Monteverde Cloud Forest Guided Nature Walk with Expert Naturalist
Recommended by 92% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Monteverde, Costa Rica
- 2 to 3 hours (approx.)
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Enjoy a guided tour of the Monteverde Cloud Forest, where you have the chance to spot the resplendent quetzal. Meet up with your guide on this small-group excursion and head through this tropical cloud forest, looking out for the multitudes of wildlife that inhabit the area using a provided spotting scope. The tour is offered in English and Spanish to accommodate more travelers.
- Meeting point: Carretera a Reserva de Monteverde
- Cloud Forest and Humming Bird Garden explorations
- Access to one of three available trails included
- Free parking lot included for your convenience
What's Included
- Professional naturalist guide
- Shared high-definition spotting scope
- Small-group experience
- Visit to hummingbird gallery
- Free parking lot
- Transportation$15.00 per person
- Please buy tickets at the time that you have the reservation.$29.00 per person
- Snacks
- Make sure you have the entrance tickets for the park online in advice.
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve, Parking Lot./TICKETS852W+3CM, Puntarenas Province, Monteverde, Costa Rica
If arriving by car, please park in the official reserve parking area and proceed to the reception to purchase your tickets and meet your guide. This process may take 15–20 minutes, so we recommend arriving at least 20 minutes before the tour starts.
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Itinerary
1
Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve
3 hours • Admission Ticket Not Included
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 9 travelers
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Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
Roy was a fantastic guide! He was super knowledgeable and went out of his way to try and make sure we saw the wildlife whilst respecting the wildlife and surrounding areas. He knew lots about the wildlife, forest and local area. We saw plenty and learnt lots. The trail was easy with a beautiful waterfall view point. Would recommend this tour!
Reviews
4.7
based on 632 reviews
Review summary
Last 12 months
56 reviews
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Travelers appreciate the immersive natural landscape viewing of the Monteverde Cloud Forest, highlighting its lush scenery and waterfalls. Guides receive consistent praise for their extensive knowledge, enthusiasm, and personalized attention, which enhance wildlife spotting and educational aspects. The combination of expansive and intimate forest exploration offers a well-rounded experience valued for both its insight and enjoyment.
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We saw a quetzal! Roy was patient with us and took extra time in order to allow us to enjoy the splendor of the Quetzal longer.
Response from Host, Nov 2026
Thank you so much. I really appreciate this review
Bless
Let a pro guide show u the cloud forest ... big and small. With a little patience and some luck u can marvel at the majestic quetzal, be amazed by the engineering of the hunting slingshot spider and fawn at the hummingbird in its nest.
Roy was an incredible guide. He is so passionate about the flora and fauna around monteverde. I feel like I learned so much about every plant, animal and insect we saw. He also was able to spot animals/birds and identify them instantly. He brought extra binoculars making it way easier to spot the wildlife. He was kind enough to screenshot all of the birds that we saw and send them to me after the tour. My family and I had such an amazing experience that we ended up having Roy guide us through Curicancha the next day. Couldn’t recommend a tour with Roy more!
Response from Host, Oct 2026
Thank you so much 😊
The park is very nice and it's a pleasant hike. Our guide was knowledgable, though he didn't spot quite as many animals as some of the guides on other hikes we did in Costa Rica. Most of the things he pointed out were plants.
The hummingbird garden is really awesome and worth a visit all on its own, with nearly a dozen brightly plumed hummingbirds of various species active there when we visited. The star of the hike is, of course, the cloud forest. Unfortunately, there were actually no clouds on the day that we visited! Our guide explained that this is becoming increasingly common due to climate change and that the cloud forest climate is slowly migrating towards a rainforest climate. Previous visitors to Monteverde described a magical experience where you begin below the clouds, hike up through the fog, and come out on top of the cloud layer where you can see the clouds beneath you, which was what we were hoping for, but alas, it was not to be on the day that we visited. As a hike and wildlife tour, it wasn't bad, just not very different from the other hike/tours that you can do anywhere in Costa Rica. I'd give the tour 3 stars, the hummingbird garden 4 stars, and potentially 5 stars on a day where there are clouds.
Response from Host, Sep 2026
Hi. Ok. We offer a guide service.
If the guide was good that's our job. .
The cloud's is something that we can't control.
But thank you so much.
Bless
Fernando was very knowledgeable and friendly and knew so much about the ecosystem. A lovely day exploring the cloud forest.
