Private Guided Tour of Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve
Guided Tour Experience
The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve is the most famous reserve in the area. It is located at the Continental Divide, the point where the Pacific and Atlantic sides of Costa Rica converge. The varied climate and high altitudes of this reserve create an extremely biodiverse ecosystem.
White-faced monkeys, coatis (raccoon-like animals), and many kinds of birds can be spotted. Bird species include Crested Guans, Emerald Toucanets, Three-wattled Bellbirds, Bare-necked Umbrella birds, Blue-crowned Motmots, Quetzals, and several species of hummingbird. Your naturalist guide will teach you about the native plants and animals and point out the interesting wildlife that you may see.
On this 3-hour hike, you will have the opportunity to explore the diverse Heart of the Forest Trail (2.8 km/1.7 miles) that weaves through the cloud forest. You’ll pass by wild avocado trees (food for the iconic Resplendent Quetzal bird) and enjoy elevated canopy views.
You will also visit the photo-worthy Wilford Guindon hanging bridge, which stretches over 325 ft (100 meters) above the treetops. Here, you will have the opportunity to look down over rivers and forest and see a number of plants and flowers, such as bromeliads, orchids, ferns, vines, and mosses.
This is a private tour so you will have your own guide.
Important Notes
- Trail Access: Under the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve’s current rules, you can only use the trail you have a ticket for. For this guided tour, you will need to purchase tickets for the Heart of the Forest Trail. You will be able to go on the trail in only one direction, and once the tour is over, you will need to exit the reserve and won’t be able to explore other trails (unless you have purchased separate tickets).
- Purchasing Tickets: Admission tickets can be purchased through the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve’s website. Instructions on buying tickets and meeting the guide will be in your confirmation.
- Advance Reservations: Due to ticket limits, we require that all Monteverde Reserve tours be booked at least 5 days in advance.
- Peak Season: If you are visiting during a busy time of year (Christmas/New Years or Easter week), the Monteverde Reserve can be very busy. If you’d prefer to avoid the crowds, we recommend the Curi-Cancha Reserve or Santa Elena Reserve.
Tour Details:
Cost of Private Tour: $62 per person + 13% tax + entrance fee. You will purchase your own entrance tickets in advance ($29 pp adults; $16 pp children ages 5-11). Free for children under 5.
Offered: 7:30 a.m.
Duration: 3 hours (approximate)
Includes: Private certified, bilingual naturalist guide with spotting scope.
*Transportation is available for an additional charge. We will let you know the cost from your hotel or vacation rental by email after you request a booking.
To learn more about the Monteverde Reserve, read our post, The Famous Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve.
Have a question?
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Two Weeks in Costa Rica, Inc. is registered with the State of Florida as a Seller of Travel. Fla. Seller of Travel Ref. No. ST41024.
Luc Bisaillon (Verified Customer) –
Monteverde Cloud Forest is a must and using a guide is important. Nowhere else have we been more sensitized to the fragile nature of the environment. Our guide was very helpful is locating animals, getting nice picture with his binoculars. We were able to see a tarentula, a quetzal, howling monkeys and a variety of birds. It is important to know the process to get tickets and meet the guide on location. We parked our car close to the entrance of the park and because we were early (around 7AM) we had no issues. When we left around 11AM, the parking at the ticket office seemed very full. There are a number of trails you can follow into the park but we did not have time to walk them all as we were being fed a lot of interesting information by the guide. We could have walked them after our 2 hours guided tour, but we were very satisfied with what we had seen. It was a very easy walk with well managed trails. Then you can stop by the colibri park watch the birds all around you and do some shopping. Thanks to Jenn and 2W in CR for helping us secure this guided tour and making sure we knew how to get tickets and get in.
John (Verified Customer) –
The park itself is phenomenal. The bridges provide an elevated view of the cloud forest. The trails are well maintained. It was amazing and breathtaking.
We arrived at the park early in the morning and was led through the reserve by André, an amazingly knowledgeable guide. This was our first tour (of three) in Monteverde and I was very impressed with his background as well as how he worked with us.
At the beginning, he asked us a couple of questions to learn about our level of knowledge about this area. He very quickly moved into a description of Cloud Forests (as opposed to Rain Forests) and some of the history and ecology of this park.
He also pointed out some things that we would have easily missed, especially plants, insects, reptiles and birds. His passion about the park was very evident and infectious. We got a lot from this experience and have talked a great deal about the tour since then.
Originally, we were scheduled with another guide that, at the last minute, had to cancel. Arrangements were made for another excellent guide and the tour took place with no delays or impact on us.
I often judge businesses by how they handle things that come up. The entire booking and touring process through Two Weeks in Costa Rica was very straight-forward, easy, and the last minute change in guide was seamless. I cannot recommend them highly enough, especially since having less positive experiences with other tour providers.