The Complete Guide to Manuel Antonio National Park (2026)

Written by the local certified naturalist guides at Manuel Antonio National Park Tours — updated January 2026

Manuel Antonio National Park is Costa Rica's most visited national park, and once you're here, it's easy to see why. Nowhere else in the country can you watch a sloth move through the canopy in the morning and swim at one of Costa Rica's most beautiful beaches an hour later. The park packs rainforest, white-sand beaches, and an astonishing density of wildlife into just under 7 square kilometers on the Central Pacific coast.

But Manuel Antonio is also the park where visitors most often get caught off guard. Tickets sell out. The park is closed one day a week. Food isn't allowed inside. And unofficial "helpers" near the entrance have made an industry out of confusing tourists.

We live and guide here every day. This guide covers everything you need to plan your 2026 visit — the honest, local version.

In this guide:

• Quick facts
• Where the park is and how to get here
• Tickets: how they really work
• Hours and the Tuesday closure
• Guided tour vs. visiting on your own
• Trails and beaches inside the park
• Wildlife you can see
• Best time to visit
• Park rules (they're strict)
• What to bring
• Avoiding scams at the entrance
• FAQ

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Quick Facts

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Where Is Manuel Antonio and How Do You Get Here?

Manuel Antonio National Park sits on Costa Rica's Central Pacific coast in the province of Puntarenas, about 7 kilometers from the town of Quepos. The park entrance is at the end of the Manuel Antonio road, past the hotels and restaurants that line the hill between Quepos and the beach.

From San José (SJO airport): roughly 157 km — a 3 to 3.5-hour drive on Route 27 and the Costanera highway. You can also take a shared shuttle (~3.5 hours), a public bus from San José's Tracopa terminal, or a 25-minute domestic flight to Quepos (XQP).

From Jacó: about 1 hour 15 minutes south along the coast.

From Uvita/Dominical: about 45–70 minutes north.

From Quepos or your Manuel Antonio hotel: the local bus runs between Quepos and the park area every 20 minutes and costs under $1. Taxis from most Manuel Antonio hotels are $5–10. If you book a guided tour with us, your ICT-certified guide meets you right at the park entrance with your permit already arranged.

Driving yourself? There is no official park parking lot at the gate itself — you'll park in one of the private lots near the entrance, which charge around $10 for the day. More on parking (and the parking scams to avoid) below.

Related: Every transport option compared — How to Get from San José to Manuel Antonio · Parking at the park: costs & scams to avoid

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Tickets: How Entry to the Park Really Works

This is the section that trips up more visitors than anything else, so read it carefully.

Since 2021, park tickets are sold exclusively online through SINAC, Costa Rica's national park authority. There is no ticket booth selling same-day entry at the gate. If someone on the street tells you otherwise, they are not telling you the truth.

Here's what buying directly from SINAC involves:

1. Create an account on the SINAC website (email verification required).
2. Select Manuel Antonio, your date, and a timed entry slot. Morning slots are the most popular and sell out first.
3. Enter the full name and passport number of every visitor. Tickets are name-linked — bring your passport (or a photo of it) on the day.
4. Pay by credit card. The system times out if you're slow, so have everything ready.

The system works, but travelers regularly find it frustrating — it's an older government platform, autofill causes errors, and popular dates disappear fast. In the December–April high season, tickets can sell out one to several weeks in advance, and holiday weeks (Christmas, New Year's, Easter) sell out even earlier. We wrote a step-by-step guide to buying Manuel Antonio tickets that walks through the whole process.

The simpler option: when you book a guided tour with a licensed local operator like us, your park entry permit is included and guaranteed — no SINAC account, no timed-slot lottery, no passport data entry at midnight. This is honestly the number-one reason travelers book tours here, even before the wildlife.

Sold out on SINAC for your dates? Don't panic. Licensed tour operators hold permit allocations for their guests, so a guided tour is often still available even when general entry is sold out. Contact us with your dates and we'll tell you straight away if we can get you in.

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Hours — and the Tuesday Closure Everyone Misses

Manuel Antonio National Park is open Wednesday through Monday, from 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The beaches inside the park close at 3:00 PM so visitors have time to walk out, and the last timed entry slot runs 1:00–2:30 PM.

The park is closed every Tuesday. This is a permanent conservation measure that gives the ecosystem a weekly rest day — and it catches out visitors constantly. If Tuesday is your only day in Manuel Antonio, plan a mangrove tour, catamaran trip, or waterfall excursion instead, and save the park for another day of your trip.

The park stays open on most public holidays (including Christmas and Easter) unless they fall on a Tuesday.

Arrive early. The 7:00 AM opening is the golden hour: wildlife is most active, temperatures are coolest, and the trails are quietest. By late morning the heat rises and many animals settle into the canopy to rest.

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Should You Take a Guided Tour or Visit on Your Own?

We're a tour company, so you'd expect us to say "take a tour." Here's the honest version instead.