So worth going - Be sure to get a guide - Fernando was wonderful and we got to learn and experience nature.
Overall an OK experience. We visited the Cloud Forest in July and It was raining throughout this tour. We hardly saw any wild life.
Our guide was very nice and experienced and shared his knowledge about the trees, rain forest, the history of cloud forests, and the science behind the Biodiversity. The irony is that our guide was carrying a big spotting scope but did not use it once. It was disappointing that after paying a hefty fee for the guided experience and a hefty entrance fee, we couldn't spot anything. Its hard to believe guides who are so accustomed to this location and have done several tours have not identified a location or found ways to at least show some sort of wildlife from their spotting scope. The guided experience ended half way through the trail (approx an hour) and the remaining part of the trail was a brisk walk followed by any Q&A. The tour ends at Humming Bird Garden, which is super cute, but its basically a tube feeding station which has hosted multiple tube feeders and attracts a lot of humming birds. Seeing these birds in nature is different than seeing them come to the feeders although they are super cute to look at from close proximity.
The guide was respectful of seniors having difficulty with walking and often stopped for them to catch up and offered additional help or showed places where they could sit.
Overall, I would skip this tour if your intention is to find any wild life. The pictures on the tour page does not show justice to the experience we had. We heard better experience from people who did tours on the Curi-Cancha Reserve instead.
Response from Host, Jul 2026
Thank you so much for this review.
Jus to explain a little about this tour.
The rain we don't controlled.
The spotting scoop we use to see some animals or birds not moving to much. But is there were no animals.
What is the guide going to see on the scope?
I we have to be more coherent whit what we spect.
Nature is really unpredictable.
And just in case we do curicancha as well.
We recommend to call us first and we can suggest which place is better in the moment.
We always do our best.
But is not a garanti to see animals.
Sometimes we see many.
Some times not much.
We do night walk as well.
+506 83118800.
On this number I can recommend the best place on the season.
Thank you so much for shushing us.
Fernando was a kind and very knowledgeable guide. He answered a lot of our questions on the Flora but unfortunately was not very proactive and entertaining
Tour was great! Roy was an outstanding guide. His knowledge of the forest and wildlife was very impressive. Thanks to Roy, we were able to see a wide variety of wildlife. What stood out was seeing an Emerald Toucanet! He was enthusiastic and always happy to answer questions. The could forest itself is stunning, but having Roy as our guide made it much better.
Response from Host, Jul 2026
Thank you so much.
Definitely curicancha is the best place in Montevede to see a beautiful cloud forest and to see more wildlife.
Thank you so much.
Bless
Fernando with Roy's Tours of Monteverde led my wife and I on a very good tour. We saw 5 Quetzal's that we would not have seen without Fernando. He is very knowledgeable and patient.
Roy is a wonderful guide. His passion for nature and sharing his love of nature really shines through. He is very informative and takes his time to find and show us amazing birds. It made our walk through the Heat of the Forest so much more delightful. Highly recommend Roy as your next nature guide.
Fernando was wonderful! Extremely knowledgeable, friendly, and great with our kiddo. He was determined to find us a quetzal and we sure did! Thanks for the amazing time.
Wonderful stroll through the beautiful cloud forest. Fernando was hugely knowledgeable and showed us many birds, insects & plants we wouldn’t have otherwise spotted. Would definitely recommend!
Great nature walk with my guide Roy. He looked after the 4 of us. We saw quetzals, one juvenile male and one female, white faced monkeys and learnt about the ecosystem of the rainforest. It has ben a fun and educational experience.
Our tour guide was absolutely incredible. They were determined to find animals for us even when it was hard, and they were super knowledgeable about everything in the park. Highly recommend, and best tour guide of our trip.
MUST PURCHASE PARK AND TRAIL TICKET AHEAD TO RESERVE. TIME SPOT! We knew based on the listing we had to separately purchase tickets to enter the park. However, we didn’t realize they are timed and limited! When we arrived they were all sold out for the entire day!
Fernando, our guide, was great. Punctual, very nice and knowledgeable. He also helped get the rangers to sell our group of 8 the entrance tickets for the right time. Whew. Crisis averted. Listing should be a bit more clear about advance, limited and timed ticket entrance!
