They say the Tortuguero Canal is the Amazon of Central America. I've been to the Amazon and would agree with that statement. My brother and I went on a boat tour through the Canal and it was super neat. In a 45-minute boat trip we saw a baby crocodile sunning itself, three of Costa Rica's national lizards, two beautiful national butterflies (they're bright blue with black edges), 4 monkeys, 7 bats and a sloth. Be prepared for humidity and rain as that area of the country gets rain 8 months out of the year or so. Enjoy it!
Stopped here during our cruise. Official taxis were waiting at the terminal and we found an English speaking driver and negotiated a tour which included an hours boat ride on the canal. Our driver gave us an excellent commentary as he showed us around Limon, stopping as required to see sloths hanging from road side trees and other interesting features before venturing out to the canal. We were lucky to end up in a small boat with just 4 of us which provided great photo shot opportunities of sloths, howler monkeys, birds and the surrounding forests and locals living off the water. The benefit of the canal is that it is near the cruise port whereas some excursions to the rainforests entail extensive travel. The trip allowed us to explore Limon town which appears not to have become too touristy.
We went on this excursion and were a little disappointed as we had expected something better. We saw some wildlife but nothing really all that spectacular. We thought this excursion was a bit contrived and not really worth the cost. All in all a poor excursion that we felt was a little concocted by the locals for the tourist.
Booked through Princess Cruises, Tortuguero Canal cruise and Banana Plantation.Air conditioned bus to canal pontoon boat. Our guide Ivan said he had done this for 12 yrs and obviously enjoyed his job. Good sense of humour, continually pointed out items of interest, explained local economy. We had a v.good skipper on the canal trip, pointing out local birds, sloths, monkeys, turning the boat around so that everyone on both sides had a chance to shoot pics. Then to a Del Monte banana plantation(one of the big 3, Chiquita,Dole). Awesome how much work goes into banana cultivation, harvesting & preparation for shipment. Quality control is impressive. I won't ever complain about the price of bananas again.
It was not that exciting on the canal ride. We did not get to see a lot of the animals but we were fortunate to see a sloth with the baby hanging onto it. Otherwise not much luck that day - probably I would go next time to the wildlife sanctuary to see the animals.
We took a boat ride down the canal. Our guide took the time to try and spot as much wildlife as he could (no guarantees, the animals are in their domain!). We saw monkeys, sloths, herons, kingfishers, a the top of the head of a cayman :) Overall a pleasant experience!
This was the highlight of the holiday. WE were two whole hours just going up and down the canal. The boats, open-sided were easy to manoeuvre,, and the driver was only too pleased to make sure we all saw as much as possible by turning the boat first one side to the shore and then the other. He didn't give up until we were all satisfied we'd taken the photos we wanted.He was good at spotting things too. Lots of different birds, monkeys, sloths and crocodiles and he was very informative.. Don't expect to get clear close-up pictures like on documentaries on the TV. I've brought home photos of sloths well hidden in tree foliage, and crocodiles in the mud (or was that just a bit of rubbish under an overhanging branch?)
A beautiful, relaxed boat ride through the canal. You are able to see all of the wildlife and a few villagers, lots of info from the guide, a great addition to the aerial tram ride.
We enjoyed the boat ride. Being able to see from the water how thick the Jungle was and seeing the Howler Monkeys, Sloths, Orinoco Crocodile (about 5 ft long) and to many birds to mention.
The canal is noted for sea turtles which (seasonally) come in to lay eggs. This was not the season for turtles but our guide made sure we ALL saw the wildlife which call the canal home year-round.