Playa Flamingo: Rainforest Wildlife & Coffee Making Tour

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.86 (272 reviews) 91% rated it 5 stars

Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/35

Duration8h–10h

GroupUp to 15

LanguagesEN · ES

PickupAt your hotel

Why sloths never leave their trees (and why you'll see one anyway)

You're picked up at your hotel and driven into the Bijagua rainforest, where a guide shows you sloths (guaranteed), frogs, birds, and other wildlife in their natural habitat. You'll roast and grind your own coffee and chocolate, eat a traditional casado lunch, and swim at Llanos del Cortes waterfall if the season allows. Everything — transport, lunch, water, towels — is included, and you're back at your hotel by afternoon.

8h–10h

Step-by-step itinerary

Rainforest wildlife and cultural tour

Pick up at hotel lobby
Travel to Bijagua rainforest
See sloths, frogs, birds, and butterflies
Learn about coffee and chocolate history
Make your own coffee and chocolate
Taste typical casado lunch
Visit Llanos del Cortes waterfall
Swim at the waterfall (season permitting)
Return to hotel drop off

The Experience

The drive from Playa Flamingo into the Bijagua rainforest takes about two hours and forty minutes, depending on where you're staying. Your guide picks you up at the hotel and the vehicle is air-conditioned, which matters because once you're in the forest, you're walking. The sloths don't go anywhere — they live in the canopy year-round, which is exactly why the tour guarantees you'll see at least one. No chasing, no waiting around hoping. They're just there, moving at their own pace through the branches.

After spotting sloths, the rainforest tour moves through the same habitat where frogs, snakes, tapirs, and birds show up depending on the day and the season. Your guide knows the forest and points out what's moving. Then you get to the hands-on part: making your own coffee and chocolate from scratch. You roast the beans, grind them, taste what you made. It's not a tasting — it's a lesson in how the crop goes from plant to cup, and you're the one doing the work. A typical casado lunch (rice, beans, plantains, salad, protein) comes after, and the water is bottled throughout.

Llanos del Cortes waterfall is the last stop, and this is where the season matters. September and October are rainy, and the water flow can be too strong to swim safely. The rest of the year, you can get in. Towels are provided. If you're traveling during the wet months, the waterfall is still worth seeing — it's just louder and fuller — but plan your expectations around that. The whole day runs from pickup to drop-off at your hotel, so you're not arranging separate transport or timing anything yourself.

What’s included

Your day includes hotel pickup and drop-off in an air-conditioned vehicle, a guide through the Bijagua rainforest, guaranteed sloth viewing plus frogs, birds, snakes, and other wildlife, hands-on coffee and chocolate roasting and grinding, a traditional casado lunch, bottled water throughout, towels, and access to Llanos del Cortes waterfall for swimming (weather permitting).

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleInfant seats available

Operated by Seven Sense Costa Rica

Is this one for you?Right for travelers staying in Playa Flamingo who want wildlife and culture in one morning or afternoon without arranging separate transport or meals. The two-hour-plus drive is part of reaching the closest rainforest, which is what makes the sloth guarantee possible.