If you’re looking for an amazing night walk away from the crowds, this is it. Especially, if like us, you’re keen to see some of Costa Rica’s delightfully exotic looking frogs! We visited Frog’s Paradise at the end of our three month stay, and we’d been lucky enough to see a huge array of wildlife. However, apart from spotting Poison dart frogs in Manuel Antonio, all the colourful frogs had been alluding us. Having said that, a trip here is about more than just frogs.

You’ll wander through a beautiful patch of secondary rainforest, where the only sounds are from the Howler monkeys and cicadas overhead. If you turn your torch off, the only light is that from the fireflies that glow like embers as they float between the trees.

Despite visiting during a very dry spell, when sightings of frogs in particular are low, we still spotted six different types of frog, sloths, a kinkajou, toucans, snakes, lizards and more. If you visit during a wetter period, you are likely to see more much, including up to 22 species of frog.

Here’s what to expect from a visit to Frog's Paradise.

What to expect at Frog's Paradise

The walk

The great thing about the walk is that the gravel path is well maintained, so you don’t need to worry about your footing, even in the dark. You can fully focus on the forest and wildlife, which definitely isn’t the case for all night walks.

Although the gravel doesn’t have a wild feel, the forest still does, so I wouldn’t say it detracts from the experience and it certainly makes it easier.

The path is level for the majority of the way, although there is the occasional slight up and down. The average walk lasts for two hours, although ours went for almost 2.5 hours.

You don’t need to be a regular walker though because even if 2-2.5 hours sounds like a lot, you are moving very slowly.

The guides

You can choose ahead of time whether you want a Spanish speaking guide, or an English speaking guide. Booking a guide that only speaks Spanish is the cheaper option, as this will mean your tour is with Miguel, the owner. If you book an English speaking tour, then another guide will come along too.

We booked a Spanish tour as though our Spanish is basic, we were most interested in simply seeing the wildlife and Miguel brings a picture guide to point out what you’re looking at - so you’d never need to worry about not knowing the species.

However, we lucked out as we joined a lovely Canadian family that had booked an English speaking guide, so we got an English speaking tour for the price of the Spanish speaking tour.

What we hadn’t realised ahead of time was that you weren’t simply paying for the English guide, but that you would also have Miguel too. More than the information they provide, having two guides means you have two pairs of well trained eyes looking for wildlife, which I think makes it much more worth the extra USD $15.

Having said that, Miguel was an amazing spotter, and it’s his business and garden, so you would still have a great experience if you simply want to pay the lowest price.

Both guides we had were extremely personable and all round great guides. They set a good pace, made sure everyone got to look in detail at each animal and get good photographs. We much preferred them and the experience in general to the night tour we’d done the week before.

Tour group numbers

Although I am not sure what the cap is for the number of people on each tour, what I do know is that as of now, Frog’s Paradise is not very well known. On our tour, which took place on a Saturday night, it was just us and the Canadian family of three. The family were actually meant to be on the tour the night before, but couldn’t make it, so we would each have had a private tour were it not for that - and we were not going to be charged extra for this either (although you no doubt would be if you requested a private tour, rather than it happening by default).

We had a great time with the Canadian family and both guides, so we were really happy with how it all panned out.

I read reviews online before booking the trip and there weren’t many, and almost all specifically mentioned that they had also had a tiny group, so I think this is common, and different to other night tours which can have much larger groups.

The wildlife

Starting with frogs - which was our main reason for taking the tour - we saw six different species, including the two we were most keen to see - the Blue jeans frog and the Tree frog.

We saw three Blue jeans frogs and I would guess over 10 Tree frogs. We also saw over a dozen Rainforest frogs, a Bull frog, several Brilliant forest frogs and a Leopard frog (Peralta frog).

However, as mentioned, we were visiting in exceptionally dry conditions, so they warned us frog numbers would be much lower.

They often see up to 22 species in wetter times (not necessarily the rainy season, but when there’s been at least some rain).

We were told six species was about the lowest you could expect to see.

As much as we’d have loved to have seen more, we weren’t disappointed with what we did see, especially as we saw the two frogs we’d hoped for most.

Snake numbers were also down due to the weather, but we were lucky enough to see two delicate Catseye snakes.

As well as this, we saw a mother and baby sloth, toucans, a Rufous motmot, kinkajou (which they referred to as nocturnal monkeys), many lizards, a giant mouse - which lives in a tree and is cooler than it sounds (it looked more like a chinchilla to me), a Turkey vulture, many large dragonflies, fireflies and numerous cicadas, including some colourful ones which were very pretty (unlike your average ones!).

There were other insects too but very few spiders - which ! was pleased about!

On that note, if you’re not a fan of something just say ahead of time and you can scoot past anything that gives you the creeps!

We also heard Howler monkeys for a huge portion of the walk, although they were too high in the trees to actually see.

Aside from wildlife we also saw bioluminescent mushrooms, which was really cool, although again there would have been more were it to have been wetter.

The set up and costs

You don’t need to bring much with you as you’ll be provided with a good torch when you arrive. There’s a toilet and waiting area, as well as a gravel car park. Bring water and possibly some bug spray.

Right at the start of the walk you’ll be given the chance to take some natural insect repellant from a plant and wipe it over you, which is what I chose to do for the novelty factor. You can also use crushed termites, which you will see early on (you can taste them too if you dare).

In terms of costs, at time of writing the Spanish tour is USD $20 per person and the English tour is USD $35 per person. I believe you can also book in French and possibly other languages too. You need to book any tour ahead of time, which you can do by Whatsapping Miguel on this number: +506 6202 3713, or you can email him at frogsparadise@gmail.com.

For us the tour started at 5.30pm and went for just under 2.5 hours, although we were told two hours originally.

Nearby attractions

Frog’s Paradise is located just under 25 minutes from the spectacular Rio Celeste Waterfall so you can make a great day trip by combining the falls and the night walk. There are also several sensational swimming holes, where you can swim in the same turquoise water that you’ll find at the falls.

The above linked guide covers how to escape the crowds at the waterfall (which is now one of Costa Rica’s most popular) as well as where you can swim now that it’s no longer possible at the waterfall itself.

Where to stay near Frog’s Paradise

You could visit Frog’s Paradise from La Fortuna, which is a 1 hour 50 minute drive away. However, if that sounds too far, or you don’t want to drive in the dark, there are many places in the surrounding area you can stay. Although there are places to stay in the nearby village of Bijagua, there are more options closer to Rio Celeste, many of which have private river access for secluded turquoise water swims.

We stayed at Onca Treehouses but If we had the budget we would have stayed at the Rio Celeste Hideaway Hotel, not only does it have private river access, but also the most amazing rooms set in the forest. It’s won loads of awards and the rooms have jungle vibes. It also has the best restaurant in the area.

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