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Curi-court Bird-Watching tour

Recommended by 98% of travelers
Monteverde, Costa Rica
Popular pick
Booked 5+ times last week!
  • 3 hours (approx.)
  • Offered in: English

Why travelers loved this

4.9
·
· Paulina_M ·
Jan 2026
We loved the bird-watching tour at Curi Cancha Reserve. Ray, our guide, was extremely friendly and easy to chat with, which made the experience even more enjoyable. He was very knowledgeable and had an impressive ability to spot birds — we saw an incredible number of species throughout the tour. A fantastic experience and highly recommended for anyone interested in birding.
· Kate_M ·
Jan 2026
Good birdwatching to with a very personable and knowledgeable Guide. Saw quite a few birds (especially considering the weather wasn’t the best), along with some mammals and interesting insects. You definitely see things you would never spot without a guide. Recommended.

Overview
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    What's Included

    • Spotting Scope
    • field guide to identify species
    • Hummingbird's garden
    • Small group. No more than 8
    • Free parking lot
    • Entrance fee
      $25.00 per person
    • Private transportation
      Transportation is not included

    Meeting and Pickup

    Meeting point

    • Reserva Curi Cancha
      300 m noroeste Fabrica de Quesos Monteverde, Provincia de Puntarenas, Monteverde, 60109, Costa Rica

      please be in the Front desk 10 minutes before the tour starts

    End point

    This activity ends back at the meeting point.

    Itinerary

    1

    Curi-Cancha Reserve

    2 hours 30 minutesAdmission Ticket Not Included

    Additional Info

    • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
    • Not wheelchair accessible
    • Near public transportation
    • No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
    • Most travelers can participate
    • Travelers can rent golf carts
    • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 8 travelers

    Cancellation Policy

    You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

    Traveler Photos

    Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)
    Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)
    Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)
    Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)
    Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

    Featured review

    Sherry_G
    We had a very pleasant learning experience with our guide. Roy is knowledgeable on all things bird and more. He made sure all in our small group looked through the telescope and got great photos. A patient and nice man. Thank you!

    Reviews

    4.9
    based on 147 reviews
    Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

    guide tour is necessary

    Xiaoli_Z, Mar 2026
    We saw many pretty birds, I highly recommended to have a tour guide. They know where and what to look for.

    Roy is a great guide

    Dima_L, Mar 2026
    Our guide Roy is very knowledgeable and enthusiastic bird-watcher. He was very helpful in showing us local birds and telling us about them. The group was small - six people, all of us had a chance to watch each bird through a scope and take pictures. Time flew so fast! I wish we didn't have to leave and stay in the park longer

    Birding

    Shenandoah_H, Mar 2026
    Wonderful morning tour - some really special birds seen - such as the three wattled bell bird and blue crowned motmot. Also enjoyed both howler monkeys and spider monkeys. :) Rosi was great as our guide:)

    Response from Host, Mar 2026

    Thank you so much. We really appreciate it

    Fantastic Bird-Watching Experience in Monteverde Area, Costa Rica

    SweeFong_W, Mar 2026
    Roy Hernandez was an excellent bird-watching/wildlife watching guide, and we had an excellent experience despite the rain! It was so pleasant being in a proper nature reserve, i.e. the Curi Cancha Nature Reserve, that did not have hundreds of tourists visiting it for the gimmicky canopy walk or zipline experience as in the more well-known Monteverde Biological Reserve. Unlike other parts of Costa Rica like Tortuguero, Cahuita, and Corcovado, Monteverde's nature reserves are privately owned rather than state-owned National Parks, so it is important to choose where one goes carefully to get a decent experience. We were very pleased with Roy's choice of Curi Cancha. It is a decent sized private Nature Reserve that appears to put the interests of the wildlife first (rather than profit) and there were rules that prevented animals being too unduly disturbed such as the rule against the use of laser beam torches by guides to point our any bird or animal sighted. Roy was initially very keen to try to show us the more "showy" birds such as toucans and quetzals (which we'd already been very lucky enough to see in the Savagre region), but to be honest, we were just very grateful to him for highlighting the smaller passerines, many of which we would never have noticed without his help! We saw cute euphonias, chlorophonias, coloured trogons, grassquits, the large iconic crested guans, as well as many varieties of hummingbirds. Apart from birds, we also saw spider monkeys, and a cute troupe of coatis. Lovely day out!

    Response from Host, Mar 2026

    Thank you so much. We really appreciate it

    Fantastic

    Rory_M, Mar 2026
    Roy was very engaging and a brilliant guide. Sadly no quetzals but lots of beautiful hummingbirds and a curassow to boot. Great experience.

    Response from Host, Mar 2026

    Thank you so much. We really appreciate it

    Roy was a really great...

