So, here’s the deal: you will most likely see nothing if you go by yourself. There are a few hikes/reserves that you can do by yourself because the views are spectacular (El Tigre Waterfall and Valle Escondido, for example). However, the truth is that if you’re not a certified guide, biologist, botanist, etc- wildlife and flora are really hard to spot. So choose a guided tour (or private guide) for at least one of your reserves. You won’t regret it!

Additionally, 80% of the region’s wildlife is seen at night, and it’s the main reason why you want to do a guided night tour in Monteverde. That being said, wildlife is…well, wild. As opposed to a zoo, it’s very hard to know what you’ll find and where. There’s no guarantee what you’ll see during a night tour (if a tour promises you a sighting, it means that the animals were either placed there- which is not a good practice- or they were just seen a moment ago at the spot). Also, there’s no guarantee that you’ll see anything at all. However, just the experience of walking through a forest at night is quite breathtaking!

The main difference between a day tour and the night tour is the type of flora and fauna that you’ll see. During the day it is mainly for birdwatching, insects, and flora. At night, you’ll be out there in the watch for wildlife such as snakes, spiders, maybe sloths, porcupines, sleeping toucans, etc. However, they are non-exclusive, you can see either/or by day or night (however, birdwatching is specifically recommended during daylight).

There are a few activities during our curating trip in Monteverde during our CoolGuide exploration that we thought to be a must-do for kids! We recommend looking into reserves that are designed to be kid-friendly such as Child’s Eternal Forest Reserve, and do fun activities such as a day on the farm experience (I curated two half-day farm experiences) where they can learn how to milk a cow, feed a goat, etc. There’s also the Butterfly Garden which is great fun for both kids and adults alike in Monteverde. I also saw so many children/kids/teenagers love the night hike, because it’s literally like going out into the wild, at night, in an exploration journey. In the CoolGuide you can find our recommended reserves for the night hike, and also we have our expert resident guide over there, Jorge, who is an absolute gem to have with you during either a day and/or night expedition (his direct contact is there too).

There’s so much to do in Monteverde that’s not hiking or zip lining, that you’d be surprised! There’s a lot of culinary ventures such as learning to make cheese and cheese tasting, there’s a brewery tour, there are farm tours (that include both milking cows and feeding other farm animals, as well as horseback riding). There’s a lot of wellness and healing experiences (plant medicines, art/ceramics therapy, goddess circles, forest bathing, sound healing, etc) as well as artistic ones. There’s coffee tours, coffee ceremonies and cacao tours, too. When I went there to curate all the off-the-beaten-path experiences in Monteverde for our CoolRides Guide, I initially went for two weeks and didn’t have time to cover everything, so I had to return for another two afterwards! It’s crazy how much there is to do and how little information there is out there (which is one of the main reasons for CoolRide’s existence).

If you want to have the best possibility of seeing wildlife in Monteverde, then the #1 thing you have to do is to hire a guide. However, not every guide out there is the most fitting, as some only specialize in birdwatching, others in flora, others in snakes/amphibians, etc. It’s actually quite hard to find a guide that has built his career by studying a mix of everything that Monteverde offers you- and that is Jorge, our CoolRides resident expert guide in Monteverde. You can find his contact information in our Monteverde CoolGuide. Also, the #2 thing you will want to do if you want to spot as much out there is to go on a night tour, as 80% of Monteverde’s wildlife is seen at night. All of the reserves offer night tours as well as other companies that offer specialized night tours only, but be careful who you choose because there’s a few that have been known to carry out ill-practices (such as strategically “placing” animals for travelers to “find”). And #3, the absolute best thing you can do if you want to see as much biodiversity and wildlife in Monteverde is mix #1 and #2: hire a guide to take you on a night tour!

Oh yes! This is probably my favorite question because food is one of the things that gets me most excited when I travel, and Monteverde can be quite a foodie haven if you let it be! Let’s start with the cheese: opt to find a tour experience that teaches you how to make your own fresh cheese and a handmade corn tortilla that you then savor with freshly brewed coffee! Also, I met Bernardo who’s been in the cheese/milk industry for a lifetime and he’s doing specialty gourmet cheeses (think cacao cheese and his own version of condensed milk which is so so yummy- but my favorite was actually his passion fruit yogurt! So, so good!). Then there’s the treetop dining experiences which are not hard to find: you either do the San Lucas Treetop Dining one or you hire a private or semi-private one while watching the sunset at SAVIA. I curated both and they each have their pros and cons. You can read my review and watch the videos of both of them in our Monteverde CoolGuide, where I also detail what are my local foodie must-haves such as pitahaya gelato, an empanada (filled with cheese, or beans, or meat/chicken, gallo pinto, etc), an agua dulce, an olla de carne (specially during those chilly nights), a gallina achiotada (of course I tell you where to find each one) as well as my favorite restaurants in Monteverde and some great discounts! Also, my two favorite sodas (typical Costa Rican budget-friendly restaurants) are definitely CASEM (a female-owned coop which I specifically recommend for breakfast or brunch) and SaborTico.

There’s a really important aspect to mention here and I’m going to quote my mother on this: “para gustos, colores”, which translates to: ‘there's a color for every taste’. Meaning, that every traveler will like a different kind of experience. My kind of journey consists of finding what’s local and authentic. I don’t like to travel to other places and be surrounded by tourists everywhere: I like to see local people, I like to support local businesses who are putting in the effort to support their families and their communities. Hence, there are experiences in Monteverde that have been designed specifically (and solely) for tourists and you will find tourists everywhere which are the ziplining and adventure combos (there are three major companies there that offer canopy and hanging bridges: Selvatura, Sky Adventures Monteverde and Monteverde Extremo Park). They are not wrong and I know most tourists that go into Monteverde visit one of these three tours, and I also know zip lining is a big tourist attraction in Costa Rica. The other reason I don’t mention them is because there’s already a lot of information out there to be found already.

There’s also the famous 3-in-1 tours (Don Juan Coffee Tour and El Trapiche Tour in Monteverde) that are also touristically-designed and I actually did visit both of them and I go into detail about my experience with them on the guide. I find these to be great if you’re in a hurry and want to know more about coffee, sugar cane and cacao. However, if you do have the time and/or you’re greatly passionate about one or all of these activities, then I highly recommend that you support an experience and a business owner who specializes in each one of them. There’s two different specialized coffee tours in Monteverde that I recommend (plus a really cool and one-of-a-kind coffee ceremony) and there’s also a cacao tour. With the cacao tour, if cacao is high on your list I do recommend you visit other destinations in Costa Rica that are most appropriate for growing cacao (such as Talamanca, Bijagua, Osa Península and/or Sarapiquí). However, if those destinations are not on your list, then the Monteverde cacao experience I curated and explain on the CoolGuide is alright.

Lastly, I found out there’s one specialized night tour that is known for having ill-practices such as literally placing wildlife in their premises for travelers to find (which is actually illegal as you can’t manipulate wildlife), as well as some tour guides that do this and other illegal practices such as feeding wildlife (feeding birds with fruits, leaving bananas for monkeys to come), etc. I don’t mention who these companies or people are and of course I don’t recommend them either (I actually found some restaurants that are definitely tourist traps and the same applies: I just don’t mention them). However, what I do do is that I only recommend those that I’ve researched and experienced, and I know first-hand they are doing a great job showing travelers a local, authentic and nourishing Costa Rica!