A note on fishing: Charter fishing boats are expensive anywhere, and a half day out of Quepos will c

The Skinny: Manuel Antonio National Park is one of the premier ecotourism destinations in the world. That means that the park itself can be quite crowded. Even so it's worth a visit, but there are also other great destinations and activities in the area.
Manuel Antonio National Park is popular for some very good reasons. It is only about a 2-hour escorted tours to australia and new zealand drive from the capital San Jose, it is easily accessible and has good infrastructure, it's gorgeous, and it houses incredible biodiversity. Although it is the country's smallest national park, it is home to well over 100 species of mammals, 184 species of birds, escorted tours to australia and new zealand and countless varieties of reptiles, amphibians, and insects.  And did I mention it's gorgeous?
It's also crowded. Beauty and popularity have their price, after all. The park, which is closed on Mondays, making Tuesdays its most frenetic day, has decided to limit visitors to 600 on weekdays and 800 on weekends. That's a great thing. But it also means that if you go in the afternoon you might not get in. Everyone knows this, and knows that the best wildlife viewing is in the morning before the heat of the day, so the entrance gate looks like a rugby scrum come opening time. Now if you're like me, something of a misanthrope who finds large congregations of people not only distasteful escorted tours to australia and new zealand but downright disturbing, it's a bit of a disappointment.
Entrance is about 10 USD to the park, but if you want a guide it's going to run you about 45 USD/person for a group tour, 65 USD/person for a private one. Do you get a guide? Yes. Now, our guide was – oddly  for someone in her profession – extremely reticent, happy to show you an animal to tick off on your life list, but giving nothing about its natural history or anything else. You want anecdotes, you want background. We got unlucky with our guide, but I heard others who were much more informative and engaging. It's not hard to eavesdrop, either, since guided groups are bouncing off each other like balls in a pinball machine, and wherever something is spotted every group in the area flocks around their guide's field telescope for a view. Without those telescopes, though, and the communication between guides when an animal is seen, you're probably going to miss a lot.
Your tour ends at the beach, where groups cluster before slowly escorted tours to australia and new zealand dispersing to other areas. Many people find it a good time to have a snack, and the white-faced escorted tours to australia and new zealand capuchin monkeys know this. Completely escorted tours to australia and new zealand acclimated to human presence, they bandy about the trees looking for handouts and are thus easy to photograph – in fact, the difficulty lies in getting a photo of them without another person getting a photo of them being in the frame. People do feed them (and in a sudden burst of loquacity our guide told me that she's often seen people giving them food while the monkeys were comfortably perched on a prominent "DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS" sign), but it turns out you don't have to actively feed the monkeys to actually feed them – they're perfectly happy to steal from you.
The beaches at the park are stunning – three separate crescents of soft sand backed by dense tropical forest with rocky outcroppings escorted tours to australia and new zealand looming in the distance – and all linked by short foot paths. We opted for a picnic on Playa Espadilla, which is a long stretch of beach that offers shady spots under the arching trees. Within minutes of breaking out the food the white-faced capuchins were after it with a fearlessness bordering on aggression, and one made off with a bag of chips. There's something infinitely depressing about watching a wild monkey sitting escorted tours to australia and new zealand in a tree munching on a bag of Doritos.
The raccoons were more subtle, and employed a classic diversionary escorted tours to australia and new zealand technique. One ambled into the area, looking rather adorable, and when our attention was on him two others raced in to grab a sandwich. I swear it was a coordinated attack. And it worked.
The surf was rather rough when we were visiting, and there were fairly strong rip tides on Playa Espadilla. If you have small children, Playa Manuel Antonio, a bit deeper into the park, is more protected and is a much safer spot.
There are toilets and running water at both Playa Manuel Antonio and Playa Espadilla, but not at the others. To return to the parking area you need to cross a small stream that becomes roughly thigh-deep at full high tide. If you don't want to get wet, there are small ferry boats that will take you across for a nominal fee.
There are a number of tours in and near Manuel Antonio, everything from butterfly and spice gardens to horseback riding escorted tours to australia and new zealand and ATV tours, and your hotel or rental property will help you arrange them. Chances are, though, you re going to want to spend some time on the beach.
An absolutely lovely beach is Biesanz , just past the Issimo Suites on the road leading to the Hotel Parador. There is parking on the shoulder of the road, and a self-appointed 'guard' who will keep an eye on your car for a small fee (about 4 USD). An easy 5-10 minute walk leads down to the beach, which is small but uncrowded, and offers some shade. On the path we encountered a small troop of endangered squirrel monkeys munching escorted tours to australia and new zealand fruit in the trees. You can rent kayaks and snorkeling equipment there pretty cheaply, and while the snorkeling is not stellar, it's worthwhile. At low tide there are great tide pools at the end of the beach.