    Matt_G, Feb 2026
    Roy was a really great guide! Very knowledgeable and friendly. We had a great trip and would highly recommend this tour to anyone!

    Response from Host, Mar 2026

    Thank you so much

    Great tour, even better guide

    Patrick_V, Feb 2026
    Easy to find and great guide. Saw numerous birds from the parking lot (with the help of our guide, Roy G.) before even starting. Roy did an amazing job spotting birds and other animals, was very patient with us taking pictures and provided great information). Saw an incredible amount of birds during the tour. Never felt rushed or forced. Completely worth the money and would highly recommend both the tour and our guide Roy G.

    Roy is the best!

    Sherry_G, Feb 2026
    We had a very pleasant learning experience with our guide. Roy is knowledgeable on all things bird and more. He made sure all in our small group looked through the telescope and got great photos. A patient and nice man. Thank you!

    Rossy was an amazing guide. Ask if she's available!

    David_M, Feb 2026
    Ask for Rossy -- she was wonderful! Ask if she is available. She's very knowledgeable and enthusiastic.

    Response from Host, Feb 2026

    Thank you so much. Our guides are the best. Bless

    Great morning tour

    Mary_E, Feb 2026
    We took the early morning tour and saw lots of animals, bids and beautiful flowers. Definitely go with a guide.

    Response from Host, Feb 2026

    Thank you so much. Curícancha is the best. More bird's and animals than anyone else

    Really enjoyed the tour,...

    Kevin_K, Jan 2026
    Really enjoyed the tour, we didn't see as much as we hoped because of the rain but still had a great time learning about the wildlife and cloud forest. Be prepared to walk a bit, especially in the rain it's a good workout.

    Response from Host, Jan 2026

    Thank you so much.

    We loved the...

    Paulina_M, Jan 2026
    We loved the bird-watching tour at Curi Cancha Reserve. Ray, our guide, was extremely friendly and easy to chat with, which made the experience even more enjoyable. He was very knowledgeable and had an impressive ability to spot birds — we saw an incredible number of species throughout the tour. A fantastic experience and highly recommended for anyone interested in birding.

    Response from Host, Jan 2026

    Thank you so much. We always. Do our best. Friendly. Responsable. Puntualidad. Good personal presentation. On time. And giving our best. Bless

    Knowledgeable guide, good experience

    Kate_M, Jan 2026
    Good birdwatching to with a very personable and knowledgeable Guide. Saw quite a few birds (especially considering the weather wasn’t the best), along with some mammals and interesting insects. You definitely see things you would never spot without a guide. Recommended.

    Response from Host, Jan 2026

    Thank you so much. We love what we do Bless

    Disappointing tour with very less wildlife and birds

    Sridhar_N, Jan 2026
    We only saw a handful of species at a very far distance with the help of scopes and didn't even see any toucan though we took a early morning tour. Even the park itself didn't feel like much of a cloud forest.

    Response from Host, Feb 2026

    Apologize about. Normally we see many birds and animals in this place. Of course is not a zoo.. But I did my best effort. I really appreciate if you come back some day and we can try again. Will be free for you. Bless +506 83118800. Feel free to message me on whatssAp. Will be a pleasure to servi you and try to have better luck 🤞.

    Beautiful reserve and amazing birds and plants

    Bart_P, Dec 2025
    We spent a wonderful morning hiking through the reserve and spotting a variety of birds. Our guide was knowledgeable and patient and even though the elusive quetzal escaped us we saw several toucans and smaller birds and hummingbirds. With his spotting scope we were able to observe close up and get some amazing photos. Highly recommend.

    Mot Mot siting

    Lawrence_K, Nov 2025
    Our guide was very knowledgeable and helped us get very good photos, and spoke very good English! We seen a wife range of various birds;

    Response from Host, Nov 2025

    We love this tour. We see many birds. Thank you so much..

    Roy was incredible! One...

    Jessica_J, Jun 2025
    Roy was incredible! One of the first things he asked me was what birds I wanted to see. He was passionate about the landscape and was very knowledgeable about all the different types of birds, insects and animals on the area. I was lucky to be able to get great videos and pictures of a bell bird and multiple other types of wildlife. Overall great tour, I would definitely recommend!

    Excellent guide.

    Morissa_P, Jun 2025
    Roy was fantastic!! Curi Cancha is a must don’t you like birds, especially hummingbirds. Yes, you can do this reserve on your own, but then you miss a lot. Roy knew exactly where the Toucan nest was, and it did not disappoint. He is so knowledgeable and very friendly. You will be happy with this tour.

    Curi Cancha is worth the trip!

