Costa Rica is a relatively small tropical country, a tiny slice of forested paradise of just 51,000 km², nestled between Panama to the south and Nicaragua to the north.
It measures less than 300 kilometers in length and barely 150 kilometers at its widest, and therefore you could fit almost 14 Costa Ricas into the state of Texas. Yet within its diminutive confines resides about 5% of the world’s biodiversity.
It has two coasts (the Caribbean and Pacific), ten major habitat types (rainforest being the dominant), mountains reaching as high as almost 4,000 meters, active volcanoes, over 120 significant rivers, and a conservation ethos that has resulted in forests remaining intact across almost 60% of its surface.
There are 900 bird species, 250 mammals, 200 varieties of reptiles, 180 amphibians, 2,000 trees, and nobody really knows how many types of insects (some estimate over half a million).
There is a lot of life in Costa Rica. “Pura Vida,” as the famous Costa Rican greeting goes. Pure life, indeed…
So, you can probably imagine why I enjoy taking our Oryx Photo Tours guests to this beautiful little gem of a country. Every day is an adventure. Every day is a new photographic opportunity. And every day is a joy to experience. I hope you like hummingbirds, monkeys, quetzals, tapirs, dolphins, caterpillars, basilisks, tanagers, bats, toucans, and rice and beans. They eat a lot of rice and beans in Costa Rica.
I recently returned from a private tour there, during which we saw all of the above (and plenty more) and came away with special memories, and capture cards brimming with exceptional photographs.
Day 1: Arrival to Costa Rica and Overnight in San José
You would never believe you were in a capital city if you stayed within the confines of our beautiful hotel. The grounds are sprawling, and full of wonderful tropical plants and trees, alive with birds, frogs, and insects. We spent hours wandering around, photographing owls, orchids, and other beautiful lifeforms. The only hint that we were in an urban area were the muffled sounds of city traffic and planes landing at the nearby airport.
Nights 2, 3, and 4
After a night in San José, we hopped onto a small plane and flew south to the world-renowned Osa Peninsula. The plane weaved between misty clouds, and through the windows we watched an emerald landscape of jungles and peaks drift below, until eventually the azure ocean came into view.
The Osa is a remarkable place where rainforests extend down to empty beaches, where you are more likely to see capuchin monkeys foraging along the tideline, or marine turtles hauling ashore to lay their eggs, than you are to see tourists sunning themselves on beach towels.
After checking into our idyllic jungle lodge in the quaint little settlement of Drake Bay, we wasted no time in getting our cameras into the action. We boarded our private boat and headed along the coast to visit the mangrove forests alongside the Sierpe River.
Here we found all sorts of water birds: herons, egrets, and kingfishers hunting for prey among the tangle of aerial routes that typify this amazing habitat. The scenery in this part of Costa Rica is simply stunning: steamy jungle-clad hills, a wild ocean with rocky islets where boobies and frigate birds rear their young, winding waterways, and sunsets to die for.
On our way back to Drake Bay, we saw humpback whales (they are here only between July and October) and we also witnessed a group of spinner dolphins (present all year round). These amazing animals are so named for their acrobatic nature, often leaping high from the water whilst performing graceful pirouettes. My Oryx Photo Tour trips to Costa Rica incorporate a special day dedicated to finding and photographing these amazing marine performers.
On the second day in the Osa, we again travelled by sea to the world-famous Corcovado National Park. This remote and untamed wilderness is dominated by primary rainforests and has a wild frontier feel to it. Forest trails led us to sightings of all four of Costa Rica’s monkeys: the aptly named howler monkeys (whose calls are among the loudest in nature), spider monkeys (so named for their extremely long, thin limbs), as well as capuchin and squirrel monkeys. We saw peccaries (a sort of tropical pig) and glimpsed a tapir in the undergrowth. We also had photographic encounters with agoutis and a plethora of other amazing creatures. Of course, Costa Rica is famous for its birds, and there was no shortage of sightings, including toucans, macaws, trogons, woodpeckers, and hummingbirds.
The Osa Peninsula is one of the wildest places on Earth, and although it’s typically not easy to find animals in a primary rainforest, I was truly amazed by how much wildlife we got to see on this very special excursion into the heart of Corcovado.
Other activities we undertook during our stay in the Osa included night walks, where we found some lovely tree frogs and bizarre insects (a huge stick insect, a giant rhinoceros beetle, and some spiky caterpillars). We also took a canoe paddle down a wonderful little rainforest river where giant trees formed a tunnel through which we drifted. Again, we saw plenty of monkeys and birds, as well as the occasional basilisk lizard. These leaf-shaped reptiles are often referred to as the “Jesus Christ” lizard because, when startled, they can run across the surface of the water.
One can expect to encounter Tapirs here (and in other locations) and to see one is an absolute highlight. These strange creatures look like an amalgamation of donkey, hippo, and elephant.
Nights 5 and 6
On the fifth day of our Costa Rica trip, we departed the Osa Peninsula and headed high up into the mountains of death (Cerro de la Muerte). The name is ominous but completely at odds with the ethereal beauty of the area. Here, mists swirl through hilltops and valleys, clinging to the moss-clad trees of the cloud forest biome.
It was cold up there—a real contrast to the steamy lowland jungles—but the temperature change was a welcome one. Our itinerary here focused on the resplendent quetzal: a bird so fantastic in appearance as to be almost unbelievable. With streamer-like tail feathers and a metallic green sheen that could put a peacock to shame, an encounter with this iconic avian is one of the main reasons guests come to Costa Rica.
