Wildlife Photography tour in Costa Rica with Kike Arnaiz (JULY 2026)

After your international flight, we’ll pick you up at the airport and head together to a beautiful hotel surrounded by tropical gardens. This is where the whole group will meet, get to know each other, and start taking our first photos in a setting filled with heliconias, orchids, and butterflies — a relaxing introduction to Costa Rica’s nature before we venture into wilder regions.

Target species in the hotel garden: Lesson’s motmot, chestnut-capped warbler, white-eared ground-sparrow, mottled owl, rufous-tailed hummingbird, great kiskadee, and grey-headed tanager.

We head out early toward the mountains of the Central Valley. This area is one of the best places in the world to observe the resplendent quetzal. The cool cloud forest is home to many high-elevation endemics, making it a dream destination for both birdwatchers and photographers.

We’ll stay in a lodge specialized in quetzal observation, surrounded by gardens and trails where hummingbirds, warblers, and many other species are easy to spot. We’ll have access to perfect perches for photography, where quetzals frequently appear in the morning and afternoon. Around midday, we’ll visit excellent hummingbird gardens to put our camera gear to the test.

Target species in Cerro de la Muerte: resplendent quetzal and multiple hummingbird species.

Over two full days in Sarapiquí, we’ll dive into one of Costa Rica’s most biodiverse lowland rainforests — a region famous for its wildlife density and extraordinary photographic potential.

One evening is dedicated to a macro night walk, focused on finding and photographing frogs, snakes, lizards, insects and other nocturnal species. This is one of the best areas in the country for macro photography, offering vibrant poison dart frogs, glass frogs, tree frogs, and beautifully patterned reptiles.

During the daytime, we’ll work at specialized bird feeder setups, ideal for capturing toucans, tanagers, honeycreepers, woodpeckers and many other species at close range with perfect backgrounds and natural light.

We’ll also explore a nearby biological station with a network of trails and hanging bridges, giving us access to different layers of the forest canopy and increasing our chances of photographing unique species in their natural habitat.

These days in Sarapiquí are designed to maximize opportunities for intimate wildlife encounters and high-quality images — from rainforest macro to birds and canopy wildlife.

Boca Tapada is one of those places where, the moment you arrive, you just know you’re going to take incredible photos. Toucans and parrots show up right in front of us thanks to the fruit feeders, and the king vulture hide lets us see this amazing bird from just a few meters away — an experience that impresses even the most seasoned travelers. The rainforest here feels remote and untouched, almost like stepping straight into a nature documentary.

We’ll also have time to explore the San Carlos River by boat, a beautiful way to spot herons, kingfishers, river otters, and all the life that moves along the water’s edge. And once the sun goes down, we get one of the most unique moments of the entire trip: the multi-flash bat photography session, where we capture scenes that usually happen completely unseen.

In Boca Tapada we’ll be searching for — and most likely finding — some incredible species: Great Green Macaw, King Vulture, Red-capped Manakin, Collared Aracari, Black-mandibled Toucan, Keel-billed Toucan… plus trogons, parrots, oropendolas, and many other rainforest birds that visit the feeders every day. We’ll also see plenty of hummingbirds, bats, and other mammals that make this place one of the best wildlife spots in the entire country.

After a delicious breakfast, we said goodbye to Costa Rica and headed back to the airport. That same afternoon you can catch your international flight home, or continue exploring the country by combining it with another trip. Pura vida!