Lynn M.
Guide was wonderful.
Costa Rica · Your next adventure
Birdwatching Guided Tour at Arenal Mistico Hanging Bridges
Your experience
Good to Know
Elevate your birdwatching experience on this specialized half-day tour at the Arenal Mistico Hanging Bridges, an ornithological paradise home to over 200 distinct species. Led by an expert bilingual naturalist guide, the expedition offers a rare, eye-level perspective of the rainforest canopy from 15 suspended bridges, perfect for observation and photography. This immersive adventure includes round-trip transportation, park entrance fees, and a professional birding guide, maximizing sightings with an early morning start.
While the Arenal Volcano area is better known for the iconic volcano, hot springs and adventure, this is an amazing birdwatching destination if you know where and when to look. Not only do we know where and when to look, but we will also set you up with a professional birdwatching guide for this morning excursion.
The tour takes place early in the morning at the Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park. The park is located out of town, near Lake Arenal and also close to the boundary of Arenal Volcano National Park. This is an area with plenty of secondary rainforest, which provides valuable habitat to over 200 species of birds.
The tour will take you through the groomed trails which cover a few kilometers. Along the path, there are 15 hanging bridges which will allow you to explore the rainforest canopy for a birds eye view of the rainforest treetops.
Your bilingual guide will have a specialized spotting scope for up close observation. With a little luck and cooperation from Mother Nature you may spot species such as jacamar, motmot, chestnut mandibled toucan, keel-billed toucan, ant birds, hummingbirds and more.
This enlightening tour includes round trip transportation from your local area hotel. It lasts approximately four hours including transportation, though this is subject to change based on many factors. In addition to transportation the tour also includes guide and trail entrance fees.
Highlights
- Birdwatching tour with specialized guide
- The tour takes place at the Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges which allows you to explore from the ground and in the canopy
What to Bring
Sturdy shoes, camera, binoculars, rain gear. Not will be allowed to enter in the trails of Hanging Bridges with sandals or shoes that leave bare foot, you will need to bring shoes appropriate like tennis or shoes that cover by complete the feet.
Includes
Transportation, guide, and trail entrances.
Location and Availability
Available in: Arenal, Arenal Zone 2, Arenal Zone 3
Tour space is generally available when requested more than two days in advance and remains subject to confirmation.
Tour Times
06:00
Tour Type
- Birding
- Canopy Bridges
Explore the location on the map
Location
Latitude: N 10° 29' 16.73" (10.487981)
Longitude: W 84° 45' 13.27" (-84.753685)
Recent Reviews
Overall
90%
Expectations
88%
Experience
90%
Guides
95%
Logistics
94%
Value
92%
Guide at the Mystico Hanging Bridges was extremely knowlegable and interesting
Shital M.
Guide was very knowledgeable.
John C.
Would like to have seen more wildlife.
Allan C.
Guide Donald was great
Rebecca G.
Wish we had seen more birds!
Kirby H.
Was even better than expected.
Paul H.
Flawless private transfer to arrive in plenty of time for the 6:30am tour. Fantastic guide with a relatively small party (9).so we all got to see through his telescope when he spotted a signature bird/animal. Loved the Mistico Reserve where the birding took place and the owners obviously are dedicated to nature is the quality of the experience they give to visitors. Paths are well kept and the 6 hanging bridges are an experience to walk over. Best part was the guide who was incredibly knowledgeable on birds and spotting them in the dense rain forest.
P.S. So glad this was the first tour of the day as by the time we ended the parking lot was getting filled with tour buses. It looked like the peace and quiet of our tour would not last much longer!
Pat N.
Unfortunately, it was raining so not too many birds; guide was very knowledgeable and friendly.
Laura W.
Amazing guide
Callie W.
Great Guide - Bernardo - Great tour
Ketan K.
Courteous and helpful guide, once again knowledgeable about every species of birds and animals, pretty amazing. Our tour guide was upset that we had not seen enough animals on our trip and made sure we saw enough on this trip and he did!! Kudos to him.
Bob F.
Donald, our guide, truly loves what he does and was a joy to be around. I would only recommend this trip with a guide or you won't see what we saw.
Jan C.
Wished we saw more birds, but a nice tour & informative
Heidi E.
It was a nice hike but we didn’t see many birds.
We actually had Jason, and were very happy with the tour.
Rachael F.
Our guide was amazing!!! He knew everything about all the birds and animals and we ended up with a private tour. It was perfect!
