Monteverde was not initially on my list of places to visit in Costa Rica. I was already planning to visit La Fortuna, and for some reason, I thought the two places were be quite similar. Andres, a local working at my hostel in Manuel Antonio, convinced me otherwise. “It’s the most beautiful place in Costa Rica!” he opined. Now coming from someone who works in a stunning place like Manuel Antonio, he had me convinced. A few modifications later (thank goodness for always booking free cancellation on accommodations), I had squeezed in a 3 night night stay in Monteverde. Located 1200m – 1750m above sea level in the Cordillera de Tilaràn mountain range; and possessing one of the world’s few cloud forests; Monteverde seems a world away from the coastal region of Costa Rica that I had just come from. Must-do activities like ziplining and hanging bridges over the cloud forests in Monteverde allow you to literally hang out in the cloud forests over Monteverde.
Contents:
- Transportation to and from Monteverde
- Accommodations in Monteverde
- Ziplining in Monteverde
- Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve
- Free things to do in Monteverde
- Cerro Amigos (Free Hike)
- Cerro Pinocho
- Best sunset viewing over Monteverde and the Nicoya Pennisula
- Trip Expenses for 4 days and 3 nights in Monteverde
- Final thoughts on Monteverde
This post includes affiliate links. If you make a purchase via one of these links, I may receive a small percentage at no extra cost to you.
Transportation to and from Monteverde:
There are a variety of ways to get to Monteverde. Common routes include San Jose to Monteverde (vice versa) and La Fortuna to Monteverde (and vice versa). From San Jose, there are direct public buses that cost just $5 USD. Interbus Costa Rica is an excellent option for finding various direct shuttle bus options that can take you door-to-door from your accommodations in one city to your accommodations in another city.
The direct shuttle bus option from Manuel Antonio to Monteverde is $62USD, and takes about 5-6 hours. From my research however, I found that the public intercity bus option took about 1-2 hours longer, and cost just $6USD. There would be one transfer in Puntarenas, but that seemed like a small price to pay to save over $50USD. After a short city bus ride from my hostel to the Quepos Bus station, I caught the 11am bus from Quepos to Puntarenas – which was supposed to arrive at 1:30pm. This would have left me an hour to catch the last bus from Puntarenas to Monteverde that was scheduled for 2:30pm. As things go, my bus was nearly 1 hour late to Puntarenas, which left me 4 minutes to make the transfer. Tired and dehydrated, lugging around a giant backpack, myself an another traveller from the same bus managed to find the bus to Monteverde just in the nick of time! This bus was supposed to take 2 hours to get to Monteverde – it took 4 hours. Morale of the story: while the inter-city bus system in Costa Rica is comfortable and cheap (they’re like Greyhound buses, but they don’t have bathrooms – hence my dehydration from not drinking enough water); be wary of itineraries with connections – and have a backup plan if you miss your connection. My backup plan was to stay a night in Puntarenas – which would have still been cheaper than the cost of the direct shuttle.
Accommodations:
When most people visit Monteverde, they usually stay in the nearby town of Santa Elena approximately 6km away from the Monteverde Cloud forest reserve (which is actually closer to the cloud forest reserve than the actual town of Monteverde). I stayed at the Casa Tranquillo in Santa Elena, which has been by far the most economical accommodations option I have used during my whole trip! The cost for a shared 4-bed dorm was just $8USD, and the price included a delicious breakfast! They even alternated what they served for breakfast: eggs, pancakes and fruit one morning, toast, eggs and fruit the next, and a tomato omlette, toast and fruit the final morning, all served with unlimited coffee and tea. It was an amazing deal. The hostel itself is small, with a bit of an alpine chalet feel to it. The owner is Costa Rican but lived in Switerland for a while, he even speaks Swiss German!
Ziplining:
Monteverde is THE place to go ziplining. Flying over the cloud forest is an experience not to be missed. There are three major companies that do ziplining in Monteverde: Selvatura, 100% Aventura, and Extremo. There are various start times throughout the day, and a tour booking also includes round-trip pickup and dropoff from your accommodations in Santa Elena. I chose to go with Selvatura as it’s actually located within the Santa Elena cloud forest. Selvatura has 16 zip-lines and an optional “Tarzan” swing in their canopy tour. I enjoyed the ziplining immensely, and in the end even went on the “Tarzan” swing which drops you from about 20 meters up. I tried to scream, but the scream got stuck in my throat and I swung through the forest completely silent and terrified instead.
