Braulio Carrillo Bird Watching Full Day Pass

Recommended by 100% of travelers

San Jose, Costa Rica

9 hours (approx.)
Pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

Overview

Serious bird-watchers will delight in this day trip to a private nature reserve that’s home to more than 365 native bird species. You don't have to spend hours traveling from San Jose to enjoy the lush Costa Rican rainforest. A naturalist guide helps you spot an amazing diversity of feathered creatures, including hummingbirds, toucans, macaws, and more. Glide through the canopy on an aerial tram for an up-close sighting of birds not often seen from the ground. Upgrade to include a hearty breakfast and round-trip transportation from San Jose.

Let someone else take care of logistics so you can focus on the sights
Wake up early and observe tropical birdlife, like toucans, kingfishers and motmots, during their most active time of the day
Stroll through the beautiful scenery of Caribbean foothills, primary and secondary tropical forests
Glimpse hard-to-spot birds with the help of a naturalist expert and learn about all the plant and wildlife you see

What's Included

Aerial tram tour
Bird Watching Tour
Expert certified naturalist bilingual guide
Breakfast (if option selected)
Hotel pickup and drop-off (if option selected)

Gratuities
Binoculars and/or spotting scope

Meeting and Pickup

You can head directly to the meeting point, or request pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Meeting point

Rainforest Adventures Braulio Carrillo
Ruta 32, junto al Parque Nacional Braulio Carrillo. A 45 mins de San José, Route 32, next to Braulio Carrillo National Park, 45 mins from San José, downtown, Limón, Guápiles, Costa Rica
If you selected the option Tour Only (No transfers ), the starting point will be at the Park.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Operating hours
.8:00 am

Itinerary

The rain forests of Costa Rica are a bird-watchers paradise. Your adventure begins with early morning pickup at your San Jose hotel and a scenic drive to the ecotourism reserve of Rainforest Adventures Costa Rica Atlantic. Follow your naturalist guide along jungle paths that wind through the 1,174-acre (475-hectare) reserve as you look for some of the 365 different bird species identified here.

Set up your tripod on paved trails, or break out the binoculars for an up-close view of fantastic tropical birds like motmots, toucans, hummingbirds, and macaws. Your expert guide will point out difficult-to-spot species and help you identify what you see. Cross the Molinete River on a hanging bridge and keep an eye out for sweeping kingfishers that are often seen diving into the water.

Climb aboard an aerial tram for a leisurely ride through the rain forest canopy. From this elevated perspective, observe an abundance of birds not usually seen from the ground. The tram stops along the way so you can soak up the glorious surroundings and observe birds preening, chirping, and fluttering.

Take a breakfast break at a scenic overlook and enjoy a hearty boxed meal served with juice, coffee and tea. Continue your bird-watching expedition along jungle paths, and then climb back aboard the tram for the return trip. Expect to walk a total of 3 miles (5 km) throughout the day.

Finish your tour with one final walk with your guide to a lovely observation site popular with hummingbirds. At the end of your bird-watching bonanza, relax on the return drive to San Jose.

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Minimum age is 12 years
Not wheelchair accessible
It is recommended that you wear comfortable clothes and hiking shoes
A good level of fitness is required
A minimum of 2 passengers per booking is required. There is a possibility of cancellation after confirmation if there are not enough passengers to meet requirements. In the event of this occurring, you will be offered an alternative or full refund
Near public transportation

Infants must sit on laps
Not recommended for travelers with back problems
Not recommended for pregnant travelers
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 15 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

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

Angela_A

Our guide Daniel was fantastic! very knowledgeable and has an incredible ear! I HIGHLY recommend the full day tour so you can ride the tram and identify birds that only stsy in the mid to highland forest areas. Not to mention the views are outstanding from the tram. This tour also highlights orchids and Coati are lumbering about on the property too! *Nice bonus.... there is a restaurant and gift shop with bathrooms and great staff. We were hungry and thirsty and enjoyed the fresh fruit with granola, fresh juices, coffee and eggs!

Reviews

4.8

based on 12 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Do the full day tour so you get the tram included!

Angela_A, Mar 2026

Response from Host, Mar 2026

We’re delighted to hear you had such a great experience on the Bird Watching Full Day Tour. Daniel will be very happy to know his knowledge and passion for birds made your tour even more special. He truly has an incredible ear for spotting them! We’re also glad you enjoyed the aerial tram ride and the beautiful views of the rainforest canopy. Seeing orchids, coatis, and so many bird species makes the experience even more memorable. And of course, we’re happy you were able to relax and enjoy the café after your adventure — fresh fruit, coffee, and a good meal are the perfect way to end a day in the rainforest. Thank you for visiting Rainforest Adventures Braulio Carrillo. We hope to welcome you back for another nature-filled experience soon! 🌿🐦

A Day We'll Spent

Eric_B, May 2025

Very good day of seeking out birds with our excellent guide Marvin. We started by walking in from the road with Marvin rather than the option of our driver taking us in. Resulted in our seeing King Vultures up close and other new birds. Gondola ride up and down was a great way to see the canopy, toucan, etc. We walked the trails of the primary forest at the top of the gondolas and saw 4 of the areas top 10 great birds plus many others. Delivery to and from the park from San Jose was about an hour each way and was seamless... Very good use of a day in Costa Rica!

