The Most Incredible Animals You Can Encounter in Costa Rica

In Costa Rica, you feel the world is more alive than you ever imagined. The forests whisper, the sky flickers with wings, and each step might bring you face-to-face with life as you've only dreamed.

This small country is home to over 5% of the entire planet's biodiversity. And if you open your eyes and heart, you'll experience meetings you'll never forget.

Sloth – the symbol of tranquillity

It's as if Costa Rica was born in the image of the sloth. Slow, smiling, endlessly patient. You'll see them hanging in the trees, sometimes so well hidden that you'll need a guide or a keen eye to spot them.

• Two main types – two-toed and three-toed sloths

• Best places to encounter them: Manuel Antonio National Park, Puerto Viejo, Monteverde

Toucan – the living rainbow

Toucans are like flying paintings – with their giant colorful beaks, black feathers, and eyes filled with curiosity. When you spot a toucan against the blue Costa Rican sky, everything else fades away.

• Best places to encounter them: Arenal, Caribbean Coast, Sarapiquí

Red-eyed tree frogs – the jungle’s tiny icon

These miniature wonders with their bright green bodies and startling red eyes look as though they've leapt from a fantasy film. They love the humid tropical forests and can be heard at night like tiny wizards of the shadows.

• Best places to encounter them: Monteverde, Tortuguero National Park

Jaguar – the invisible ruler

Encountering a jaguar in the wild is rare – these majestic predators move silently and mysteriously through the deep forests of Costa Rica. Even if you don't see it, you'll know you're in its domain.

• Best places to encounter them: Corcovado, Osa Peninsula

Monkeys – the jungle's jesters

Howler monkeys, capuchins, bushy-tailed spider monkeys – in Costa Rica, monkeys are everywhere and always bring joy with their antics, calls, and leaps from branch to branch.

• Best places to encounter them: Manuel Antonio, Osa, Tortuguero

Turtles – the ancient travellers

Every year, thousands of sea turtles arrive on Costa Rican shores to lay their eggs. A night-time walk witnessing this miracle is one of the most moving experiences you can have.

• Best places to encounter them: Playa Ostional, Tortuguero, Playa Grande

Caimans and crocodiles – the river rulers

With silent movements through the rivers and mangrove forests, caimans and crocodiles reign over Costa Rica's watery worlds. A boat tour in the areas around Tárcoles will let you see these ancient creatures up close.

Hummingbirds – the flying jewels

These tiny birds glisten like gems in the sunlight and can be seen in every corner of tropical gardens. Trembling, swift, and utterly enchanting.

• Best places to encounter them: Monteverde, the highlands of Costa Rica

Costa Rica – a world where the wild is at home

Here, life is not something separate from you. It surrounds you, within you, part of every breath, every sunrise, every rustle of leaves. Encounters with Costa Rica’s wildlife are not like in a zoo – they are real, unpredictable, and leave imprints on your soul that you carry long after your return.

Join Panic Frame & Travel and let's step together into this living tale, where every animal is a message from a wilder, purer world.