Manuel Antonio National Park offers in a relatively small area (1,688
acres) an incredible range of topography, including rocky headlands,
inland rainforest, and romantic white sand beaches and coves. The
number of visitors to the park is limited, but there is usually
no problem in the early morning, midweek, or during the off-season.
There are several trails that wind through the various parts of
the Park and a number of different beaches along the coastline within
the Park. Nature guides are available and good ones are helpful
in spotting some of the more camouflaged wildlife.
There are more than 100 species of animals in the
Park, including an abundance of white faced capuchin monkeys, and
a lesser number of howler and squirrel monkeys. The three- toed
sloth can often be spotted in the trees and agoutis, peccaries and
armadillos are also seen frequently, as are iguanas, lizards and
a variety of snakes. There are reportedly 350 varieties of birds
in the Park alone, as well as many butterflies, including the famous
Blue Morpho. (we usually see Blue Morphos on the walk to our own
beach, Playa La Macha.) An evergreen littoral forest is just inland
from the beaches with an abundance of vegetation, including tree
orchids.