finca la isla

BrantBady

I spent a couple hours there March 6th, 2015 and saw & also got great photos of an eyelash viper, a banana spider, and some very strange red and blue spikey flowers. I also saw red dart frogs, lizards, Toucans, butterflies, plus the great variety of plants being cultivated. Wasnt particularly muddy when I went. Just take your time to look up and down, and listen to the jungle as well.

Tom_in_CR

We had high expectations based on previous reviewers, which probably made the experience that much worse. It rained the night before we went and everything was muddy and slippery - to the point of being dangerous. The guide map they gave us wasn't very helpful and we didn't see very many of the items listed on it. The wildlife was more interesting than the flora, but we live in the area and see toucans, parrots, frogs, butterflies, monkeys, sloths, etc. all the time. It looks like it was once very nice but hasn't been maintained recently. Much of the "trail" consisted of a muddy footpath with no gravel or sand to fill in the low spots - lots of standing water.

johnesv

We really enjoyed the walk on the trail around the gardens which like others have mentioned, is more of a jungle farm style property. Definitely take your time and take it all in when looking around. There were many impressive trees, plants, and frogs. We also saw toucans on the property. . Don't expect this to be like a botanical garden back home that is dominated by pretty planted flowers because it is not although it is beautiful. Stroll through and take it all in. I always find the jungle provides an energy that can't be duplicated elsewhere. This was a great way to spend half a day. We even biked from the Cariblue in Cocles to get here. Allan is very good at answering any questions and helping you to understand what you will see. We very much enjoyed the walk and this for a very reasonable price.

Dar1952

My wife and I spend several hours strolling through this beautiful botanical garden. We took our time and read from the guide book (purchased from Alan at the trail head) at each of the nine trail markers. At the end of our walk we spent an enjoyable 30 minutes chatting with Alan, drinking fruit juice and sampling chocolate.

761dmitryb

This was a very original experience.The garden is more like a jungle where you are walking on your own, surrounded by nothing but the wild plants and trees. The staff was really nice and personable, gave us a taste of the exotic fruits growing in their garden and were generally very nice. While there were hordes of tourists running around town, this place was deserted and during the time we went there, no one else even showed up. For what it offers, seems like a very overlooked jungle gem.

uralthoff

This lovely Djungel garden is an Costa Rica Adventure. Need some Boy Scout experience, to find the way around, which makes it so very special. We were welcomed by a gentle young man ,who teached us to spot the little red frogs , and were offered a rare fruit juce and a taste of the own-produced chocolate.Think we going to visit it again.

901benjaminv

This should be one of our. Highlights in puerto viejo de talamanca but it was a big dissapointment. The trees were almost not labeled, there where no fruits on the trees. Should there be fruits on the trees the price would be ok.

groovymone

it is worth visiting the botanical garden. you can see so many different trees, flowers and also animals. there were not many people and we could walked through the garden on our own with a little booklet we bought at the entrance for 1 USD. at the end Alan taught us a lot about fruits and spices and we could taste all of them. Thanks Alan, it was a great experience with you and a pleasure to meet you.

christinesR5956PV

...not quite for city folk like us. We were received by a very nice young man who gave us a taste of all kinds of exotic fruits and some chocolate and then send us on our way with a map. He referred to the 'Botanical garden' (as it is listed in Frommer's guide) as a 'farm' and maybe that is more accurate and then we wouldn't have expected easy to follow paths. They weren't many of them and it would have been helpful if the numbered points (to find your way through all that wild growth) had arrows on them. Halfway through we got lost and found our way back to the entrance. The young man then took us to the other part of the farm, but it would have been helpful, if he had stayed with us. It is a beautiful spot, densely planted and has huge trees, but it's a bit intimidating if you're new to this kind of nature.

hunybee2

We went off the grid , wanted to do something different than the beach m so I went on trip a diver and this place popped up. When we to the botanical garden what I loved about it was that the rainforest looked u touched not commercial at all. Allan greeted us gave us a map and a little info and we were on our way. We saw cacao, banana trees , all kinds of medicine plants, vanilla, cinnamon. Also frogs, butterflies. The place was awesome I really enjoyed the experience. At the end of the journey we were greeted again by Allan with a refreshing cup of real lemonade. Allan was awesome!! Very cool sweet guy. He then took us over to the fruit stand and we tasted all the fruit and chocolate grown and made right there! Thank you Allan for a great experience. Pure Vida.

RichardL170

We had a really nice time. Lots of small poisonous frogs everywhere and wonderful tropical fruits. The guy running it was lovely and really wants to make sure you have a nice visit. Gives you the fruits that are in season to try as well as some locally made coffee. Well worth the visit for the price, thoroughly recommended.

Chrisdoe

Walking through the botanical Garden was a great experience. If you are in Puerto Viejo you should definitely go there. Alain the guy at the reception is very friendly and well educated so he gave us a lot of information about the different plants and animals.

DanH598

We loved the entire visit : trees, plants like ginger, galanga or curcuma, ants, red frogs ... The host was pleasant. Thank you !

866michellea

Be sure to take bug spray!! lolIt a fruit and choclate farm and botanical garden. Super cute and so worth the 5$. The guy at the front gave us a map and we wondered off on our little adventure. then when we got back to the start he gave us juice, we tried the fruit that they grow there and had some amazing choclate. The whole thing took like an hour.

G709EVstephanies

If you have the time while in Puerto Viejo, you must go to the Botanical Garden. The staff are incredibly nice, specifically Allan, one of the employees. All very knowledgeable and passionate about the finca and about puerto viejo in general. The tour made for some great pictures and was nice to be admits gardens, trees, plants and fruits instead of in the main town. *Wear boots if it's been raining! It can get muddy :) *