The Best Things to do in Ocotal, Costa Rica

Visit the pristine beach at Playa Ocotal for an easygoing scuba diving experience. This dive takes place just off the coast, so it won’t take long to boat to your dive site. These dives call for 1 to 3 tanks, and each immersion usually takes about 45 minutes.

This tour starts with a kayak ride to a beach near Playa Flamingo. While you're there, you can snorkel, paddleboard, and eat a barbecue picnic.

Playa Ocotal’s pristine waters are usually fairly calm, so the wildlife here gets to live a fairly peaceful existence. Because of this, Playa Ocotal has the ideal atmosphere for snorkeling.

Indulge your adventurous side with a visit to the underground caves at Barra Honda National Park.

On this tour you will go for a nighttime walk on the beaches of Marino Las Baulas National Park to look for green turtles coming ashore to lay their eggs. Instead of the park’s heavily trafficked Playa Grande, you will head for the lesser-known Minas or Jesus Nombre beaches.

The Guanacaste region has some of Costa Rica’s most famous beaches. This tour highlights some of the activities you might want to try while you’re near the shore. You’ll get to snorkel, see coastal wildlife, surf, and swim.

On this half-day tour, you’ll leave Playa Flamingo behind to find a secluded beach and a stunning place to discover underwater wildlife. Your guide will help you identify new species of fish.

This 2-hour tour takes you to some of the prettiest and most accessible beaches in Guanacaste. You’ll also get to try stand up paddleboarding , which will make you feel like you’re walking on the water.

This calm river is located in Guanacaste, near Liberia. This is an excellent river for families looking to float down a gorgeous and gentle jungle river, surrounded by nature and wildlife.

The Santa Rosa National Park is the site of Costa Rica’s most important monument, the Hacienda Santa Rosa. Known locally as La Casona , this monument marks the fall of filibuster William Walker and his professional mercenaries to a local peasant army in 1856. Today, La Casona is a museum dedicated to the memory of this battle. This tour will allow you to stop by and explore this historical sight.

To learn about how far Costa Rica has come, you need to understand the nation's history. The Palo Verde Boat Expedition and Cultural Tour will teach you about the country's cowboy and agrarian history, as well as how this tradition influenced the emphasis Costa Rica now places on sustainability.

Enjoy the fruits of the sustainability movement when you explore protected wetlands. See a variety of animals in their native habitat. Don't worry, you'll have the opportunity to enjoy refreshments before your tour and after.

On this 1.5-hour tour you’ll explore the wetlands of Palo Verde in a covered boat. Your guides can tell you more about this complex habitat and point out the many species of rare birds that call this reserve home.

It may be your vacation, but nature waits for no one. Sometimes, to see the early bird you've got to be the early bird. Start your morning with an outdoor adventure — this tour offers you the opportunity to spot some of Costa Rica's 850 species of birds!

This expedition at the Buena Vista Lodge allows tour members to enjoy canopy tours and horseback rides, and hot springs all in one day. Oh right and then there is that 400-meter waterslide through the forest.

Vandará has a few of Guanacaste’s most popular adventure activities, all in the same place. This is a lovely way to make sure you fit them all in during the course of a half-day visit – you can choose from Morning Passes and Night Passes, which come with either lunch or dinner.

The Borinquen Adventure is an exciting combination of horseback riding, zip lining and soaking in hot springs.

This tour takes you to see the wildlife that surrounds the Rincón de la Vieja Volcano on a jungle trail called “Sensoria”—named for its sensorily overwhelming environment. Your three- to four-hour hike concludes with a dip in a thermally heated pool.

This tour will introduce you to Palo Verde's wildlife as well as its indigenous culture. Have your camera handy as you search the riverbanks for monkeys, crocodiles, and a myriad of birds on this nature cruise through the Palo Verde National Park.

Take this tour to explore the picturesque hiking trails of Rincón de la Vieja National Park. The tour lasts between 2.5 and 3 hours.

This safari float is the perfect way to explore the rainforest with the whole family, offering a gentle alternative to a rafting tour. There’s plentiful wildlife in this part of the rainforest, and the water is slow-moving enough that you’ll have plenty of time to look for animals as you drift through the greenery. Your guides have excellent experience spotting animals in the area, and ensure that you’re comfortable as you drift down the river on an innertube.