Visit on your own if: you mainly want beach time, you've visited before, or you're on a tight budget. The trails are well maintained and clearly marked, and you're free to stay until closing.

Take a guided tour if you actually want to see wildlife. This is not sales talk — it's how rainforest animals work. Sloths, tree frogs, roosting bats, and camouflaged birds are nearly invisible to untrained eyes. Certified naturalist guides walk these trails every single day, know where individual animals have been seen that week, and carry high-definition spotting scopes that turn a brown lump 30 meters up a cecropia tree into a crystal-clear, full-frame sloth — and yes, we take photos through the scope with your phone. Visitors who walk the park alone routinely tell us afterward they saw "some monkeys and maybe a sloth." Our guests typically see 15–25+ species in a 2.5-hour walk.

A typical guided tour includes your park permit and a 2.5–3 hour interpretive walk with an ICT-certified bilingual naturalist — and afterward you're free to stay in the park and enjoy the beaches until closing on your own. Our group tours are $65 per adult and $45 per child; private tours are $85 per adult and $65 per child, park permit included.

Going solo anyway? Read our guides' honest advice on how to spot more wildlife in Manuel Antonio — timing, scanning technique, and what to listen for.

Related: Our full honest comparison — Do You Need a Guide for Manuel Antonio?

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Trails and Beaches Inside the Park

The park's trail network is compact, mostly flat to moderately hilly, and very walkable — this is not a strenuous hike.

Main Trail (Sendero Principal): the wide, partly universal-access main artery from the entrance toward the beaches, about 2 km. Most wildlife sightings happen along this stretch and its parallel Sloth Trail.

Sloth Trail (Sendero El Perezoso): an elevated boardwalk running parallel to the main trail — and yes, it earns its name. This is one of the most reliable places in Costa Rica to see both two-toed and three-toed sloths. Sections are wheelchair- and stroller-friendly.

Playa Manuel Antonio: the park's crown jewel — a perfect crescent of white sand and calm, swimmable water framed by rainforest, regularly ranked among the most beautiful beaches in the country. Capuchin monkeys patrol the treeline (watch your bag).

Playa Espadilla Sur: longer and usually quieter than Playa Manuel Antonio, on the other side of the tombolo.

Punta Catedral (Cathedral Point) Trail: a loop over the rocky headland between the two main beaches with dramatic Pacific lookouts. Note: this trail is temporarily closed — ask your guide about current status before your visit.

Playa Gemelas & the Waterfall/Mangrove trails: quieter side trails; the small waterfall only flows in rainy season, and the mangrove section is excellent for herons, crabs, and the park's three mangrove species.

Related: Trail-by-trail detail — Manuel Antonio Trails & Beaches: Complete Guide

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Wildlife: What You Can Actually See

For its small size, Manuel Antonio has one of the highest wildlife densities of any park in Costa Rica. On a typical morning walk, our guides find:

Mammals

• Three-toed and two-toed sloths — the park's superstars, seen on nearly every tour. Where and when to see sloths →
• Three monkey species: white-faced capuchins (bold, everywhere, especially at the beach), howler monkeys (you'll hear them first), and the Central American squirrel monkey — an endangered species whose tiny remaining range makes Manuel Antonio one of the only places on Earth to see them
• White-nosed coatis, agoutis, raccoons, and (on lucky days) silky anteaters

Reptiles & amphibians: green iguanas, basilisk ("Jesus Christ") lizards, helmeted iguanas, boa constrictors resting in trees, and colorful tree frogs.

Birds: fiery-billed aracaris, chestnut-mandibled toucans, motmots, trogons, manakins, and dozens more — over 350 species have been recorded in the area.

Marine life: from the beaches and lookouts, you may spot dolphins, and humpback whales pass offshore during their migration seasons (roughly July–October and December–March).

A note on expectations: this is wild nature, not a zoo. No guide can guarantee a specific animal. What we can guarantee is that a trained eye and a scope will show you far more than you'd ever find alone. For technique — where to look, when, and what to listen for — see our guides' wildlife spotting tips.

[Internal link — LIVE]: Meet the animals in depth in our Wildlife Gallery.

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Best Time to Visit

Best season: The dry season (mid-December through April) brings sunny, reliable beach weather — and the biggest crowds and fastest-selling tickets. The green season (May through November) means lush forests, afternoon showers, fewer visitors, and easier bookings; mornings are usually dry and beautiful. September and October are the quietest (and rainiest) months, but also when the park feels most wild — and it's whale season.

Best day: Any day except Tuesday (closed). Weekdays are quieter than weekends, when Costa Rican families visit too.

Best time of day: Early morning, without question. Book the 7:00 AM entry if you can: cooler air, active animals, soft light for photos, empty trails. The second-best window is after 1:00 PM, when the midday crowd thins — though wildlife is sleepier in the heat.

[Internal link — LIVE]: Full season-by-season breakdown: Best Time to Visit Manuel Antonio National Park.