Response from Host, May 2025

Thank you for sharing this wonderful review! We're so glad to hear you had such a rewarding birdwatching experience with Marvin — he truly has a gift for spotting and sharing the wonders of the rainforest. It sounds like your day was filled with amazing sightings and seamless logistics, just how we hope every visit will be. We appreciate you choosing to spend your day with us in Braulio Carrillo and hope to welcome you back for more nature adventures in Costa Rica!

Fantastic Tour!

Brooke_R, Oct 2024

Jaime was a fantastic guide! He was super knowledgeable about the area and wildlife. The birds were absolutely amazing!

Response from Host, Oct 2024

Thank you so much, Brooke_R, for your wonderful review! We’re delighted to hear that you had a fantastic time on the Braulio Carrillo Bird Watching Tour. Jaime will be thrilled to know that his knowledge and passion for the area and wildlife made your experience memorable. The birds in this region are indeed spectacular, and we’re glad you got to enjoy them with us. We hope to welcome you back for more bird-watching adventures in the future!

Guide was amazing, very...

Innis_M, Nov 2023

Guide was amazing, very knowledgeable with birds!!! Could make bird sounds and we ended the day with 73 species!!

Response from Host, Dec 2023

We're delighted to hear you had an amazing bird-watching tour! Thank you, Innis_M, for appreciating our guide's knowledge and the variety of bird species. We hope to host you again for more bird-watching adventures!

Great birding in Braulio Carrillo

Glenn_S, May 2023

We had an incredible day birding at Rainforest Adventures. It was like we had the whole park to ourselves. Marvin was a fantastic guide and knew exactly where to find the birds. I viewed 28 new species. We also saw peccary, tapir and a viper snake. The sloth habitat was a great bonus.

Response from Host, Jun 2023

Dear Glenn_S, Thank you for sharing your incredible birding experience at Rainforest Adventures. We're thrilled to hear that you had a fantastic day and felt like you had the whole park to yourselves. We're glad that Marvin, our knowledgeable guide, was able to locate the birds and provide you with an opportunity to view 28 new species. The sightings of peccary, tapir, and viper snake must have been truly memorable. We're also delighted that you enjoyed the sloth habitat. Thank you for choosing our bird-watching tour, and we hope to see you again soon! Best regards,

Highly Recommend!

Bob_K, Mar 2023

My day of birding with Marvin was incredible. His knowledge of the whole ecosystem was impressive. It was a day of enjoyment and education. Marvin’s love for and knowledge of the rainforest was infectious. I saw and photographed so many species of birds. I’d do this again in a minute.

Response from Host, Mar 2023

Bob_K, Thank you for highly recommending the bird-watching tour with Marvin. It's wonderful to hear that his knowledge and love for the rainforest made your day enjoyable and educational. It's also great that you were able to see and photograph many species of birds. We hope you'll have the chance to join Marvin on another tour in the future.

A day in the cloud forest

Steve_C, Feb 2023

Sir James was a wonderful guide who showed us many birds as well as other animals and plants. His love and respect for nature and the environment were inspiring.

Great nature tour

Stacie_L, Jan 2023

Our guide Fernando was awesome. Very knowledgeable and friendly. We got to see not only birds but also animals, insects and plants. He also taught us some interesting facts about Costa Rica. The quality of the breakfast and lunch was very good.

A MUST GO TO

cyra_s, May 2022

10/10 I absolutely reccomend for any bird/insect/animal lovers !!! Our guide was so knowledgeable and extremely talented at spotting animals in even the smallest ways !! I loved it and would absolutely come back just to do it again !

Response from Host, May 2022

Hello cyra_s! Thank you so much for taking time to recommend us, it means a lot. We are glad to know you enjoyed the many amazing things in our Eco Adventure park. Regards,

Enjoyable Day

Donald_V, Mar 2020

We highly recommend this tour. Denis, our tour guide, was very knowledgeable and made the day the most enjoyable. We were amazed at all the flora and fauna in the rainforest and especially the birds.

We had a great time and good...

George F, Mar 2018

We had a great time and good birding. I got 18 life birds. The tram ride was wonderful. Our guide Danny was a good bird guide and also pointed out many other interesting things in the Jungle that added to our experience.

We have never had such an amazing...

Elizabeth H, Jan 2017

We have never had such an amazing day as we did with Reimer Palma, an expert birder and experienced guide. We saw and identifed over 50 different birds in one day. We highly recommend this tour.