Costa Rica may be small, covering less than 0.03% of our Earth, but it is home to an estimated 5% of the world’s biodiversity. After more than 10 years of living here, we still find ourselves awed by wildlife encounters that feel impossible. A tapir at dusk on a jungle trail, a quetzal hovering in the cloud forest mist, or a massive sea turtle laying eggs on a dark Caribbean beach. In this guide, we’ll explain what ecotourism actually means, how Costa Rica does its part, and share our favorite destinations to experience it yourself.
What is Ecotourism?
Ecotourism has different definitions, but most organizations define it as responsible travel to natural areas that (1) conserves the environment, (2) sustains the well-being of local people, and (3) involves interpretation and education. The idea is that visitors travel to experience nature and learn about the culture of the place they’re visiting, all while benefiting the environment and local community.
Real ecotourism isn’t just about being in a beautiful natural setting. It’s about understanding what you’re looking at and why it matters.
Ecotourism in Costa Rica
Costa Rica has no doubt earned a reputation for ecotourism. Its vast protected land, strong conservation policies, and sustainable tourism infrastructure have made it a world leader and a popular destination for nature-focused travelers.
Of course, this popularity comes with its own environmental issues. Overdevelopment in tourist areas and the strain that large numbers of visitors can place on natural resources are ongoing challenges. But what Costa Rica has accomplished over the past several decades toward sustainability is genuinely admirable.
One of the most striking facts about Costa Rica is the amount of land it has protected. Beginning in the 1960s, the country started setting land aside for conservation. Today, about 25% is protected. This includes more than 160 protected areas spread between 30 national parks, 51 wildlife refuges, 13 forest reserves, and eight biological reserves. Our National Parks page links to full articles on many of these conservation areas.
Similarly, vast marine and coastal ecosystems are protected. Conservation zones along both the Pacific and Caribbean coasts provide critical nesting habitat for four types of endangered sea turtles.
The Pacific coast is also one of the only places in the world where humpback whales from both hemispheres come to breed and rear young. In places like Marino Ballena National Park in Uvita, you can experience almost year-round whale watching.
Also worth noting is Costa Rica’s use of renewable energy. It generates about 98% of its electricity from renewable sources. Much of this is hydroelectric, but geothermal from volcanic regions like Rincon de la Vieja and Miravalles and wind power in the mountains also play a role.
Sustainability Programs
Costa Rica backs up its ecotourism reputation with several specific programs. Here are some of the most meaningful.
Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST)
A government-run certification for hotels, tour companies, and other tourism businesses for their environmental, social, and economic practices. We cover it in detail in our Eco Hotels Guide.
Blue Flag Ecological Program (Bandera Azul)
National certification for beaches, communities, schools, and other locations that meet high environmental and public health standards. You’ll see the blue flag on display throughout the country.
Payment for Environmental Services (PES)
One of the first programs of its kind in the world, paying private landowners directly to protect and restore forests rather than clear them. This initiative played a major role in reversing Costa Rica’s deforestation trend from the 1970s and 1980s. According to the UN, more than 18,000 families have benefited from the program, with an investment of $524 million, resulting in more than 1.3 million hectares (3.2 million acres) under PES contracts.
Biological Corridors
The national parks agency, SINAC, manages a network of land corridors. These connect national parks and allow wildlife to move safely between protected areas. Examples include corridors for wild cats and tapirs, which sometimes travel long distances to breed.
Reforestation
Called Viveros ICE, Costa Rica’s national electric company (ICE) plants native and endangered tree species to restore biodiversity and protect watershed areas. They also offer free tree saplings to landowners who wish to reforest their properties.
Rural Tourism Projects
The government backs community-based tourism initiatives, which channel revenue directly to rural areas. We have visited several of these, including El Tigre entrance of Corcovado National Park, El Jilguero Ecotourism Project, and Los Campesinos near Manuel Antonio.
Hunting
Hunting is illegal across all of Costa Rica.
Stop Animal Selfies
Costa Rica’s government launched this campaign to protect wild animals like sloths. It helps ensure that visitors don’t hold or interact with wildlife, which can change their natural behavior.
Wildlife Protection Laws
Under Costa Rican law, wild animals are protected and cannot be kept as pets. Zoos are also illegal. Wildlife rehabilitation centers and sanctuaries are located throughout the country to help displaced birds and animals. These are amazing places to see animals close up in an ethical way and learn more about the challenges facing Costa Rica’s wildlife. You can learn more about wildlife centers worth visiting on our Sustainability page.
Tour Company Practices
Many reputable operators run beach or river cleanups, ban single-use plastics on tours, follow strict wildlife-safe protocols, encourage visitors to recycle, and of course, employ locals. Tour companies also usually make a point of using smaller, community-based suppliers. For example, a lunch stop during a tour might be to a local farm where traditional farming methods are still used. Or a cultural component of a wildlife boat tour might be a stop at an indigenous community for a traditional pottery-making demonstration.
Naturalist Guide Certification
Certified nature guides complete extensive coursework in biology, ornithology, herpetology, botany, and geology, plus field work. We have done so many guided tours in Costa Rica and the guides are almost always amazing. They are knowledgeable, passionate, and genuinely care about Costa Rica and the environment. Learn more about hiring a guide in Costa Rica.
Ecotourism Destinations in Costa Rica
So, where should you go to experience ecotourism in Costa Rica firsthand? These are our favorite spots.
Map
Check out our map which shows the location of the four ecotourism destinations we cover below.
Tortuguero
Of all the destinations in Costa Rica, Tortuguero might be the most ecotourism-focused. The village sits on a narrow strip of land surrounded by jungle-filled waterway canals with no road access. You arrive by boat or small plane, which immediately tells you something about what kind of place it is.