I was kind of hoping for a good sighting. After all, we were setting up our tripods next to a wild avocado tree that was fully fruiting. Quetzals love wild avocados. What we got instead was a non-stop procession of quetzal after quetzal after quetzal. At one point, I counted twelve of these beguiling birds in one field of view. And then it started to rain—pour down, actually. But rather than signaling the end of our photo session, things just got better from there. Sheltered and dry under the roof of our special viewing platform, we watched, mouths agape, as a plethora of quetzals alighted on exposed branches and began to rejoice in the downpour. For them, it was an opportunity to take a shower, wash off the dust, and simply enjoy singing in the rain. Needless to say, my guests and I came away with some fantastic photos.
Whilst in the cloud forested region, we also undertook a really fun (and exceptionally productive) hummingbird “workshop.” I hate to use the word workshop when describing my tours: they are not work, but rather photographic adventures into wild and wonderful places. But here we went to “work” by setting up a multitude of flashes on tripods, all pointed towards a flower that was attracting scores of lovely little hummingbirds. Note: we provide the flashes and triggers.
My guests sat behind their tripods and fired away, capturing these flying jewels with such crisp and colorful precision, producing works of art fit for the cover of National Geographic.
In the pre-dawn mornings, we drove higher still, up into the paramo habitat where only stunted plants grow, all of which are festooned with dense mosses and lichens. From such a vantage point, high above the clouds, we witnessed a wonderful sunrise above Costa Rica’s forests.
Nights 7, 8, and 9
A very scenic drive took us to the slopes to the Sarapiquí rainforests, a location known for its primary forests and abundant wildlife. In this area, we hunted for frogs and colorful tanagers, toucans and monkeys, sloths and lesser anteaters. We managed to see them all.
The two highlights of our stay here are a full-day visit to the La Selva Nature Reserve (a tropical paradise of huge trees and abundant biodiversity) as well as a small private wildlife “garden” where we undertook yet more exciting “workshops.” With non-stop access to wildlife and action, we photographed countless rainforest birds, loads of frogs (including the iconic red-eyed tree frog), and a whole passel of macro subjects too. The highlight was discovering a small colony of Honduran tent-making bats. These tiny, pure-white fluffballs gnaw at the ribs of big forest leaves until the edges collapse (forming a tent) under which they cuddle up during the day, protected from the rain and predators.
Nights 10 and 11
Next stop: Boca Tapada, where we really didn’t even need to leave the confines of the lodge to get great photos. The staff here hang bananas and other tasty treats in the nearby trees, which attract a non-stop traffic jam of toucans, parrots, and other gorgeous birds. Curassows (a large terrestrial turkey-like bird that sports an ornate crest) as well as agoutis, coatis, and guans are almost always present.
But although these creatures were all worthy of our time and efforts to photograph, the real stars of the show here are the aptly named King Vultures. Vultures aren’t really known for their resplendent plumage or overall attractiveness, but the King Vulture is an exception. With white feathers and a splendidly colorful head, they truly are a sight to behold. Often rare and rarely seen, here in Boca Tapada they are pretty much guaranteed. Ensconced in the privacy of a concealed hide, we saw numerous king vultures as they came down to land right in front of our lenses.
But that’s not where the action ended. In the evening, we had a bat “workshop,” again with multiple flashes. Only this time, instead of colorful hummingbirds, we had numerous mammalian nectar specialists coming in to feed. When taking the photos, it all happens so fast that the action is barely perceivable with the human eye, but when you look at the photos on your camera screen, you are utterly amazed by the results.
Forest walks, poison dart frogs, eyelash pit-vipers, caiman, anteaters, and yet more hummingbirds made sure that our stay at Boca Tapada was one that will never be forgotten.
Nights 12 and 13
It’s the trip that never stops giving. After Boca Tapada, we headed further down into Costa Rica’s Caribbean lowlands, where the scenery changes completely. Here, we found ourselves in a patchwork of flooded swamps and snaking rivers, not altogether dissimilar to the Pantanal region of Brazil.
There were so many water birds to photograph, from cormorants and spoonbills to giant Jabiru storks and boat-billed herons, that our cameras were almost overheating with the strain of it all.
The next two days were all about exploring tranquil waterways on a boat, where wildlife sightings were abundant, and the trees themselves were festooned with avian delights, monkeys, and very large iguanas. The sunsets on the lakes were awe-inspiring: spectacular views of thunderclouds mirrored in still waters, distant volcanoes draped in mists, formations of cormorants commuting through an orange sky. It made me wish to come back, time and time again—which is precisely what I will be doing.
It was the perfect place, and the perfect pace to end our perfect journey to Costa Rica.
The majority of photographic tours in Costa Rica are focused solely on birds. We, at Oryx, of course, will certainly be making the most of this country’s bountiful avian residents. But we will also be chasing tapirs, monkeys, dolphins, butterflies, bats, landscapes, seascapes, giant trees, and the tiniest of ants.
Also, many Costa Rica tours focus mainly on workshops, where you will take photos in artificial setups (often in buildings). We will, of course, engage in workshop activities, but they will be in natural settings where we are immersed in the Pura Vida of Costa Rica’s forests.
We will walk trails and truly experience the landscapes and nature of Costa Rica. We will find animals in their wild habitats, and we will explore the land, sea, mountains, and rivers. Our journey will take us across many different sites, offering opportunities to document the rich biodiversity and to genuinely connect with the beauty of this extraordinary country.
And as they say here… Costa Rica is Pura Vida! So I hope you will come experience it all for yourself.
Come join me in 2027 for a photographic adventure like no other.
Costa Rica - Coast to Cloud Forest Photo Tour 2027
New dates being added to the ORYX Website soon...
Please enjoy this selection of images captured by ORYX Leader Dale Morris during his unforgettable journey.
