arenal eco zoo

travelgrumpy

We booked via our hotel the night tour in the jungle with the Arenal Zoo. Wauw, how cool was that! 4 Hours in the jungle, we found snakes, all kinds of insects including a not so friendly looking tarantula. We can recommend this to anyone!!! They luckily provide you with boots, as the paths were muddy. One of the best excursions we've done in Costa Rica!!!Even thou we came back late from the nightwalk, the restaurant had stayed open for us. The chef is crazy about food, loves cooking and that shows. The food was fresh, interesting, sufficient and not more expensive than anywhere else. The next evening we went back for a second meal with them. The steak is so soft and tender, and the chicken is fab! We ended up having a shot of local rum with the owner of the Zoo. All in all an excellent experience!

sivartyad

I've been to the Eco Zoo several times now and with each visit I always learn something new! The staff are incredibly knowledgable and the array of snakes is awesome - some of which you even get to hold! Frogs and turtles and more! A whole room of spiders, which I have managed to avoid every time :)

Caribbeancrazy243

Each family or group gets there own guide. There are numerous examples of the local snakes and there are lots of them. There are some turtles and a crocodile. In addition there is a small butterfly enclosure. The guide seemed very knowledgeable and was very much into his task. Coast $20 USD and would recommend

Brittzahara

Luis was our guide and amazing. He took the time with every section and answered any questions we would have. He was engaging. It was a great hands on experience and loved holding the red eyed frog which is so beautiful! I could have spent all day watching him. Great value for money, entrance only $20 for 1.5-2 hr tour with guide. Thanks!!!!!

G.BassLondonCanada

Great explanations, deceivingly larger than first appears, fun 'wearing' snakes and other hands-on experiences. Decent restaurant too.

dukehuh

We split up the day we visited this attraction, so we only had my youngest son, a real budding biologist. Our tour guide, Victor, was a very thoughtful and soft spoken young man who really took his time to ensure my son had a great time. One very obvious advantage of Costa Rican attractions is the ability to get up close to the action and this is no different. He let my son hold a Rainbow Boa for about 20 minutes - all while showing us other animals in other exhibits. He also let us hold some very cool spaghetti snakes. The topper was showing us a venemous frog that had gone out of sight from the display. Victor basically opened up the display, grabbed the frog, and held it to show us. A far cry from NA zoos where if you can't see the animal, move on. The zoo is much larger than one can see in the front. This was a very fun, informative low key thing to do.

684debbies684

This is a great zoo if you like reptiles! We saw everything from crocodiles and alligators to turtles, frogs, and snakes of all kinds. You can even hold some of the snakes if you want. We had a great tour guide and enjoyed seeing and learning about all the different species that exist in this area of the world.

monsep2015

Wow I was really surprised to find such an educational tour in this area. They have a good inventory of snakes and others, and the guide gave us a very nice tour through the facilities. We had nice refreshments overlooking the lush forest. I glad we stopped by. I would truly recommend this place.

JPU75

My son loves snakes so this was a must do. The price was fair. Our guide spoke English very well. The tour was very educational. we all held a small Boa, a Red eye frog and a turtle. We saw a sloth very close up too. ;). We are pizza in the restaurant there which was very good. If you have a snake/reptile lover in the group this is great!

461jeremiahw

Our guide picked us up at the hotel. He was well spoken, with an MBA but a passion for the forest. He led our family at an appropriate pace, lecturing where there was interest or just letting people stare at the tarantulas or other intriguing species. This is not a full day trip so plan an afternoon activity. If you do not like snakes, bugs or spiders you should not go.

373sarahl

Fantastic collection of local snakes, croc 's, butterflys. Even the view from the balcony is great. Get a guide. We came for 2 hours and stayed for 4.

JayV672

impressive forest reptiles, very friendly staff, very caring and compasionate about the zoo, they treat them pets, very touching

lookiecookie

Frank was our tour guide, and I have to say he is wonderful. He made sure that everyone in our group of five got to see and do everything he/she wanted. The photographer in our group could not have asked for a better or more willing assistant. We got shots there that would have been dangerous or impossible in the wild. Maybe the best 3 hours I've spent in my travels.

GringoMichael

This place seams to be open all the time and in any weather also with most of the attraction under roof you can enjoy it in the rain or a poor weather day. It's much bigger than at first glance also. Behind the front it extends far in back. The guided tour lasted about 1 1/2 hours and I took about 60 photos of lots of great things like the Red Eyed tree frog held in my hand. They answered all my questions and I was impressed at how much I learned along the way. After the tour I had a cold beer and enjoyed the view of the Arenal Lake and the surrounding area in the restaurant out on the back deck..

860tanyab

We absolutely loved this place. Frank, our delightful guide was fabulous and took us on a three hour journey that we will never forget. The highlight was undoubtedly the time we spent interacting the Helling, a baby rescue sloth that was probably the cutest thing I've ever seen. We learned so much and the kids got to hold frogs, lizards, snakes and, of course, pat the sloth :)Go and make sure to get a tour. You'll love it!