Wildlife in Manuel Antonio
Manuel Antonio fits rainforest, beaches, mangroves and open sea into a very small area, and SINAC records about 109 mammal species and 352 bird species in the national park alone. Sloths, three kinds of monkeys, coatis, raccoons, iguanas and toucans are the animals most people hope to see. None of them keeps a schedule: what you find depends on the hour, the weather, the season and some luck.
This guide explains where each group lives, how to look for them and how to watch without doing harm.
How much lives here
Travel Guide › Wildlife
Manuel Antonio National Park is small, but it is crowded with life. SINAC, the agency that manages Costa Rica’s protected areas, counts roughly 352 bird species, 109 mammal species, 346 plant species and “varied marine fauna” in the park. The park’s management plan adds 93 reptile species and 56 amphibians, and notes that bats are one of the richest groups, with around 57 species.
SINAC names the animals visitors ask about most: the titi or squirrel monkey (the park’s emblem species), the white-faced capuchin, the howler monkey, two- and three-fingered sloths, raccoons, coatis and birds such as toucans. Those are the animals our species guides below cover in detail.
The same management plan describes the park as a biological “island” surrounded by a landscape dominated by plantations. That matters for wildlife watching, and it is why the forest patches, rope bridges and river corridors around Quepos and Manuel Antonio count as much as the park itself. Local groups such as the Titi Conservation Alliance and Kids Saving the Rainforest work on exactly that: replanting forest corridors and hanging rope crossings over roads so monkeys and sloths don’t have to use power lines.
If you are planning your park day, read our Manuel Antonio National Park guide for tickets, opening days and rules, and our plants and rainforest guide to understand the forest the animals depend on.
Why sightings vary
People sometimes see a sloth, a troop of monkeys and a toucan in a single morning. Others walk the same trail an hour later and see little. A few things explain most of the difference.
Time of day
Early morning is the liveliest time for many animals. Central American squirrel monkeys start foraging shortly before sunrise and keep going until after dusk, stopping for rests and rainstorms (Animal Diversity Web). White-nosed coatis forage on the ground by day and sleep in the trees at night. Raccoons are mostly nocturnal. Hoffmann’s two-fingered sloths were long described as night animals, though The Sloth Conservation Foundation notes recent evidence that their activity spreads across the whole 24 hours.
Weather
On Costa Rica’s Pacific side, rain tends to fall in the afternoon and early evening, according to the national weather service (IMN). Squirrel monkeys huddle together to wait out heavy showers, and many animals go quiet during a downpour. Plan the forest part of your day for the morning if you can.
Season
IMN describes a dry season on the Pacific slope from December to March, with April as a transition, and a rainy season from May to October, with November as a transition. September and October are the wettest months. SINAC notes the park gets fewer visitors in September and October and recommends going early and dressing for rain. Several forest trees drop their leaves in the dry season, which can open up views into the canopy.
Camouflage, crowds and luck
Sloths carry algae in their fur that gives them a greenish tint, and they can sit still for hours. Many lizards and frogs match the leaves they sit on. SINAC asks visitors to keep noise down on forest trails. A quiet group that stops often tends to notice far more than a loud one on the move.
Wildlife by habitat
A useful way to look for animals is to think about the layer of the forest, or the part of the coast, where each one spends its time.
The canopy
Most of the famous animals live up high. Sloths hang from branches and feed on leaves, especially the guarumo (Cecropia) tree. All three monkey species travel through the treetops: squirrel monkeys in fast-moving troops, capuchins in noisy family groups and howlers slowly, with long rests. Toucans, aracaris and scarlet macaws feed on fruit in the crowns and are often heard before they are seen. Look up, then look again: a dark lump in a tree fork may be a sloth.
The forest floor
White-nosed coatis work through the leaf litter with their long snouts, looking for insects, spiders and even land crabs. The park’s management plan lists the agouti (guatusa) among the more common mammals. Lizards scurry across sunny patches and snakes are present, though rarely seen. Watch where you step and where you put your hands.
Beaches, mangroves and wetlands
SINAC describes a mangrove of about 18 hectares, with fresh and salt water, that you can see from the trails running behind Playa Manuel Antonio and Playa Espadilla Sur. The park’s management plan lists black spiny-tailed iguanas (garrobos), green iguanas, raccoons, capuchins, herons, kingfishers and crabs around its mangroves and estuaries. Crab-eating raccoons favor places near water, including beaches. On the sand, garrobos bask near the beach trees. Our reptiles and iguanas guide explains how to tell them apart.
The sea and the islands
The park includes twelve small islands. Its management plan records brown pelicans, magnificent frigatebirds, brown boobies, bridled terns and white ibises using them, with Olocuita and Toro Amarillo islands the most used for nesting. Humpback whales, Bryde’s whales, bottlenose dolphins and pantropical spotted dolphins have been reported offshore, and olive ridley sea turtles nest mainly on Playa Savegre, in the park’s southern sector. For time on the water, see our snorkeling guide and the ocean and boat tours our concierge can book.
Animal by animal
Sloths
Brown-throated three-fingered and Hoffmann's two-fingered sloths: how to tell them apart, what they eat and why they climb down once a week.
Monkeys
The titi (Central American squirrel monkey), the white-faced capuchin and the mantled howler, and why feeding any of them does harm.
Birds
Yellow-throated toucans, fiery-billed aracaris, scarlet macaws, seabirds and mangrove birds, with tips for watching them well.
Coatis and raccoons
White-nosed coatis by day, northern and crab-eating raccoons by night: two smart foragers and how to keep your bag closed.