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Hello. Thank you for your notes. It's very important to always check what is included and what is not included. Where it says exclusions, it clearly states that you should buy park tickets, which are clearly not included. We also suggest buying them in advance. For the heard of the forest trail It often happens that when our clients don't read the information properly and then arrive at the tour without the entrance tickets, they want to blame us. But we send emails They also asked if they had already bought the tickets. Many of these emails never receive a response. And finally, even if they don't buy their tickets, we help them buy them on-site. Yes, it's very important Buy your tickets online. In advance. Thank you so much These comments are very important. Bless
Roy was exceptionally knowledgeable about the Cloud Forest. As he explained there are species that you won’t see anywhere else. He was super patient helping us glimpse a Quetzel. We saw families of Coatys and lots of birds, Tarantula nest and he helped us understand the balance between the parasitic Ficus tree and the ectophyte plants. The sounds of the forest are unique. Definitely wouldn’t have seen a fraction of what we saw without a guide. Muddy and wet but the Hummingbirds Cafe at the end serves a welcome empanada and coffee. You have to buy a pass for the reserve in addition and they sell out so do it early.
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Thank you so much. Important for everyone. Buy tickets for heard of the forest trail on advice
Roy, our guide, was fantastic. He was knowledgeable, friendly, and spoke English very well. He took time to help the younger kids see and get photos of things. He looked diligently to find animals. We saw several things! It was a great idea to do the tour with a guide. We never would have seen all the animals we did. We did not see a Quetzal, but we saw a nest.
This was fine for a nice walk. Our guide was a bit low energy compared to the other guides we saw on the trail. Like many others who have left reviews, we did not see a whole lot. We do understand that this is no fault of the guide. It’s worth saying that we saw much more wildlife in La Fortuna. If we come back to Monteverde again, I’m quite sure that we would not visit this biological reserve again.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Rudres tank you for the review. Important to know that sometimes we see a lot and our costumer's said was much better than la fortuna. But that's way we offer a cloud forest Walk. Is to learn about. And if we see quetzal or monkey is a bonus. We Wich see many every day. But nature is like that. Apologize about that. Thank you so much. Important boy the entrance tickets on advice.
Roy did an excellent job of showing us the cloud forest. We saw spider monkeys at play, various birds, including an owl, and the Quetzal, which is a rare find. We learned a lot.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thank you so much. I love this job. This reviews make my day. Bless
Fernando was an excellent guide. We had a couple of mishaps with parking and timing but he was flexible and worked everything out for us. We were able to spot spider monkeys and plenty of other wildlife thanks to him!
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Fernando is really good guide. Thank you so much.
A great way to see the cloud forest! Roy was a fantastic guide and helped us see so much we would have otherwise missed. We were able to take our time to take everything in. I highly recommend!
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thank you so much
Our guide, Roy , was very knowledgeable. We got awesome pics of many different birds and lots of interesting information about the forest plant life and history. He was so patient with us giving plenty of time for photos. Would definitely recommend him for a good tour!
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thank you so much
It was a great experience! Roy is very knowledgeable and very friendly guide. He made the experience fun and insightful. We saw a quetzal! Would definitely recommend!
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thank you so much.
We did not see very much wildlife. There was one bird that was unique. The guide was very good. The tour was just ok
Response from Host, Feb 2026
First, thank you for your visit. It's important to know that the bird you saw wasn't just any bird. It was a quetzal. It is also very important to know a little about nature This tour does not include a zoo. This tour is for learning. Discover the cloud forest See thousands of species of plants and trees. Learn about why it is a cloud forest. The animals here are not fed. We can't promise to see many mammals But 99 percent of our customers understand that. This is the most beautiful forest in the entire country.
Top attraction of Monteverde. We had a truly beautiful experience. We saw cappuccino monkeys, quetzals, coatis and various types of vegetation. It was absolutely worth taking the guide; you would miss so many things without one. We also took a tour to the hummingbird garden. Kids loved it. Take a rain Jacket and wear water proof shoes. It’s very wet trail but definitely worth checking out.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Thank you so much
Roy is a wonderful guide. We learned a ton. We highly recommend this tour for anyone interested in the bird life of the cloud forest.
Roy was personable & did find us monkeys & the quetzal! Focus was more about birds which we enjoyed . Think there were 8 of us in our group so manageable size!
Our guide was genuinely caring about giving us the best possible experience. He took great pleasure in our excitement at seeing the quetzal.
This was excellent. Roy was really knowledgeable about all the wildlife fauna and flora but completely respected the environment which is great. Small group and easy trail. Even saw a resplendent quetzal ( or two😂). Would really recommend Roy’s tours.
Response from Host, Feb 2026
Thank you so much. Bless
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