and Casco Viejo

    Boquete to David, by air to Panama City, then the Miraflores Locks and Casco Viejo

    • Drive about 2 h
    • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
    • Stay in Panama City
    Day 12 details

    Panama City is about seven hours from the Chiriquí highlands by road, so we fly. After an early breakfast we drive 45 minutes down to David and take a domestic flight of about an hour to Panama City. We land late in the morning and sit down to lunch, then drive to the Miraflores Locks at the Pacific end of the Panama Canal, opened in 1914 and run by Panama since the last day of 1999. From the viewing terraces you watch ships the length of a city block raised or lowered in two steps, with only a few metres to spare on either side, and the visitor centre explains how the locks and Gatún Lake work together. After a rest at the hotel, we walk Casco Viejo from about 4:30 pm as the heat eases. The old quarter was refounded here in 1673 after the first city was sacked, and is listed by UNESCO: the cathedral square, the golden altar of the San José church and Plaza de Francia, ending on the old sea wall at sunset. The group sits down together for a farewell dinner in Casco Viejo.

    Included

    • Transfer from Boquete to David airport (DAV)
    • Domestic flight from David to Panama City
    • Sit-down lunch in Panama City
    • Miraflores Locks visitor centre entry, with the viewing terraces and museum
    • Guided walk in Casco Viejo to the sea wall at sunset
    • Farewell dinner in Casco Viejo

    Easier option: Skip the second half of the Casco Viejo walk and wait for sunset at a café on Plaza de Francia.

    Activity: Domestic flights have a lower baggage allowance; we confirm yours when we book the seats. If the flight is later in the day, we see the locks on the morning of day 13 instead.

13. Day 13: A free morning and home from Panama City

    Panama City to Tocumen International Airport

    • Drive about 45 min
    • Breakfast
    Day 13 details

    The last morning is free. Walk the Cinta Costera, the waterfront park along the bay, go back to Casco Viejo for a coffee in one of its plazas, or visit the Biomuseo, the brightly coloured museum on the Amador Causeway, at your own cost. Hotel checkout is usually late morning, and we hold your bags until the transfer. Our van then takes you to Tocumen International Airport (PTY), about 25 km east of the centre, which takes 30 minutes to an hour depending on traffic. For international flights, plan to be at the airport about three hours before departure, so book a flight home leaving after about 2 pm; if your flight leaves earlier, we take you straight after breakfast. Your guide sees everyone off. If you would like more time in Panama, for the Gamboa rainforest, a partial canal transit or more days in Boquete, ask us when you book: our 8-day Panama trip covers them, and we can quote extra nights.

    Included

    • Transfer to Tocumen International Airport (PTY)

    Optional experiences

    • The Biomuseo or the Panama Canal Museum, at your own cost

    Free time: Morning free

    Activity: Book a flight home leaving Tocumen after about 2 pm.

Wildlife and weather: December to April is the dry season in San José, Monteverde, Arenal and Boquete, though the cloud forest is misty and can be wet in any month. The Caribbean coast of both countries has showers all year, so the Bocas boat route is set on the day. Arenal's cone is often in cloud by midday, which is why we go early. Sloths, monkeys and dolphins are seen on most trips, but wildlife is wild, and the quetzal, seen most often from about March to June, is never promised.

• San José1 night
• Monteverde2 nights
• La Fortuna2 nights
• Puerto Viejo de Talamanca2 nights
• Bocas del Toro3 nights
• Boquete1 night
• Panama City1 night