The 9 Best National Parks in Province of Guanacaste, Costa Rica

September 18, 2021 Weston Hennigan

Discover the best top things to do in Province of Guanacaste, Costa Rica including Rincon De La Vieja Volcano National Park, Parque Nacional Rincon de la Vieja, Barra Honda National Park, Palo Verde National Park, Cabo Blanco Absolute Natural Reserve, Tenorio National Park, Las Baulas National Marine Park, Parque Nacional Santa Rosa, Diria National Park.
Restaurants in Province of Guanacaste

1. Rincon De La Vieja Volcano National Park

Costa Rica
Excellent
100%
Good
0%
Satisfactory
0%
Poor
0%
Terrible
0%
Overall Ratings

5.0 based on 1 reviews

Rincon De La Vieja Volcano National Park

2. Parque Nacional Rincon de la Vieja

Costa Rica +506 8807 4954 http://www.sinac.go.cr/ES/ac/acg/pnrv/Paginas/default.aspx
Excellent
57%
Good
31%
Satisfactory
8%
Poor
3%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 838 reviews

Parque Nacional Rincon de la Vieja

This 35,000-acre national park centers around a volcano that last erupted in 1995.

Reviewed By Moseywood - Center Valley, United States

Loved Jeody, our guide thru Gabriel’s Tours. He took our family of 6 on a great nature hike, swam in a 55 degree waterfall pool, saw fumeroles and mud pots, howler monkeys, aqua colored butterflies and iguanas. Beautiful park. Picked us up at Dreams Las Mareas resort which is close to Nicaragua and the drive was 1 1/2 hrs. Jeody made the day even better! Fun, very bright and knowledgeable. I would ask for him to be your guide. You will be delighted you did. Tell him Mo and Dave rec. him!

3. Barra Honda National Park

Al Noroeste de la Ciudad de Nicoya, Guancaste, Costa Rica 22 km, Nicoya 50201 Costa Rica +506 2659 1551 http://areasyparques.com/areasprotegidas/parque-nacional-barra-honda/
Excellent
59%
Good
28%
Satisfactory
7%
Poor
4%
Terrible
2%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 136 reviews

Barra Honda National Park

This park is best known for its well-preserved limestone caves.

Reviewed By N4521MAdanielab - Anchorage, United States

I guess i never in my lifetime make something as extreme as the expedition to the caverns, so far was a great and complete workout (not for people with health issues) jajajaja i really enjoy the effort for make it possible, was a challenge for complete, the guide was right before started the experience and recommended us bring more water, lots of hike, wildelife, she take the time for explain to us with a map and a wildlife guide all the plants and animals species we found during the route, the trail for car and 4x4 was closed due damage for severe rains so was longer than usual, but we really enjoy it a lot. The view of Barra Honda town was priceless, i recommended watched first before the caverns and seat for a moment on the chair and rejoy with that awesome view.

4. Palo Verde National Park

Costa Rica +506 2200 5414 https://www.facebook.com/Parque-Nacional-Palo-Verde-ACAT-1475142736032903/
Excellent
65%
Good
26%
Satisfactory
6%
Poor
2%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 433 reviews

Palo Verde National Park

The water system in this park sustains the largest population of waterfowl and wading birds in Central America.

Reviewed By davethedrill - Hemel Hempstead, United Kingdom

A superb private cruise on the river The wildlife on view was amazing Our special interest is birding and our guide and pilot Andreas made this a trip to treasure Thank you too to Roger our driver and second guide You really must visit Palo Verde

5. Cabo Blanco Absolute Natural Reserve

Southern Tip Of the Nicoya Peninsula, Nicoya 50201 Costa Rica +506 2642 0093 http://www.costarica-nationalparks.com/caboblancoabsolutenaturalreserve.html
Excellent
59%
Good
28%
Satisfactory
9%
Poor
3%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 162 reviews

Cabo Blanco Absolute Natural Reserve

Reviewed By aml888 - San Francisco, United States

There are two options for hiking in this beautiful preserve: a shorter ~2 mi trail and a 6 mi (10K) loop out to the beach. We chose the longer trail to the beach. Finding the reserve and parking is easy. The fee is $12 USD per person and can be paid in dollars, colones or via credit card. The trail is almost entirely shaded, a huge relief on a hot sunny day, but it is not an easy trail. There's a lot of elevation change, at least several hundred feet cumulative in each direction (you basically hike up to a high point and then down to the beach, then back up and down again on the return). Some areas are a bit technical (big steps up/down, lots of roots and rocks in some spots) but not terrible, just slow going. The real challenge is the heat. Be sure to bring a lot of water, more than you think you'll need. We each brought about 500 ml and wish we'd brought twice that. And wear sturdy hiking shoes (we wore trail running shoes, which were fine). If you wear flip flops, be prepared to be miserable. Also, while fine in the dry season, the footing would likely be quite treacherous in the rainy season. The beach at the end is very pretty. We arrived at low tide and it was quite rocky by the water; even an hour or two later the water would probably have been up to the pretty white sand. There are no facilities (restrooms, potable water) at the beach but there are several nice picnic tables. The mileage according to my GPS watch was almost spot on at 3 mi each direction. It took us approximately 1.5 hrs to hike out and a little longer coming back (tired!). One disappointment - we did not see many monkeys, birds or other wildlife (we started the hike at 9:20am so maybe it was too hot by then). We celebrated surviving our jungle hike with cold beer at La Selva Brewery, a few km on the road back to Montezuma. Overall, I'd definitely recommend this hike if you're up for a bit of a strenuous walk through a beautiful jungle.