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Park Rules: Stricter Than You Expect

Manuel Antonio enforces conservation rules seriously, and rangers inspect bags at the entrance. Know these before you arrive:

• No food. Outside food and snacks are not allowed in the park (this protects the monkeys, who have learned to raid bags). Non-alcoholic drinks and water are permitted. Eat a good breakfast first.
• No single-use plastics. Bring a reusable water bottle.
• No pets (certified service animals excepted), no drones without a special permit, no smoking or alcohol.
• No umbrellas, tents, hammocks, coolers, or balls — beach-day gear stays outside.
• Never feed or touch wildlife. It's illegal and genuinely harms the animals.
• Stay on marked trails and pack out everything you bring in.

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What to Bring

Keep it light — remember the food ban and bag inspection.

• Passport (or a clear photo) — tickets are matched to passport numbers
• Reusable water bottle, filled before you enter (single-use plastic isn't allowed)
• Swimsuit worn under your clothes + small travel towel
• Reef-safe sunscreen and insect repellent
• Comfortable walking shoes or sport sandals — trails are good but can be humid and slick
• Sun hat, camera or phone (your guide's scope does the zooming), and a dry bag if it's green season
• Cash for parking ($10) if driving yourself

[Internal link — LIVE]: The complete checklist, including what not to bring: What to Pack for Manuel Antonio National Park.

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Avoiding the Entrance Scams

We wish we didn't need this section, but every local operator knows it's necessary. Near the park entrance, unofficial vendors — some dressed convincingly like park rangers — approach arriving visitors to sell "tickets," overpriced "official" parking, or on-the-spot guiding.

The facts that protect you:

1. Park tickets are sold only online through SINAC. Anyone offering to sell you an entry ticket in person at the gate is not legitimate.
2. No one standing in the road is a park ranger. Real staff are at the entrance building.
3. Parking: use an established lot close to the entrance (~$10/day) and never leave valuables visible in your car. If someone waves you toward a "special" lot far from the gate, keep driving. Full details in our parking guide.
4. Guides: legitimate guides are ICT-licensed and arranged in advance. If you want a guided experience, book with a licensed operator beforehand — you'll get a confirmed permit, a named guide, and a fixed price.

We publish our guides' names, photos, and license numbers on our About page because we believe transparency is exactly what this entrance area needs more of.

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FAQ

Is Manuel Antonio National Park closed on Tuesdays? Yes. The park is closed every Tuesday, year-round, as a conservation measure. It is open Wednesday through Monday, including most holidays.

How much does it cost to enter Manuel Antonio National Park? Entry is $18.08 for adults and $5.65 for children ages 2–12 (tax included), purchased online through SINAC. Guided tours include the entry permit in the tour price.

Can I buy tickets at the park entrance? No. Tickets are sold exclusively online through the SINAC platform and are linked to each visitor's name and passport number. They frequently sell out in advance during high season.

Do I need a guide to visit? No, a guide is not required — but a certified naturalist guide with a spotting scope will typically show you five to ten times more wildlife than you'd find on your own, and a tour includes your park permit.

How long should I spend in the park? Plan at least half a day: a 2.5–3 hour wildlife walk in the early morning, followed by beach time at Playa Manuel Antonio. You may stay inside until closing.

Can I bring food into the park? No. Food of any kind is prohibited to protect the wildlife. Water and non-alcoholic drinks are allowed; single-use plastics are not.

Is the park good for kids and older visitors? Yes — the main trails are flat to gently rolling, and the Sloth Trail boardwalk has accessible sections. It's one of the most family-friendly wildlife experiences in Costa Rica. See our full family guide to Manuel Antonio.

What animals will I see? Sloths, white-faced capuchin monkeys, howler monkeys, endangered squirrel monkeys, iguanas, toucans, and much more. Sightings vary daily — it's a wild rainforest, not an enclosure — but sloths and monkeys are seen on almost every visit.

Is Manuel Antonio worth visiting? If it's your first time in Costa Rica, absolutely: no other single destination combines this much accessible wildlife with beaches this beautiful. Read our honest take in Is Manuel Antonio Worth It? — and if you're deciding between destinations, see Manuel Antonio vs. Monteverde.

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Ready to Visit?

You now know more about Manuel Antonio than 95% of the visitors who walk through the gate. The last decision is how you want to experience it.

Book a guided morning tour with us and we handle everything inside the park: your guaranteed park permit, an ICT-certified bilingual naturalist guide, HD spotting scopes, and scope photos of every sloth we find. Your guide meets you right at the park entrance, and after the walk you stay and enjoy the beaches as long as you like. Group tours $65 adults / $45 kids; private tours $85 adults / $65 kids.

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Manuel Antonio National Park Tours is a locally owned tour operator in Quepos, Costa Rica. All of our naturalist guides are ICT-certified and guide Manuel Antonio's trails daily. We are an independent operator; park tickets are issued by SINAC, Costa Rica's national park authority.

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