Costa Rica October 2025
Thu Oct 2 - Thu Oct 9 & Thu Oct 9 - Thu Oct 16
Bird photography in Costa Rica needs no introduction. It’s pretty much universally agreed that it is a bird photographer’s paradise with a staggering variety of birds packed into a very small area. Couple that with lots of good accommodations and decent infrastructure and you have a very compelling place to work on your bird photography and build up your photo collection. In addition to the birds, the place itself is stunning and it’s also home to a multitude of interesting plants, insects, reptiles, amphibians and mammals.
I’ve been running photography tours to Costa Rica for the past twenty years and during that time I’ve really had an opportunity to learn the area well and I’ve also been able to forge relationships with many of the local businesses including some of the best local birders. On these trips I will personally be doing the guiding and driving though we do work with the local guides when it makes sense. This means that you aren’t simply working through a middle-man, you are dealing directly with the person providing the service and that allows me to offer these trips for a lower cost than many of the photography trips that are available. It also means that there is a high degree of flexibility so the trips can be altered to best meet the needs and desires of the participants, they aren’t “canned” trips for a generic audience.
The main goal of these trips is for the participants to enjoy themselves as they photograph not only the beautiful birds of this charming country but any other subject that stimulates interest. While we will do our best to photograph as many species as possible this isn’t our main objective. If I’ve learned anything over the years about photography it is that the best photos usually take time. With that in mind we will make every effort to dedicate time to those opportunities that look like they could yield great results.
The trips are designed to be appropriate for photographers of all skill levels with a mix of some more sure-fire situations where getting beautiful results is very likely to more challenging situations with relatively difficult to photography species. Participants should come home with photos of many of the iconic species that you are familiar with to some of the less frequently seen species in their native habitats.
When I designed these trips I made an effort to make them accessible to photographers of varying physical abilities. I make efforts to avoid long hikes or other physically demanding situations. I have also limited the trip to three participants plus myself. This means that each photographer can have a generous amount of my attention and there are less complications of participants getting in each other’s way.
Both trips start and end at the San Jose International airport (SJO) so if desired it’s possible to combine the two trips. The first trip will focus on the northern portion of Costa Rica and the second trip will focus on the Pacific coast and the Talamanca mountains. The cost of each trip is $2475 per person for a shared room. For a private room there will be an additional fee of $450. This includes all ground transportation, lodging, entrance fees and scheduled activities. This does not include international airfare or food.
On the first trip we will set out from San Jose to the Boca Tapada region where we expect to encounter a variety of birds including toucans, colorful tanagers, hummingbirds and other tropical birds. There will be an opportunity to photograph King Vultures from a blind at close range if desired. From there we will visit the Cano Negro area where we can encounter a variety of aquatic birds such as kingfishers and the bizarre Sungrebe along with a variety of interesting land birds. When we finish our time in the wetlands we will visit the San Ramon area for a variety of tanagers, raptors and maybe even species such as the Three-wattled Bellbird.
On the second trip we will start out in the Talamanca Mountains, hope of birds like the Resplendent Quetzal, Golden-browed Chlorophonia and many other colorful beauties that live high in the mountains. From there we will work our way down to the pacific coast where we can see species like the Fiery-billed Aracari and Scarlet Macaw among many others. We will wrap things up with a boat trip on the Tarcoles River.