Puntarenas sightseeing tour
Puntarenas, Costa Rica
- 4 to 5 hours (approx.)
- Pickup offered
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Embark on a sightseeing tour around the seaside city of Puntarenas, Costa Rica. Visit a local farmers market and walk along the Tárcoles Bridge looking for crocodiles. Then explore Carara National Park, taking in the lush rainforest and stunning ocean views. Check off the region’s highlights in just five hours, with photo opportunities aplenty.
- Make the most of your time in Puntarenas with a guided tour
- Visit the city’s must-see nature attractions
- Spot birds, monkeys, crocodiles, and sloths in their natural habitat
- Tour offers an ideal introduction for first-time visitors
What's Included
- Air-conditioned vehicle
Meeting and Pickup
Pickup points
Select a pickup point
Pickup details
9am or 9:30am pick up time at Puntarenas or Caldera port dependes on your cruise ship. Upon request we can pick up at either home or condo from Puntarenas area. Please meet us outside the dock by it’s gates, guide will be holding our Odyssey tours sign reading tour name as well and he will have your name on a check list
Operating hours.9:00 am
Itinerary
1
Tarcoles Bridge
40 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
2
Carara National Park
1 hour • Admission Ticket Free
3
Orotina
45 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
4
Catedral de Puntarenas
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Infant seats available
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 60 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
Sally_G
We had a great day with our tour guide Albert and only 6 other people. The minivan was even equipped with free wi-fi! First stop was to visit Capuchin monkeys. Albert gave us bananas to bribe them and soon they were crawling on our shoulders. Long beautiful drive up to a remote village, a quick stop at the crocodile bridge, a break for a beer at a cute little bar, and a stop at a butterfly garden/gift shop. Overall, it was a great day. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone.
Reviews
4.4
based on 100 reviews
Kimia_N, Mar 2026
We had a WONDERFUL time on this tour. The value for the price is really unbeatable. Ive been to Costa Rica before and we saw most of the highlights. Our tour guide, Alex, was very conversational and had a lot of info about the country and the wildlife. We even spotted a group of scarlet Macaws.
I did wish to have a little bit more time at the souvenir shop at the end because it is also a butterfly garden so we spent a good amount of time with the butterflies rather than shopping.
The pick up and drop off was easy and they keep track of your cruise ship in case of a port change.
Sally_G, Mar 2026
We had a great day with our tour guide Albert and only 6 other people. The minivan was even equipped with free wi-fi! First stop was to visit Capuchin monkeys. Albert gave us bananas to bribe them and soon they were crawling on our shoulders. Long beautiful drive up to a remote village, a quick stop at the crocodile bridge, a break for a beer at a cute little bar, and a stop at a butterfly garden/gift shop. Overall, it was a great day. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone.
Donald_T, Feb 2026
Excellent tour with Viní? who was our tour driver & guide who did a great job for the four of us on our tour.
First stop, a monkey preserve with monkeys freely moving around from the adjacent woods. Second stop was a roadside fruit stand consuming samples of "water apple," mango, caimito, and cashew fruit (Marinon in Spanish). Then we drove through the countryside looking for macaws and toucans but without initial success We did however see Brama cows and an iguana.
We then visited the town of Orotina and traveled up a bumpy dirt road to Rancho Vista Limonal restaurant for a 360°view of this area and snacks. Then went to El Garden, a large combo butterfly garden, restaurant & souvenir shop, where we sawd 2 scarlet macaws mating in the trees nearby. On the way back to our cruise ship we stopped along the river and saw a crocodile suddenly crawl out of it onto an island in the middle near an Igret. We also saw over 100 tiny, white sand crabs on the shore. A very varied tour with various discoveries.thst he worked hard to ensure we had a worthwhile visit.
Galina_A, Feb 2026
Bini, our guide, have met us next to the gates of the terminal and told us about the plan of our excursion, invited us in a very comfortable A/C equipped van and drove us to monkey house, where we enjoyed watching clever monkeys under Bini’s caring guidance. Then we had been lucky to see birds during their mating period, crocodile showed of the river for us, we dropped to the fruit and vegetables market where we tried exotic fruits that were unique for us even in our California, as Kalmito -purple fruit, water apples, we tried coconut water, ceviche and more.
Bini did his very best to show life in his town.
It was a very enjoyable and comfortable trip for us. We highly recommend it.
