This history tour of the colorful town of Tortuguero, located within Tortuguero National Park, will enrich your understanding of Costa Rica’s diversity of cultures and the value the residents have placed on protecting nature in this unique area.
Tortuguero National Park is known for its beautiful tropical conservation areas including eleven miles of coastline where turtles come to nest. It is also known for its stunning network of canals that run throughout the rainforest along the northeastern Caribbean Coast. Within this lush setting lies the quaint town of Tortuguero, visited by hundreds of people every year to learn about its local culture and interesting history.
As the town of Tortuguero is only accessible by boat or airplane, the tour will start off with a short boat ride from Laguna Lodge. Upon arrival, you will walk through this picturesque town accompanied by your bilingual guide who is well versed in the history of Tortuguero. Your knowledgeable guide will share an abundance of interesting information about this area as well as introduce you to the way the villagers live today in their present day culture.
This typical Caribbean coastal village is known for its rich history and very colorful present. As you stroll through the town, you’ll visit the town school, National Park facilities, beautiful churches, general stores and one of the most effective recycling plants in the country. On the Caribbean coast, you can definitely see a difference in culture from other parts of Costa Rica. However, one major theme seems to remain the same throughout the country: the local people will most likely impress you with their friendly and kind nature.
Did you know that Tortuguero was once an ancient place of hunting, fishing, and agriculture? Several different ethnic groups have shared this land. The majority of people who originally came to live here were from the Miskitu-Zambo indigenous group of African- American descent. They fled from Nicaragua to seek refuge in this small isolated region of Costa Rica. Their ethnic roots are still part of the existing culture, mixed with Costa Rican people from Spanish decent as well as from other indigenous tribes.
You might also learn about Tortuguero’s forestry industry and how it evolved into the present day National Park. Tourism as a sustainable economy as well as major ecological initiatives helped raise awareness to create nature conservation areas and parks that served to preserve the natural wildlife habitats in this unique part of Costa Rica.
Please be prepared for this one-hour tour, rain or shine, by bringing sunblock, a hat and a rain jacket or poncho.
The Tortuguero Town Tour - Mawamba Lodge is available from Mawamba Lodge
Latitude: N 10° 32' 32.07"
Longitude: W 83° 30' 10.88"
09/15/2023
Learning the history of the area and town was the most interesting thing.
07/31/2023
Abel was our guide, and once again, we learned so much about the national park, the town, and the sea. He offered to take us on a longer walk home via the beach and it was incredibly memorable.
07/12/2023
I would skip this tour. There isn't much in the town to see. make it a shipping tour instead.
02/28/2020
The guide basically walked us through main street. I was hoping for more.
02/14/2020
Good for a short tour.
12/06/2019
Wish we had more time to souvenir shop. We ended up separating from the group so we could spend longer in town. But easy walk back to the hotel along the beach.
11/27/2019
Tortuguero was not to our taste - full of tourist booths. The walk back along the beach trail was much better. Laura found some turtle hatchlings making for the sea - my whole holiday highlight!!
08/17/2019
Great experience and very interesting place to see and visit. The guide just dropped us off at the dock in town and we did not really give a tour of the town. This was fine with us as we wondered on our own.
08/06/2019
Our guide Stephen was great. Talked about the history and issues of the town. We were able to do some exploring on our own and had a great time!
07/19/2019
There was not much to see and the guide did not say at the beginning that we will have to walk back on the beach.
06/13/2019
Not quite what we expected. Just walked by ourselves through the one street in the town.
05/01/2019
I loved seeing the town of Tortuguero! The only suggestion would be to tell the group that there would be time after the tour to explore the town on our own. I felt a little rushed, trying to peek into shops and trailing behind, thinking that was the only time I had to do so. Otherwise, the tour was great!
04/14/2019
Not really much to see on this tour, but it was good to stretch our legs a bit.
10/30/2017
Not as fun in the rain, but that's no one's fault.