VG,
There isn't much to the town itself. We visited the Turtle Conservation Center, walked down to the national park entrance, visited a few shops, the beach. It was interesting to see the homes up on stilts, the boardwalks leading to them, but it's not the highlight of a trip, for sure.

Not sure where Cano Blanco is, probably closer than Moin dock which from there took 3 hours to get to Tortuguero. I don't know how many other tour operators other than Modesto go out from Moin, think the majority go from somewhere closer.

Thanks, colibri; you've given my a good idea of what to expect. I think we'll concentrate on seeing the wildlife on the canals and in the park and hopefully some turtles laying their eggs at night. My contact at CRE told me there are some huge saltwater crocs near the Cano Blanco marina - can you imagine saltwater crocs? Remind me not to go to the beach!

VG,

Definitely don't plan to swim at Tortuguero beaches! The water is rough, beaches were filled with logs, other type of debris. Not sure if it always looks so bad since we were there one week after a massive storm hit the NE part of the country. Modesto told us the road out to the Moin dock had been under 3' of water until two days earlier. There were probably 2 miles of trucks backed up on side of the road, waiting to load their goods onto the ships.

I hope you have a great guide who will spot lots of wildlife for you on the way to your lodge and that you enjoy T. as much as I did!

Thanks, col - I hope so too. :)

VG- Does your tour with CRE include any time in the town? Our trip included a stop at the Turtle Conservation center and then we had a few hours to walk around the town. We didn't use CRE, but the Watsons. I would take a few hours to walk around. It's definitely much different from anywhere else we've been in CR! You only need about an hour and if you go to the conservation center anyway, you'll be there.

I think you'll really enjoy Tortuguero!

Hi, Shell - our CRE rep said the cost does not include any tours which surprised me. He sent me a list of tours available, but it looks like there is a charge for each one. I would definitely want to do any tour that is included, but since it looks like there is a charge, I'm trying to figure out what is worth seeing and doing. I want to see and do everything - lol.

The Turtle Conservation Center is one dollar. Tortuguero is very small but we enjoy going. Often the lodge drops you off and you can walk back along the beach to your lodge, providing, of course that it is on the same side as the town. Regarding the town tour, there is a short hike, saw leaf cutters and some of the vegetation is labelled. There is a large spread of Mimosa - such a curious plant - fun to see it fold up so quickly. Watched a soccer game of local kids, used the internet in the airconditioning ( our lodge did not have internet).

The entrance fee to the park are quite reasonable as well, something like 7 dollars for 2 days. I thought most packages included the boat tours to see the wildlife.. Good thing you are asking early considering yours is not included.

Thanks, rivet - I appreciate all the information. We can't wait to see it all for ourselves.

I heard back from CRE that they charge $12 per person per hour to take the boats out to see the wildlife - how long do you think we should spend out there? Did you guys spot wildlife pretty easily? Will it be dangling/swimming/flying right there in front of me?

VG - are you set on using CRE for your Tortuguero portion? They just seem so expensive - and to not include the wildlife boat tours or the trip to the turtle conservation center just seems odd to me. I've heard good things about them, but it seems they are nickel and diming you on this particular trip. However - that being said - we were out on the boats for at least 4?? hours in total over the whole trip. Not counting the boat ride up there. I know of some people at the lodge who skipped some of the boat rides because they found them a bit redundant - but we went on all of them.

We did NOT see a lot of wildlife - not at all. This is as compared to Cano Negro, or the Damas Mangrove tour in MA. I'd actually say the wildlife viewing in Tortuguero for us was very disappointing. It was very spaced out over the boat rides. Our kids were very bored and I'd venture to say that even the adults were antsy and complaining (there were 7 of us) that we didn't see much at all - and we were wondering why that was. Not that we didn't see enough - but over the 4 hours or so - it took a lot to see what we did see.....Given that wildlife is so prevalent in CR - it seemed very hard for us to find! Mainly a lot of birds, but not much variety. My favorite boat ride was the early morning one. I think we went out around 6 am and the canals were so beautiful at that time of the day.

I don't know why we didn't see much - it seems others report seeing so much more!

Shell -- It will be interesting to see the amount of wildlife next month compared to some other places I've been. I agree with you that I read a lot of posts with people raving about what a special wildlife filled place it is. No doubt it is special and beautiful, but I can't help wonder if there are "seasons" there where wildlife is more abundant. I imagine the same goes with Cano Negro as far as the bird migration goes.

vgirl - CRE seems to have a very good reputation, but it does seem off-putting that they charge extra for everything when they are already on the high end for their package. Are you still comparing or do you have your heart set on Tortuga Lodge?