Dale, Feb 2026
Viator rep was waiting for us outside the cruise gate as described on their website, we were a 1/2 hour early and so where they. Alex our guide was the Best also the driver, Allen! Very friendly, knowledgeable, accommodating, can't say enough. We stopped at all the major attractions in Puntarenas for just enough time to experience the area. Saw the oldest church, hung around with monkeys, saw crocodiles, birds, beautiful butterflies, had lunch and a little shopping, we did it all!
HeatherM, Feb 2026
Good experience and the tour guide was really informative. Great deal for those on a cruise ship when there wasn’t much to do in the main part of the port. We were traveling with our 6 yr old and for the most part, she had a good time. Specifically seeing the monkeys! Wish we had a little more time at the last stop which was at the souvenir shop, but we were already over the timeframe for the tour. Van was clean and had AC which was needed! Overall, a good option vs the cruise ship excursions and much cheaper!
Inna_G, Feb 2026
Too much driving along the terrible roads, too few things to see. Would not recommend this tour. Guide and driver were super professional thought!
Debra_N, Jan 2026
We had the best guides ever! The driver and tour guide were so knowledgeable, friendly, funny and easy to get along with! They did everything they could to give us the best experience.
Anne_M, Jan 2026
Great meet up just off the pier. Charlie Brown was a super guide. He knew just where to find monkeys, birds and crocodiles in the wild.
We enjoyed this tour . Excellent value as well.
Deborah_H, Jan 2026
Great guide and driver. Saw toucans, macaws, monkeys and crocodiles Our guide, Carlos and driver Ronnie did a wonderful job.
Susan_T, Jan 2026
If you want to just see the sights of the towns and countryside, this is OK. See monkeys at a planned house stop where monkeys hang out, saw crocodiles at a bridge you walk across. A stop at a restaurant bar that was unnecessary but there’s nothing else to do. Butterflies are at a tourist souvenir shop. You get what you pay for. Pick up and drop off went smoothly.
Atul_R, Dec 2025
Guide was great. The only problem I encountered was the van did not cool down at all during the trip. That made life miserable and could enjoy the trip.
Gary_N, Dec 2025
Hazel was an excellent tour guide, with very good English. Very good 5-hour tour around the Puntarenas area tor the ten of us in a nice Mercedes van.
Jennifer_G, Dec 2025
This was a very comprehensive tour which we took when our ship called into Puntarenas. It was great seeing some of the local wildlife and also the local countryside. The bus was very comfortable and the driver & tour guide did a great job keeping us informed and comfortable.
Patti_S, Dec 2025
Benesio proved to be an excellent and determined guide - made sure we saw all the wildlife of the area including some elusive macaws. We were notified a couple days in advance that we were the only clients so we could make it a private tour for just a bit more. So we had a great 5 hour tour packing in plenty of sights along with lots of driving.
Emily_L, Dec 2025
Albert was very friendly and very knowledgeable. Also amazing at taking bird photos. The monkeys were really cute!
Kraig_R, Nov 2025
Carlos was right at the pier to greet me and took me right to the van while we wait for the rest of the group to disembark from the ship. Allan was the driver. Both Carlos and Allan did a good job taking us around to see the sights in/around Tarcoles and when we were back in Puntarenas.
Norman_P, Nov 2025
Booked as better looking and much cheaper option to Princess Cruise onboard excursion options. Very new Mercedes HiTop 12 seater bus, great AC, great itinerary, excellent driver and tour guide, great information throughout tour, even equipped with high quality bird scope to find macaws and took pics for clients. Great lunch stop. G'teed return to ship on time. Highly recommended
Diane_A, Nov 2025
Interesting overview of Costa Rica, good guide , Charlie, the bus was a bit uncomfortable, too much shopping
Cindy_K, Nov 2025
It was great and informative but advertised as 5 hours when it actually took 7 and a half hours but still good.
republic, Oct 2025
Very bad experience. I booked a cruise excutsion.I was not aware I was given the wrong booking date (7th Octo) instead of 10th Nov. Viator notced my cruise was not docking at the port on 7 Octo. and alerted me by email and I replied asking for correction. However since then despite several enquiries Viator did'nt reply to me. I feel helpless.
anthony_s, Oct 2025
We took this tour last year and enjoyed it, however this time it was so much better. Hazel our guide was above and beyond all our expectations, she new the land, history, animals and the country. when we come next year we will try to request her. oh, and the monkeys were very cool
Ruth_S, Oct 2025
Our tour guide and driver were so good about spotting wildlife & stopping off the road so we could all get out to see. They even had a spotting scope & we all had a chance to look through it & even get magnified photos on our cameras from the scope. We saw Macaws, a Toucan & a bird from the Turkey family (not a Turkey vulture). The stop at the monkey house was fun, and the lookout point into the forest was beautiful. We also stopped at a very nice open air restaurant on a hill for a rest break & optional food/ drink purchase. The last stop was a good place to shop.
