Manuel Antonio Park & Chocolate Farm Combo
Walk Costa Rica's most famous national park with a naturalist guide, then spend the afternoon at an organic chocolate and coffee farm. Snacks, lunch, and park entrance all included.
* Rack rates before Costa Rica's 13% VAT. Includes hotel pickup, park entry, bilingual naturalist guide, snacks, farm lunch and organic glass of wine. Book now, pay later.
The experience
Most visitors to Manuel Antonio pick one activity. This combo packs two of the best into a single full day, no compromises. You start at 7 AM in the rainforest with a certified naturalist and a pair of professional spotting scopes. By midday you're sitting down to a farm-to-table lunch on an organic ranch, learning how the cacao you're eating went from tree to bar.
It's a full day that covers two completely different sides of Costa Rica: the wild and the cultivated. Nature and culture, back to back, with everything handled for you.
Part 1: Manuel Antonio National Park
Hotel pickup at 7:00 AM. You're at the park entrance before the crowds arrive. That matters, because wildlife is most active early.
The hike covers roughly 2 miles on a flat, well-maintained loop. It takes about 3.5 hours, moving at a relaxed pace with frequent stops. Your guide is a certified bilingual naturalist equipped with Pentax and Swarovski spotting scopes, which means the three-toed sloth thirty feet up in the canopy is not just a brown blur. It fills the lens.
Costa Rica has four monkey species. Manuel Antonio reliably turns up three of them: squirrel monkeys, white-faced capuchins, and howlers. You'll also look for sloths, iguanas, toucans, basilisk lizards, and a long list of birds depending on the season.
The hike ends at Third Beach (Playa Manuel Antonio), where you get a 20-minute break for swimming or simply sitting in the shade. Then it's back to the van and on to the farm.
Part 2: Chocolate, Vanilla and Coffee Farm
After the park, you drive to a private organic ranch in Londres, just a short distance from Manuel Antonio. The pace shifts. The morning was about spotting and moving. The afternoon is about understanding.
Your guide walks you through the garden, showing you cacao trees, vanilla vines, and coffee plants at different stages of growth. You learn how cacao is harvested and fermented, how the beans are dried and roasted, and how what comes out of a tree becomes chocolate. The same story for vanilla: how it's hand-pollinated, cured, and why real vanilla tastes so different from the extract in a grocery bottle.
The ranch is also home to farm animals, rabbits, goats, ponies, horses, sheep, chickens, which makes it a strong choice for families traveling with kids.
The afternoon ends with a farm-to-table lunch made from organic produce grown on the property, plus a glass of organic wine from the farm itself.
What's included
Included
- Round-trip hotel pickup and transport
- Certified bilingual naturalist guide
- Manuel Antonio National Park entrance fee
- Professional Pentax/Swarovski spotting scopes
- Snacks during the park hike
- Chocolate, vanilla and coffee farm tour
- Organic farm-to-table lunch
- Organic glass of wine from the farm
Not included
- 13% Costa Rica VAT (added at checkout)
- Gratuities
- Personal expenses
Good to know: Minimum 2 guests. Park is closed every Tuesday; this combo is not available Tuesdays. Changes or cancellations within 48 hours of the tour may incur a per-person fee due to limited park ticket availability.
What to bring
- Sunscreen
- Camera
- Sunglasses
- Hiking shoes or sturdy sandals
- Light layers (the park can be cool in the morning)
- Beach towel and bathing suit (optional, for the Third Beach stop)
- Insect repellent
A typical day
- 7:00 AM Hotel pickup from your accommodation in Manuel Antonio
- 7:30 AM Arrive at Manuel Antonio National Park entrance
- 7:30 AM - 11:00 AM Guided 3.5-hour wildlife hike through the park with naturalist guide and spotting scopes
- ~10:30 AM 20-minute beach stop at Third Beach (Playa Manuel Antonio) for swimming and rest
- 11:30 AM Drive to the organic farm in Londres
- 12:00 PM Arrive at the farm and begin the chocolate, vanilla and coffee garden tour
- 1:30 PM Farm-to-table lunch with organic produce and a glass of farm wine
- 3:00 PM approx. Return transport to your hotel
- 4:00 PM approx. Drop-off at hotel
Frequently asked questions
Yes, and the difference between going alone and going with a guide is significant. Manuel Antonio is one of the most biodiverse parks in Costa Rica for a small area, but the animals are camouflaged, high in the canopy, or tucked into roots you'd walk straight past. Our naturalists carry Pentax and Swarovski spotting scopes, so a sloth or a Jesus Christ lizard at thirty feet becomes something you can actually see clearly and photograph. Most self-guided visitors leave having spotted maybe one or two animals. Guided groups routinely see eight to fifteen species in a single morning.
Costa Rica's rainforest rains, that's normal and it usually passes quickly. A light shower during the park hike won't cancel the tour and often drives animals down from the canopy where they're easier to spot. The farm portion of the afternoon has covered areas for the tour and lunch. Heavy weather that makes the park unsafe is rare; if it happens, our team will contact you with options.
Yes. The park trail is flat, about 2 miles at an easy pace, with a beach stop at the end. Children do well here as long as they can manage a couple of hours of walking. The farm in the afternoon is excellent for kids: there are animals to meet (goats, horses, rabbits, chickens) and plenty of hands-on tasting. Children 2-5 pay a reduced rate; contact us for pricing.
Manuel Antonio National Park is closed every Tuesday by the Costa Rica park system. It's a permanent weekly closure, not seasonal. The farm tour alone is available on Tuesdays if you're interested in just that; see our Chocolate, Vanilla & Coffee Tour page.
No. This page is for the combined booking. One reservation covers the park, the guide, the entrance fee, the farm tour, snacks, and lunch. Everything is coordinated and you stay with the same team for the whole day. No separate tickets or pickup logistics to manage.
See monkeys in the morning, taste chocolate in the afternoon.
Free hotel pickup, certified bilingual guides, park entry and farm lunch included. Book now and pay later.
Prefer just your group? Take this tour private
