Encounter the best of Costa Rica's wildlife, cuisine, and famous natural beauty on a combo shore excursion from Puntarenas. Watch adorable white-faced monkeys playing in the trees, and spot crocs and birdlife on a pontoon cruise down the Tarcoles River. Learn the history of the bustling Puntarenas port, and indulge your taste buds with locally grown fruit fresh from the farm, a typical lunch at a local restaurant, and a chance to buy authentic Costa Rican coffee.

Full-day combo shore excursion from Puntarenas
Get to know Pacific Costa Rica's cuisine, wildlife, and culture
Visit plantations to taste fresh tropical fruit
Look for wild crocodiles on a pontoon cruise down the Tarcoles River
Enjoy Costa Rican cuisine at a local restaurant
Shop for coffee and other Costa Rican products
Includes convenient port pickup and drop-off

What's Included

All taxes, fees and handling charges
Food tasting
Lunch
Transport by air-conditioned minivan
Hotel/port pickup and drop-off

Alcoholic drinks (available to purchase)
Gratuities

Meeting And Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Start time

08:00 am

What To Expect

Gio Tours - Day Tours

15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Tarcoles

1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
Infant seats available
Children must be accompanied by an adult
May be operated by a multi-lingual guide
Refunds will not be issued if tour/activity is missed due to late or non-arrival of cruise ship

At time of booking, cruise ship passengers must provide the following information at time of booking: ship name, docking time, disembarkation time, and re-boarding time
Not wheelchair accessible
Most travellers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 40 travellers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s cancelled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
This experience requires a minimum number of travellers. If it’s cancelled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Traveller Photos

Traveller Tips

Tour guide and driver are very professional, friendly and helpful.

Reviews

4.5

71 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travellers.

Showing 1-10 of 71 reviews

Good Crocodile boat trip but no monkeys

Nancy_B, May 2023

The Viator tour description said we would go to a private area to see monkeys....didn't happen. The bus barely slowed going past a forested area where the guide said sometimes you could spot one. The fruit stop was a big open-air market, not the farmers who grew them....but it was still interesting. The boat trip to see the Crocs and birds was the best part of the trip for me. The boat captain found crocs, fed them chicken to give us a show and was very entertaining. We saw birds too. Then we went to lunch at a restaurant serving cafeteria style. There was a long line as it appeared several tour groups were eating there. The souvenir shop was attached. The Viator tour description also said we would go to a real Costa Rican supermarket but that stop didn't happen either. The bus driver and tour guide were fine, especially helping me get on and off the bus (I have difficulty with stairs). I really wish we had seen monkeys and stopped at a supermarket as described on Viator. Probably the biggest disappointment was the very long, long walk along the pier from the ship to the meeting point. Other tour busses pulled onto the pier next to the ship but not ours. After we got to the guide and bus at the meeting time, they delayed the start of the tour at least 30 minutes for missing passengers who never showed. At the end of the tour we again had the long, long walk on the pier from the drop off spot to the ship. Overall it was an okay tour that would have been much better if the tour had actually followed the description on Viator.

Very well paced and well...

Bruce_C, Apr 2023

Very well paced and well organized tour. Our guide Pablo and driver Jose did everything possible to make this an enjoyable experience for their guests.

Response from Host, Apr 2023

Dear Bruce_C, Thank you very much for taking the time to write us a review! We are glad to hear that you enjoyed the tour and that both Pablo and Jose made this an enjoyable experience for you. If you ever come back to Costa Rica again don't hesitate in letting us know as it would be our pleasure to show you every detail of this beautiful country!

A memorable experience.

Patrick_L, Apr 2023

Excellent tour! Our guide Pablo stopped the bus whenever he saw some interesting wildlife and we all jumped out to view it, all 9 of us. The Tecoles River crocodile tour was the icing on the tour. Terrific small group tour with lunch included and there were plentiful bathroom stops.

Response from Host, Apr 2023

Dear Patrick_L, Thank you very much for taking the time to write us a review! We are very happy to learn that you had a good time on our tour with Pablo and all the activities included on the tour. If you ever come back to Costa Rica again don't hesitate in letting us know as it would be our pleasure to show you every detail of this beautiful country!