6. Tenorio National Park

Buena Vista Costa Rica +506 2206 5369 https://www.visitcostarica.com/en/costa-rica/where-to-go/protected-areas/tenorio-volcano-national-park
Excellent
63%
Good
28%
Satisfactory
7%
Poor
1%
Terrible
1%
Overall Ratings

4.5 based on 164 reviews

Tenorio National Park

Crown jewel of Northern Costa Rica

Reviewed By Suwhit - Orlando, United States

While in Costa Rica we took a day trip with three amazing stops! Our super fantastic tour guide, Manny, was so awesome from start to finish - we could not have asked for anyone better! Our first stop was the Parque Nacional Volcan Tenorio! With rainy weather we each bit and bought some cheapo rain ponchos from locals who were wise enough to know we all would come unprepared! Oddly, we had brought an old pair of hiking shoes and windbreakers but failed to recognize the need to bring them for this hike! Oh well... $2.00 for some cheap plastic kept our backpacks and cameras dry! The hike is not terribly difficult but there are steps at the end leading down to the waterfall. Beautiful sites along the way make this a nice home. Afterwards we drove to the Hummingbird cafe for arguably the best meal of our entire trip! Here in an amazingly beautiful environment we feasted in tasty chicken, rice and beans, fresh vegetables and some super delicious salsa. It was delicious! After lunch our guide, Paolo, took us around the grounds to see and learn about the amazing flowers, trees, morpho butterflies, hummingbirds, blue jeans frog which he masterfully located for us! There were howler monkeys and a 12-day old sloth with its Momma that we got fantastic pictures of using their telescopic lens! Fabulous! So awesome! Once we left here we went on to the hot mud pits where we walked through the steam-filled valley, sat in a sauna to open the pores, bathed in the mud and then rinsed off before sitting in the hot tubs! It was fabulous! Take a towel and some flip Flops here - there are three different temperatures of hot tubs and places to change and even shower! It was an amazing day! Highly recommend you do this adventure!

7. Las Baulas National Marine Park

Santa Cruz, Guanacaste, Playa Grande 50308 Costa Rica +506 2653 0470 [email protected] http://www.sinac.go.cr/ES/ac/act/Paginas/Parque-Nacional-Marino-Las-Baulas.aspx
Excellent
55%
Good
26%
Satisfactory
7%
Poor
4%
Terrible
8%
Overall Ratings

4.0 based on 249 reviews

Las Baulas National Marine Park

This National Park protects the main nesting beaches for the leatherback turtle of the Tropical Eastern Pacific. This place is also an important spot for migratory birds, the american crocodile and other wildlife. We are a Ramsar Site, of international importance.

Reviewed By danmL78TX - Hamilton, Canada

Located in Playa Grande, the "park" is really just a protected area where development has been severely limited (in a good way) to protect the nesting grounds of the leatherback turtles. This is our favourite beach area in Costa Rica (we've been about 20 times now). For over 2km you have great waves and almost no people. From Nov to March (or so) the leatherback turtles - living dinosaurs, really - come nest at night. The beach is closed to the public at night so as to not disturb the turtle nesting. You can go to the local park office to book your guided night tour. The park is also home to one of Central America's largest salt-water estuaries. You can do guided boat tours, or rent kayaks or canoes and see crocodiles, monkeys and a large variety of birds, all living in a beautiful mangrove filled estuary. Top it off with lunch at Taco Star and Dinner at nearby El Huerto, Ki-ke's (kee-kays) or Cafe Del Pueblo.

8. Parque Nacional Santa Rosa

Area de Conservacion Guanacaste Costa Rica http://www.acguanacaste.ac.cr/1999/ecoturismo/santa_rosa_tur.html
Excellent
48%
Good
30%
Satisfactory
13%
Poor
5%
Terrible
4%
Overall Ratings

4.0 based on 123 reviews

Parque Nacional Santa Rosa

Reviewed By Matt19611 - Reading, United States

There is a historic building here dating to the 18th century and some very old stone corrals. This was the site of the bulk of Costa Rica’s limited war history when William Walker, an American Lawyer backed by the Confederacy attempted to invade the country with his band of mercenaries, The armed citizens rapidly beat them back. Anyway, for us the main attraction in this park is Playa Naranja. the park costs about 9,000 Colones to enter (maybe $8?) and you can’t go to the beach without playing. The problem is there is a VERY rough road for 6.7 miles to the beach. We had a small Suzuki rental 4x4 and we were able to do it- but it took an hour 20 minutes each way and we bottomed out 4 or 5 times. If you don’t have 4x4 experience and or a higher clearance 4x4, you might not want to attempt it. There is no potable water so bring your own. The beach is 4 miles long and very few other people are there, It’s known as a good surfing beach and people also come in by boat to surf here. We loved it here as there were so few other people, “Witch Rock” aka “Roca Bruja” is a giant boulder sitting a few hundred yards off shore. If you have the time, go.

9. Diria National Park

South of Santa Cruz 9km, Nicoya 50201 Costa Rica
Excellent
27%
Good
36%
Satisfactory
9%
Poor
9%
Terrible
19%
Overall Ratings

3.5 based on 11 reviews

Diria National Park

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