Key Information
Includes: Private guide throughout the tour, drinks, entrance to Caño Negro National Park, boat tour to the refuge and a typical Costa Rica lunch.
Depart: 730 am (subject to change & special hours)
Duration: 7 hours aprox.
Bring: Comfortable clothes, binoculars, camera, insect repellent, sunscreen.
Price Per Person: $120 per person (minimum 3 people)
Caño Negro is a renowned wildlife reserve of international importance which has become a popular place for tourists who seek excellent wildlife viewing. These amazing wetlands are located in northern of Costa Rica near the border with Nicaragua in the cantons of Guatuso and Los Chiles.
The scenery is spectacular and the highlight is the migratory birds. Here you’ll find several species of plants and animals not found anywhere else in the country. Many are unique or endangered. This Costa Rica ecological treasure supports some 350 species of birds, including Glossy Ibis, Anhinga, Wood Stork, Ibis Blanco, Gavilan Caracolero. One of the most beautiful is the Jaribu (large and endangered). There are also 3 of the 4 species of monkeys and many reptiles sitting on the sand banks.
More About Caño Negro
Cano Negro Wild Life Refuge is considered among the four most important wetlands areas in the world and was recognized in 1991 as a “Wildlife Area of International Importance.” Cano Negro preserves one of the most important humid zones in the country by being the home for many migrant, endangered and commercial species. The reserve is 9,940 hectares, made up of the Caño Negro Lagoon and the Rio Frio. Park land extends out some 800 hectares further. This wildlife refuge represents some of the most important and vital biological areas that support environment quality in the north region of Costa Rica.
Waterways play a big role for migratory populations, especially the birds. During the green (rainy) season from May to October, water from the mountains is plentiful and the Río Frío overflows its banks to form Lago Caño Negro positioned smack in the middle of the flyway for migrant North and South American birds. Millions of birds arrive here to winter over during the dry season beginning in December. The water level falls continuously for the next three to four months until all that is left is the main channel of the Río Frío and the migrants depart.
The Río Frío is a good place to fish for snook, guapote, alligator gar, drum, and huge tarpon (fish stories claim up to 100 kg or 220 lbs). Fishing is allowed in the reserve from July 1 to March 31, license $US 30 from the ranger station in Caño Negro village. There are no established high profile fishing guide outfits currently operating, but if you are willing to round up a boat and provide most of your own tackle, Caño Negro is a well kept fishing secret.
| QUICK FACTS | |
|---|---|
| Weather: | Drier season: January through April, driest towards the end of this period. |
| Rainfall: | Annual average 98 inches (2,500 mm) |
| Sunshine: | 5 hours per day, average |
| Size: | 620 acres (9,969 hectares, 38 square miles) |
| Elevation: | 100 to 330 feet (30-100 meters) |
| Habitat: | Tropical lowland rain forest, pasture, fresh water marsh, river, lake (like Everglades) |
| Common Birds: | Glossy Ibis, black-necked stilt, neotropical cormorants, American anhinga, northern jacana, American widgeon, wood stork, white Ibis, black-bellied tree duck, cattle egret, northern shoveler, snail kite, green backed heron, Nicaraguan grackle, roseate spoonbill, and blue-winged teal (see Bird List) |
| Common Land Animals: | Spider, capuchin and howler monkeys, spectacled caiman, crocodile, jaguar, cougar, tayra, ocelot, tapir, white-tailed deer, jesus-christ lizard, black river turtle, iguana |
| Common Fish: | Snook, guapote, alligator gar, drum fish, tarpon, and bull sharks |
> Our Location. Blue River Resort & Hot Springs is located 60 kilometres from Liberia, Guancaste at the base Rincon de la Vieja volcano national park, in the mountain rainforest.
Transportation
Contact Us to arrange a shuttle from Liberia and the Guanacaste beach resorts of Hermosa Beach, Playa del Coco, Ocotal, Guardia, Papagayo, Nancite Beach & Salinas Bay.
