Costa Rica Sampler Reviews

5 Rating 45 Reviews

Jan 18 - 29, 2026 | Costa Rica hosts an incredible range of habitats and birds along with very good infrastructure. If you have limited time or want a shorter birding tour, this tour takes in the birding highlights of the country. At each location we find new members of these Neotropical families – tanagers, trogons, toucans, parrots, hummingbirds, and much more!

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“Countless colourful birds, from honeycreepers to macaws to manakins to more than 30 types of hummingbird delighted us daily. Scenery ranged from volcano to highlands to mangrove swamp to forest. We learned about coffee growing, saw monkeys, coati, reptiles, and tasted pineapple and bananas as never before or since. A great tour!”

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Posted 5 years ago

“This trip is a great way to go birding in Costa Rica. The itinerary covers a wide variety of habitats. The guide knows where to find the birds. Good viewing and photo opportunities. Excellent accommodations. Roomy vehicle with big windows. If you want to sample birding in Costa Rica this is a good tour.”

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Posted 5 years ago

“Our leaders Ernesto and Steve were top notch. Ernesto is the best bird guide we have ever been with. Accommodation was completely satisfactory; not extravagant but close to where the birds are. The group dynamics were excellent as most of the participants were very like minded and had reasonable expectations. Not a negative but, the tour is very fast paced as you are up early for birding with only a small break in the afternoon, so be prepared to be on the move. The only real negative of the trip was returning to the Hotel Bouganvillea which is located in San Jose on weekend evening and the traffic congestion was insane. In the end what really matters is the number of birds we saw, and on this trip our life list was 2x what I have seen at other places.”

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Posted 5 years ago

Ken Musgrave

Verified Reviewer

“Excellent guides, both from a birding viewpoint and also from looking after our welfare point of view. One member had a medical emergency which was handled very efficiently. The local guide, from memory Ernesto Carmen was incredible as a bird finder and identifier. We had over 350 species and a great variety of habitats. Accommodation was good, not all 5 star since you are in outdoor environments, although hotel in San Jose was excellent with a fine botanical garden. Be prepared for long days and lots of walking.”

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Posted 5 years ago

“This was our second Eagle-Eye tour to Costa Rica. This one had a different itinerary—and a different guide--but was even better than the first. Ernesto had an encyclopedic knowledge of CR birds. As a bonus, we visited his family’s coffee farm, plus he knew personally several of the local guides. Fluent in Spanish, in his home country, we could not have asked for more—I added several new birds to my life list. As well, he was patient and kind, with a good sense of humour. A great trip!”

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Posted 5 years ago

“I signed up for the trip with some trepidation since this was my first ever organised, guided birding tour. In short, I was used to organizing my own trips when travelling. I quickly learned the value of having knowledgeable, experienced and friendly guides when birding outside of one's own geographic location. Our lead Costa Rica guide was outstanding. The value he added went way beyond his in-depth knowledge about the birds we saw. He could also answer every question that I put to him concerning, the flora, geography and history of Costa Rica. I was also surprised how quickly our travel group bonded together. That may say something about most of us being Canadians. I also appreciated that each of the lodges we stayed at offered a unique location in a different ecosystem. This trip exceeded my expectations.”

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Posted 5 years ago

E W Carnegie

Verified Reviewer

“Spectacular”

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Posted 5 years ago

“This tour exceeded my expectations in every way. The accommodations were well chosen, the food great, and our guides Steve and Ernesto were knowledgeable and helpful. Every day we discovered an exciting variety of birds of every hue, and many could be found in the immediate vicinity of the lodges where we were staying, even before we had set out for each day's birdwatching further afield. I would heartily recommend this tour, which was my first with Eagle-Eye, and I have been on more tours with them since then.”

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Posted 5 years ago