Looking for advice on Central America
I’m looking to take a couple of my kids (ages 17 and 19) on a 2 to 3 week wildlife watching trip to Central America, very late 2025/early 2026.
I’ve done a fair bit of research and have read most of the awesome trip reports posted on this forum but am a bit overwhelmed with the multitude of options available.
I’m thinking Costa Rica is a must but would be very grateful for any advice or recommendations on where to go (including other countries), guides, lodges to stay etc.
My kids and I are wildlife generalists and love to see anything but one of the kids loves primates, the other cats and I desperately want to see any type of anteater and a Resplendent Quetzal. We’d much rather see a wide variety of species, including reptiles, birds and amphibians than target one or two specific species.
Ideally, I’m looking for a company or guide who can organise everything for us, accommodation, guiding, transfers etc. and we want to maximise spotlighting opportunities.
We’d like to stay in nice lodges (i.e. not budget) but finances are far from unlimited.
We’ll be travelling from Melbourne, Australia and will likely be transiting through San Fran so recommendations for any wildlife viewing there would also be very gratefully received.
Thank you.
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6 Comments
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charleswhood
If you’re in transit through San Francisco, the place to go is Point Reyes, looking for Air BnB in Inverness, Point Reyes Station, or, inland, Petaluma or San Raphael. If you do Los Angeles as your entry, you might consider the beach town of Ventura, 1.5 hours north (mind the traffic though) and a good base for going out to see the foxes on Santa Cruz Island with Island Packers. Mid-winter (Northern Hemisphere season) in all of California is the rainy season, so be aware there could be a few days of heavy / nonstop rain. Unlikely, but usually if it comes then, it is indeed raining steadily and that causes traffic delays too. For the neotropics, don’t forget to check prices and availability of Canopy Tower in Panama, and in that case you could use their transport and their guides, plus the trip reports from this site. I’ve taken kids both to Panama and to Costa Rica, and both options worked out fine. A final word of caution — it is hard to know what is going on with Mr. Trump’s border policies, but just to be super safe, it might be good for all travelers to think about what is on the social media on phones. If you look for horror stories online, you can find plenty of examples of problematic behavior from the customs officials. I am sure most are fine… but just be aware that you could be asked to share your phone if things are going badly in immigration. I hate even to bring it up, but these are strange times. The old “rules” seem no longer to apply. / Charles Hood
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Keith Barnes - Enigmatic Wildlife Tours
Stephen, check this out – it can be done as a customized tour for small groups such as your family. https://www.tropicalbirding.com/costa-rica-enigmatic-wildlife
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Eduardo Ruiz
Hello!
Costa rica is an amazing destination for everyone and i didn’t have children when i went but it is a great place to go with them from what i saw.
I don’t know one specific person you can help you organize an itinerary all around Costa Rica but for Corcovado/Puerto Jimenez/Bahia Drake i can recommend Luis.
He knows the area very well and can help you organize visiting corcovado, both La Sirena and San Pedrillo Station.
His website is the following
https://www.wildlifebyluis.com
Visiting corcovado with him for a few days you should be able to see both types of sloth, all 4 primates, coatis and baird’s tapir easily , Tamanduas are seen regularly too and Tayras are uncommon but not impossible. He can also help you to track the Pumas that frequent San Pedrillo Station if they are around when you visit (he told me that they frequent the sector 1-2 weeks at a time and then disappear for a few weeks, so you need to be lucky with the timing). He also organizes night walks to a couple of places around Puerto Jimenez and Sarapiqui where at night you can go find some herps, Kinkajou and Mexican Porcupine. The accomodation in the stations in Corcovado is not luxury, you can check for picts and videos online, if you want a nice lodge to stay with extra price, Bosque del Cabo is around that area and the same animals can be seen around there but obviously it is more difficult to see many different species due to human impact in the area, but even a Puma frequents the lodge regularly certain times of the year.
For other areas in Costa Rica there are many useful reports here and i can’t recommend someone specific but i regret that i didn’t know about the silky anteaters in Damas Island, since i have never seen any of the species in my other trips to central and south america and they are reliable there.
You should visit Monteverde area for Quetzal, Kinkajou, mexican porcupines and Olingo too.
Best of luck!