Costa Rica Expeditions

Traveling to Tortuguero out of the Turtle Season

Tortuguero National Park

Tortuguero is one of the premier rainforest destinations in Costa Rica

Yes, you are right, the turtles may not be nesting when you are traveling in Tortuguero, and yes, the turtle nesting is truly an awe-inspiring experience, but, and this is a big but, there is so much more to Tortuguero than the turtles!


Tortuguero is where you are to likely see the most wildlife and where you will experience the tropical rainforest in all it’s glory.

Tortuguero is a natural wildlife sanctuary

Many guests see three species of monkeys (Spider, Howler, and White-faced Capuchins), Three-toed sloths, and River otters are frequently seen along the natural inland waterways and creeks. Caiman, iguanas, River turtles, Basilisk lizards, and Poison dart (Dendrobates) frogs inhabit the area, along with more than 320 species of birds including all 6 species of kingfishers found in the new world, 3 species of toucans, 8 species of parrots, and other neotropical species such as the Slaty-tailed trogon, White-collared manakin, Purple-throated fruitcrow, and White-fronted nunbird and many more species.

Three Toed Sloth

The rainforests of Tortuguero National Park are visited by boat with a local guide. You will have the opportunity to explore the creeks for the park, here you will see many different stages of life in the forest, including primary forest, light gaps and some secondary forests as well.

Guests Exploring the Tortuguero Canals With a Naturalist Guide

Green Sea Turtle Nesting Season

If you happen to travel between July and October you may take advantage of the Green Sea Turtle Nesting season. Most lodges include Guided night tours to admire this incredible and breathtaking natural phenomenon.  Strict rules are set to guarantee the well-being of the turtles.

A Green Seat Turtle after laying her eggs at the Tortuguero Beach

How to get to Tortuguero?

The most common and least expensive way is traveling by land and boat.  The journey consists of a 3 ½ hours road trip to a pier in the Atlantic lowlands, and there you will board a boat that will take you in approximately 1 ½ hour to Tortuguero, you may use the same journey on the way back to San José.

Some travelers prefer investing more money and shorten the transferring time, by taking a domestic flight, the domestic flight takes only 25 minutes.

Some guests prefer traveling both ways by air and save several hours of vacationing time.

In our experience, it would be ideal traveling one way by air and another way by land and boat.

Aircraft Departing from the Tortuguero Airstrip

Comfortable and traditional lodging in Tortuguero

In Tortuguero, our company have used Tortuga Lodge & Gardens with a high level of satisfaction in terms of the type of accommodations, meals, and personalized tours this lodge offers.

While, it is not as small as Tortuga Lodge & Gardens, Mawamba Lodge is a traditional jungle lodge that will provide you the best experiences in Tortuguero, including the typical rustic accommodations of the area, full meals and group tours to the National Park and the canals.

If you would like to experience Tortuguero as a part of your vacation, please click below

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