Costa Rica (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Matthew Firestone [309]
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Sights & Activities
HIKING
After the park entrance, it’s about a 30-minute hike to Playa Espadilla Sur, where you’ll find the park ranger station and information center; watch out for birds and monkeys as you walk. West of the station, follow an obvious trail through forest to an isthmus separating Playas Espadilla Sur and Manuel Antonio. This isthmus is called a tombolo and was formed by the accumulation of sedimentary material between the mainland and the peninsula beyond, which was once an island. If you walk along Playa Espadilla Sur, you will find a small mangrove area. The isthmus widens into a rocky peninsula, with a forest in the center. A trail leads around the peninsula to Punta Catedral, from where there are good views of the Pacific Ocean and various rocky islets that are bird reserves and form part of the national park. Brown boobies and pelicans are among the seabirds that nest on these islands.
TOP PICKS: KIDDY FUN IN MANUEL ANTONIO
Here are some suggestions for enjoying nature with the little ones:
Buy a wildlife picture book, and make a game out of spotting animals.
Teach your kids how to read a map and use a compass to navigate.
If your older children have an adventurous streak, take them rafting.
Cool off by splashing in the gentle surf at Playa Manuel Antonio.
When in doubt, even the fussiest of tykes love playing in the sand.
You can continue around the peninsula to Playa Manuel Antonio, or you can avoid the peninsula altogether and hike across the isthmus to this beach. At the western end of the beach, during the low tide, you can see a semicircle of rocks that archaeologists believe were arranged by pre-Columbian indigenous people to function as a turtle trap. (Turtles would swim in during high tide, but when they tried to swim out after the tide started receding, they’d be trapped by the wall.) The beach itself is an attractive one of white sand and is popular for swimming. It’s protected and safer than the Espadilla beaches.
Beyond Playa Manuel Antonio, the trail divides. The lower trail is steep and slippery during the wet months and leads to the quiet Playa Puerto Escondido. This beach can be more or less completely covered by high tides, so be careful not to get cut off. The upper trail climbs to a lookout on a bluff overlooking Puerto Escondido and Punta Serrucho beyond – a stunning vista. Rangers reportedly limit the number of hikers on this trail to 45.
The trails in Manuel Antonio are well marked and heavily traversed, though there are some quiet corners near the ends of the trails. Off-trail hiking is not permitted without prior consent from the park service.
Watch out for the manchineel tree (Hippomane mancinella) – it has poisonous fruits that look like little crab apples, and the sap exuded by the bark and leaves is toxic, causing the skin to itch and burn. Warning signs are prominently displayed beside examples of this tree near the park entrance.
WHITE-WATER RAFTING & KAYAKING
While not as popular as Turrialba (see boxed text), Manuel Antonio is something of an emerging white-water rafting and sea kayaking center. Although you shouldn’t expect the same level of world-class runs here as in other parts of the country, there are certainly some adrenaline kicks to be had. For more information, Click here.
WILDLIFE-WATCHING
Increased tourist traffic has taken its toll on the park’s wildlife as animals are frequently driven away or – worse still – taught to scavenge for tourist handouts. To its credit, the park service has reacted by closing the park on Monday and limiting the number of visitors to 600 during the week and 800 on weekends and holidays.
Even though visitors are funneled along the main access road,