Expectations for Birding in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca and Manzanillo

Going birding in Costa Rica? I hope so! The birding excitement in the tropics is constant and Costa Rica is no exception. Believe me, there’s lots to see in Costa Rica and always more.

In Costa Rica, among the many nice birding things is the fact that so many birding hotspots are so accessible. Whether looking for quetzals in the highlands or antbirds down low, it doesn’t long to reach excellent habitat.

The past few days, my partner and spent a few days birding and relaxing in the southern Caribbean zone. We stayed at MyA Glamping, a nice little spot located between Puerto Viejo de Talamanca and Manzanillo on the aptly named Toucan Road.

Some tips, observations, and suggestions from the past few days:

The Highway to Limon is a Lot Better but Not Quite Finished Yet

Route 32 has come a long way. What used to be a two lane highway replete with loads of trucking now has sizable stretches of fast, four-lanes (still replete with trucking but more manageable). The route has become much more comfortable and faster but…not for the whole ride.

There are still spots where barrels and other lane blocking thingies suddenly appear in the fast lane, forcing you to go over to the right lane. They don’t seem to be there for any logical reason but that doesn’t stop them from acting as potentially dangerous obstacles. Keep an eye out and make sure to drive in the right lane long before you have to suddenly and inexplicably merge.

Road work is also still happening. On our drive there, we had an easy going and quick ride. On the way back, it was still alright for us but folks heading towards Limon weren’t so lucky. One or two spots with road work caused lines of stopped traffic for an impressive number of kilometers.

Oh yeah, and as a bonus, at the moment, road work to widen bridges just before Puerto Viejo is causing additional lines of stopped traffic. Widening those bridges is needed, hopefully they’ll finish them soon.

The South Caribbean Has Become a Busy, Touristy Place

That’s nothing new but it’s important to mention and not only because it’s so radically different from my first visit in 1994. Back then, this region was truly a different world.

Pot-holed roads, not many people, limited dining and lodging options…you sort of felt like you had the place to yourself. Lots more habitat too! It’s still pretty good but you’ll be sharing those paved streets with hundreds of other folks on bicycles and e-scooter things.

There are also many more places to stay and great places for dining too but the days of low prices are long gone. Look around and you can still find fair prices and so on but, in general, expect to pay fairly high prices.

Still Good for Night Birds

Lowland rainforest is pretty good night birding, at least in Costa Rica. Around Puerto Viejo and Manzanillo, forests host a high density of Great Potoos (we counted 5 from one spot and had one swooping low over our pool!), and the expected owls.

On Toucan Road, our first night started with flyover Short-tailed Nighthawk and was accompanied by the afore-mentioned Great Potoos, a pair of Black and white Owls, two calling Crested Owls, and the bark-like vocalizations of one distant Mottled Owl.

That was all in two blocks distance. At one point, I may have also heard Middle American Screech-Owl (common there and wouldn’t be hard to find), and am sure you could also turn up Spectacled Owl.

Roads Worth Exploring but There Will Be Traffic

A few side roads are worth birding but a few other sites might be better. The Toucan Road was alright but it doesn’t go back very far and we didn’t turn up anything unusual. It certainly could but the birding is limited to a fairly small area.

This trip, we did not check the Paradise Road although it’s been good on past trips. I still think that road can harbor some rare species. On our final morning, we checked the Margarita Road. It was Ok and could have some rare birds but we didn’t find anything of great note. Also, there’s a fair amount of housing and we had near constant traffic (especially of the horribly annoying dirt bike variety).

We still had parrots, Great Green Macaws, fruitcrows and other birds but nothing crazy.

With that in mind, the best spots might be the Kekoldi trail and tower, early morning roadside birding between Punta Uva and Manzanillo, and the RECOPE Road.

Best During Migration

This part of Costa Rica is definitely at its best during migration, especially October. You’ve probably seen the birds that pass through but it’s always cool to see flocks of Eastern Kingbirds, Scarlet Tanagers, and other migrants on the move.

The resident birding is also good but it’ll be best if you can visit the “best spots” mentioned above and Cahuita. Further afield, you’ll do even better at Selva Bananito, Hitoy Cerere, and Veragua.

If you’re headed to this part of Costa Rica, enjoy the natural bird show and take pictures of any odd birds you happen to see. To learn more about where to watch birds in Costa Rica, see my bird finding guide for Costa Rica (a 900 page ebook). To identify the birds of Costa Rica, get the Garrigues and Dean field guide, and the Costa Rica Birds Field Guide app.

As always, I hope to see you here!