Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Beyond Playa Manuel Antonio, if visitors return towards the trail from the entrance of
the park, the trail divides and leads deeper into the park. The lower trail is steep and slip-
pery during the wet months and leads to the quiet
Playa Puerto Escondido
. This beach
can be more or less completely covered by high tides, so be careful not to get cut off. The
upper trail climbs to a
lookout
on a bluff overlooking Puerto Escondido and Punta Ser-
rucho beyond - a stunning vista. Rangers reportedly limit the number of hikers on this trail
to 45.
The trails in Manuel Antonio are well marked and heavily traversed, though there are
some quiet corners near the ends of the trails. Off-trail hiking is not permitted without pri-
or consent from the park service.
Watch out for the
manzanillo
tree
(Hippomane mancinella)
- it has poisonous fruits that
look like little crab apples, and the sap exuded by the bark and leaves is toxic, causing the
skin to itch and burn. Warning signs are prominently displayed beside examples of this
tree near the park entrance.
Wildlife-Watching
Increased tourist traffic has taken its toll on the park's wildlife, as animals are frequently
driven away or - worse still - taught to scavenge for tourist handouts. To its credit, the
park service has reacted by closing the park on Monday and limiting the number of visit-
ors to 600 per day during the week and 800 per day on weekends and holidays.
Even though visitors are funneled along the main access road, you should have no prob-
lem seeing animals here, even as you line up at the gate. White-faced
capuchins
are very
used to people, and normally troops feed and interact within a short distance of visitors;
they can be encountered anywhere along the main access road and around Playa Manuel
Antonio.
You'll probably also hear
mantled howler monkeys
soon after sunrise. Like capuchins,
they can be seen virtually anywhere inside the park and even along the road to Quepos -
watch for them crossing the monkey bridges that were erected by several local conserva-
tion groups.
Coatis
can be seen darting across various paths and can get aggressive on the beach if
you're eating. Three-toed and two-toed
sloths
are also common in the park. Guides are ex-
tremely helpful in spotting sloths, as they tend not to move around all that much.