Nearly all the tour companies are small and locally owned, much of the surrounding land is protected as Tortuguero National Park, and even the higher-end lodges have an ecolodge feel rather than a resort one.
The canals and beaches of Tortuguero are teeming with wildlife. Howler monkeys, spider monkeys, sloths, caiman, freshwater turtles, and an impressive variety of birds can all be found in the national park and around the village.
The beaches are where several species of endangered sea turtles come to nest, making Tortuguero one of the most significant turtle nesting sites in the Americas.
Atlantic Green Sea Turtles arrive between July and October, while the much rarer Leatherback, which can reach up to six feet (1.8 meters) long, occasionally comes ashore from March through May. An important conservation organization, the Sea Turtle Conservancy, is located in Tortuguero and has a small visitors center worth checking out to learn more about nesting and the challenges facing turtles.
Read our full Tortuguero destination guide for more.
Monteverde
Monteverde is Costa Rica’s most famous ecotourism destination, and it has been for decades. The region’s cloud forest is among the most biodiverse environments on the planet, with approximately 3,000 plant species, 400 bird species, more than 100 mammal species, and 160 species of amphibians and reptiles.
There are several private reserves that you can explore to take a closer look. The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve is the most famous. Here, you can get the real cloud forest experience and see grand trees covered in layers of moss, lichens, and bromeliads. Mist drifts through the canopy and disappears, just like you’re walking through a cloud.
Curi-Cancha Reserve and the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve offer similar forest with fewer visitors. There’s also the lesser-known Children’s Eternal Rainforest, which is the largest private reserve in Costa Rica.
For a closer look at wildlife, Monteverde also has several exhibits, including the Butterfly Garden, Bat Jungle, and Hummingbird Gallery.
Birders come from around the world to spot the Resplendent Quetzal, a flashy, iridescent green and red bird with long tail feathers. A naturalist guide is valuable here because the thick cloud cover and dense vegetation make wildlife difficult to spot without a trained eye.
Monteverde also offers a glimpse into the local culture. You can take a coffee tour at an organic farm to learn about one of Costa Rica’s most important crops, or visit a working sustainable dairy farm and make cheese alongside locals. Or just wander downtown Santa Elena, which has been shaped as much by its founding Quakers’ conservation ethic as by tourism.
Read our full Monteverde destination guide for more.
Osa Peninsula
The Osa Peninsula is one of the most remote destinations in Costa Rica, and that remoteness is what makes it special. National Geographic called Corcovado National Park the most biologically intense place on Earth, and the numbers back that up: 2.5% of the world’s biodiversity can be found in this single protected area.
The park holds an impressive 113,456 acres (45,914 hectares) of rainforest, with 500 tree species, 400 bird species, 140 mammal species, and 8,000 insect species. All four of Costa Rica’s monkeys can be seen, alongside Baird’s tapirs, harpy eagles, and even big cats if you’re lucky. The peninsula is also home to several endemic species found nowhere else on Earth. Beyond Corcovado, which covers much of the Osa Peninsula, there are other notable private reserves, including the Rio Nuevo Nature Reserve.
Daily visitors to Corcovado are limited for sustainability reasons, and a guide is required by law, both of which help protect the ecosystem. Day trips are possible from Drake Bay and Puerto Jimenez, the two main hubs on the peninsula, or you can stay overnight at one of the ranger stations for an immersive experience.
The ocean surrounding the Osa is its own world. Puerto Jimenez on the eastern side of the peninsula sits on the Golfo Dulce, a tropical fjord. In this marine-rich ecosystem, you can see dolphins year-round and whales seasonally. On the other side of the peninsula, Drake Bay provides easy access to Caño Island for some of the best snorkeling and diving in Costa Rica.
Lodging on the peninsula varies from basic to luxury but is almost entirely ecolodges.
Read our Drake Bay and Puerto Jimenez destination guides to plan your visit.
Bijagua and the Rio Celeste
Bijagua makes our list as Costa Rica’s soon-to-be discovered ecotourism destination. The nearby Rio Celeste Waterfall has already become famous due to its strikingly blue water, but the small town remains mostly under the tourist radar.
Bijagua blends nature and culture, allowing visitors to not only experience beautiful natural attractions but also see local life in action. The town has strong roots in farming so you can still see people on horses or tending to the fields, right alongside several tourist attractions and lodges popping up.
Beyond the Rio Celeste, Bijagua has several more things to do, all based around the pristine rainforest and abundant wildlife. At Heliconias Hanging Bridges, you can explore the jungle via well-maintained hanging bridges. At Tapir Valley on the edge of Tenorio Volcano National Park, you have the chance to spot Costa Rica’s largest land mammal, the tapir. And frog night tours offer a way to see tree frogs, snakes, and other nighttime creatures with a local nature guide.
Bijagua is also one of the best places in Costa Rica to see sloths in the wild. Just be sure to book wildlife experiences with a reputable operator to ensure they’re ethical.
Read our full Bijagua destination guide for more planning tips.
Conclusion
After more than 10 years of living here, Costa Rica still surprises us. A toucan landing a few feet away on a forest trail. A spider monkey gracefully swinging through branches. The blue glow of bioluminescence in the ocean at night. These are the kinds of moments that true ecotourism makes possible, and Costa Rica does it right more often than anywhere else we’ve been. We hope you get a chance to experience it for yourself.
Have a question about ecotourism in Costa Rica? Ask us below.
Looking for more information to plan your trip? Check out these posts:
Eco Hotels in Costa Rica: 23 Sustainable Stays We Recommend – Our curated and verified list of hotels with real sustainability credentials.
Sustainability – All our sustainability articles, including information on wildlife centers, conservation non-profits, and how to give back during your trip.
National Parks and Reserves – Our complete guide to Costa Rica’s 30+ national parks, with tips on visiting each one.