Thanks, guys. Well, I already put down a deposit, so Tortuga Lodge it is, but I was kind of surprised about not receiving a schedule, having to pay to take the boats out, etc. Based on what you guys told me, I was thinking that would all be included. Hopefully we'll love it when we get there. Shell, what time of year did you guys go? Maybe the wildlife is seasonal like hip said?

We were there end of July last summer - turtle nesting season. It's not that we didn't see wildlife- but it wasn't coming out from everywhere. Having been to Cano Negro - this couldn't compare. Then later we went on the Damas Mangrove trip and that was such a short boat ride and we saw more monkey's, croc's and birds on that trip than we saw in the 3 days in Tortuguero! Of course we've been to BDC, where the wildlife is so abundant....However, I thought Tortuguero was incredibly unique. The turtle nesting was magical. The canals were unlike Cano Negro and Damas. The lodge (we stayed at Laguna) was a great place to stay. The beach - while you can't swim there, was fun to walk on, and the kids loved hunting for coconuts! So, we had a great time there! VG - you'll love it!

VG,

We spent 6 hours on the boats going from the dock at Moin and back, stopping all along the way for wildlife, then at least another 6 hours on the canals. We were there during February and only experienced one night/early morning rain. We had excellent wildlife viewing, IMO, much better than Cano Negro. However, we were out for 3 days/2 nights and Cano Negro was a few hours, so it's hard to compare.

Modesto included everything in his fee ($295) except the $10 admission into the national park and the few dollars to go into the turtle conservancy center, which was optional. I'm very surprised that you are having to pay extra for any of your boat tours. I wonder if the other lodges do that or just CRE? $12 per hour per person? I'm amazed, don't think I would go with them when there are so many other options that include the boat trips.

Have they told you how long you will be in the boats from the dock? Some companies just do a shuttle, do not stop along the way to see anything.

I absolutely think seasons and weather will have an effect. If you have a lot of rain, the wildlife will not be as prevalent.

That said, I hope you have sunny days and animals popping out everywhere - take lots of photos to share!

shillmac, they said 2-3 hours on the canals to get there; they also said they would be happy to stop to see wildlife so that's a good sign. I really wish we didn't have to pay the hourly charge for the boat tour though. I think we'll really love Tortuguero based on everything you guys have said. We'll bring books in case it rains. I never get a chance to read at home, so even that would be relaxing. Fingers crossed for sunny days though!

Hi vgirl,
I've not followed your thread in awhile, so am trying to catch up and have just skimmed through all the many posts. Who did you decide to go with? CRE? I'm too lazy to read more carefully tonight! :) You'll have a great time, though, and will want to go back. I sure do. Maybe in another year or two. I'd like to see the baby turtles making their mad dash back to the sea (but don't want to see any of them come to bad ends!).

Thanks, shillmac, yep we're going with CRE - I liked them because they made it easy to go straight from Arenal to Tortuguero without our having to go back through San Jose. Remember I wanted to go to Tortuguero last year, but my husband was pulling for Monteverde and the quetzals, so this year is my turn - lol. It seems odd that CRE charges for those canal trips that everyone else includes, but I'm really excited about the trip, so I can get past it. Watching the baby turtles sounds awesome - you always help me plant the seeds for my next trip!

VG, I hope you have another really wonderful CR trip! I'll be looking forward to hearing about your Tortuguero experience since I haven't been there yet either. I hope the wildlife will be out in force there like it was for colibri. Will it be turtle season when you're there?

We get the sea turtles nesting here on our beaches in Florida every summer (in fact the season is just getting underway now). I've seen the big females coming up on the beaches several times, but have only seen the hatchlings once.

One evening last summer, a friend and I decided to take a walk on the beach after work. It was right before sunset which is usually a bit early to see the adult turtles. As we walked along, we kept seeing little dark shapes pop up in the waves close to shore and finally realized they were sea turtle heads. It was a a group of females waiting for it to get dark enough to come out of the water to dig their nests. Very cool!

We continued walking and all of a sudden there were many small, dark shapes scurrying across the sand towards the water in front of us. It was a whole nest of hatchlings that were making their way to the ocean. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen! They were so small that some of them would up-end themselves trying to cross a depression or human footprint in the sand and would lay there on their backs flailing their tiny little flippers. Of course we helped them out, and stayed until the entire nest appeared to be empty. I was lucky enough to actually have my camera with me that evening so I've got some photos and little movie clips of them. A very memorable experience and one I hope to repeat someday! :-)

Ok vgirl, I've let you be elusive long enough. You obviously know your dates because you've put a deposit down on a tour so let's have it! LOL! Are we going to cross paths in the airport? ;-)

cm -- That is a wonderful story. How lucky were you?!?! I would be saving them too. ;-) I will be too early to see hatchlings, I'm sure. But, maybe some egg-laying. Who knows? My plan is to take daughter back when there is more opportunity to see the hatchlings, but I really wanted to head up there this trip.