Rich_G, Oct 2025
Overall a great day. The local operator was Odyssey. Hazel-guide & Michael-driver, were great. She was very knowledgeable and both were very courteous. We really enjoyed all aspects of the tour, what we saw and where we went, seeing the rain forest, mountains, the Monkey House, the small towns and the lunch we had at the tour operator’s private cafe in the mountains was delicious. The only negative we found was the vehicle we travelled in. It was very tight for the average sized person with our knees crammed into the back of the seat in front of us and no wiggle room while seated. We have enjoyed our many tours with Viator and will continue to use your services.
Kim_T, Oct 2025
Excellent! Both Hazel and Michael were wonderful. They answered all of our questions, explained the history, the animals and the respect that Costa Rica holds for them and made sure that all of us had all our questions answered. Hazel had a telescoping "thing" (don't remember what it was called) but she was able to zoom in on things like the Scarlet Macaws and then take pictures and video of the animals on all of our phones! Additionally, our driver Michael was so helpful with everything - I walk with a cane and the van steps can sometimes be challenging - but Michael made sure that he helped me at all times. They were both excellent and the lunch restaurant they took us to was really, really good. Best fish tacos I've had in years!!!
Anita_S, Sep 2025
Wonderful your guide! Our your guide Ron, took us to great places. We spent time with friendly monkeys, saw McCaws, and Tucson’s. He also bought us to a fabulous gift shop. Men were carving balsa wood and haunting wall hanging. This was one of the best gift shops in tours
David_F, Sep 2025
Ronnie and Roy were a great team from Odyssey Tours. They showed us monkeys, toucans and scarlet macaws! Tour included fresh fruit market, rainforest, stunning Mountain View’s and a huge souvenir shop with coffee and fresh fruit juices and lasted about 5 hours. Bus was comfortable and included AC and water.
Sue_P, Sep 2025
It was nothing like the explanation- no crocodiles as bridge was closed but went to several pretty towns with big squares, a money house and a great butterfly house. Guide was great and very knowledgeable.
Charles_C, Sep 2025
Sadly, this excursion only faintly resembled what was advertised.
The original description on VIATOR listed three key parts of the itinerary: A visit to the Cathedral in Puntarenas, a trip to see crocodiles at the Tarcoles Bridge, and a trip through the Carara National Park. The ONLY part of the itinerary that occurred was the visit to the Cathedral. We then visited a captive campuchin monkey preserve, two other small town squares and a bunch of shopping stops.
But we selected this excursion specifically for the crocodiles and the national park visit. When 2/3's of the titled itinerary items and 90 percent of the allotted time (did I mention the tour was substantially longer than advertised?) did not occur at all, I think we have a right to request a refund.
When we inquired of our tour guide about a visit to the bridge, she told us that the bridge was closed for six months and we could not visit. Yet, every ship-sponsored excursion that mentioned the Tarcoles bridge went to the bridge. Cruise passengers remarked about the extreme traffic, but all counted the bridge visit as a highlight -- a highlight we did not see and were lied to when we inquired. Further whenever anyone asked about the national park, the subject was simply avoided.
Viator should certainly inquire about this tour company and this tour. If this is how they operate, I encourage you to drop them like a hot potato.
And I still want our money back!!!
Note to Viator: I have several more tours reserved with you in the next six months. I will be watching how you handle this disaster.
Daniel_A, Sep 2025
The description listed the Tacoles Bridge and Carara National Park as two of the three highlighted stops. The operator DID NOT visit either of the two. Tour guide claimed that the bridge had collapsed 6 months ago (other travelers in cruise shore excursions visited the bridge on the same day). When asked if we were visiting the National Park, the guide simply answered “No”. Instead we were taken to municipal parks that offered neither historic nor natural significance. We did visit a fruit market (that changed $3 USD to use the bathroom/outhouse) and a bar.
From $49.00
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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