The Tárcoles River Crocodiles

The bridge carrying the coastal highway over the Río Tárcoles has become an accidental wildlife viewpoint: below it, on the sandbanks in the river, dozens of American crocodiles lie out through the day, some of them well over four metres, and you can look straight down at them from the pavement. It is free, it takes ten minutes, and almost every tour bus between San José and the Pacific stops. Boat trips from the village downstream run through the estuary and mangroves, where the crocodiles are joined by roseate spoonbills, herons and, if you are lucky, scarlet macaws coming down from Carara.

What you actually see

• The bridge view - dozens of crocodiles on the sandbanks directly below.
• The size of them - several individuals over four metres.
• The estuary boat trips - mangroves, spoonbills and herons downstream.
• Macaws overhead - flying between Carara and the river mouth.

When to go

December to April is drier and the sandbanks most exposed, which concentrates the animals. Midday is when they haul out to bask. The bridge is busiest with tour traffic in the middle of the morning.

Honest expectations

Car break-ins at the bridge are a longstanding problem; leave nothing visible and preferably have someone stay with the vehicle. Some boat operators feed the crocodiles to bring them alongside for photographs, which is bad practice and increasingly restricted; choose one that does not. The river carries significant pollution from upstream San José.

Nearby

Carara is five minutes north; Jacó is twenty minutes south.