Jeff J.
Can’t say enough positive things about this part of the trip and our guide, Jono. He was so great! I love being around experts that are so passionate about what they do! We saw so many birds and the other couple canceled so we had the place to ourselves. It was wonderful!
Kathleen T.
Wonderful guide
Ruth B.
Our guide was amazing. We focused on the birds and not trying to walk on the hanging bridges. We saw 6 species of hummingbirds, 2 species of toucans, motmots, grosbeaks, and many more.
Alma W.
Very knowledgeable guides.
Linda M.
Rey, our tour guide was enthusiastic & very knowledgable in finding birds.
Lisa G.
It was a beautiful hike, our guide did his best, there just weren't that many birds to see
Nadia H.
Very good guide, however I thought we would see more animals. Again I know it depends on luck.
Jennifer K.
Best guide we had all trip!
Kathleen O.
Unfortunately it rained heavily for the tour, but it also added to it as it was nice to experience the heavy rainfall!Our guide was very sweet and chatty and pointed out frogs,snakes and other things we would never find out on our own!We didn’t see many birds but that’s life!!
Karen L.
The guide was excellent, although the tour seemed rushed.
Elena J.
Our guide was absolutely amazing. Very knowlegeable, and gave us a lot of time and effort even though there was only the two of us.
David S.
Great tour and tailored to our needs! Highly recommend!!
Lisa S.
Great private tour with Julio! He was very informative, friendly, catered to our needs, great scoping equipment. Highly recommend him, thank you Julio for an unforgettable and educational experience!
Stephanie S.
Great tour! Santos was a great guide--very good at finding and identifying birds! One of our favorite tours of the trip.
Kate C.
Our guide was great!! willing to walk in the rain with us and helped point out many birds! However we thought we had booked the bird walking tour at hanging bridges (according to out itinerary) but we ended up at Observatory Lodge? Our guide did try to shift it but since it was so early in the morning no one was available. The tour ended up being wonderful but we were looking forward to the hanging bridge for the bird walk.
Krista W.
Koren was a helpful, knowledgeable, accommodating tour guide. He was patient when we were late that morning due to a late arrival at the hotel the previous night. Then he was also flexible with the morning's itinerary. I also loved the knowledge he shared about the surrounding flora and fauna.
Daryl W.
We were running a bit late on this one which affected our times and the birds we saw, but the guide was great and we loved the hike.
Ingrid N.
The tour was booked as taking place at Hanging Bridges. The alternative was good, but the description in the offer needs to be changed.
David T.
There were many photographers in the area, and it was somewhat difficult to see the birds at certain locations. However, we enjoyed this activity very much.
Teresa C.
We did not walk far, perhaps 1km, but we saw 49 different birds. And yes we did list them.
Jerry B.
It rained that day so we couldn't, see the birds.The guide was great and tried it later but still raining.
Sandy B.
Got there, ate our breakfast sandwiches, and couldn't go see the birds because of the rain. He tried again, but it was still raining.
We were rained out
Call us if you want to see more reviews.
Before you go
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes the Arenal Mistico Hanging Bridges tour unique for birdwatching?
This tour offers a unique eye-level perspective of the rainforest canopy from 15 suspended bridges, allowing for exceptional observation and photography of over 200 bird species. An expert bilingual naturalist guide leads the expedition, utilizing a specialized spotting scope.
What types of birds might I see on this tour?
With luck and favorable conditions, you may spot species such as jacamar, motmot, chestnut mandibled toucan, keel-billed toucan, ant birds, and various hummingbirds, among the over 200 species inhabiting the Arenal region.
What is included in the tour and what should I bring?
The tour includes round-trip transportation from your local hotel, a professional birding guide, and trail entrance fees. Guests should bring sturdy shoes (no sandals), a camera, binoculars, and rain gear.
Where and when does the Arenal birdwatching tour take place?
The tour takes place early in the morning, typically starting at 06:00, at the Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park. This location is near Lake Arenal and the Arenal Volcano National Park boundary.
The people behind your vacation
Personal service from Pacific Trade Winds
- Highly trained Costa Rica vacation specialists
- Personal customer service and concierge services at the highest level
- TripAdvisor Hall of Fame recognition for service
- Ranked #1 in its TripAdvisor category
Make this tour part of your Costa Rica vacation
Request a vacation package including Birdwatching Guided Tour at Arenal Mistico Hanging Bridges.
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