Nice Scenery

ScottJ_B, Mar 2023

Great guide, Pedro. Interesting scenery. We didn't see monkeys and only a few crocodiles. We saw lots of birds. It was the dry season so apparently animal sightings are not as plentiful. That said, it was an enjoyable excursion through Costa Rica.

Response from Host, Apr 2023

Dear ScottJ_B, Thank you very much for taking the time to write us a review! We are glad to know that your excursion was enjoyable, as the tour guide mentioned, wildlife is that, wild, so sometimes you are lucky and get to spot animals and sometimes is harder, but that's how you know you are in nature and not in a zoo. If you ever come back to Costa Rica again don't hesitate in letting us know as it would be our pleasure to show you every detail of this beautiful country!

Amazing Tour!!!!

Sherly_J, Mar 2023

Pablo was amazing even gave us a tour of Puntarenas local areas after the tour.The lunch was amazing authentic Costa Rican food and fruit tasting(pineapple/ papaya) I got a chance to buy Souvenirs while I was on the excursion.

Response from Host, Apr 2023

Dear Sherly_J, Thank you very much for taking the time to write us a review! Its great to hear you were able to enjoy the tour and enjoy Costa Rican food. If you ever come back to Costa Rica again don't hesitate in letting us know as it would be our pleasure to show you every detail of this beautiful country!

Great tour and GREAT guide.

Henry_M, Dec 2022

Pablo was terrific. We saw everything we hoped to see. Monkeys, macaws, toucan, and big Crocs. Lunch was provided and was very good.

Response from Host, Jan 2023

Dear Henry_M, Thank you very much for taking the time to write us a review! We are very glad to know that our tour guide made a good job at spotting wildlife for you and your party. If you ever come back to Costa Rica again don't hesitate in letting us know as it would be our pleasure to show you every detail of this beautiful country!

Very nice tour, would do again

Deanna_T, May 2022

Guide (Pablo) and driver (Carlos) were friendly, cheerful, patient, and very informative. Our guide was terrific at spotting wildlife and then getting us close enough to take good pictures. It was a rainy day, so the tour route had to be changed because of road conditions, but it was a comfortable van, fun boat ride, and we were just a couple of feet away from the crocodiles!

Response from Host, Aug 2022

Dear Deanna_T, Thank you very much for taking the time to write us a review! We are so very glad to know that even with the rain you were able to fully enjoy the tour and the day. We are happy that our representatives made such a great job. If you ever come back to Costa Rica again don't hesitate in letting us know as it would be our pleasure to show you every detail of this beautiful country! Just access our website for information or write us directly to our email!

Viator Punta Reynas Excursion

Elliot_E, May 2022

Sing crocodiles on the river. Searching for and finding white faced monkeys. A good lunch of local food

Loved our tour! Saw crocs...

DianeBurnett, Feb 2022

Loved our tour! Saw crocs and macaws and monkeys. Our guide made a special effort to find these animals. Well done

Response from Host, Mar 2022

Dear DianeBurnett, Thank you very much for taking the time to write us a review! We are glad you were able to enjoy this tour as much as we did! We are happy that you were able to see so many animals and that our tour guide did a good job. If you ever come back to Costa Rica again don't hesitate in letting us know as it would be our pleasure to show you every detail of this beautiful country! Just access our website for information or write us directly to our email!

Great intro to Costa Rica

Kris_H, Jan 2022

Pablo our guide and Mauricio our driver were fantastic and did their best to help us see as many sites and animals as possible. The river cruise and lunch were the highlights of the day. Unfortunately we did not see any monkeys or toucans but it wasn’t from a lack of effort. Overall, a great day and a wonderful introduction to Costa Rica.

Response from Host, Mar 2022

Dear Kris_H, Thank you very much for taking the time to write us a review! We are glad you were able to enjoy this tour as much as we did! We are happy that you had a good time and that our reps were also great.. If you ever come back to Costa Rica again don't hesitate in letting us know as it would be our pleasure to show you every detail of this beautiful country! Just access our website for information or write us directly to our email!

