Caño Negro Tour: Enjoy Flora, Fauna and Río Frio Boat Ride from La Fortuna
4.7
50 Ratings
La Fortuna
Embark on a thrilling Caño Negro Tour from La Fortuna Nature Lovers! Explore the diverse flora and fauna of the Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge and enjoy a scenic boat ride on the Río Frío. Spot exotic birds, monkeys, sloths, reptiles, and more!
Duration: 8 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Los Chiles - Day Trip to Caño Negro Including Río Frio Boat Experience from La Fortuna
What's Included
  • Hotel pickup and drop-off
  • Guidance from a professional guide
  • Refreshments including bottled water and snacks
  • Lunch provided
  • Inclusive of all local taxes
  • Complimentary beverages
What's Not Included
  • Alcoholic drinks (available to purchase)
  • Gratuities
Additional Information

Attention Nature Enthusiasts! Embark on a mesmerizing boat trip on the Río Frío, commencing from Los Chiles, situated close to the Nicaraguan frontier.

The river forms a segment of the Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge – labeled as a Ramsar site- where you get to explore one of Costa Rica’s most eclectic habitats of plant and animal species.

As you journey down the river, a multitude of birds such as snake-birds, herons, cormorants, and assorted animals like howler, spider, and even white face monkeys, three-toed sloths, along with some reptiles such as caimans, Jesus Christ lizards, and turtles can be witnessed.

  • Child rate applies only when sharing with 2 paying adults
  • Children must be accompanied by an adult
  • May be operated by a multi-lingual guide
  • Please advise any specific dietary requirements at time of booking
  • A current valid passport is required on the day of travel
  • Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
  • Comfortable walking shoes are recommended
  • Binoculars and camera suggested
  • Sun lotion
  • Mosquito repellent
Location
Blue Pass
White and blue building before the bridge ove the Habana river.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.7
(50 Ratings)
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Happyanderl
May 16, 2024
Very nice river trip - A beautiful tour. 2 hour drive in a van. Short stop at a bridge with large iguanas. Then we went on the boat. It can hold about 30 people. The trip on the picturesque river takes 2.5 hours and the guides make a great effort to find every animal, no matter how small, and give you enough time to take photos. We saw 20 different species of birds. But also monkeys, caimans and turtles. Everything is very relaxed 😎 Lunch was good and plentiful 🐊☀️🥳
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Iyesha_c
May 8, 2024
Wildlife boating experience - The guide for this tour had a great energy, upon pick up. He is very knowledgeable of the area, giving a lot of information on the agricultural aspects of La Fortuna, and the provinces. He provided so much good information on the wildlife we were able to see, and assisted in getting great pictures, as well. Our group was small, which I think added to how good the tour was, with Martin.
Review provided by Viator
Mendip_7
Mar 20, 2024
Peaceful trip with many birds - It's a long trip with maybe a little too much information about agricultural crops on the way, but an interesting stop at a bridge where iguanas live, and coffee and toilet break before the boat tour. It's a really scenic river, and we saw many birds, various monkeys and a baby crocodile. We were lucky to have a group of only 4 people so we could move around the boat and get really good views. Both the guide and the boat driver were great at spotting things. Lunch after was adequate if not exciting. Around 7 hours all told.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Steve_l
Feb 1, 2024
Amazing excursion - This was an amazing explorer for us. You definitely need to use a guide when you go on this type of excursion. Roy was able to find things that we would have never seen. I could not get close enough with my iPhone to take great pictures but afterwards Roy shared the pictures he took with his professional grade camera and sent them to us in WhatsApp. On the way back I mentioned that I would love to see a sloth. I don't know how he did it, but just before we got back to our hotel he stopped the driver, had him turn around and pointed out a sloth that was more than 50 meters away tucked under branches. I will never understand how he was able to find it. If you take this trip hopefully you will get Roy, he was fantastic
Review provided by Viator
Beixian_x
Dec 31, 2023
Get ready for animal party on the river - Our guide Melvein(hope I got it right!) is super knowledgeable and funny to interact with, our commute became very interesting because of him thank you so much! The lunch was amazing too I had extra scoops of bean sauce and me and my friends finished all our food and all enjoyed them very much. We identified 21 species of birds along with monkey and Carmen crocodile and a water snake, the monkeys almost hijacked our boat so that was really unique experience!
Review provided by Viator
Ron_n
May 5, 2023
Great day! - Javier was the best! He was very informative. The boat driver Eagle Eye spotted so many things. Birds, Sloth, Monkeys and Caiman, even babies. Lunch was great!
Review provided by Viator
The5mranch
Apr 30, 2023
Wonderful Variety and Wildlife... - We didn't actually do this specific trip, but a very similar one and it was certainly a great day trip. Our guide, Gabriel, was great at spotting wildlife as was the skipper on the boat. Certainly a must do from Arenal if you have the extra day.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Gail_b
Feb 4, 2023
Great Experience Right upon Entering Tour Bus until The End! - Great experience, knowledgeable guides, small group, wonderful lunch! We seen more birds than we expected and were given a list by our guide to ensure we could match our pictures with the names. Our boat captain was very knowledgeable of the Rio Frio and spotted so many things we would have missed. Many Caymans, 2 & 3 toed sloths and 3 different kinds of monkeys. Thank you Andreas and David for a wonderful day!!
Review provided by Viator
X3486xkwilliamb
Jan 30, 2023
Cano Negro river birding. - Kristel Rojas-Leon was SUPER! Plesent,knowledgeable, patient with guests of all levels of expertise, excellent english, an asset to the tourism industry! Bill Bishop
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Tanjac007
Apr 1, 2023
Super Day Out with a lot of wildlife - This was a great tour. We got picked up from our hotel and driven to the main hub in Los Chiles, that did take a while bout our guide/driver kept us entertained with stories of Costa Rica and his knowledge about certain animals and the environment around. Once at the dock we got on a flat bottomed boat with about 15 other people, wasn't a huge group which was nice. Straight out of 'pity' we saw herons, egrets and a few king fishers. The boat trial down river was very serene. Our guides pointed out many many birds which I can't remember the name of. Do remember the potoo we saw that was special. We saw cayman, tortoises, more king fishers, a 2 toed sloth, howler monkeys and white faced moneys who were very inquisitive. After the boat trip we went back to the main hub and enjoyed fresh fruit and some nice local cuisine before being driven back to our hotel, we got back to La Fortuna around 3pm. A note on some of our boat comrades - there will always be one person who is so excited about spotting something that will will shout! Please remember to be quiet as it is a nature reserve. Also there were people with big cameras and as soon as a bird or other wildlife was seen they forgot about decency and we were literally barged out the way by people of giant camera lenses as they 'got their shot' - Please remember there are other people on the boat too!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Select Date and Tickets
up to 10 guests
1 Adult
June 2024
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