Duration: 3 Days / 2 Nights · Price: From $650 USD per group of 1–4 · Difficulty: Easy
About this tour
Every year, tens of thousands of olive ridley sea turtles converge on a small grey-sand beach in northern Guanacaste to lay their eggs in a mass nesting event called an arribada. Ostional Wildlife Refuge is one of only a handful of places in the world where this happens — and one of the very few where visitors can observe it up close under the guidance of certified local naturalists. This three-day journey from San José is built around that experience.
**Day 1 — San José to Nosara.** Your private vehicle departs San José in the morning for the five-hour drive to the Nicoya Peninsula coast. The last stretch follows unpaved roads through dry tropical forest — bumpy, beautiful, and genuinely remote. You arrive in Nosara in the afternoon with time to walk Playa Guiones, one of the longest undeveloped stretches of Pacific coast in Costa Rica: seven kilometers of dark sand backed by a biological reserve, no development within 200 meters of the water, and the kind of uninterrupted horizon that makes it hard to leave.
**Day 2 — Ostional Wildlife Refuge.** An early start brings you to Ostional, five kilometers north of Nosara village. Your guide is a certified local naturalist — many are members of the Ostional community, which has managed turtle conservation here for over 40 years. The refuge is one of the world's most important nesting sites for the olive ridley sea turtle: during an arribada, which typically occurs monthly from July to November, you may witness thousands of turtles emerging from the surf simultaneously to dig nests and lay eggs on the same beach. Outside of mass nesting events, individual turtles nest year-round, and hatchlings can be observed almost any morning if the timing aligns with a 45–55 day incubation cycle. Your guide knows what is active on the beach. The afternoon returns to Nosara for swimming at Playa Pelada — a sheltered cove with calm water and rocky tidepools — followed by sunset on Playa Guiones.
**Day 3 — Morning and return.** A final breakfast, a morning walk along the estuary mouth where the Nosara River meets the Pacific (good for birds and crocodile sightings), and private transport back to San José arriving in the late afternoon.
What's included
- Private round-trip transportation San José ↔ Nosara
- 2 nights accommodation with daily breakfast (budget, regular or luxury — confirmed at booking)
- Certified local naturalist guide at Ostional Wildlife Refuge
- Refuge entrance fee
- Bottled water throughout
Not included
- Lunch and dinner
- Gratuities
- Personal travel insurance
- Optional surf lessons or yoga classes in Nosara
Good to know
- Peak turtle season is July–November (mass arribada events); individual nesting and hatchlings occur year-round
- Night observation follows strict rules: no flash photography, no touching turtles, red-light torches only
- The last 10km to Nosara are unpaved — 4WD vehicle provided
- Accommodation tier — budget, regular or luxury — confirmed at booking
- Free cancellation 72 hours prior