Puntarenas Shore Tour

William_D, Oct 2021

Jesús is a fantastic guide. He and the driver Gio made our stay in Puntarenas memorable and exciting. We saw crocodiles, birds, lizards, and Bhrama bulls. Both tour guides spoke great English. Highly recommended! William

Response from Host, Mar 2022

Dear William D, Thank you very much for taking the time to write us a review! We are glad you were able to enjoy this tour as much as we did! We are happy that you were able to see so many animals and that our tour guide did a good job. If you ever come back to Costa Rica again don't hesitate in letting us know as it would be our pleasure to show you every detail of this beautiful country! Just access our website for information or write us directly to our email!

Puntarenas Highlights Shore Excursion

william_s, Nov 2019

Overall I was pleased with the tour. The visit with the monkeys was disappointing. It was in a residences back yard cluttered with junk and the one toilet would not flush. The rest of the tour was excellent. Lunch was a full buffet with very tasty and filling selections. The tour guide was fluent in english and very knowledgable

Wildlife in Costa Rico

nanjm26, Nov 2019

We booked this trip because none of the shore excursions through our ship seemed to include the many things that this one offered. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the history, animals and culture of Costa Rico. We visited the adorable capuchin monkeys at the monkey farm. We saw crocodiles in the wild, some as old at 60+ years. Lunch was a yummy Costa Rican buffet. We tasted fresh fruit and learned how sugar cane is pressed. It was a delightful day.

Awesome

Tuckersmimi, Oct 2019

My husband and I enjoyed this excursion very much. The guide (Jesus) was excellent. We would definitely do it over again.

Great time in Costa Rica!

cadkod, Apr 2019

This tour was everything that was advertised. Saw monkeys, crocodiles and parrots. Lunch was very good. No complaints, just had a great time!

Bad weather cancelled ship being able to get to Puntarenas

BeverlyR_H, Oct 2018

Unfortunately, we were unable to get to Puntarenas due to bad weather and worry about the tenders. Viator was fabulous in terms of crediting us with money paid for a tour we couldn't take. Disappointing, as the tour sounded GREAT!

Had a wonderful time getting close...

Florence_C, Aug 2018

Had a wonderful time getting close to the animals especially the monkeys. Tour guide and driver are very professional, friendly and helpful.

Highlight of our trip

Robert G, July 2018

Our Puntarenas Highlights Shore Excursion was the best of our Cruise. Our pickup was just off the ship and our tour guide (Jesus) was extremely knowledgeable about the country, the wildlife, the local people and history. The trip started with a stop to a local

This was an excellent tour! They...

David_S, May 2018

This was an excellent tour! They have two brand new buses that are very comfortable. Our guide was Pablo and he was excellent. We visited some monkeys, stopped at a fruit stand and had some fruit, along with a taste of sugar cane and rum. Then on to the River Tour. Our ship was late getting into port so we did not get to eat at the top of the hill. Instead it was a buffet style place by the river. But very good none the less. It was our overall favorite tour during our Panama Canal cruise. Highly recommend.

Absolutely FABULOUS TRIP! Cannot...

Derek M, Apr 2018

Absolutely FABULOUS TRIP! Cannot recommend this highly enough. Our guide, Jesus was a delight, SO ENTHUSIASTIC and knowledgeable about everything, particularly the myriad wildlife we were lucky to see. The monkey experience was so enjoyable and we were given plenty of info on how to interact with them safely to get the most out of it. Lunch was delicious and plentiful. The very best part of the day was of course the boat trip on the Tarcoles river. I couldn't even begin to list all the wonderful creatures we saw. Our guide for this was the wonderful Allen. A mine of information and he didn't miss a trick when spotting wildlife for us to view and photograph. One of the best sightings was an American Pygmy Kingfisher. Tiny, perfect and wonderfully colourful. There was no hesitation in slowing or stopping the boat when something of interest was seen, there was no rush and we were given plenty of time to admire the animals and birds. A fantastic day.