    Peter_D, May 2025
    Our guide Roy was very knowledgeable and helped to identify lots of wildlife, birds (toucans!) , snakes, sloths, insects and flowers/ trees. He really did a nice job. Curi Cancha is definitely worth a trip as it has a different feel than other reservies. If I had more time I would have hung around and walked the gardens and paths more.

    We had a great experience...

    Christine_F, Apr 2025
    We had a great experience with this tour. We saw two toucans and lots of other birds. They were very knowledgeable.

    Response from Host, Apr 2025

    Thank you so much. Bless

    Best Birdwatching Experience

    Dhruvish_S, Mar 2025
    This Curi Cancha birding tour is nothing short of amazing. You will get the chance to see over 50 species of birds, including toucans, trogons, and even quetzals. The guide, Roy, is very knowledgeable and experienced, spotting birds far away and hidden in trees. His spotting scope is perfect for looking at birds close-up, and he knows which trails are known for having which birds.

    Response from Host, Mar 2025

    This is fantastic 🤩. We love when our costumer's are so happy. Thank you so much. Bless

    We got to see so many...

    Brandy_L, Mar 2025
    We got to see so many birds!!! Even a Toucan! Great experience! Roy was a great guide!! I highly recommend!

    Response from Host, Mar 2025

    Thank you so much.. Was wonderful 👍

    Guide had excellent...

    Bob_D, Jan 2025
    Guide had excellent knowledge of the birds Despite the windy day the guide was able to find a lot of birds

    We met guide before...

    Dannielle_Y, Jan 2025
    We met guide before reserve opened and saw parrots, other brightly colored bird and white monkeys. With Deyber’s keen eye, ear and knowledge saw three resplendent quetzals, hummingbirds, warblers and more. Starting at 6:30am was early but well worth it.

    My husband and I did this...

    Madison_C, Dec 2024
    My husband and I did this tour on September 10, and we were very happy with everything we were able to see! We are beginner birders and this was our first birdwatching tour. Our guide was very knowledgeable and was able to spot many birds we would have walked right past. Some of our favorites from the tour were the emerald toucanet, lessons motmot, common chlorospingus, scarlet-thighed dacnis, keel-billed toucan, and even a green pit viper! We were hoping to see the resplendent quetzals and three-wattled bellbirds, but they go down to lower elevations during the time of year we were there. We had a great trip and were able to add 24 birds to our life list!

    Excellent experience for watching birds!

    Swati_n, Dec 2024
    My husband and I did the Curi Cancha bird watching tour on Friday, Dec 6th, 2024 with our tour guide Roy. Roy was a friendly, kind and knowledgeable guide. He was comfortable in both English and Spanish and clearly an expert at spotting birds from a distance in spite of the non stop rain. We saw toucans, MANY different types of hummingbirds, thrushes, broad billed motmot, warblers, birds of prey, squirrels, agoutis, monkeys, iguana and coatis all thanks to Roy! He helped us take pictures and videos through his telescope and was kind enough to offer to take pictures of us in some cool spots in the park. He shared tons of really interesting facts about the flora and fauna and was happy to answer our questions. The Curi Cancha reserve is a lovely forest and Roy is an absolutely fantastic guide! We highly recommend this tour!

    Incredible day at Curi-Cancha with Deyber!

    John_E, Jul 2024
    Excellent in every way. Ended up only being our family of 4, with our excellent guide, Deyber, whom was able to help us see so many amazing birds, including 5 Resplendent Quetzals! He was able to spot and locate birds we never would have seen on our own. He was very kind, and shared his incredible amount of knowledge with us about the Curi-Cancha Reserve, the Monteverde area, and of course about the birds we saw! Excellent and highly recommended!

    Great tour at Curi Cancha

    Gary_F, Jul 2024
    Loan was a great guide. Learned a lot about the reserve and all the animals. We saw pretty much everything we could have hoped for and he took great pictures for us. Highly recommend if you visit.

    Exceptional Tour

    Stef_B, Jun 2024
    Outstanding tour! Roy is an exceptional guide that is able to spot different birds easily and gives a lot of information.

    Wonderful for families!

    C_C, Jun 2024
    We had a great time. We saw many birds, including a pair of quetzals. We aren't hard core bird enthusiasts, we just like animals. We brought our grumpy kids along. Roy was very knowledgeable about the birds, but what was really great was how he engaged with my kids, showing them insects and plants that they might like. The most magical moment was when a group of coatis, including babies, walked around us. I think we will always remember this. If you are on the fence because you aren't a huge bird watcher, I think you would still greatly enjoy this tour. Thank you, Roy!

    From $45.00

    per person

    up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)

    Book ahead!
    On average, this is booked 19 days in advance.

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