Tours and Activities in Marenco Lodge, Costa Rica

The lodge hires services from local tour operators and professional naturalist guides. Our main destinations are Corcovado National Park, Caño Island Wildlife Refuge and our 1500 acrees private Biological Reserve.

Beginning December 01, 2006
the Costa Rican National Park Service
is implementing restrictions on the amount of
daily visitors to National Parks. For more info
click here.

Isla del Caño National Park

This day you should bring your beach towel and snorkeling gear along (available for rent) . It all stars with an early departure. This is an hour boat trip each way. In the early morning, we land on the island. Immediately upon arrival the guide leads a hike up to the site of the Indian graves that are found all over the central plateau, where archaeologists unearthed mysterious stone spheres and finely worked artifacts, testimonies to a vanished culture. Along the way, notable differences between the island and mainland forest will be pointed out.

Following lunch time, you are at your leisure to swim and soak up the sun, you will be free to visit other parts of the island or snorkel among the corals and brightly colored reef fishes. Snorkelers will delight in the schools of brightly colored fish.

By late afternoon, it's time to return to MARENCO, a short distance by boat, but an entirely different world. Watch out for the dolphins along the way! Overnight stay is not permitted on this Biological Reserve except by express permission of the Costa Rican National Park Service for visits involving active research.

Corcovado National Park (San Pedrillo Station)

This full day tour, accompanied by a naturalist guide, begins right after breakfast. A short 25-minute boat trip from Marenco landing takes you to San Pedrillo Station, the northernmost ranger station of Corcovado National Park. After disembarking, there is a walk of about an hour along the beach, to a forest trail up the Rio Pargo. Once more the rain forest story unfolds before you. The trees in this area are magnificent in height and support an outstanding variety of epiphytic plants such as orchids, bromeliads, ferns-even shrubs and small trees. Monkeys, agoutis, sloth and other critters will entertain you. By noon, the tour returns to the beach to enjoy the shade of a mango tree while watching the surf. After lunch time, a short walk; the San Pedrillo river (time to get our feet wet) brings you to a pristine rain forest waterfall. As always keep your eyes peeled for beautiful birds and secretive wildlife. Kingfishers and Jesus Christ lizards are residents of this river. In late afternoon, we board the boat for return to Marenco.

Marenco Biological Reserve (Full Day)

This ful-day tour, accompanied by a naturalist guide, begins right after breakfast. During the course of the walk along Marenco's primary rain forest trails, you may visit a beautiful creek or the big tree, a giant of several hundred years. The naturalist will point out wildlife and also explain points of interest in the ecology of the rain forest. The trails are relatively steep in places, but the pace is slow. A system of trails through various areas of Marenco Biological Reserve are excellent for bird watching, wildlife observation and exploration. One can expect to see numerous birds such as toucans, parrots, and other exotic species as well as various animals including 3 species of monkeys.

The hike will lead you the mouth of the Rio Claro, a natural fresh water swimming pool right next to the ocean. After arriving to Rio Claro you continue an additional 20 to 30 minutes along the beach trail to a beautiful beach called San Josecito, After lunch time you will have the afternoon free to snorkel on the reef or rest on a hammock under the shadow of the palms, relaxing until the boat comes to pick you up and bring you back to the Lodge around 2-3 in the afternoon.

Diving Tour

Enjoy world class scuba diving with our professional PADI Certified Instructors and Divemasters contracted with local suppliers. Caño Island offers the novice and experienced diver an excellent diving venue. Diving in the waters here will bring you face-to-face with a wide variety of underwater marine life. Glide through the water with a giant, manta ray or observe the huge schools of barracuda, jacks, and rays that frequent the area. Swimming side-by-side with a sleek but non-aggressive reef shark will certainly send a tingle of excitement down your spine. If you're lucky, you may even witness an awe-inspiring whale shark!. All this makes Caño Island one of the best dive locations found anywhere in Costa Rica!.

If you don't have your own dive gear, rentals are available. We offer only top quality, name brand equipment from Sherwood Scuba and Henderson Aquatics.

Need instruction? A full range of PADI certification courses are available from our professional certified instructor

Dive sites: Bajo del Diablo, El Barco, Cueva del Tiburon, Paraiso, Los Arcos.

Typical marine life: Manta rays, sting rays, white tip reef sharks, turtles, barracuda, kink angels, horse eye jacks, amberjacks, yellow fin tuna, pufferfish, gardens eels, moray eels, and more.

Visibility: up to 100 ft.

Water temp: low 80's

Average depths: 40 - 100 ft.

Travel time (boat): less than 1 hour.

Departure time: 8:00 am.

Return time: 2:00 p.m.

Rental equipment available: Sherwood regulators, gauges, masks, fins, and snorkels. Henderson wetsuits.

Air Compressor: Bauer K-14.

PADI instruction available: Discover Scuba, Discover Scuba Diving (Resort Course), Scuba Review, Basic Open Complete Class, Basic Open Water Completion (from referral), Advanced Open Water, Rescue Diver, and Divemaster

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