Reptiles and iguanas
Green iguanas, garrobos, basilisks that run on water, and simple, sensible advice about snakes.
Plants and rainforest
The trees that feed the animals, the mangroves, and the manzanillo tree on the beach that you should never touch.
How to watch wildlife without harming it
These are the habits that protect the animals, and they also make for better sightings. Most of them come straight from SINAC’s rules and recommendations for the park.
- Keep your distance. SINAC asks visitors not to interact with animals and to keep an appropriate distance. If an animal changes what it is doing because of you, you are too close. Use binoculars or a zoom lens instead of stepping in.
- Never feed wildlife. Feeding wild animals is prohibited in the park. See why below.
- Don’t touch or hold animals, and skip the animal selfie. SINAC asks visitors not to touch plants or wild animals. In 2019 Costa Rica’s government launched the #StopAnimalSelfies campaign, and World Animal Protection notes that Costa Rican regulations prohibit direct contact with wild animals.
- Turn off the flash. Natural light photos look better anyway, and a flash startles animals, especially at night.
- Stay on the trail. SINAC asks visitors not to leave permitted areas or climb railings or signs. Trampling widens trails and damages the plants animals rely on.
- Keep quiet and move slowly. Talk softly, don’t call out to animals or imitate their calls, and let them pass.
- Take everything back out. Leave no trash, don’t collect shells or snails (another SINAC request) and keep food sealed in your bag.
Why feeding monkeys (and coatis, and raccoons) harms them
It feels generous to share a banana. It isn’t. SINAC puts it plainly: feeding wild animals is prohibited, and certain foods can seriously affect their health and change their behavior.
Manuel Antonio has a long record of what happens next. The park’s management plan cites studies going back to the early 1990s showing that capuchins, raccoons and coatis changed their activity patterns and feeding habits because of contact with visitors. A later study summarized in the plan documented 12 kinds of conflict between visitors and wildlife along the Perezoso trail, on Playa Manuel Antonio and at Punta Catedral, involving capuchins, howlers, raccoons, sloths, fiery-billed aracaris, garrobos, deer, basilisks and green iguanas.
Animals that learn to link people with food lose some of their caution. They grab bags, raid tables and hang around roads, houses and restaurants. Kids Saving the Rainforest, the wildlife rescue center in Manuel Antonio, lists road accidents and electrocution among the reasons animals arrive at its clinic, and it has worked for years to teach people in the area about the harm of feeding monkeys. Keeping wild animals wild is the kindest thing a visitor can do.
Watching wildlife with a guide
You can walk the national park on your own, but a naturalist guide changes the experience. Guides know which trees the sloths have been using lately, what a call in the canopy means, and how to point out a snake or a frog you would walk right past.
SINAC lists an office inside the park run by the Association of Certified Tour Guides of the Canton of Quepos. Our national park guide has the details, and ECOTICA‘s concierge can arrange a guided park walk as part of our wildlife and nature tours.
What a good wildlife guide does
- Keeps the group at a respectful distance, even when other groups crowd in.
- Never feeds, baits, calls in or handles animals to get you a closer look. The park’s management plan flags calling animals in, and in some cases feeding them, as a problem in the park.
- Explains what you are seeing: behavior, diet, and how the animal fits into the forest.
- Is honest that sightings are never certain. Be wary of anyone who promises a specific animal.
Found an animal that looks hurt?
Don’t pick it up, even a baby sloth on the ground. Note where it is, keep people and dogs away, and tell a park ranger, your guide or your hotel so a licensed rescue center such as Kids Saving the Rainforest can be contacted. SINAC notes that park rangers work only inside the park and wear uniforms with the SINAC logo.
Wildlife around your hotel
You don’t have to be inside the park to see animals. Much of Manuel Antonio sits in forest, and the animals move between the park, private land and the corridors around Quepos.
ECOTICA is on about ten acres of rainforest a few minutes from the national park (not inside it). Howler monkeys, sloths, toucans, scarlet macaws and butterflies are part of daily life here, though never on a timetable. Our post on seeing wildlife where you stay shares the best hours to look and photo tips from our team, and you can read more about ECOTICA.
The rules are the same at a hotel as in the park: don’t feed anything, keep food indoors or sealed, and give animals room to pass.
Sources and further reading
- SINAC – Manuel Antonio National Park (official page, English)
- SINAC – Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio (página oficial: horario, tarifas, servicios, recomendaciones)
- SINAC – Plan General de Manejo, Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio 2013–2018 (PDF; species lists, habitats, visitor impacts)
- Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (IMN) – El clima y las regiones climáticas de Costa Rica (PDF)
- Animal Diversity Web (University of Michigan) – Central American squirrel monkey (Saimiri oerstedii)
- Animal Diversity Web (University of Michigan) – White-nosed coati (Nasua narica)
- Animal Diversity Web (University of Michigan) – Crab-eating raccoon (Procyon cancrivorus)
- The Sloth Conservation Foundation – Two-fingered sloths
- Kids Saving the Rainforest – About KSTR (rescue, rehabilitation, wildlife bridges)
- Titi Conservation Alliance – Central Pacific region and the Naranjo River Biological Corridor
- World Animal Protection – Costa Rica urges tourists not to take wildlife selfies (13 Nov 2019)
Last reviewed: September 2026. Conservation categories come from the IUCN Red List assessment shown next to each name; categories can change when species are reassessed. Park rules and opening details belong to SINAC, so check its official page before you go.
