The coastal trail from the Kelly Creek entrance is where the animals are. Three-toed and two-toed sloths hang in the cecropia trees directly over the path, howler and white-faced capuchin monkeys move through the canopy, and raccoons and coatis patrol the beach edge.

The forest floor beside the path holds the small things worth stopping for: eyelash vipers coiled in low vegetation, strawberry poison dart frogs on the leaf litter, and basilisk lizards running across the creeks.

The reef off Punta Cahuita is the marine half. Snorkelling trips from the village visit the reef, which holds brain and elkhorn coral, parrotfish, angelfish and rays — visibility depends heavily on recent rain and river runoff.

The beaches themselves hold nesting turtles in season and are worth walking for the shorebirds and the pelicans fishing offshore.

The Caribbean coast's driest and clearest windows are roughly February to April and September to October — the latter being the anomaly that makes this coast a good choice when the Pacific side is at its wettest.

Practicalities

Cahuita village sits at the park entrance, around four hours from San José. Entry at the Kelly Creek gate is by donation, which makes this one of the best-value wildlife experiences in the country.

Hire one of the local guides at the entrance if you want the small species — they carry telescopes and find sleeping snakes and frogs that you would walk straight past. Take reef-safe sunscreen for the snorkelling, and be aware the sea can be rough and the reef closed in bad weather.