Rainmaker is a private reserve about twenty minutes' drive outside of Quepos, the local town, which offers three separate tours – a canopy walk, an evening reptile and amphibian hike, and an early morning birding tour. You can do a self-guided walk for only 15 USD/person, or have a guide for 35 USD/person. Our guide Josue was very friendly and informative, escorted tours to australia and new zealand but there was a practical limitation to how much we could interact with him; there was another group – parents with a teenaged daughter – on the tour, and since they weren't slowed by young kids, they were frequently ahead of us. This meant that on the narrow trails they got a lot of information we missed out on. Either way you do it though, guided or unguided, the canopy walk is simply beautiful. The trail follows a trout-filled mountain stream (unexpected in tropical Costa Rica, but there it is), passing waterfalls and leading to a deep swimming hole. A short steep stretch (you'll need to carry any toddlers or have a baby backpack) brings you to the long canopy walks. Animal life abounds, and you never know what you might see. I actually much preferred Rainmaker to Manuel Antonio.
We took a half-day Planet Dolphin catamaran cruise , which was quite good and offered the only really decent snorkeling escorted tours to australia and new zealand of the trip. The cruise leaves Quepos' main port and heads south toward the national park, circling an island and stopping for lunch and snorkeling in a sheltered bay. All of the other tour boats do the same, however, so the one rock pile that shelters fish also shelters dozens of snorkelers, so the scene is a lot like that at the national park crowded. The crew aboard the cat was extremely friendly and knowledgeable, and although we only caught brief glimpses of dolphins, there is also the possibility of spotting humpback whales. escorted tours to australia and new zealand Our lunch of fish brochettes, pasta and fresh fruit was excellent. The price of 75 USD/person is a bit steep, but it's a worthwhile trip. We were a bit leery of having toddlers teetering about on a lurching boat, but the railings make it quite safe and we never felt like the kids were in any danger. They spent most of the day on the trampoline in the bow of the boat, racing and bouncing back and forth.
We visited the Finca Naturales (Nature Farm) refuge late one afternoon, and though escorted tours to australia and new zealand they were soon closing to prepare for their Jungle Night Walk, the guide graciously agreed to show us around. The reserve is located right on the main (and only) road to the park, directly across from Si Como No Resort and Spa. It's advisable to visit in the morning, when the butterflies are most active, but the tour was still fascinating and very informative.
The Titi Canopy Tour was the highlight of our trip in Manuel Antonio. It's a professional, well-operated outfit, and our two young guides, code-named Bumblebee and Porcupine, were outstanding. The absolute antithesis of Manuel Antonio, we two couples were the only people on the tour. Before even setting off on the trail to the first zip line we saw a chestnut-mandibled toucan (our only toucan of the trip), and from there it just got better. Poison escorted tours to australia and new zealand dart frogs, trogons, mot-mots, howler monkeys, squirrel monkeys, a three-toed sloth and a caiman were among the wildlife we encountered. The zip lines are fantastic and the views marvelous. I can't say enough about this tour. Just do it.
A note on fishing: Charter fishing boats are expensive anywhere, and a half day out of Quepos will cost you a minimum of 600 USD. There is a guy, though, an old stoner from Florida, who runs a Hobie Cat out of Playa Espadilla and who will take you out for a couple of hours for 25 USD/person. While you re on the cruise you re free to fish if you like, and I heard reports of excellent fishing from his boat. If you want to grab a couple of hours of fishing while the kids nap but don t want to spend a bundle, you might want to look into the Hobie-stoner man.
And a note on crocodiles: There are crocodiles all over the place, so don t let your kids . No. Actually, if  you are driving back to San Jose to catch your flight out, take the coastal route and stop at the bridge over the Tarcoles River. Dozens escorted tours to australia and new zealand of crocodiles line the banks here and cruise languidly in the river. This was also the only place we spotted scarlet macaws. Definitely worth a stop. Try lunch at Outback Jack s, a funky roadside place with really good food.
While there are a number of excellent hotels near Manuel Antonio, it's likely that you're going to be there for at least a week, so it's probably escorted tours to australia and new zealand better (and perhaps cheaper) to rent a house. VRBO.com and Homeaway.com are great places to start, and both have good search filt