Tortuga Island Day Trip from Puntarenas: Boat & Beach Lunch

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/16

Duration10h

GroupUp to 140

LanguagesEN · ES

Mobile ticketAccepted

Boat to Tortuga Island: Turquoise Water & Lunch on the Sand

You board a boat in Puntarenas and spend the day on Tortuga Island, 12 nautical miles offshore in the Gulf of Nicoya. The itinerary includes a narrated pass by the abandoned San Lucas prison, snorkeling equipment, a full lunch with grilled fish and chicken, and unlimited drinks—coffee, rum punch, sodas and water throughout the day. The return trip includes coffee and cake. Optional activities like kayaking and banana boats are available to add on your own.

10h

Step-by-step itinerary

Tortuga Island full day excursion

Boat crosses Isla San Lucas National Park
Listen to history of old prison
View Isla Cedros from boat
Arrive at Tortuga Island beach
Relax on beach with provided chair
Enjoy lunch in private area

The Experience

The boat pulls away from Puntarenas and heads straight into the Gulf of Nicoya, cutting across 12 nautical miles of open water toward Tortuga Island. Before you reach the island itself, the captain steers close to Isla San Lucas National Park—what used to be a prison sits abandoned on the rocks, and your guide walks through the history of it while the boat circles slowly so everyone can see. The water changes color as you move deeper into the gulf, shifting from gray-green to something almost unreal, and that's when you know you're getting close. Isla Cedros passes off the starboard side, smaller and quieter, and then the beach at Tortuga comes into view—white sand, palms, the kind of place that looks like it was made for a postcard but is somehow still real.

Once you're ashore, the day becomes about doing almost nothing. A beach chair waits in the private area where the tour operator has set up, and lunch arrives in stages—two salads, grilled chicken and fish, white rice, vegetables, all of it simple and fresh. The drinks keep coming: unlimited rum punch, sodas, water, and if you want something stronger, five rum punches are included in the package. Coffee comes in the morning on the boat, again on the island, and once more on the way back. Between eating and drinking, you can grab the snorkeling gear they provide and wade into the turquoise water, or just stay in the chair and watch the water change shade as the sun moves. The island is a protected forest—it's had the Ecological Blue Flag for more than five years, which means the water is clean enough to swim in without thinking twice about it.

If you want to do more than swim and eat, there are add-on activities: banana boat rides, kayaking, more snorkeling in different spots. But the tour itself doesn't require you to book anything extra. The boat leaves Puntarenas in the morning and returns in the afternoon, and the whole day is structured so that you don't have to think about timing or logistics once you're on the island. You show up, get on the boat, and the rest unfolds.

What’s included

Your day includes hotel or port pickup in Puntarenas, round-trip boat transport to Tortuga Island, a narrated tour past Isla San Lucas National Park and its historic prison, snorkeling equipment, a full lunch with grilled fish and chicken, two salads, white rice and vegetables, unlimited rum punch and sodas throughout the day, coffee in the morning and on the return journey, and a beach chair in the private tour area.
Cake and fruit are served on the boat back to Puntarenas.
All fees and taxes are included.

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleAccessible transportStroller friendlyPets welcomeNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditionsNot for back problemsInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Bay Island Cruises / Isla Tortuga

Is this one for you?Pick this if you want a full beach day without arranging your own boat, snorkeling gear or food—the fixed itinerary and included meals mean you arrive at the dock and everything else is handled.