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travel: Central America 2024

Travel: Panama & Costa Rica Day 14: Tamarindo Estuary Tour

Photos and description of the Estuary tour in Tamarindo, Costa Rica.

Wendy Dembowski

• 5 min read
Travel: Panama & Costa Rica Day 14: Tamarindo Estuary Tour

On our final day in Costa Rica, while staying in Tamarindo we did a Tamarindo Estuary Tour*. There was quite a bit of overlap between this and the Palo Verde tour. I am glad we had the time to see both areas though.

If you need to make a choice between Tamarindo and Palo Verde here are some things to consider:

  1. How much time do you have? If you're staying in Tamarindo the estuary tour is very close, so it'll take about 3 hours. Which is around the amount of time you'll spend just driving to/from Palo Verde
  2. Wildlife can be unpredictable, so this applies to our trip only - if you have your heart set on seeing American Crocodiles Palo Verde is the place to go. We didn't see a single Crocodile in Tamarindo.
  3. How much help do you need spotting birds and other wildlife? The Tamarindo tour had just the boat driver in the back of the boat to help spot while in Palo Verde we had both our tour guide and the boat driver at the front finding various creatures for us.
  4. Are you happy to see wildlife just kind of perching or do you need to see some action? I found that the birds at Tamarindo were more actively searching for food or eating than at Palo Verde. Perhaps that was just a matter of timing or because the tide was starting to go out while we were on the Tamarindo tour.

If I had to chose one, I would have chosen Palo Verde based on the variety of birds we saw. The Boat-billed Heron at Palo Verde is still one of my favorites. But I'd still strongly recommend doing both if you want to optimize the wildlife you see.

A Boat-billed Heron perches on a branch in Palo Verde. It has a blue-gray boat shaped bill with large black eyes. Its face is white with a dark blue cap. It's wings are gray blue with a rufous belly.
Just a reminder of how cool the Boat-billed Heron that we saw in Palo Verde was.

Now let me share the wildlife we did see!

A Bare-Throated Tiger Heron perches on the mangrove

There were a many Common Black Hawks both in flight and perched on the branches.

A Black Vulture spreads its wings while perched on a mangrove
Several Black Vultures were both flying and on the Mangroves.
A little black crab amongst some mud.
These little crabs were also very common. You couldn't look down around the estuary banks without seeing one.
A dragonfly perched on a branch.
Many dragonflies were zipping around near the edge of the water.
Green Heron behind branches
This Green Heron was digging amongst the base of the mangroves for something to eat.
A Howler Monkey hangs upside down in a tree.
We saw a troupe of Howler Monkeys, they were high up in the trees and not super active. This one was just hanging upside down.

This Iguana had been fairly still when we initially saw it, but then it suddenly moved forward and started eating something. I've struggled to tell if what it's eating is a bird or some sort of vegetable. I think I've settled on something with roots because adult iguanas are known to be vegetarian.

A Little Blue Heron on some branches.
This Little Blue Heron was amongst the mangrove, a bit hidden but also searching for food.

We got to see an Osprey in the water, maybe drinking or bathing? But also they were flying around and perched at the top of trees.

3 Parrots soar above trees.
We heard White-fronted Parrots and Orange-fronted Parakeets. Parrots tend to hang out near the tops of trees. I didn't see any perched, but I did get a photo of them flying about the tree-tops.
A coati amongst some vegetation on a mangrove beach
A Coati popped out of the mangroves toward the end of our tour.

There were lots of Spotted Sandpipers around. They were in their winter plumage, so despite the name they didn't have spots.

Tricolored Herons were incredibly common. They are such an elegant bird. Although with a slightly different perspective - looking straight at their faces they are also a bit derpy looking.

We also saw many fish leaping out of the water. This Tricolored Heron seemed to upset a group of them inspiring them to attack? But I think the bird just got its breakfast.
The Tricolored Heron with a trail of leaping fish

A Willet and a Tricolored Heron as the Heron tries to make a quick escape

A group of Willets at the edge of the water.

There were several Yellow-crowned Night Heron. Such a beautiful bird with its bright red eye and facial markings.

This is a juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron. It differs from the Black-crowned Heron Juvenile in that its break is gray rather than yellowish.

As you can see there was lots of activity amongst the birds, but far less variety in the type of birds we saw compared with Palo Verde.