Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge

Caño Negro Refuge is the most significant wetland in Costa Rica, located in the northern plane. This magnificent refuge is about 10,000 hectares. It incorporates several ecosystems, such as a lagoon system, rivers, creeks, rainforests, marsh, and open and semi-open environments. To visit Caño Negro Refuge, you have to drive to Caño Negro village. A small town surrounded by the refuge.

Its climate varies over the year, with 2 defined seasons. Is weather has intense influence from the dryer northern Pacific region of Costa Rica. On a normal basis, the dry season extends from the end of December to mid-April. Two very well defined seasons are responsible for drastic changes in the water levels, Cold fronts and tropical depressions can produce drenching rains on the foothills and lowlands, raising the level of the Río Frío (Cold River) to 6 meters, subsequently flooding this vast extension of land and triggering fish and plant reproduction.

The RAMSAR convention:

The Wildlife Refuge Caño Negro is a Ramsar Site because is a wetland ecosystem designated of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. The Convention on Wetlands, known as the Ramsar Convention, is an intergovernmental environmental treaty established in 1971 by UNESCO. Today incorporating 169 nations, over 2,000 designated sites and encompassing over 200,000,000 hectares (490,000,000 acres) of protected land. The treaty supports national action and involves international cooperation concerning wetland conservation efforts, encouraging at the same time thoughtful sustainable use of the site’s natural resources. Costa Rica, as part of the Convention on Wetlands, protects a total of 569,742 hectares (1,407,860 acres).

Best time to visit Caño Negro.

The best time of the year to explore Caño Negro does depend on what you are looking for. Eventually, every day is the best time to visit Caño Negro.

Birdwatching in Caño Negro

If it is about birding, we have a lot of birds every day of the year. From November to April, the number of birds rises because migrant birds arrive in Caño Negro, such as shorebirds, warblers, and Oriols. 

During the dry season, we are going to have a concentration of birds, but fewer places where to navigate and discover. So, during the very dry season (February to April), it is possible to walk around.

The advantage of the rainy season, April to December, is that the water level of the lagoon and river around us to navigate to several more places.

Photography in Caño Negro

Definitely, if photography is your passion, and you do not have a very specific object, photography is one of the activities you can do for 365 days. Nature is always there to amaze us. Just keep in mind that during the rainy season a good camera rain cover is a must.

Watching Wildlife in Caño Negro.

Caño Negro Refuge is not only about birding, but we offer a large option of wildlife animals: Emerald Basilisk, Green Iguana, Spectacled Caiman, American Crocodile, Nicaraguan Slider-Turtle, Long-nosed Bats, Greater Fishing-Bats, Neotropical River-Otter, Mantled Howler Monkey, White-faced Capuchin, Central American Spider Monkey, and Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth.

The easiest animals to spot in Caño Negro are for sure monkeys and sloths, caimans, iguanas, and basilisks.

In this case, the season may affect the amount of this animals you can see. For example, as lower as the water level, much more caimans you can spot. But basilisks are more active on the river during the rainy season when there are fewer congregations of shorebirds along the river.
Monkeys and Sloths are always around. But when the water level is higher, we have much more places to take a boat tour in Caño Negro, raising our chances of a great spot.

Caño Negro boat tour.

A boat tour in Caño Negro will be our primary way to discover this wetland, even during the dry season. Because we are going to be on the boat all the time, visiting Caño Negro Refuge, birding, and/or photography is very easy. You will enjoy all the nature without any effort. On a boat tour in Caño Negro you have all the time to spot birds, take the picture of your vacation, relax, and enjoy nature.