Caño negro

Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge Tour

Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge is considered one of the most important wetland that we have in Costa Rica, this beautiful place was named the “Wetland of International Importance” in 1991, and is one of the most significant humid zones in the country and was designated a “World Protected Area” as Ramsar.

The Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge is considered one of the best sites on the continent for bird watching. In addition to an abundance of birds, Caño Negro is also a good place for many animals such as sloth, Spider, capuchin and howler monkeys , caimans, lizards, bats, tapir, turtles, green iguan and variety of flora native of the wetlands; some fishes like snook, guapote, alligator gar, drum fish, tarpon, and bull sharks.

Our tour to this beautiful region leaves from the Tenorio / Bijagua area and travels approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes to Caño Negro Community a rustic village very traditional and authentic, during the roadtrip the clients will see different landscapes in the real rural area of Costa Rica like pineapple plantation, yuca or manioc plantation, beans plantation and the livestock activity. Ones arrived we enjoy some fresh fruits and get ready to go on the Boat tour to the wetlands three hours on the Rio Frio River and the different lagoons of Caño Negro looking for the most variety of birds and animals that habit in it.

The tour includes a typical lunch in a Rustic Local Restaurant just next to the river where you can enjoy the beautiful views of the lagoons, the lunch is made with local products and you can eat a whole fresh fish like guapote or gar fish filet. After the lunch and the coffee we go back to the hotel through the same way.

Tour Includes:

Naturalist guide with telescope.
Transfer round trip.
Fruits & water.
Typical lunch.
Entrance fees.
Boat tour.

Important Information:

Pick-up location: Any hotel around Tenorio area.
Pick-up time: 8:00 a.m.
Drop-off time: 4:00 p.m.
Level of difficulty: Easy – Medium.
Boat Tour: 2.5 hours.

What to bring:

Insect repelent.
Hiking shoes.
Raincoat.
Comfortable clothing.
Sunscreen and camera.

Walter and his team gave us an incredible tour of Cano Negro Wildlife Refuge. On the boat, Walter exuded nothing but positivity, and was adept at spotting the wildlife. He kept the kids engaged - conversing with the howler monkeys, spying the caiman, counting as many iguanas as we could find. The tour included an "authentic Costa Rican" lunch. We were expecting a touristy style meal; however, we parked our pontoon boat at a woman's home in the flood plain and ate in her outdoor rotunda. Exceptionally authentic and a really special experience, especially for the kids. Walter and his team were filled with knowledge, energy and kindness. Highly recommend any experience with them!

We can highly recommend Bijagua Rainforest Tours. We did 3 excellent guided trips with them while staying at Tenorio Lodge. All the guides were very friendly, knowledgeable and spoke good English. The “Birding and Sloth” Tour on a forested property near the lodge, was great for close views and photo opportunities of toucans, trogons and a sloth. Freddie our guide had excellent knowledge about birds and other forest wildlife. We also saw lots of interesting birds and reptiles with Kevin our guide on the “Bijagua Falls” tour. It was a 2 hour walk through the forest reserve up to the falls where we could swim in a beautiful pool. There was no one else there! This was one of the highlights of our holiday! The “Cano Negro” tour was another enjoyable day. It took 90 minutes to drive to the reserve over some bumpy roads. We then had a 2-3 hour boat trip where we saw many crocodiles, kingfishers and jabiru storks. Walter our guide was great fun to be with! We had a very nice lunch with the boat captain’s family at his house next to the river, before returning to Tenorio.

We went to Caño Negro with Marlon. An amazing experience to see this wild place . We saw many different species of bird during this 4 hour cruise and also caimans and monkeys. We had a typical Costa Rican lunch in a local family place. Marlon took care of us during the journey and was very kind to explain us lot of of things on animals Costa Rica etc … an unforgettable day ! Merci

We took a day trip to Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge from Rio Celeste. The trip was amazing we saw so many birds. We went in November and the refuge was very quiet we did not see any other tour boats. Marlon was a fantastic guide and driver. For me this was the best thing I did while in Costa Rica.