If you plan your day out right, you can visit all five of them. If you visit during the shoulder months or low season, you won’t see nearly as many people as we did. The Santa Elena Cloud Forest is located 150 km northwest of San Jose and is an easy drive. It is located 6 minutes from the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve.

Casa Batsu is probably the best hotel in the area. The Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve is also less popular, making for quiet trails and smaller guided tours.The Santa Elena Cloud Forest is moist year-round. Bordering the Monteverde Reserve is the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve. It is an excellent example of what people can do to preserve — and learn from — the environment they live in. Droplets hanging perilously from the fuzz refract the morning light before dropping to the forest floor, wet with fallen leaves.

The Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve of Monteverde is one of the first community administered reserves in the country (in the sense that it is not a national park, but under the protection of the Arenal Conservation Area). There are few places on earth that so eloquently illuminate the power and beauty of nature than underneath the canopy in the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve where eight miles of trails weave through the 765 acres of vast, immersive cloud forest.Walking the trails, one can feel almost insignificant compared to the massive trees bearing the weight of hundreds of different species of bromeliads, mosses, orchids, lichens and liverwort; everything climbing, reaching, grasping toward the canopy to absorb the sunlight.

On Waze and Google Maps, it is called La Reserva Bosque Nuboso Santa Elena (Spanish).There is a local bus from Santa Elena town to Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve. The bus costs $2 per person.Remember to rent a high car or a 4×4 when visiting Monteverde! After enjoying the Salvetura zip-lines and hanging bridges, we had a 45-minute wait until the next shuttle bus left for town. The intensely thick vegetation made it hard to see the ground as there were layers upon layers of plants, moss and epiphytes sprawled on the ground floor.Even though it rained, it made the forest feel more magical. The community of Santa Elena decided to establish the reserve in order to preserve the cloud forest and use tourism as a means of sustainable economic development. They have pizza, Italian food, and casados. From $107.00* More Info . There is a well-maintained garden with lots of colorful flowers that lies just below the restaurant. Other highlights include five cat species (ocelots and jaguars are the easiest to spot, though incredibly rare), tarantulas, tens of thousands of insect species, poison dart frogs, tree frogs and more.Note: Quetzal-seekers will have their best opportunity to see the birds in the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve during April and May; as the birds migrate to a higher elevation and denser forest for nesting.There's an information office, gift shop and small cafeteria on site.It's helpful to bring hiking shoes and a wind-breaker or light jacket. The menu is varied....We are here after walking the bridges in the cloud forest. The El Jardin greets you as you go into the park or come out, so it was...We were at Selvatura for the zip lining and the hanging bridges tours, and had lunch at El Jardin in between. I want to go for my honeymoon ." The tours first stop was at at Don Juan coffee Plantation, reviewed separately, we then drove abouts...stopped for lunch en route to arenal...the food was very very good...but it ended up costing us $20 USD for 2 ppl...kind of on the high side for the amount of food we selected. Warm North-Easterly trade winds, filled with moisture, blow in over the Caribbean. It was so full we had to park down the road!

On wet days, rubber boots may be rented at the visitor’s center before setting out onto the trails.The Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve teems with life – the wet and cloudy conditions provide an ideal habitat for both flora and fauna. !After a vigorous four hours of hiking on a nature walk and traversing the hanging bridges in Selvatura Park, we were ready for some good food and drink. Santa Elena Cloud Forest Animals. Racketed tail for males helps mating and the longer the male tale the more mating. You can hire a guide at the entrance office but you do need to make reservations at least 2 days before hand (you can do it on their website) and have your own transportation.If you need transportation, then you will need to book with a tour company. Monteverde Cloud Forest Lodge: Excellent staff service, great food, homely Lodges - See 661 traveler reviews, 526 candid photos, and great deals for Monteverde Cloud Forest Lodge at Tripadvisor. Mantled Howler Monkeys have beards and long, thick hair which may be black, brown or red in order to blend in with the trees. Getting to Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve: From San Jose take the Pan-American highway North to kilometer 133, then turn right towards Sardinal, 1 km after the Aranjuez River and Cuenca Restaurant, until you reach Santa Elena (about 29 Km). The Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve is excellent example of how a community can promote long-term sustainability that does not concern only the reserve, but the community as a whole.The Santa Elena Cloud Forest is located on the Caribbean side of the Continental Divide in the Tilaran Mountains.

However, the forest canopy was so dense and thick that it was impossible to pinpoint where they were. February – July is also the Quetzal mating season so you have the possibility to see the birds.If you visit in rainy season, you must go as early as possible in the morning. There are an uncountable amount of animal species at Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve. Santa Elena cloud forest is cheaper and smaller, but still worth a visit.