"This is it!" a Tortuguero Travel Page by BEETLE_VERTE

We spent a short week in beautiful Tortuguero and fell in love at first sight. This is it, this is why I ever dreamt of visiting Costa Rica.

The perfect tropical rainforest, mosaic of little canals and deltas, wealth of exotic wildlife, stretch of seemingly endless expanse of sandy beach, peace and quiet of a secluded village.

We found ways to reach and live in Tortuguero that wouldn't cost a lot but still offer rich experiences. Even more so, I think, since we weren't restricted to lodges, their itineraries and calendar. We came by bus and boat for about 12$, slept in town for 30$ a night (breakfast included), ate in town for around 20$ for 2 and hired the guide we wanted for the tours we wanted when we wanted. We got to see the park in a more intimate way than the all-included-guided-tour of the lodge. Agreed, we had a few creepy visitors at night, didn't had a pool and our transfer to Tortuguero took 6 hours. But it was the only way Tortuguero would fit in our budget. And I'm glad we came since it became my favorite place in Costa Rica...

The wettest months are january, june and july. The driest are february, april and november. August to november, the village is filled with turtles watch tourists. The park is going to be humid, hot and windless year round. You'll need good raingear, a heavy duty poncho is ideal (lodges provide them for guest). It could be cool enough for a windbreaker or a sweater.

Green turtles lay from june to october (most in september)
Leatherback turtles lay mid-february to july (most in april and may)
Hawksbill turtles lay in july
During this time, there's strict Turtles Walks Tours rules with guide and tickets to buy. The rest of the year, no one's around and you get the beach all to yourself! Our experience was during the off season, no laying turtles, no hatching turtles. It could be very different in the high season.

This page is part of my Costa Rica travel page.