If you’re an adrenaline junkie, try the Extremo park. Everything is higher and longer at Extremo, including the Tarzan swing – which drops you from the eye-watering height of 40 meters instead of 20 meters. The “Superman” zipline is included in the Extremo park canopy tour, while at Selvatura it costs an additional $10 to do the Superman style zipline.
In addition to its canopy zipline tour, Selvatura also has some of the most beautiful “hanging bridges” in the area – with 8 bridges totalling a 3KM long circuit of bridges over virgin cloud forest. Other companies also offer hanging bridge walks, but they are often over secondary forests.
Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve:
Founded in 1972, the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve consists of over 26,000 acres of cloud forest, and consists of 6 ecological zones. The reserve is home to an incredible array of biodiversity including 2500 plant species, 100 species of mammals, 400 bird species, 120 reptilian and amphibian species as well as thousands of insect species. You can take the public bus to and from Santa Elena to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve for about 800 Colones or $1.50USD each way. Public buses leave from the Banco Nacional in Santa Elena at 6:15 AM, 7:20 AM, 9AM and 1:15 PM. Return buses leave the reserve at 11:30 AM, 2:00 PM, and 4:00 PM (double-check with your guesthouse or hotel about the schedule as it can vary). Visitors can board the bus anywhere along the road between the town of Santa Elena and the entrance of the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. Entry fee is $25USD for adults and $12USD for students (with proof of student ID). There are 9 trails in the park that total about 13km worth of hiking including to the Mirador de la Ventana viewpoint where you can see the continental divide on a clear day. You can hire a guide to gain a greater appreciation of the park and its amazing flora and fauna – and potentially see the extremely rare Resplendent Quetzal.
Free things to do in Monteverde:
Costs can start adding up quickly in Monteverde after you get through all the must-do activities like ziplining, and park fees. There are also a number of amazing free activities you can do in and around Monteverde that will help soothe your crying wallet.
Cerro Amigos (hike):
I unfortunately ran out of time to do this hike, but this is a 2-3 hour, 5KM out-and-back hike up Cerro Amigos. The hike is very steep going up but on a clear day, the views are well worth the climb. More details about this hike here: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/costa-rica/puntarenas–2/sendero-cerro-amigos
Cerro Pinocho (hike)
Take in stunning hilltop views from Cerro Pinocho. It’s about a 6km hike from Santa Elena. There’s a ranch at the top that charges 2500 colones to sit and watch the sunset from their property (so not exactly free if you want to take in some sunset views), but a small price to pay. Many opt to call an Uber or taxi back if they stay for the sunset as the road will be dark on the return trip.
View the sunset over the entire Nicoya Pennisula in Cerro Plano:
There’s a viewpoint (see map) in the neighbourhood of Cerro Plano in Santa Elena where you can see not only an amazing sunset over Monteverde, but also over the entire Nicoya Pennisula. Bring a bottle of wine or your favourite beverage and simply enjoy. Unlike Cerro Pinocho, this sunset experience is completely free!
Trip Expenses for 4 days and 3 nights in Monteverde:
Accommodations: $25USD
Transportation: $9.25USD
Groceries: $10.47USD
Dining out: $14.25USD
Ziplining: $52USD
Ziplining photos: $15USD
Hanging Bridges Entrance Fee: $35USD
Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve Entrance Fee: $25USD
Total: $185.97
Final thoughts on Monteverde:
While I initially did not plan to visit Monteverde, in the end it turned out that I ran out of time to do all the things I wanted to do on the trip. I easily could have stayed one extra night, and still may not have done absolutely everything I wanted to do. While activities like ziplining might seem touristy – I highly recommend them, because where else are you going to get to zipline over an actual cloud forest? Overall, I’m thrilled that I decided to put Monteverde on my itinerary – the adrenaline-crazed smiles on my zipline photos say it all.
Next stop: La Fortuna, Costa Rica
