Costa Rican Wildlife Really Draws You In

While vacationing in the southern zone, it’s essential to witness the incredible wildlife in Costa Rica up close and personal.

By river, sea or jungle canopy, there’s a lot of wildlife in Costa Rica to discover. That’s a huge part of the attraction of the southern Pacific region of Costa Rica; where rugged rainforest and unspoiled beaches create an ideal backdrop for some of the world’s most beautiful and mysterious creatures.

Around the towns of Dominical and Uvita, where YouGetHere Property Management oversees approximately two dozen of the finest tropical vacation rentals in the southern hemisphere, our guests regularly report seeing howler and white-faced monkeys, macaws, toucans and parrots, as well as lots of butterflies, frogs, deer, porcupines, pigs, and even pizotes.

Monkey Business in Costa Rica

It’s the monkeys — and another lovable little fella we’ll mention in a minute — that really put on a show when they decide to come through one of our rental properties.

The howler monkeys have deep, intense voices that can be heard as far as 3 miles in the distance. While they may sound like 2,000-pound behemoths, adult howlers are typically around the 20-pound mark. White-faced monkeys are a bit smaller, with distinct black-and-white fur patterns around the face and chest. These white-faced monkeys, or capuchins, often travel in packs of three to 15 members. They’ll blow you away with their athletic ability while swinging from vine to vine with reckless abandon.

There are many things in life that are incredibly difficult. Spotting a monkey in Costa Rica is not one of them.

Coming across a sloth, however, generally proves to be a bit more challenging. Unofficially, 98 percent of our guests want to see a sloth in the wild. This sloth was spotted at one of our beautiful villas near Uvita.

We’ve had some great sloth-meets-human moments at our vacation villas, but you must have a keen eye and put in the time. Of the two types of sloths spotted locally — two-toed and three-toed — you’re most likely to witness a three-toed sloth moving very slowly up a tree or an embankment.

Reptiles, insects and mammals… oh my

Seeing and interacting with the local reptiles, insects and mammals is one of the main reasons to visit Dominical. The jungle and sea are absolutely alive in this region, and the experience never grows old. Share the photos of the creatures you spot on your vacation in the comments below! Reptiles and colorful frogs can be found almost everywhere.

For further details on any of our rental homes in Costa Rica, please contact our team at [email protected]. And when you’re in town, leave a few bananas for your new friends in the trees above. They’ll certainly appreciate the gesture.