CRPunta Islita, Nicoya, Costa Rica
Scarlet macaws on the Nicoya
Wild macaws that were put back, and a coast almost nobody reaches.
Watch it live firstWhen the light is best
February, January, March
Computed from five years of daily cloud, rain and temperature at 9.85, -85.40. Some cloud is what makes a sky burn, so this is not the same as the driest month and often disagrees with one.
- Cloud then
- 35%
- Wet days
- 6
- Daytime high
- 33°C
When to actually go
December to April is dry and reliable. The green season from May has better skies, emptier beaches and afternoon rain you can plan around.
This is the window for the reason you are going, and it is a different question from the light. Where the two disagree, this one wins. An empty river under a perfect sky is still an empty river.
- Nights
- 6
- Getting in
- Liberia, then three hours south down the peninsula
- From, per person
- $2,900
Why here
The scarlet macaws on this stretch of the Nicoya are there because a reintroduction project put them there, and they now breed wild. The peninsula south of Samara stays empty because the roads are bad, which is exactly why it is worth the drive. Howler monkeys wake you up and nobody is on the beach.
What you actually do
- The canopy feeder and the macaw release site
- Playa Carrillo and Samara, both walkable and calm
- Night walk in the dry forest, which is a completely different animal set
- Barra Honda caves, inland, if the group is up for it
However many of you
On your own
Costa Rica is one of the safest solo destinations anywhere. The one real requirement is a four wheel drive on this peninsula.
Two to six
Four people, one vehicle, one house near Carrillo. This is the classic shape of a Nicoya trip.
Seven or more
Villas here are large and cheap by Caribbean standards. Ten people in one house with a cook is genuinely affordable.
Book it
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