Spot wildlife in the Osa coastal rainforest

Spot exotic animals and birds in Costa Rica's most biodiverse national park.

Remote Corcovado National Park is a wilderness of lagoons, mangrove swamps, rivers and rainforests strewn along 46km of untouched coastline, harbouring the greatest biodiversity in the whole of Costa Rica. It's a Mecca for naturalists and wildlife enthusiasts, and on a tour of this secluded park by land and water you'll soon see why.

This is the largest primary forest on the Pacific coast of the Americas, and home to tapirs, jaguars, ocelots, sloths, peccaries, otters, anteaters and all four Costa Rican monkey species. The park's waterways and lagoons bustle with caiman, crocodiles and bull sharks, while the iconic poison dart frog is commonly seen lurking in tree branches or undergrowth.

After a boat journey to the ranger station, your guide will lead you up into the dense forest at the sea's edge, following nature trails past waterfalls and mangroves. Bird lovers are likely to be particularly enthralled – there is a huge variety of bird life here and sightings of parrots, toucans, woodpeckers, great curassows, spectacled owls and hummingbirds are all quite common, while there is even a small chance of spotting the rare and majestic harpy eagle.

Activity Rating: easy