playa manuel antonio

nice small laid back beach, but not white and clear blue waters which I was expecting. IT is nice there is no massa tourism and there are no restaurants. It is quite authentic.

Nice hiking trails... gorgeous beach. We were loving that it was 98 degrees and we were swimming in the ocean while the people back home were shoveling 8 inches of snow.We walked thru nice lush areas before you come out onto the beach. After we went swimming we took a hike to search out the rest of the park. We encountered a monkey on the path that bared his teeth at us and we were a little concerned but we got some great pics of him when he decided we weren't a threat. One of the best parts of our vacation was this park. Don't leave your valuables lying around, if the monkeys don't run off with it, someone else will. Our guide told us to never leave anything unattended.

It is one of the beaches I most love for cleanliness, beauty, relaxation. This beach is located inside the national park. Many raccoons, monkeys, deer, sloth, etc.One of the best beaches in the world

The nicest beach we found in the area were the two beaches located inside the national park. These two tiny white sand beaches are located one next to each other, divided by a narrow strip of land.

After checking out the place the day before, we met guide Ricardo Rodriguez and hired him for the next day. If you are driving there are people trying to sell you parking along the street. Just keep going past them until you come to the guys with spaces in the parking lot. This is official parking and safer for your vehicle.We met Ricardo as planned and he is a great guide. All of the other guides in the park were telling us we had the best. He apparently teaches the other guides and is ICT licensed.On our hike we saw monkeys, two toes sloths, three toed sloths, bats, poisonous spiders and we just missed a green vine snake it slithered away too fast. We say many other things and Ricardo took some great pictures for me thru his telescope. Many people did not hire a guide and they had no idea what we were looking at. One lady passed us and said "silly people are looking at bamboo". If she only knew what we were seeing. We ended the hike down on the beach. You have to be careful here as sometimes there are crocodiles on the beach and they will even swim in the ocean to get to where they are going.My advice is hire a guide. You can find your way around the park on your own, but if you want to see things go with a guide.

We have to walk through the park to get there and once we got there, my God! I'm amazing, the waves are good enough so you can get into the water everything is just beautiful.One of the things that I like the most is that they have clean water so once you step out of the beach you can clean yourself put on your Tenny shoes back and walk to the town.You will also get to see the monkey, birds and always animals that where I leave I don't get to see you know, the nature is just beautiful and the views are breathtaking is just beautiful and very very we commendable.

One of the best beaches in the world. Beautiful surf and sand with wonderful views. Keep an eye out for the whales offshore in late August/early September. Fascinating wildlife and the park is like a fairy tale in terms of the abundance of wildlife. Enjoy and soak it up.

As other reviewers have suggested, arrive early or you'll be waiting in line for at least 45 minutes. It may not sound like much, but it's tough under the beating sun. My boyfriend and I didn't do the guided tour because we were looking for the one thing we haven't seen throughout our trip - monkeys. Also, we wanted to venture off on our own for a change. We took the sloth trail. No monkeys. Sad and disappointed, we decided to go down to the beach (definitely one of the best I've been to) and there they were in all their glory....a colony of white-headed capuchin monkeys! Do be careful though because they will not hesitate to snatch your belongings! It was wonderful! DO NOT MISS THIS!

We go to this gorgeous park every year, and return several times during our trip to swim, but this year, we were very disappointed to see you must enter and leave from the same entrance. This makes for a very long hot walk back from a gorgeous beach. Management should sort this out. You used to be able to leave from the beach, and I hope once they construct a bridge over a small tidal basin, you will be able to again. With charging visitors $16US per person, they should be able to afford constructing a bridge in addition to all the other improvements they are making in the park.

Enjoyed this beach with emerald colored water and mild waves. Some snorkeling, but need to be careful of rocks along the side. Shared the beach with a few tired hikers and a family of iguanas. What more can you ask for?

I have been to this beach in March 2012 and again in July 2014. There are tons of monkeys so watch your stuff! The water is great for swimming.

The tour guide showed us many interesting animals and plant life. At the end of the tour is a beautiful beach where you can spend the day and relax.

Ha, you will reach this place when you walk for almost 2 km around the National Park - it's worth the walk.Though it's really touristy it's the best in town!

The beach was amazing - busy, but probably the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. The guides found us a lot of animals, but its too crowded to see anything up close. Just the tip of the iceberg for what Costa Rica has to offer.

We visited Manuel Antonio(MA) as a day trip from San Jose. It was very fun to go there by bus. Along the way we had a great breakfast and we stopped by a river to observe American crocodiles. After a 3 hour bus trip we arrived MA. It was simply amazing. We took a short walk and right at the entry we were able to spot some monkeys and later a big sloth. However, I believe it is best to hire a guide or come with a tour to spot the animals. I think, these animals are mostly territorial and the guides know where they usually are. The beaches are great, well maintained and great for swimming. Very kid friendly place. I also recommend you take a moderate walk to Cathedral point. The view was amazing. Try to come early since there was a long line when we arrived. One advantage of using a tour was that, we did not wait for purchasing tickets. Our guide handed out them once we are at the park. Although relatively small compared to other parks in Costa Rica, biodiversity was impressive. It is a place should not be missed if you are in Costa Rica.