« Back to Blue River One Day Tours and Excursions
Learn more about Blue River Resort & Hot Springs
- Room & Rates
- Natural Mineral Hot Springs Pools
- Spa
- Botanical Gardens
- Butterfly Farm
- Eco tour excursions
- Video Presentation
- View More Pictures
Blue River Resort & Hot Springs and Blue River Estate are located 60 kilometres from Liberia, Costa Rica, at the base of the volcano national park, Rincon de la Vieja, in the mountain rainforest. > Our Location
Bird List
| Amazon | Belted Kingfisher | Black-headed Saltor |
| Anhinga | Black- crowned Night- Heron | Black-headed Trogon |
| Baltimore Oriole | Black Vulture | Black-necked Stilt |
| Bananaquit | Black-and white Warbler | Black-Striped Sparrow |
| Bank Swallow | Black-and-white Owl | Blue Dacnis |
| Bare-throated Tiger-Heron | Black-bellied Whistling-Duck | Blue Ground Dove |
| Barn Swallow | Black-capped Pygmee-Tyrant | Blue-black Grassquit |
| Barred Antshrike | Black-cheeked woodpecker | Blue-Gray Tanager |
| Bat Falcon | Black-collared hawk | Blue-throated Goldentail |
| Blue-winged Teal | Grackle Green Kingfisher | Keel-billed Toucan |
| Boat-billed Heron | Gray-breasted Martin | Kingfisher |
| Bright-rumped Attila | Gray-capped Flycatcher | Laughing Falcon |
| Bronzed Cowbird | Gray-crowned Yellowthroat | Lesser Greenlet |
| Bronzy Hermit | Gray-headed Chachalaca | Lesser Nighthawk |
| Buff-throated Saltator | Grayish Saltator | Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture |
| Buff-throated Woodcreeper | Gray-necked Wood-Rail | Limpkin |
| Cattle Egret | Great Antshrike | Lineated Woodpecker |
| Chestnut-colored Woodpecker | Great Blue Heron | Little Blue Heron |
| Chestnut-sided Warbler | Great Egret | Little Hermit |
| Cinnamon Becard | Great Kiskadee | Little Tinamou |
| Cinnamon Woodpecker | Great Potoo | Long-billed Gnatcatcher |
| Clay-colored Robin | Greater Yellowlegs | Louisiana Waterthrush |
| Collared Aracari | Great-tailed | Mangrove Swallow |
| Common Pauraque | Great-tailed Grackle | Mangrove Swallow |
| Common Tody-Flycatcher | Green Heron | Masked Tityra |
| Crested Caracara | Green Ibis | Mistletoe Tyrannulet |
| Crimson-fronted Parakeet | Green-backed Heron | Montezuma Oropendola |
| Dusky Antbird | Green-breasted Mango | Neotropical Cormorant |
| Dusky-capped Flycatcher | Greenish Elaenia | Nicaraguan Grackle |
| Eastern Kingbird | Groove-billed Ani | Northem Beardless- |
| Eastern Meadowlark | Hoffman’s Woodpecker | Northern Jacana |
| English Name | House Wren | Northern Waterthrush |
| Glossy Ibis | Indigo Bunting | Orange-chinned Parakeet |
| Golden-hooded Tanager | Jabiru | Orchard Oriole |
| Osprey | Short-billed Pigeon | Variable seedeater |
| Ovenbird | Slaty Spintail | Western Sandpiper |
| Pale-billed Woodpecker | Slaty-tailed trogon | White Ibis |
| Pale-vented Pigeon | Smoky-brown Woodpecker | White-collared Manakin |
| Palm Tanager | Snail Kite | White-collared seedeater |
| Paltry Tyrannulet | Snowy Egret | White-crowned parrot |
| Passerini’s Tanager | Snowy egret | White-fronted parrot |
| Peregrine Falcon | Social Flycatcher | White-lored Gnatcatcher |
| Pied Puffbird | Solitary Sandpiper | White-tailed Kite |
| Plain Xenops | Southem Rough- | White-tipped Dove |
| Prothonotary Warbler | Spectacled Owl | White-winged Becard |
| Purple Gallinule | Spotted Sandpiper | Wood Stork |
| Pygmee Kingfisher | Spotted-breasted | Wood-Pewee sp |
| Red-billed Pigeon | Streaked- | Wren Squirrel Cuckoo |
| Red-legged Honeycreeper | Striped Cuckoo | Yelllow-throated Euphonia |
| Red-lored parrot | Summer Tanager | Yellow Tyrannulet |
| Red-winged Blackbird | Sungrebe | Yellow Warbler |
| Ringed Kingfisher | Swainsons Trush | Yellow-bellied Elaenia |
| Roadside Hawk | Tennessee Warbler | Yellow-crowned Euphonia |
| Roseate Spoonbill | Tricolored Heron | Yellow-olive Flycatcher |
| Roseate Spoonbill | Tropical Gnatcatcher | |
| Ruddy Ground-Dove | Tropical Kingbird | |
| Ruddy-breasted Seedeater | Tropical Pewee | |
| Rufous-tailed Hummingbird | Turkey Vulture | |
| Shining Honeycreeper | Variable Seedeater |