Early in my days here this was one of my top 2 or 3 birding lodges, always giving me a lot of different species of birds like 40 or 50! And birding is the main emphasis of this lodge and their excellent guides, but they have all kinds of other nature and more species of frogs on hotel grounds than I have seen anywhere else in the whole world! 🙂 Also a large variety of flowers and other things.
Would I go Again?
Yes!
Likes
- Large variety of birds!
- Very nice rooms and I request one facing the river.
- Selva Research Station and Dave & Dave’s Nature Park nearby for more birds.
Dislikes
- Buffet food
White-collared Manakin 
Broad-billed Motmot 
Gray-capped Flycatcher 
Juvenile Yellow-throated Toucan 
Buff-throated Saltator 
Black Vulture 
Blue-gray Tanager 
Yellow-throated Toucan 
Green Honeycreeper male 
Green-breasted Mangrove Hummingbird 
Golden-hooded Tanager 
Crested Guan 
Collared Aracari 
Mangrove Swallow 
Anhinga 
Yellow-throated Toucan 
Red-throated Ant-Tanager
Nature & Other Activities
- One of the best birding places in Costa Rica either solo or with guide
- Selva Research Station is nearby and worth a morning tour for species you won’t see anywhere else.
- A boat tour of the two rivers is available in the town of Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui and includes birds not on the lodge property.
- Dave & Dave’s Nature Center is a nearby birding park with a large platform and lots of bird feeders and lots of birds! Again, some you won’t see on the lodge property, especially a large number of hummingbirds when I was there.
- There is white water rafting & kayaking on the Sarapiqui River which I watched from my room porch that many people would love!
Rooms & Food
- Some of the best rooms of any birding lodge I’ve been in!
- Food is basic and good, but when full is all on a buffet that I’ve noted as my only dislike.
Getting There
- My first time I drove a rental car. From Atenas it is 91 km or 2 hours and 22 minutes going through Naranjo north on Ruta 744 to Ruta 4. Google gives the route through San Jose as prefered but it is NOT and will always be congested all the way to Guapiles! Very little traffic on 744 and no big towns.
- The second time Walter drove me on the same route above. It is a country mountain drive with very little traffic or restaurants or gas stations. Beautiful and pleasant drive!
- Public Bus is very doable and you can make your plans on https://thebusschedule.com/cr/ which gives multiple options, though all go through San Jose where you change buses and you can get there in just 3 1/2 hours or only an hour more than driving yourself. One example is leave Atenas at 6 am to San Jose where you change buses and get to Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui at 9:30. Not bad at all! And that is just one bus from San Jose! Plus you get several chapters of your current book read! 🙂 In Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui you can take a taxi or a local bus to the lodge in village of Chilamonte.
My Trip Galleries
- 2019-May 9-15 — Selva Verde Lodge Sarapiqui
- 2016 December 23-27 – Selva Verde Lodge, Sarapiqui
My Photo Book on the 2016 Visit
¡Pura Vida!
