Costa Rica North Pacific Coast

[rioja]

I am going on a 2 week package tour based on the Pacific coast at Papagayo. I have hired a car for 1 week and would appreciate suggestions of places within a reasonable driving distance that would be good for birding and for a non birding partner.
We are also considering 1 or 2 nights staying overnight. Which destinations would you choose.
As a novice birder who is very keen on photography, nearly everything I see will be new so I am not particularly bothered about specific rare species. A pelagic day cruise might be interesting, and attractive to a non birder so any experiences would be appreciated.
Thanks in anticipation

[Pipixcan]

Hello Rioja, I think it would be good for you to try to go to as many varied habitats as possible.As you are going to stay in the North-western are of CR,Palo Verde would be an obvious choice.Further away but well worth it if you can get there would be Monteverde.Although it is a rather long car journey(poor quality roads), for a first-timer in CR it is excellent.It is often very busy and touristy but you can wander away from the crowds(the majority of tourists rarely move more than 1/2 mile from the entrance/visitors centre.There is plenty of accomodation nearby.The Arenal area near to Monteverde is also excellent, being at lower altitude than Monteverde it offers different birding opportunities.
Hope you have a great time, its hard not to in Costa Rica!

[forktail]

Hi there

Cararra, on the pacific coast south of Papagayo is a very good site for lots of pacific slope specialities. You can stop in Tarcoles (there's cheap / expensive accommodation, depending on your need for comfort!). Orotina nearby has Black-and-white Owls in the small park (13 trees I think, so searching is easy!)

F.

[birdingcraft]

I am going on a 2 week package tour based on the Pacific coast at Papagayo. I have hired a car for 1 week and would appreciate suggestions of places within a reasonable driving distance that would be good for birding and for a non birding partner.
We are also considering 1 or 2 nights staying overnight. Which destinations would you choose.
As a novice birder who is very keen on photography, nearly everything I see will be new so I am not particularly bothered about specific rare species. A pelagic day cruise might be interesting, and attractive to a non birder so any experiences would be appreciated.
Thanks in anticipation

You should see many nice dry forest species near your hotel in Papagayo- probably dont need to visit other dry forest areas as a day trip.
I second the Monteverde idea for an overnight stay. Its a great place to go with a non-birding partner and has loads of tourist infrastructure. Despite lots of visitors in the forests, its still good cloud forest birding and birding is also pretty good around Santa Elena itself.
Monteverde is probably about 3-4 hour drive from Papagayo and be aware at this time of year there are buckets of rain!! Don't be surprised if some roads in CR are closed and/or very difficult to drive.
The Carara area is one of the best places to bird in Central America but might too far for a day trip from Papagayo. Orotina is near there and as mentioned has Black and white Owls in the main plaza- ask the ice cream/granizado vendor about them. Ask, "Donde estan las Lechuzas"?
Arenal is another great spot for birding and non-birding partner- also too far for day trip but easy as an overnight.
Another good spot within your range is Heliconias Lodge at Bijagua. Not sure how far it will be but I have run into people there on a day trip from Papagayo. Birding can be exciting there with many rare species but often has bad weather (wind and rain). They have goods trails and awesome hanging bridges ($10) in excellent rain forest. They also sometimes have staked out Mottled and Crested Owls.
Here is a link to my trip report with more detailed info. (http://www.travellingbirder.com/tripreports/view_birding_tripreport.php?id=337)